1492–1994: (The Sovereignty of Information and Lost Archives): The documentation of the Haitian experience is hampered by the systematic destruction of inter…

1492–1994: (The Sovereignty of Information and Lost Archives): The documentation of the Haitian experience is hampered by the systematic destruction of internal records through fire, explosion, and colonial pilferage. From the explosion of the National Palace in 1869 to the loss of the 1804 Act of Independence to foreign collectors, the nation’s primary historical evidence has been scattered or erased. To reconstruct this history, the authors were forced to look through the “backbone” of diplomatic archives in Washington, London, and Paris. This reliance on foreign observers represents a “Thucydidean” challenge, where the true Haitian story must be distilled from the reports of external powers. By verifying only what can be found in these credible sources, the text seeks to cut through a “lush jungle of myth” that has obscured the real Haiti for centuries.