Dominican Republic and Haiti: Country Studies

Haiti: Historical Setting
To Christophe's chagrin, his subjects continued to defect
from the harsh conditions in the north to the more benevolent
situation in the south. In 1818, when Petion, known to his citizens
as Father Good Heart (Papa Bon Coeur), died without
naming a successor, the Senate selected General Jean-Pierre
Boyer to fill his post. Boyer was a mulatto, who had been born
in Port-au-Prince and joined the revolutionary forces with
Toussaint. After independence, he served Petion as secretary
and commander of the Presidential Guard.
After Petion's death in 1818, Christophe sought to reunite
Haiti, but the south rejected the prospect of domination by a
black leader. In October 1820, following a stroke that had
caused him to lose control of the army, his principal power
base, Christophe committed suicide. Boyer immediately took
advantage of the situation, and on October 26, he entered Cap-
Haitien with 20,000 troops and reunited the country.
Jean-Pierre Boyer Reunites Haiti, 1820-43
Boyer inherited a country with diminishing agricultural production
caused by Petion's policy of land distribution. He tried
to revive the plantation system through the enactment of the
Rural Code (Code Rural). Its regulations included forced labor
to produce export crops and the use of rural police to restrict
the movement of peasants and make them work. However, government
laxity and lack of cooperation from plantation owners
caused the system to fail and led to the ultimate demise of the
plantation economy. Sugar production continued to decline as
a result of the move toward small subsistence farms. Throughout
the nineteenth century, coffee remained the principal
export, while food crops were raised for local consumption.
Like previous Haitian rulers, Boyer feared another invasion
of Haiti. To eliminate foreign presence on the island, he seized
the Spanish colony of Santo Domingo in 1822. This ended slavery
in Hispaniola but created a legacy of poor relations
between the French and Spanish-speaking sides of the island.
Three years later, Boyer undertook another measure
intended to remove the threat of foreign invasion and open
Haiti to international commerce. He agreed to compensate
France for its losses during the revolution. In return for a 150-
million-franc indemnity and halving customs charges for
French trade, Haiti received diplomatic recognition from
France. Britain recognized Haiti the following year. This act
ended Haiti's diplomatic isolation, but did not preclude inter-
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