How the first Black republic was forced to pay its former enslavers — and why this story still defines the global reparations debate France and Haiti: The Indemnity That Rewrote a Nation’s Future The morning the horizon darkened In late April 1825, the people of Port‑au‑Prince watched the sea with growing unease. At first, the shapes on the horizon looked like distant clouds. Then the outlines sharpened into sails. And finally, unmistakably, into French warships. Haiti had be