Dominican Republic and Haiti: Country Studies

Dominican Republic and Haiti: Country Studies
vention. Although the indemnity was reduced in 1838 to 60
million francs, the payments had a disastrous effect on the Haitian
economy and led to years of French domination of Haiti's
finances.
Social and class divisions based on color and property ownership
hardened during Boyer's rule. Despite his efforts to
appoint blacks to responsible positions, his government
increasingly fell into the hands of the mulatto elite. Uneducated
rural blacks found few opportunities in the bureaucracy
and turned to the army.
Nevertheless, the immediate threat to Boyer came from
mulattoes opposed to the political and social status quo. In the
late 1830s, Herard Dumesle, a mulatto member of Congress,
founded the Organization for the Social Rights of Man and Citizen,
which was critical of the economy, corruption, and nepotism
and called for an end to Boyer's rule. Although Dumesle
and his congressional sympathizers were expelled from the legislature,
dissatisfaction with the government continued. On
January 27, 1843, Charles Riviere-Herard, a cousin of Dumesle,
overthrew Boyer in what is referred to as the Revolution of
1843. Boyer sailed to Jamaica, the destination of other displaced
Haitian rulers in the nineteenth century. The Dominicans
took this opportunity to declare their independence.
Boyer's presidency was remarkable for its length, the longest
in Haitian history, and for its relative placidity. During his rule,
the nation was reunited internally and internationally. However,
Boyer's presidency also saw a hardening of class and social
divisions based on skin color and property ownership. Blacks,
who had been excluded from power under Boyer, reasserted
themselves after his overthrow. The subsequent struggle for
power led to a succession of short-lived governments.
Increasing Instability, 1843-1915
The period between 1843 and 1915 was marked by a pattern
of political instability and struggle in which a succession of
incompetent or brutal leaders came and went rapidly and violently.
Of the twenty-two heads of state between 1843 and 1915,
only one served out his prescribed term of office. Three died
while serving. One was blown up in the palace, one was poisoned,
one was hacked to pieces by a mob, one resigned, and
fourteen others were deposed by coups.
This was also a period of economic stagnation. Revenues
from agriculture declined as the ill-tended and subdivided land
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