January 1 in History

On 1 January 1804, Jean-Jacques Dessalines proclaimed the independence of Haiti, ending more than a decade of revolution in the French colony of Saint-Domingue. The new state was the first republic led by formerly enslaved people and the second independent nation in the Americas, after the United States. It was also the only country born from a successful large-scale slave revolt, a fact that shook the Atlantic world and shaped its politics for generations.

The North American Free Trade Agreement took effect on January 1, 1994, creating one of the world's largest trading blocs by joining the economies of the United States, Canada, and Mexico. It phased out most tariffs and many other barriers to trade and investment among the three countries over roughly fifteen years. Its effects on jobs, wages, agriculture, and migration have been debated ever since, and it remains a touchstone in arguments over globalization.