Hidalgo on Defiant Haiti

Historian Dennis Hidalgo has written a valuable review of Johnhenry Gonzalez's "Defiant Haiti: Free-Soil Runaways, Ship Seizures and the Politics of Diplomatic Non-Recognition in the Early Nineteenth Century." For all those interested in how enslaved people from neighboring Caribbean societies responded to Haitian 'free soil' policy or Haiti under Boyer, I recommend Gonzalez's piece and Hidalgo's short review.

Jean-Pierre Boyer

Read more about this 1825 portrait of Jean-Pierre Boyer here. This is my first time coming across this particular image, though it does bear a resemblance to another portrait of the Haitian president.

Thérèse Françoise Bonne Boyer

Thérèse Françoise Boyer, sister of Haitian president Jean-Pierre Boyer. I have not found much information about her, but according to a Haitian genealogy website, she died in exile in Jamaica, where she presumably went with her brother and his entourage after he 1843 coup that unseated the dictator. Amazing photos of Haiti's history can be found from the Facebook album, " Physionomie de St. Domingue et d'Haiti, à travers le temps" that has made the rounds on the site. 

Haitian Exports From Thomas Madiou

 I believe the data speaks for itself in some ways, although it's unclear what unit of measurement export items are in (pounds? feet?) and I am unsure of how to convert Haitian gourdes to US dollars or British sterling. Like most years of the Boyer dictatorship from 1833-1843, the central goverment spent more than it took in. 

Jacques Nicolas Léger on Haiti in the Mid-19th Century

While perusing Haiti, Her History and Her Detractors by Jacques Nicolas Léger (accessible here on Google books!), I couldn't help but take note of Léger's take on the fall of Boyer, the Piquets, and the rise of Soulouque's empire. He is more favorable toward Boyer's rule than I would like, particularly on the point of the 1825 and 1838 negotiations with France for recognition, something he believed Boyer stood up valiantly for Haiti. Below is a summary and some commentary on Léger's account of the this crucial era where the collapse of the Haitian political system, the disintegration of territorial unity, and the beginning of a long wave of instability began.

Léger attributes much of the beginning of the opposition to Hérard Dumesle, a representative from Cayes, and other younger members of the elite interested in having more say in the government (190). In his opinion, Boyer, after securing the fate of Haiti in 1838 with French official recognition, should have met some of the demands of the opposition, such as opening government posts to others besides his old collaborators (190). The opposition movement only grew after the 1842 earthquake, which was used by critics of Boyer's regime to reveal how little he cared about the suffering of the masses, which led to Major Charles Charles Rivière-Hérard taking up arms on the Praslin plantation near Cayes. Unsurprisingly, the South immediately threw their support behind him and Boyer was unable to supress the insurrection. Recognizing the end of his presidency, he resigned and went to Jamaica in exile (191). 

However, Charles Rivière-Hérard was a soldier and abused the powers of the interim government established after Boyer due to his lack of interest in civilian government. Indeed, gives the credit for discontent and secession of the Dominican Republic to his abuse of power in 1843-1844, as well as a decree by the provisional government in Port-au-Prince that banned foreign commerce in the East, for reasons not clarified (193). Basically, the provisional government which produced the 1843 Constitution, which banned presidency for life, made the first step for a transition to civilian rule by instituting municipalities led by mayors instead of military authorities, weakened the power of the president, and set up  many other essential aspects of a republican form of government, was ruined by the excesses of Rivière-Hérard. 

In fact, the secession of the East became easy since Rivière-Hérard was removed from office in Haiti while campaigning against the rebels, beginning first in Cap-Haitien and spreading to other regions of the country (195). If you buy what Léger wrote, the independence of the Dominican Republic only became possible because Rivière-Hérard was en route to Santo Domingo and just about to crush the secessionist movement as he was recalled and replaced by Guerrier (195). Simultaneously, the Army of Sufferers, led by Acaau, seizes Cayes and peasants elsewhere in the South demanded promises given to them by the anti-Boyer elites, such as land, education, and an end to usurious practices by urban merchants (196).

Unfortunately, Guerrier soon passed away due to his advanced age (87 when he took office!). His successor, Pierrot, endeavored to go to war with the Dominican Republic because of Dominican border attacks and naval raids (the Dominicans elected General Santana at the time), but Léger claims the Haitian people had no interest in pursuing war with their neighbors (197). In addition, Pierrot conferred military rank onto the peasants of the South to appease and win their loyalty, but urban elites of the region feared another peasant uprising and conspired against Pierrot, who was replaced by Riché, another old black general of the Revolutionary wars expected to be a figurehead (198). In no time, Acaau, still a player in the politics of the South, resisted Riché but was unsuccessful and committed suicide while Riché restored presidency for life and attempted to install a civil government (198).

As an old man holding the presidency, Riché died in office. The Senate chose to elect Faustin Soulouque, who was not one of the candidates, because neither Souffrant or Paul received a majority of votes (199). Just imagine how different the course of 19th century Haitian politics would look had they not chose Soulouque, expecting a malleable, figurehead-type. As with Pierrot, Soulouque had Dominican border and coastal raids to contend with, and led an initially successful 1849 raid but ended early to ensure his rule would continue in Haiti before taking Santo Domingo. His 1855 invasion was poorly prepared and equipped, and a complete failure. The 1855 invasion, however, was a response to continued Dominican raids, such as one plundering and burning of Dame-Marie on the Haitian coast (202). The reason I find this interesting is that it shows how complex the "imperial" invasions of the the Dominican Republic were for mid-19th century Haiti, since raids and plundering from the east precipitated the conflict. Soulouque just believed that imposing Haitian unification was the only way to terminate the conflict, which eventually led to an armistice under the gaze of Britain and France to cease hostilities (202). 

Overall, Léger's account of a crucial period where Haiti's political system began to unravel sheds some light on the complexities of a Haitian national body or state. The creation of a separate "Dominican" identity can be traced to the abuses of the Boyer and Rivière-Hérard, facilitated by general Haitian opposition and unrest to these aforementioned leaders, culminating in a relatively quick and easy secession. For a brief moment, however, hope in the unseen triumphed as the revolution of 1843, the 1843 Constitution, and peasant resistance aligned to challenge the previous order. The transition to civilian rule, the downsizing of the military after the 1838 agreement with France never materialized, as Candler noted. Boyer, in the spirit of Haitian authoritarianism, established a pattern over 2 decades for governmental practices 

I need to read Madiou and Ardouin (and many other sources) for a better understanding of this era, particularly the pattern of a predatory and exclusionary state initiated under Boyer (well, probably under Petion, but close enough). 

Haiti and Greece: President Boyer's Letter to Greek Revolutionaries

An article from The Journal of Haitian Studies includes a letter from Jean-Pierre Boyer to 4 Greeks from 1822 in France seeking Haitian aid for the Greek nationalist revolt against the Ottoman Empire, which broke out in 1821. According to the introduction, written by E.G. Sideris and A.A. Konsta, Greek expatriates living in France would have definitely heard of the Haitian Revolution and abolitionism from certain circles in revolutionary and postrevolutionary France. Also, the prominent French abolitionist, Abbe Gregoire, who, though not mentioned specifically in the introduction, was a firm supporter of the Haitian republic and remained in contact with some Haitian leaders, may have played a role in disseminating knowledge of the Haitian Revolution to Greek nationalists, though I am still unsure on this point since I cannot recall my source (though it may have been this. Anyway, the letter from Boyer lets the Greek nationalists know that he is sympathetic to their cause and sees both Haiti and Greece as similar in their long history of oppression from others, from imperialism, both European (French) and Ottoman. Indeed, according to Boyer, "Such a beautiful and just case and, most importantly, the first successes which have accompanied it, cannot leave Haitians indifferent, for we, like the Hellenes, were for a long time subjected to a dishonorable slavery and finally, with our own chains, broke the head of tyranny." In addition, Boyer's letter addresses the theme of slavery in relation to imperial or colonial rule as well as several allusions to classical Greek history and culture, such as referring to the Greek nationalists as "descendants of Leonidas."

Though expressing sympathy and moral support for the Greek cause against the Ottomans, Boyer's letter explained that financial restraints prevented significant Haitian troops or cash to be sent. Interestingly, Boyer also attributes the recent integration of Haiti and the Spanish-speaking former Spanish colony to the east as another drain on the Haitian budget because "the revolution which triumphs on the eastern portion of our island is creating a new obstacle in carrying out our aim; in fact, this portion, which was incorporated into the Republic I preside over, is in extreme poverty and thus justifies immense expenditures of our budget." Nevertheless, to many Greek historians, at least according to the translators of this letter, believed this letter to be the first official recognition of Greek independence and citizenship in the 1820s, which is part of the reason the knowledge of this letter survives, particularly in the resonance of Boyer's references to democracy, Greek triumphs against the Persians, and revolutionary idealism. Of course, Boyer's rule in Haiti itself was far from actual democracy or a republican form of government, but the ideals of democratic governance and classical history (no doubt a subject familiar to Boyer) clearly carried some significance, even when the reality on the ground was far from anything democratic (check this out for some info on Boyer's long presidency, 1818-1843).

A quick Google search on this topic also suggests some import to the exchange between Haiti and the Greek revolutionaries combating the Turks. Some even say that Haiti sent several tons of coffee, the main export at the time, to be sold to buy supplies and ammunition for the Greeks. According to this piece, Britain would follow Haiti by one year in recognizing the Greek nationalists in 1823, but Haiti was the first to recognize the Greek right to self-determination. This blog links to a Greek translation of Boyer's letter for all of you who can read it! So, even if Haitian aid did not exceed the alleged 25 tons of coffee to be sold on behalf of the Greek revolutionary cause, we have direct evidence of the Haitian state's involvement in liberation of other former colonies and oppressed peoples, just as Petion did earlier for Bolivar and the liberators of Venezuela and Colombia. This, in a sense, is a case of an international export of the Haitian Revolution, within the broader "Age of Revolutions" in Europe and the Americas.