Tribute to African-Americans in Samana

[Ricardo900]

What you posit, is again as pointed out by Quisqueya, a divide and conquer mentality. What Boyer was talking about is a country with "freed people of colour." This is an idea that can be intrepreted as that as a people of color we are human, independent, and self-actualized. The fact that wealthy businessmen of color opted to come to DR is just a self-fulfilling prophecy, in action, of what Boyer wanted to see happen. These men of color were already at the cutting edge of the tenuous racial equation of their times.

"Haitianizing" as you frame it comes with a national identity, culture, etc. An identity that was in evolution; in fact, an identity still evolving.

Remember, most people live what they know. It takes a extraordinary effort to welcome change. I think these people that moved to Samana practiced selective change. Nothing more, nothing less. No need to read into it more than what it is because to do so just serves to promote a hatred agenda that gets us nowhere.

Best
Deelt

I hope you didn't mis-interpret my intentions on that post. I was showing Quisqueya that Boyer also had a plan to migrate blacks in Haiti in addition to Samana. Due to the fact that there may not be any descendants of the original migrants left, due to their assimilatory policy toward the freed slaves who came over to Haiti from 1824 to 1866 and other factors. Now the reference to "Haitianizing" was coined by the original migrants, not me. They felt that they should be able to practice their own religion and way of life. Good ole fashion US 1st Amendment "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

No need to read into it more than what it is because to do so just serves to promote a hatred agenda that gets us nowhere.

I am American born, father from Curacao and mother from America, so I have no agenda towards anyone and I am not trying to promote hatred, all of my references in this matter is well documented in the link Dolores posted above.

I don't think this thread was started in the Debate Forum, and I don't want to turn this informative thread into another "DR vs. Haiti" but if you would like to start a new thread in the Debate Forum on this topic, please be my guest.

Regards
Ricardo

 

[Dominicanidentity]

A point of information worthy of consideration: the African American settlers arrived in Hispaniola in 1824-25, 20 years or so before the Dominican Republic was founded in 1844. I noticed some of you refer to this migration as arriving in the Dominican Republic.

Since different groups settled in different parts of the island, it is safe to refer to this particular migration as arriving in Hispaniola, as indicated in documentary in reference here (some prefer to say arriving in Haiti)

I will contribute more about this issue tonight after my workday. Thanks. Nestor

 

[deelt]

No no interest in debating. Don't have the time and can't afford the effort.
I didn't mean to infer that you had a hatred agenda. My apologies. But what you said can be misinterpreted by people who do.

You quote a US constitutional ammendment to define Haitianizing. Again, the word haitianizing is reflective of a country in the midst of nation building. a process that is still occuring as we speak. It is a self-defined/self-imposed label, as you point out. But with time this has taken on a negative/derogatory connotation; it's a label manipulated by those with vested interest in seen a downtrodden country stay as is.

No disrespect intended. My time is such that it is a luxury for me to post on DR1. So I prefer to keep things respectful and neutral.

I hope you didn't mis-interpret my intentions on that post. I was showing Quisqueya that Boyer also had a plan to migrate blacks in Haiti in addition to Samana. Due to the fact that there may not be any descendants of the original migrants left, due to their assimilatory policy toward the freed slaves who came over to Haiti from 1824 to 1866 and other factors. Now the reference to "Haitianizing" was coined by the original migrants, not me. They felt that they should be able to practice their own religion and way of life. Good ole fashion US 1st Amendment "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."



I am American born, father from Curacao and mother from America, so I have no agenda towards anyone and I am not trying to promote hatred, all of my references in this matter is well documented in the link Dolores posted above.

I don't think this thread was started in the Debate Forum, and I don't want to turn this informative thread into another "DR vs. Haiti" but if you would like to start a new thread in the Debate Forum on this topic, please be my guest.

Regards
Ricardo

 

[deelt]

Hi Nestor

Thanks for the correction. However, I see it as a point of semantics. The point I made is still the same. Good to see you are doing well.

Take Care,
Deelt

A point of information worthy of consideration: the African American settlers arrived in Hispaniola in 1824-25, 20 years or so before the Dominican Republic was founded in 1844. I noticed some of you refer to this migration as arriving in the Dominican Republic.

Since different groups settled in different parts of the island, it is safe to refer to this particular migration as arriving in Hispaniola, as indicated in documentary in reference here (some prefer to say arriving in Haiti)

I will contribute more about this issue tonight after my workday. Thanks. Nestor

 

[Quisqueya]

Ricardo,

Thanks for the link and info. I really appreciate it but I hope you understand my initial point. It appears as people are trying to make Boyer seem like he wanted to populated Spanish Haiti(present day DR) with blacks for the sole purpose of darkening the eastern side of the island which is NOT true. Boyer intentions was to have an island where people of colour can break the chains of slavery and take control of their own destiny as a complete man not 3/5 of a man (part of the american constitution).

Not to get off the topic of Samana but blacks from South America found refuge on the island as well as a side note the Venezuelan,Colombian(Gran Colombia) flag was actually made in Jacmel Haiti were Bolivar resided. At that time the Spanish Haitian flag (present day dominican) was the same as the present Venezuelan flag. Ok I am getting way off course but I pointed this out to explain my point which is the ideologies of the Haitian government was that haiti was the "Promise Land" for all people who were OPRESSED. Nat Turner (slave rebellion in 1831) envisioned a "Promise Land" that existed in his time was Ayiti but unfortunately didnt not make it there and was hanged then skinned..

Note: look at the dates of the Nat Turners' vision is it a coincidence..who knows?

Ok, back to the samanese blacks in the DR. Again I commend the efforts to bring this amazing story to the forefront which will hopefully open the eyes of many people.


Deelt,

Thank you for elaborating regarding "haitianization"...which to me makes me skeptical..Of course the africans living in america were different and had a rough time adapting. It would be the the samething today if we take Tyrone from Harlem and plant him with his family in Los Minas for several months..I'm sure he would complain about being dominicanised and prefer to go back home. Some people will adapt and others will not..its all in the mind set of the beholder..look at present day immigrant population in the USA today..some people have been here over 20 yrs and can't speak english and complain about americans being rude to them because the dont speak spanish..


Ricardo

one more thing..Why did you mention the 1st amendment I am quite sure it didn't apply to the africans living in America(3/5 of a man).. Just to use you as an example..Your dad from Curacao WILLINGLY came here while those samanese blacks came to america by force and were considered property.. Big difference, but thanks for the links makes me want to go to Samana..Hopefully, more people will do the same..ONe more note, there are many haitians with english, dutch, german, surnames as well besides the norm, french and spanish.. And one more thing Henri Christoph wasn't born in Haiti rather Grenada (British caribbean island) and spoke english as his native langauge but is embraced as one of the greatest Haitian leaders but technically wasn't even Haitian..maybe he was haitianized...je ne sais pas.. I guess that would make King Christoph a "cocolo".

Have a blessed day everyone...and good job for bring this to the forefront..although the US will definitely not give the samanese people citizenship they should at least build english school and community centers to revive the area..that is the least they could do..

 

[Ricardo900]

Ricardo,
one more thing..Why did you mention the 1st amendment I am quite sure it didn't apply to the africans living in America(3/5 of a man)..

The reason that I mentioned it was to emphasize that the migrants did not intend to fully assimilate into Haitian society by practicing Catholicism and/or Voodoo, nor to forego their English language and culture. Even though they were not entitled to the "Bill of Rights", I believe they had a basic understanding on the freedoms it gives individuals and they wanted those freedoms in Samana, Haiti, Liberia, etc... The history and customs of the Samanese still thrives today, because they were pretty much left alone to live as they see fit. Also, I apologize for any negative connotation by referencing the term "Haitianizing"

Ricardo

 

[NALs]

Many afro-americans decided to return to america during various the phases of emigrating to Haiti and the ones that stayed were assimilated into Haitian culture and pretty much disappeared from the radar.

Ricardo,

Many afro-americans also moved to other islands of the Caribbean, all of them did not returned to the United States. This certainly was the case with a group from Puerto Plata who decided to relocate themselves to the Turks and Caicos due to the growing concern of their ethnic identity and the will of the Haitian soldiers and ruling elite at that time.

Additionally, all of those who stayed in the DR did not assimilated into Haitian culture. I won't be surprised if some did, but the fact that their culture still survives in Samana is a testament that those who stayed continued to refuse any attempts of Haitianization from the Haitian authorities.

Moreover, the hispanic culture of the Dominicans never really went away, even during the Haitian occupation. It could very possibly be that many of the US immigrants united with the Spanish speaking Dominicans at that time. This assumption is simply based on human nature and the cohesion that erupts among people who feel oppressed, regardless of their differences.

-NALs

 

[bienamor]

Have a blessed day everyone...and good job for bring this to the forefront..although the US will definitely not give the samanese people citizenship they should at least build english school and community centers to revive the area..that is the least they could do..

Not sure where you are going with this, but these people immigrated to another country willingly, so why x number of generations later are they owed anything from the country they left?

This would be like Japan coming to the DR to build schools, community centers for The Japanese that imigrated to the DR. It was their choice to leave so why would Japan owe them anything?

 

[asopao]

Boyer once said " Whites, Mulattoes,and Blacks, all shall be equal and true Haitians". Quisqueya is right, Boyer even considered Whites to be Haitians, as long as they followed his concept of racial equality.

 

[Dolores1]

Let's try to keep this post on the English-speaking settlers and their lives once they migrated here.

 

[Ken]

Thanks for getting the thread back on track, Dolores.

It seems from the reference material I have that one reason for the success of the Samana contingent was their use of the Protestant work ethic as a means of gaining relative prosperity. Rather than living in tight quarters, like so many Dominicans did at that time, they worked long and hard to build two and three bedroom homes.

Also, they benefitted from the "modern" tools they brought with them from the US, mainly hatchets, axes and machetes that were rare at that time in the Dominican countryside. One of the articles I have indicates they were able to grow enough to be able to export food to the lesser Antilles.

Also, to appreciate the success of the Samana settlement, the role of education can't be underestimated. The settlers built schools and placed a particular emphasis on education.

George Lewis Judd, who operated Samana's schoolhouse in the latter part of the 1800s, said that, "Parents here are very much interested in educating their children and are willing to walk for many kilometers to sell even just ten cents of goods so that they can come to buy a reading book to educate their children.

"All my students speak English......they know Spanish and French Creole. And hearing them speak Spanish and French Creole on the street, one is surprised to see them read and write in English."

For that time, the Samana community had a high intellectual level.

 

[Quisqueya]

Dolores & Ken,

Sorry for getting off course regarding the subject matter but I feel one must know the reasons why these american africans migrated to Samana. We can't just focus solely on their lives while in Samana..these american africans were different because their culture & religion upbringing was formed in the USA.

Now I think the Samanese identity and culture survived for so long because of simple fact they where a niched community & applied the Bible in their everyday lives unlike these days when they just preach without practicing it. Ken machetes where on that island b4 they (samanese) got to the island..Think about what did the slaves used to cut sugarcanes in the fields? Another reason I think these group of people preserved their american culture was because they were left alone to do whatever they pleased without too much interference and also the location.


Again thank you for sharing these articles and bringing OUR-story to life...

 

[Quisqueya]

Not sure where you are going with this, but these people immigrated to another country willingly, so why x number of generations later are they owed anything from the country they left?

This would be like Japan coming to the DR to build schools, community centers for The Japanese that imigrated to the DR. It was their choice to leave so why would Japan owe them anything?

Bienamor, mi amor

These people migrated willingly because of their circumstances in the present day USA..Free negros where being captured and resold in to slavery in the good ol' South.. Maybe these negros options were limited..

Besides, USA at that present time didn't know what to do with the free negros..they were a threat because they might influence the enslaved negros. Thus, sending them to haiti or Liberia was a win win situation..

Bienamor it would be least the USA government can do..especially from a intellectual aspect and perserving this history..many young african americans in the USA & dominicans & haitians can see that they've been living around each other for a long time not just in Harlem. solamente mi punto de vista.

 

[Dolores1]

John Collins promises more research. He writes:

"It is interesting how the initiative in New York has brought more attention to the community. I will be seeing Valerie Smith at the annual meeting of the Caribbean Studies Assn in Trinidad end of May. It would be nice for those interested in pursuing this subject to consider organizing a panel on the community at a future meeting of the CSA. I notice some recent entries on how the expenses of the American exslaves to travel to the DR were provided. Every one I've spoken to over the years has stated that the Haitian government underwrote the initiative with the receipts of the coffee shipments to Philadelphia at the time. Another interesting aspect is the religious one since the immigrants were Wesleyan Methodists & later they came under the influence of the AME (African Methodist Episcopal) church.

After the CSA meeting in Trinidad in May, I plan to go back to Samana to pursue this fascinating subject before it disappears from our attention." - John Collins

 

[aegap]

How doe the proposed so-called Samana College picture into this?

It has some great pictures of the Willmore family lineage in DR.

 

[bienamor]

But still

Bienamor, mi amor

These people migrated willingly because of their circumstances in the present day USA..Free negros where being captured and resold in to slavery in the good ol' South.. Maybe these negros options were limited..

Besides, USA at that present time didn't know what to do with the free negros..they were a threat because they might influence the enslaved negros. Thus, sending them to haiti or Liberia was a win win situation..

Bienamor it would be least the USA government can do..especially from a intellectual aspect and perserving this history..many young african americans in the USA & dominicans & haitians can see that they've been living around each other for a long time not just in Harlem. solamente mi punto de vista.

But they still left willingly with a prepaid ticket and a promise of support for the first year, Now if you were saying that the USA or in my example Japan wanted to help preserve the history, fine, but it is not owed to them, and thats my view.

Regardless of what the US policy, or laws at that time were, they still chose to leave, much like the ACS sponsering the move to Liberia, are you proposing that there should also be the same time of support for Liberia, or are you looking at on the Samana area. or also Mexico, Sierra Leone, Jamaica,Trinidad, and Canada, or any other country that black americans decided to move to.

http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/african/afam002.html

By establishing the colony in Africa, and naming it Liberia, a new country, thats really not any different than taking part of Palestine and calling it Israel.

 

[Exxtol]

But they still left willingly with a prepaid ticket and a promise of support for the first year, Now if you were saying that the USA or in my example Japan wanted to help preserve the history, fine, but it is not owed to them, and thats my view.

Regardless of what the US policy, or laws at that time were, they still chose to leave, much like the ACS sponsering the move to Liberia, are you proposing that there should also be the same time of support for Liberia, or are you looking at on the Samana area. or also Mexico, Sierra Leone, Jamaica,Trinidad, and Canada, or any other country that black americans decided to move to.

http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/african/afam002.html

By establishing the colony in Africa, and naming it Liberia, a new country, thats really not any different than taking part of Palestine and calling it Israel.

My favorite part of the link you provided with us from the library of congress was this quote........."Selling life memberships was a standard fund-raising practice of benevolent societies such as the American Colonization Society."

benevolent??? you've got to be kidding me.

 

[deelt]

Not sure what your point is, but these people that decided to come to Samana where already wealthy businessmen in their own right. This is what makes the story so powerful. A free ticket and the offer of free support was just the napa (aka the icing on the cake).

But they still left willingly with a prepaid ticket and a promise of support for the first year,

 

[Ken]

Not sure what your point is, but these people that decided to come to Samana where already wealthy businessmen in their own right. This is what makes the story so powerful. A free ticket and the offer of free support was just the napa (aka the icing on the cake).

deelt, where in the world did you get the idea that the blacks who settled in Samana were wealthy business men and women in the US?

 

[deelt]

For your immediate reference see post #28 by Ricardo900:

As reported by Loring Daniel Dewey:

"In 1824, the New York Colonization Society received a commitment from Haitian President Jean-Pierre Boyer to pay the passage of U.S. emigrants. Boyer also promised to support them for their first four months and to grant them land. The same year, African-American leaders, including wealthy Philadelphia businessman James Forten and Bishop Richard Allen, formed the Haytian Emigration Society of Coloured People. They arranged for the transportation of several hundred people, not only to Haiti but also to Santo Domingo, the Spanish-speaking western part of the island of Hispaniola that had been conquered by Haiti in 1822."

Also, check the following link from three and posting back:

http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/african/afam002.html

From this link you can infer that having financially independent blacks was a threat to the social and political fabric of slavery. These freed blacks were also likely to be recaptured and resold into slavery. This threatened their high quality of life. When we as a black community talk about old black money it is from this time period where the term comes from.

Lastly, while not everyone that migrated was wealthy, the leadership in this group, Forten and Allen, possessed sharp business acumen that you illustrated well enough in your own postings. You can review the political back drop of the times in Chapter 6 of Frank Moya Pons' The Dominican Republic: A National History (pref. in English, please) The Haitain government had the means to deliver and these smart businessmen recognized an excellent opportunity when they saw one.

deelt, where in the world did you get the idea that the blacks who settled in Samana were wealthy business men and women in the US?