Didn’t read the link or do your own research, did you?
1700s-1800s. Not 1600s lol! At least get your centuries right!
Haiti was rich — the wealth was distributed VERY unevenly, due to slavery, which was the reason for Toussant Louverture’s revolt. But, it was rich. It had exports galore. It had all the elements needed to succeed as a free and independent state modeled on the American Revolution, which is what it was. The second successful anti-colonial revolution in the Western Hemisphere.
It was hobbled by one crippling fact — America was still a slaveowning country and many were determined to see it fail, or else its shining success would inspire slave revolts in the States.
The U.S. has also intervened in Haitian affairs under dubious pretenses at other points in its history, including a decades-long occupation.
Of all the disgusting things America has done in its history, the complete backstabbing of Haiti has gotta be up there as one of the absolute worst. It dovetails with our own original sin of black enslavement.
How’s that for some Critical Race Theory (TM).