Human Geographical Factors and Social Systems
Human Geography is defined as the activities of human beings and its impact on the society and the earth in general. Human geography is a key indicator and pointer that can and has been used to explain trends in societies and communities. According to Jared Diamond, societies and how they rise and collapse can be linked to a number of human geographic factors which influences the way societies are ran and can be analyzed. This is mainly due to the fact that society is based on livelihood and a reliance on the environment. Thus, human geography identifies these collective demands and expectations and is used to key in a presentation of how societies converge and decline. The purpose of this paper is to identify how Human Geographical factors can be used to explain trends in countries and societies. To this end, the research will examine the case of Haiti and Dominica Republic as per the works of Jared Diamond.
Jared Diamond identifies a five-point framework of Human Geography can be used to understand societal society:
Human impact on environment and natural resources;
Climate change;
Relations with neighboring friendly societies
Relations with hostile societies;
Political, economic, social and cultural systems of the society that can help to solve problems
In relation to Haiti and Dominica, it is apparent that environmental and natural factors are the most important. This is followed by the relations with hostile societies, which happens to be the European colonizers of the two countries. This is followed by relations with neighboring friendly countries. These three pointers inform the political, economic, social and cultural systems which define the main framework and system of the two nations and explains why Dominican Republic has a Gross Domestic Product of $12,600 in 2015 whilst Haiti has a mere $1,730 in GDP. These economic issues are affected and have been affected by elements of human geography which influences these nations.
Human geography brings together the basic elements and aspects for the creation of various communities and societies where civilizations and community thrives and grows. This is based on the human factors, history, culture and a variety of variables that can be used as a basis for understanding current trends and also predicting the future of a community to explaining why things tend to happen in the society. Therefore, on the basis of this, Diamond identifies that there are various elements and features that can be used to critique given society.
Natural and Environmental Factors
He begins his submissions by identifying that Haiti and Dominican Republic are two communities and societies that are on the same island but divided by a straight boundary line that was determined by history. Although the two countries are on the same latitude, they tend to have different social and economic circumstances. The first and most significant environment difference is in the fact that Haiti, which is on the west side of the country is on the leeward side of the island. The implication is that the rain-bearing clouds that are formed on the Atlantic Ocean deposit all their rain on the windward side – which is where the Dominican Republic is located. Due to this, the western part of the island where Haiti is located gets little or no rainfall. This explains the fundamental environmental differences between the two countries located on the same island.
Therefore, the implication of the climatic factors of Haiti means that one has to work extra hard to achieve the same yield as a farmer on Haiti than on Dominican Republic. This is because Dominican Republic is very well watered and the country has a richer vegetation which lends itself to a lot of agricultural wealth. The solution the Haitians could have is to pursue a strong irrigation system. However, this is a socio-economic and technological matter. This requires a lot of investments to make the island self-sufficient and also export as much as Dominican Republic. Therefore, the environment creates a major watershed that causes the economic and other inequalities between the two nations on the same island.
Relations to Hostile Neighbors (early Colonial History)
The second most important and significant variable is the history of the two nations. The philosophies used for the founding of the two nations are extremely different. This is something that can be critiqued under Human Geography and its sociological elements. The island of Hispaniola was discovered by Christopher Columbus who was given the Spanish rights to colonize it. Therefore, the first settlers were the Spaniards who settled on the east of the island where Dominican Republic was located.
French settlers established a colony in Hispaniola in 1654 when French businessmen moved to the northwest of the island and founded the nucleus of the settlement that became Hispaniola. The Spaniards did not pay so much attention to the French settlement because it was at a part of the island that was of no value because it was dry all year round. The French realized it will not be possible to make any success in agriculture on the island. However, they saw an opportunity of establishing farms that will require intensive labor. Since there was the option of getting Black West Africans to work on those farms, they sought to sell the lands to wealthy French investors who used French slave masters to lord over the Africans on the western part of the island. Meanwhile, the Dominican Republic remained under Spanish rule. There were native Spaniards who settled on the island and maintained a Spanish presence on the Dominican side of the island.
The Spaniard colonization project was much more humane than the colonization in Haiti which was based on threats and violence. Landowners did not live in what is now Haiti. The slave masters were given quotas from France and they had to ensure the slaves provided them. This created animosity in many ways between the slaves and slave masters. On the other hand, French-Spanish wars were fought regularly and Hispaniola became an element of conquest within those wars.
Eventually a successful slave revolution ensued in 1804 where Haitian slaves took advantage of a weakened France which was struggling to thrive after the French Revolution. The Haitian slave revolution led to the first independent French colony. However, Spain and Portugal were occupied by Napoleon Bonaparte who caused Spain and Portugal to lose their colonies in the New World. On the other hand, the Haitian revolution spilled into Dominica where the Haitians captured the entire island. However, Dominicans took over power on their side of the island and pushed back the Haitians to the west of the island. The Dominicans eventually declared their nation independent and this led to the division. Dominican Republic was somewhat a multiracial nation whilst Haiti was predominantly African with Black people dominating national affairs.
The nature with which Dominican Republic was formed indicated that they viewed Haitians as outsiders who might have the desire to invade their land. This caused them to hold on to national treasures like industries, ports and fertile lands. This hostility also meant that Haitians were isolated and were denied all opportunities in the land. The Haitians remained cut off.
Relations with Friendly Countries
Every nation needs to cooperate with other nations and communities. This depends on many variables including diplomatic factors and various alignment processes and procedures. Dominican Republic as a Spanish nation had connections and links with many Spanish nations in the region. Almost all nations in South America and Central America speak Spanish. With a common history shared with these nations, Dominica could trade and build strong links with all these countries. This caused them to set up numerous industries and make them grow and thrive.
On the other hand, Haiti remained a French-speaking nation. The French had very few colonies in the New World. Therefore, Haiti was highly isolated. Secondly, Haiti had issues with France who sanctioned them and refused to have any positive relations with them throughout the 19th and early 20th Century. Thirdly, Haitians are viewed to be people who were considered non-Catholic because they were always suspected of practicing African religions or voodoo which make them viewed as enemies in the New World. This hampered their relations with other nations in the region and made it difficult for them to interact with other nations and communities in the New World.
Meanwhile, Dominicans were able to interact with other people and nations in the region. They were seen as mixed Afro-Europeans and this made them more accepted in Latin America as opposed to Haitians who were mainly looked more like full-blooded Africans and spoke French Creole which was neither French nor an African nation. All of this caused them to have a difficult way of relating to other nations. This made it hard for them to also migrate and go to other nations and have investments there. On the other hand, Dominican elites could go to all nations in Latin America and even go to Europe and the United States where they were welcomed and made to live there peacefully without issues as foreign people.
Furthermore, Dominican Republic was able to invite investors from Europe to come into their country to invest and make money. They were attracted by the agricultural wealth that came from the ability of ordinary Europeans to sell their homes in Europe in the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s to move into Dominica, buy land for cheap and conduct large-scale farming which guaranteed their wealth. This is because there was relative prosperity in the Americas in the interwar period and export was good. Therefore, Dominica laid the foundation of exporting large quantities of avocados and other products to the United States and other parts of Latin America where they became very rich. This allowed Dominica to become a popular destination for investors.
Furthermore, Dominica was the only nation that was willing to accept Jewish refugees from Nazi Germany in the 1930s when they were told to leave. The Jews in Germany were very well educated and had strong skills and competencies. This allowed them to become nation-developers. Therefore, a large number of Jews moved into Dominica where they were able to invest and contribute to nation-building and the advancement of the Dominican economy and nation.
On the other hand, Haiti was not very much blessed in agriculture. Due to the environmental matters, one required twice the effort in Dominican Republic to achieve results. Due to this and poor international economic relations, Haiti was not able to invite investors and it remained relatively unattractive to investors from Europe. Export was not so huge so Haitians were kept in isolation and poverty. Tourism in Haiti for instance was not so great in the 20th Century and their connection to Europe and the United States was not so significant. This caused Haiti to develop rather slowly and become just like any other African nation that had to rely mainly on aid due to the lack of developmental structures and systems.
Political, Economic, Social & Cultural Systems of both Nations
As identified above, the inherent environmental circumstances, and the historical variables as well as the economic and international connection with other nations laid the foundation for the human geography of the two nations. And this identifies and predicts the trends and processes that exist in the two nations.
Politically, both nations came under the control of dictators but the difference lies in the original ideas of the two leaders. Whilst Trujillo sought to modernize the Dominican Republic, his counterpart, Duvalier in Haiti focused on holding on to power without any plans to industrialize or modernize Haiti. The plans and agenda of Trujillo created a system whereby puppet presidents could be put in power. However, he concentrated on westernizing the country and modernizing the infrastructure to European level. This was not the case with Duvalier who was focused on suppressing and terrorizing his country.
Both countries had brief periods of political instability after their dictators were kicked out of power. However, Dominican Republic was able to build on the blueprints of the founding fathers. The idea was to set high world-class and European standards for Dominican Republic. On the other hand, Haiti remained isolated. There were numerous plans on discouraging elitism as this was seen as a threat to the Papa Doc and his son, Baby Doc who were both dictators in their own right. There are many nations in the modern world who have embarked on a similar plan whereby the countries focused on creating a system whereby the vast majority remained uneducated. Through illiteracy, such dictators were able to hold on to power and authority without being questioned. However, in the long-run such situations led to major setbacks in development and growth and this was the case with Haiti.
On the other hand, Dominican Republic grew and enhanced their developmental systems and they encouraged better systems and processes of developing. There was a system through which investments could be harnessed and development could be encouraged. Therefore, these became the blueprints for the Dominican society which is not the case with Haiti which has remained under suppression by its dictators who do little or nothing for the islanders.
Dominica in it challenging situation took reasonable measures to protect its environment. This ensured that agriculture remained very viable and they did not destroy the environment. On the other hand, Haiti remained a mountainous society. Like Israel and other nations where irrigation and other methods were used to reclaim land, Haiti could have done a lot to save its environment. However, in the period of the rule of the Duvalier dictatorship, there was little done to that end. The society remained as it is and instead, people were encouraged to embrace land as peasants. This caused them to live in rural areas and accept the idea of being impoverished as a natural part of life.
On the other hand, Dominica’s period of post-dictatorship was used to promote urbanization but in a responsible manner where the environment was spared. Rather, dams were built and there was more energy that could spur the economy on without issues. This aided in the modernization of the country significantly.
Conclusion
This research establishes that natural environmental factors, relationship with hostile outsiders and relationships with friendly foreign nations formulate the order in which the human geographical factors evolved to explain the socio-economic differences between Haiti and Dominican Republic. Although the two nations are on the same island, Haiti is on the leeward side of the island whilst Dominican Republic is on the windward side of the island. Furthermore, Haiti had a rough and violent history based on slavery, a bloody revolution, and loss of relations with the international French Empire. On the other hand, Dominican Republic was one of many Spanish countries to gain independence at the same time. They had to fight off the Haitians and move them back to the west of the island. After independence, Dominica had a relationship with other Spanish nations in Latin America and built links with Europe and the United States due to their productive agriculture. Haiti remained isolated and could not build friendly relationships with many nation. These points shaped the politics of the 19th and 20th Century where both nations had dictators. However, Dominica had a dictator who laid the foundation for modernization whilst Haiti had a self-preserving president. This explains the foundation of why the GDP of the Dominican Republic is almost 8 times more than Haiti today and Haiti is one of the poorest countries in the world whilst Dominican Republic is an upper-middle class nation.
Works Cited
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