Haiti is the forgotten place of the Americas. Not far from the coast of the world's only hyperpower and in a relatively stable region, the country is the poorest in the hemisphere, and U.N. peacekeepers patrol the streets. But there is another side to Haiti, a side that still inspires fierce loyalty among its people. Through a 12-year revolution that pitted untrained former slaves against professional soldiers, Haiti won its independence from France in 1804, fending off the British, Spanish and the troops of Napoleon Bonaparte. It emerged as only the second American republic to throw off colonial rule and the first with a black ruling class. The nation has also made more peaceful contributions to history. Iconic French author Alexandre Dumas was the grandson of a Haitian slave, and John James Audubon was born on a sugar plantation on the island....
