A recent read of Andrew Walker's Strains of Unity: Emancipation, Property, and the Post-Revolutionary State in Haitian Santo Domingo, 1822-1844 was a fascinating look at the period of administrative unification under Haiti. Pushing back against some of the older tenets in the narrative of Haitian domination and invasions of the eastern half of Hispaniola, Walker's study focuses on notarial records and other archival sources which illustrate how easterners navigated Haitian law, sometimes using it in ways to further their own interests. Walker also emphasizes how this complex process of unification enshrined the "free soil" policy of the future Dominican Republic and shaped antislavery as foundational.
This begins with the interest in unification expressed by residents of center-island towns and those with interests in the livestock trade. Since the trade in livestock had been important since colonial times, and unification was seen as one way of promoting it by ending border tariffs, there was local interest in joining Haiti. Furthermore, the ephemeral independent state did not end slavery, likely fueling an interest by enslaved people (perhaps 1/5 of the population of the east)and free people of color in becoming Haitians. Once unification took place in 1822, Walker continues to use notarial records for proof of sale of livestock and horses between Haitians from the west (often soldiers or military officers stationed in the east) and easterners. This profitable trade apparently involved women from the west and other groups who engaged in this trade.
Walker also addresses the issue of land expropriations, reforms, and the Code Rural. In the east, the Haitian state targeted holdings of ecclesiastical and municipal bodies and authorities, whilst also taking property held by absentee landholders who left the island after unification. However, residents of these lands who built bohios or properties on it were allowed to maintain ownership of their homes. Notarial records and other finds from Dominican and Haitian archives do suggest a land grab of sorts favoring upper level Haitian and eastern military leaders and civil administrators, too. But, the Code Rural in the east was apparently as unsuccessful there as it was in the west. Furthermore, the partition of land grants continued, too. This meant that many who were given large estates by the government chose to sell it in smaller parts. Enforcement of the Code Rural's anti-vagrancy laws was also a local affair, and was even utilized by peasants with fractional rights to communal lands who sought to protect their own rights to the land against unfair co-owners or squatters. Indeed, to Walker, terrenos comuneros survived Haitian unification as land rights by holders of shares in communal lands justified their ownership based on Haitian and liberal laws of private property.
Perhaps the most interesting chapter in the dissertation, however, was sadly limited by the source material. Since maritime maroons from Puerto Rico fled to eastern Hispaniola to escape slavery during this time (although some were doing this prior to Haitian unification), one sees a fascinating development of Haitian free soil applied evenly throughout the eastern part of the island. Anti-slavery and Haitian commitment to free soil was maintained in the east, even by former slaveholders. Unfortunately, not enough detail is unveiled by the sources on these 'maritime maroons' from Puerto Rico and other Caribbean islands. Nonetheless, their presence in the east illustrates how Haitian free soil concepts defined Haitian territory and later influenced Dominican anti-slavery in 1844 and beyond.
By highlighting aspects of collaboration, shared ideology and governing practices, and the commitment to racial equality and antislavery, a different interpretation of the experience of Haitian unification (or domination) is unveiled here. This should be followed up by additional studies on language, culture, African American immigration, and conflict during the unification. Some of the historical figures from this period, like Pablo Ali (Paul Alix) deserve further study for their own complex relations to Saint Domingue/Haiti.
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