A British Perspective on Haiti in 1835

Perusing Notes of a Visit to Some Parts of Haiti by Rev. Stewart William Hanna (accessed here), a British man of faith residing in Jamaica at the time, has been enlightening. Unfortunately, he is only traveling along the southern coast of Haiti while accompanying a British captain surveying the coast, so he does not describe Port-au-Prince or other cities and regions of the island. However, he does provide some interesting commentary on what he did observe of the morals of the people, the militarized system of governance, life in Port Louis, Cayes and Jacmel, and economic patterns.

In addition, Hanna provides us with speculation on why Charles Mackenzie wrote about Haiti in largely negative ways (a separate post on some of Mackenzie's observations can be read here). Hearing it from an English merchant in Jacmel, a Mr. Frith, Hanna relays to us that Mackenize was received poorly by the Haitian government because they expected a consul of Britain to be a white man. Based on his poor reception by the Haitian government, this English informant to Hanna essentially states that the Haitian government did not take a black or man of color representative of Britain seriously and had no idea he was a man of color. That's highly disturbing on its own since it can be indicative of a broader 'aristocracy of the skin' in how elite Haitians in Port-au-Prince perceived people of color from other parts of the world, by treating these dignitaries poorly. Naturally, one should be a little skeptical given the lack of other sources for Hanna's assertions. Any number of factors could explain Mackenzie's thoughts on Haiti, which were more negative than anything penned by Hanna (or Candler, a Quaker Englishman who visited Haiti in 1841).

Moving on to the observations of Hanna, he offers a mostly positive stance on the parts of Haiti he witnessed. On the question of Haitian military officials and the discipline of officers and soldiers, he notes their laziness, lack of discipline, and shabby clothing and uniforms. Candler, writing in the early 1840s, describes the average dress of the Haitian soldier as being akin to that of British soldiers at the time, so more likely than not Haitian soldiers were, as poorly dressed as some of their European counterparts. The military display he saw in front of Boyer's Jacmel home was unimpressive, but Hanna found the drummers and military bands acceptable or at least better than the military's discipline and parades. Drummers were also used to disseminate messages and government decrees in Jacmel, an idea Hanna commends. The lower ranks and soldiers were disproportionately blacks while the officers and top ranks were occupied disproportionately by mulattoes.

 The essentially militarized form of rule where, General Borgella (met by Mackenzie in Santo Domingo in the late 1820s) oversees the district of Cayes and a black general, Frederique, is in charge of the Jacmel area, seems somewhat necessary given an air of fear of French reconquest, even after the agreement in 1825. Hanna describes being in a ship with other Englishmen assaulted by villagers with rocks, because the blacks feared white foreigners as possibly being a French threat. Indeed, while conversing with Haitians in the town of Cayes and Jacmel, talk of a French squadron near the Haitian coast loomed. Thus, if such an climate of fear persisted after French official recognition of Haitian independence, perhaps the militarized system where civil institutions were largely lacking was somewhat necessary. Unfortunately, this very system encouraged what Hanna considers 'barbarous' modes of punishment, such as execution by firing squad of criminals and the use of soldiers to accompany and beat those convicted of petty crimes in the streets of towns.

As for the dress of civilians, they're described as better dressed than the negroes of Jamaica, only recently emancipated yet under the authority of white planters as 'apprentices.' We also see continuity in some clothing styles from the days of Saint Domingue, such as the popularity of Madras kerchiefs for men and women, soldiers and civilians, as well as the practice of women wearing their hair in elaborate headwraps with vibrant colors.

The role of women in these two aforementioned Haitian cities is critical. The marchandes seemingly govern the market in Jacmel, and they rarely cheat their customers (though Hanna has one case of being cheated on the price). In Cayes, Hanna describes these marchandes as often splendidly attired black and colored women, whereas the shops of both Cayes and Jacmel are well-stocked and presentable. Their independence becomes obvious in the experience of Hanna having his purchases taken back by the merchant woman after someone else offers her a better price! The market on Saturday and Sunday in Jacmel, however, lacked quality goods in Hanna's eyes and violated the Sabbath (theatrical performances, markets, 'heathenism,' military parades, and just about everything else Haitians did on Sunday that was not attending the Catholic church with low turnout disgusted Hanna).

On education, Hanna is disappointed with the lack of government investment and the poor condition of schools. In Cayes, only 30 pupils were taught the most rudimentary things because even the most enlightened Haitian officials did not see any purpose in educating those in manual labor. Indeed, eve after talking the issue over with General Borgella, an intelligent officer thought to be a possible successor to Boyer, believed that the lower classes whose main occupation was to labor, ought not have schooling.

On the question of economic prosperity, labor, and social relations, it is a little hard to put a definite label on Hanna. He's clearly pro-abolition and hopes to see trade flourish between Haiti and Jamaica after emancipation in the British West Indies, yet he also attributes the laziness of Haitians born free after 1804 to their not having been taught skills or learning to labor as their parents were under slavery in Saint Domingue. His time with Mr. Towning, a British businessman running a distillery that produced widely consumed rum in Haiti, also gave him the impression that labor was impossible to procure, despite the annual production of 75,000 gallons of rum. He also visits the ruins of the Laborde plantation, now run by a mulatto, and observes the visible decline of sugar mills and abysmal production rates. Charpentier, a former sugar plantation, is also in ruins and owned by a woman of color.

Regardless of the difficulty of procuring labor for the sugar estates and large-scale plantations, clearly some economic progress and trade goes on. Indeed, American, Belgian, French, and British ships were at the port of Jacmel, and the principal export of Haiti, coffee, along with braziletto wood, mahogany, and Towning tells him the fertile plain of Cayes produces 3 million pounds of molasses. Clearly, labor is not impossible to find since millions of pounds of molasses came out of Cayes, along with coffee from Jacmel and other exports. Since every 100 pounds of coffee leaving Haiti had a duty of one dollar, this type of revenue helped pay for the budget of the government in Port-au-Prince and allow the very same people in power to block access to education for the peasant masses.

Furthermore, Hanna gives the example of one man who built several well-built homes and cottages and successfully persuaded others to help cultivate his fields by allowing them to live in the homes he built, an interesting tale of peasant entrepreneurial spirit and collaboration. So, in my opinion, the evidence of Haitian peasant agricultural production of coffee and other Haitian exports indicates a viable and far more sustainable economic system in Haiti than attempts to maintain the sugar plantations or large estates. Interestingly, Hanna doesn't seem to disagree with the ban on white ownership of property in Haiti for economic reasons, but for encouraging immoral actions, such as white men taking local 'wives' to hold the property in their name for them.

On the question or morality of the people, Hanna unsurprisingly disliked the poor attendance at the church in Jacmel, the lack of religiosity by European residents and traders, and desires French Protestant missionaries to serve in Haiti to make up for French sins against the country. He even laments how European missionaries were spreading in Africa, Asia, and the South Seas yet absent in Haiti, a land not remote or distant from Europe. Though Vodou is scarcely mentioned, the 'heathenism' of the people, particularly the lower classes, though better clad than their shameless Jamaican counterparts, obviously bothered Hanna. The Catholic priests are no better, including an Italian priest in Jacmel with a 'wife' and children, defying the mandated celibacy of the church! Indeed, to someone like Hanna, these Catholic priests perpetuate negative practices among the lower classes of Haiti. Like Candler, one gets the impression that Hanna's perceptions of Catholics in Haiti is one of a force perpetuating superstition and improper morality.

In summation, the overall portrait of Haitian society one sees Hanna's account is a nuanced mixed-bag. He ends his reflections speaking about the beauty and richness of Haiti, yet he also laments the lack of education, Christianity (or his own definition of it), alleged indolence of the lower classes, and 'barbarous' practices in executions. Ultimately, Haiti was a safe (very safe for travelers, just as Mackenzie reported) and beautiful country where, as one would expect, most of Hanna's contacts were upper-class and elite Haitians, so some of their testimony on the work habits of the lower classes is tainted with class privilege. If only Hanna traveled to Port-au-Prince and other regions of the island, then we could have a more valuable source on the political and economic conditions throughout the island in 1835.