a803: Uncle Tom saint - not Haitian? (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Maxmanigat@aol.com

Let me remind everyone that calling any person born in Saint-Domingue (a
French colony 1697-1803) a Haitian is a stretch of the imagination. How could
there be Haitians without a country called Haiti. Furthermore, according to
the Code Noir , only free non-whites were granted French citizenship in
Saint-Domingue. Obviously, Pierre Toussaint was neither French nor Haitian
when he came to the United States.

I understand that for sentimental reasons many Haitians want Pierre Toussaint
to be a Haitian but nationality is the result of a law not feelings.