January 1, 1804, marked a watershed in world history. For the first time, a revolution by enslaved people, who were of African descent, ended with the creation of a nation. Haiti thus became the second country in the Americas--succeeding the United States by a mere 28 years--to achieve independence. Haiti subsequently both inspired and supported other people elsewhere in the Caribbean, Latin America, and Africa in their quest for self-determination. And 200 years later, Haiti still calls on us to recognize the eternal value of freedom, as well as the costs of sustaining it.

Ayti, in the language of the indigenous Tainos, means "mountainous land." Haitian mountains are symbols of revolt, rebellion, and resistance, as Tainos and later enslaved Africans who fled the inhumane conditions on the coastal plains sought refuge in the mountains. From there, an army led by former slaves Toussaint Louverture and Jean-Jacques Dessalines liberated the French colony of Saint-Domingue.