The strange thing about being Haitian American is that I was born in a country that doesn't

acknowledge the dignity of the country my parents were born in.

I figured maybe a lot of children of immigrants feel that way, but Haiti in particular always

seems to be presented in the media as a burden on the U.S., a country the U.S. just keeps

pouring donations into but doesn't get anything back in return.

But I recently learned about a monument in Savannah, Georgia built to commemorate a time when

Haitians were the one doing the helping. In 1779, around 800 soldiers from the island we

now call Haiti arrived on the shores of Savannah, Georgia. They were free men,

but coming wasn't necessarily their choice. You see, Haiti was a French colony at the time.

France and Britain were rivals, so the French sent these Haitian soldiers to Savannah, Georgia

to help the Americans in the Revolutionary War against the British. The French saw it as a win-win.

They can send soldiers to fight their enemy, and the soldiers wouldn't have to be French men.

But as the revolutionary forces prepared for a battle, a battle that would later be known as

the Siege of Savannah, they told these Haitian men to stay at camp and essentially do busy work,

like digging and moving around supplies. The Americans didn't want to fight alongside these men,

or share the glory of the victory that they were expecting from the battle.

But then, the Patriots started losing, badly, and they desperately needed help.

And who do you think they called?

I'm Baudelaire, and this is Atlas Obscura. A celebration of the world's strange,

incredible, and wondrous places. Today, we visit Savannah, Georgia, and its Haitian monument,

built to commemorate the Haitian soldiers who came to the rescue of Patriots,

refused to respect them.

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