The current failed state of Haiti was originally part of the Spanish Empire until 1697, when the western portion that is modern Haiti was ceded to France and became Saint-Domingue.
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It was the home of sugarcane plantations worked by enslaved Africans with the French settlers being outnumbered by slaves by almost 10 to 1. A large number of the slaves were able to retain many of their ties to African cultures, religion, and language with these ties continually being renewed by newly imported Africans.
