Revelations from Boyer's Code Rural (1826)

I recently came across an English translation of President Boyer's Code Rural, accessed here, a set of laws passed in 1826 to increase agricultural production to raise money to pay massive debts imposed on Haiti due to Boyer's acceptance of an indemnity to France for official recognition. Translated into English by a British observer, who notes the parallels between forced labor embedded in the Code Rural and slavery, it is no surprise that the Code Rural was a failure. There was no way the Boyer regime had the centralized authority and technology to properly enforce these regulations that endeavored to control the labor and movement of the vast majority of the Haitian population (which included what is now Haiti and the Dominican Republic at the time, perhaps a total of 400,000 or 500,000 people on the second largest island in the Caribbean and covered with mountains and remote regions).

Moving on, the Code Rural defines itself as six laws. Law No. 1, pertaining to agriculture, defines "agriculture being the principal source of prosperity in a State, shall be protected and encouraged by the Civil and Military authorities" (1). Article 3 goes on, "It being the duty of every Citizen to aid in sustaining the State, either by his active services, or by his industry, those who arc not employed in the civil service, or called upon for the military service; those who do not exercise a licensed profession ; those who are not working artizans,or employed as servants those who are not employed in felling timber for exportation; in fine, those who cannot justify their means of existence, shall cultivate the soil" (2). As the translator or publisher rightly notes, of what relevance are military authorities to agriculture? Indeed, if only to serve as a force of coercion for Boyer's government to ensure that the majority of the population not engaged in the professions or civil service will be confined to agriculture, preferably on large estates. In fact, Article 4 goes on to state that the rural inhabitant without any profession or status can only leave their commune if given permission by the Justice of Peace, and if said person attempts to move to a town or village without approval, they would be considered a vagabond (3). Article 6 states that citizens attached to agriculture cannot be enlisted in the military, another attempt to limit the majority of the population to agriculture instead (4). So dedicated to the improvement of agricultural production is the code that Article 12 created a prize system for farmers with the best produce at the festival of agriculture (7). 

The next law, Law No. 2, "General Administration of Agricultural Establishments," establishes laws for surveying land and land sales, only in the presence of notaries (10). Articles 17 and 18 empower the Officer of Rural Police and therefore the state to claim unused land, too. There are, however, some progressive legislation regarding the preservation of wooded areas and encouragement of planting trees, in Article 23 (13). So there was some recognition of the importance of preserving trees and woodlands and increasing tree planting to prevent soil erosion, although a progressive regulation would be later contradicted by Article 30, which forbade unions of workers from owning and producing on estates solely by themselves (16). Legally, proprietors and managers of these large estates, were supposed to ensure workers produce enough food for sustenance of the rural majority as well as export crops and grain (17). 

Subsequent regulations allude to contracts and labor relations between proprietors/landholders and their rural workforce. The various Articles here reference proper payment and labor contracts, the division of  produce on estates as payment for workers, and the involvement of the state to ensure those entitled to profits of produce receive payment. Articles 61 and 62 require proprietors or head farmers to treat workers as parents would treat their children and provide necessary tools (33). Furthemore, Article 67 requires proprietors to provide medical attendants and pay for medicine for workers receiving a quarter of the produce on their estates, which could indicate the influence of the Code Henry (36). Article 68 states proprietors must have one or more nurses for infants on their estates, too (36)! Laws for soldiers and those employed by the state are more lenient, given their recognized mobility (42). Overall, there is a long legal precedent for some of the Articles in this chapter from previous Haitian governments, though it is debatable to what extent the state would have the accountability and centralization necessary to uphold these laws. 

The Code Rural also has much to say about cattle, which would seem to be more relevant to eastern Haiti, the present-day Dominican Republic. Either way, the various articles comment on permits, the limits to the numbers of people engaged in cattle herding and pens, and relations between farmers and cattle in disputes and rights. Law No. 6, "Rural Police," establishes the power and relation of the Rural Police to the Justice of Peace and military. Article 124 gives power to the Commandant of each military district as the most powerful authority in agriculture, being responsible for the decay of agriculture, for executing the Code Rural, and to inspect and superintend communes where agriculture has declined (61). Commandants also have to maintain roads (62). Surprisingly, there is one attempt to empower rural workers themselves to uphold these laws, the Councils of Agriculture, composed of farmers responsible for reporting to the Council of Notables and military authorities to assist in improving agricultural production and the rural economy (82). Moreover, the Code Rural recognized a Monday morning to Friday evening work schedule for field labor, and banned any work on pregnant women after four months (89-90). Unfortunately, the draconian laws against any sign of disobedience or insult on the part of workers mandates imprisonment, which seems extreme (93). 

Overall, the Code Rural bears some resemblance to Henri Christophe's laws regarding agriculture and labor, as well as the old feudal corvée system requiring the peasant majority to work on roads and public projects unpaid. Though definitely draconian in some aspects, it's not that different from laws around the world in the 19th century, which sought to control the labor of the poor while serving the economic and political interests of the wealthy. What I would like to know now after perusing this document is how it was received by African-American immigrants in the 1820s, who were largely urbanites not expecting to work on farms, as well as by Spanish-speaking "Haitians" in the east. According to Dubois and other sources, the Code Rural was a smashing failure, and Haitians resisted in every way they could. Indeed, I believe Dubois alludes to one prominent Haitian living in close relations with the workers on his estate, who received little deference from aforementioned workers. Nevertheless, it's an importance indicator of the widening gulf between the two Haitis, one of educated and elite urban and military officials, and the Kreyol-speaking majority largely separate and unequal due to Boyer's attacks on public education and authoritarian rule. In summation, with laws such as the Code Rural and other fundamental flaws of his rule, the only surprise is that it took until 1843 to unseat Boyer.