[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 83 (Monday, May 21, 2007)]
[House]
[Page H5517]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
HAITIAN FLAG DAY
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the
gentlewoman from New York (Ms. Clarke) is recognized for 5 minutes.
Ms. CLARKE. Mr. Speaker, it gives me great pride and pleasure today
to rise to inform the House, on this Friday, May 18, Haitians
throughout the diaspora celebrated Haitian Flag Day.
Since the creation of the Haitian flag on May 18, 1803, the day has
been observed as Haitian Flag Day to Haitian Americans throughout the
diaspora. This day has become a source of pride synonymous with unity
and a symbol of freedom and individual liberty for Haitian people.
Later this week, I will introduce legislation to commemorate this
historic and celebrative event. The 18th of May, Haitian Flag Day, is
the most celebrated holiday in Haiti.
Just to put this day in context for most Americans, there are some
historical facts that I would like to share with you.
When Napoleon Bonaparte envisioned a great French empire in the New
World, he had hoped to use the Mississippi Valley as a food and trade
center to supply the island of Hispaniola. First, he had to restore
French control of Hispaniola, where Haitian slaves under Toussaint
L'Ouverture had seized power. Napoleon soon realized that Hispaniola
must be abandoned. Accordingly, in April of 1803, he offered to sell
Louisiana to the United States.
President Thomas Jefferson had already sent James Monroe and Robert
R. Livingston to Paris to negotiate the purchase of a tract of land in
the lower Mississippi, or at least guarantee of free navigation of the
river. Surprised and delighted by the French offer of the whole
territory, they immediately negotiated the treaty.
At one stroke, the United States would double in its size, an
enormous tract of land would be open to settlement, and the free
navigation of the Mississippi would be assured.
Although the Constitution did not specifically empower the Federal
Government to acquire new territory by treaty, Jefferson concluded that
the practical benefits to the Nation far outweighed the possible
violation of the Constitution. The Senate concurred with this decision
and voted ratification October 20, 1803, this all precipitated by the
revolution of freed slaves on the island of Haiti.
The Spanish, who had never given up a physical possession of
Louisiana to the French, did so in a ceremony at New Orleans on
November 30, 1803. And in a second ceremony December 20, 1803, the
French turned Louisiana over to the United States.
I would like to also honor those brave Haitians who fought for
American independence at the siege of Savannah, Georgia, in 1779: The
Chasseurs-Volontaires de Saint-Domingue, a regiment of soldiers who
formed one-tenth of the allied army before Savannah in the fall of
1779. This unit was comprised of over 500 free men of color from the
island of Haiti and was the largest unit of men of African descent to
fight in the American revolution.
The battle of Savannah, on October 9, 1779, reminds us that
significant foreign resources of men, money and material contributed to
the eventual success of the cause of American independence.
The presence of the Chasseurs-Volontaires de Saint Domingue was made
up of free men who volunteered for this expedition is startling to most
people and surprising to most historians.
Men of African heritage were to be found on most battlefields of the
revolution in large numbers. A subsequent unit of Haitians was part of
the French and Spanish campaign against Pensacola, where they faced
some of the same regiments of British troops that their comrades faced
in Savannah.
Haiti, much smaller in population than the United States, was
attacked by armies as large as those sent against America by Britain.
The Haitian victory over the legions of Napoleon was achieved with much
less foreign assistance than the United States enjoyed.
It is these types of historical events put in the context of our
Nation today that we celebrate with the Haitian Americans in diaspora,
their accomplishments and achievements in the growth and development of
our Nation.
Many key figures in the Haitian War of Independence gained military
experience and political insights through their participation in
Savannah, most notably Henri Christophe, a youth at the time, but, in
his adult years, a general of Haitian armies and King of his nation for
14 years.
There is little appreciation in the United States for the events that
led to the formation of the Haitian nation. Influenced by both the
events of the American Revolution and the rhetoric of the French
Revolution, the people of Haiti began a struggle for self-government
and liberty.
The first nation in the Western Hemisphere to form a government led
by people of African descent, it was also the first nation to renounce
slavery.
The Haitian national flag is indisputably a symbol of general pride
whose origin is tightly linked to a history of struggle for freedom.
As you all already know, the Haitian flag was first presented in 1802
when Haiti was fighting against the French for independence and it was
realized that both armies fought under the same flag.
After the modification of the flag in 1807, the phrase ``L'UNION FAIT
LA FORCE'', meaning that through unity we find strength, was re-
adopted.
The Haitian constitution of 1987 describes the new flag as: Two (2)
equal-sized horizontal bands: a blue one on top and a red one
underneath; The coat of arms of the Republic shall be placed in the
center on a white square; The coat of arms of the Republic will be a
Palm tree surmounted by the liberty cap and under the palms a trophy
with the legend: In Union there is Strength;
This weekend, I joined with hundreds of my Haitian constituents as we
celebrated Haitian Flag Day together. For as long as I can remember,
Haitians have gathered in my district of Brooklyn, NY to recognize this
historic day.
I ask my colleagues to please join me in recognizing the world's
oldest black republic and the second-oldest republic in the Western
Hemisphere celebrate the ideals of unity, strength and freedom embedded
in the Haitian Flag by becoming a co-sponsor of the Haitian Flag Day
resolution.
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