Christopher Hitchens: Without the Haitian Revolution there would be no United States

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Stumbled across this video about Hitchens discussing his book about Thomas Jefferson; the topic being whether Jefferson supported slavery. Well, he did...and he didn't.

But midway through Hitchens notes that there would be no United States (or at least a very different one) had it not been for the Haitian Revolution.

The reasoning being, without the Haitian Revolution, Napoleon doesn't lose his army in the West Indies and therefore doesn't go bankrupt and would have never needed to sell the Louisiana Territory...which Jefferson bought for 15 million dollars.

In middle school and high school when they teach history they do touch on all these events but somehow always fail to connect the dots all the way.

The more to know...

 

[Uachet]

Why keep that misleading title? The US (1776) was around before the Haitian Revolution (1791). The US may not have had the land it acquire from the Louisiana purchase as early as it did, though I suspect it would have eventually had it, but the actual country would still have existed either way.

 

[Remote]

Why keep that misleading title? The US (1776) was around before the Haitian Revolution (1791). The US may not have had the land it acquire from the Louisiana purchase as early as it did, though I suspect it would have eventually had it, but the actual country would still have existed either way.

You're going to begrudge me some low level click bait given the history of this forum?

Please, sir.