History, present and future of Haiti On January 12, 2010, at 4.53 pm local time, Haiti was shaken by a violent earthquake measuring 7.0 on the Reichter scale. The immediate event shook a vast area with its epicenter near Lougane, about 16 miles from the Haitian capital of Port Au Prince. Subsequently, widespread shock waves were recorded in an area with a radius of 50 miles (Farmer & Mukherjee, 2011). The Haitian government report estimates the total number of missing people and those whose bodies have been found to be more than 300,000. Additionally, more than 3 million people have been displaced from their homes. Various international agencies have discredited the government's estimates as grossly overestimated, placing the death toll between 100,000 and 160,000 (Varadarajan, 2010). Four years after the disaster, more than 1.5 million Haitians were still living in camps at the end of 2013. This article will explore Haiti's history as it relates to its relations with foreign nations, particularly France and the United States, and how that history has manifested itself since. of the Haiti earthquake to render the country unable to contain the catastrophe four years later, despite considerable international aid (Office of the Historian, USA, 2014). France colonized Haiti from 1660 and invested considerably in slave colonies and other property. The 12-year Haitian Revolution led to the partial liberation of Haiti from France (Dionne, 2004). However, the French sent an expedition of warships and tanks to Haiti in 1825 to negotiate payments by Haiti to France in war reparations in 1825, totaling 150 million francs ($21 billion). In exchange, France promised to recognize Haiti's independence and sovereignty. Evidently the negotiations did not take place on an object...... middle of paper......2011). Haiti after the earthquake. Available at http://books.google.com/books?id=ESy2x-3xCtoC&printsec=frontcover&dq=haiti&hl=en&sa=X&ei=qdepU8__BOn_4QT1o4CICQ&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=haiti&f=false Office of the Historian, United States (2014). US invasion and occupation of Haiti, 1915-1934. Available at https://history.state.gov/milestones/1914-1920/haiti Smitha (2009). Haiti, 1789 to 1806. Available at http://www.fsmitha.com/h3/h34-np2.html Varadarajan, T. (2010). Because the Haiti earthquake is France's problem. The daily beast. http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2010/01/14/why-haitis-earthquake-is-frances-problem.html Willens, K. (2011). François Duvalier. The New York Times. Available at http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/d/francois_duvalier/index.html?inline=nyt-perFrancois Wroughton, L, (2010). The World Bank cancels Haiti's remaining debt. Reuters