#957: Haiti Coffee Dominance: DeGraff gives sources

[Robert Corbett <bcorbett@netcom.com>]

From: Michel DeGraff <degraff@MIT.EDU>


Re:


> I have been saying that Haiti was at one time the largest producer of
> coffee in the world.  I even pulled a similar line from articles written
> in l997, in various newspapers.  Unfortunately, I have not been able to
> track down stronger references to substantiate this claim.  Do you have
> any suggestions?

One handy reference is M.-R. Trouillot's (1993) _Haiti: State against
Nation_ (New York: Monthly Review Press).  On page 37, Trouillot writes:

 "By 1789, Saint-Domingue was producing about 60% of the coffee sold in the
 Western world and by the end of the century , it held world production
 records for both sugar and coffee, becoming --- at least from the point of
 view of the French mercantilists --- the most profitable colony in the
 world" 

Trouillot also cites an earlier article of his: "Motion in the system:
Coffee, color, and slavery in Eighteen-Century Saint-Domingue".  In
_Review_ 5, no 3, pp 331-388.

Hope this helps,

                                 -michel.
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