From Cape Tiburon to Cape Samaná - A United Hispaniola Timeline

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From Cape Tiburon to Cape Samaná - A United Hispaniola Timeline


Foreword


From a young age, the story of Haiti fascinated me, a republic of slaves who broke the shackles of the French Empire, and seized their freedom. Unfortunately, such idyllic romanticized scenarios of a republic of freedmen seemed doomed upon birth. From the bloody massacres of white settlers, to the disastrous rule of Jean-Pierre Boyer, Haiti’s economy fueled by the sin of slavery, seemed unable to be purified, and combined with international isolation, and the crippling debt imposed by a French gunboat, Haiti fell apart. After numerous civil wars, a divided kingdom, two empires, and numerous republics, Haiti today is scarcely what we would describe as a successful nation. Amid headlines of assassinated presidents, Kenyan resolutions to deploy police, and stories of gangs dominating a country whose last elected legislators resigned months ago, we are left with a puzzling question. Could Haiti have gone better? Was the dream of a nation of men freed from the bondage of slavery, always doomed to fail? This timeline will endeavor to answer this question.

Haiti is, however; not alone on the island of Hispainola. The Dominican Republic too, was originally conjoined to the Haitian Republic, dreaming of a freed republic. This false hope too was beaten down by a combination of cruelty, debt, and discrimination. Reborn from the collapsing Haitian state, the Dominican Republic, and Haiti remained rivals, with war, massacres, and occupations sparking between them. The hope of a united Hispaniola, buried under centuries of racial animus, and power grabs. I would like to put forward a special thank you to @LuckyLuciano whose answer to a thread post I saw honestly laid a lot of groundwork, and early history.

The timeline I present is not one that will be without struggle, without hate, or without greed. All of these are endemic to humanity, and I could not in good conscience remove them from a story of mine. Instead I merely present a better ending to the Haitian story, than we have currently. The story, which I will tell from the POV of a historian in this alternate modern day Haiti, will cover the pre-revolution background, up to modern day.This is From Cape Tiburon to Cape Samaná - A United Hispaniola Timeline.

Background - Saint-Domingue Before the Revolution

As is commonly known, prior to Haiti’s revolution, it was a typical state in comparison to other Caribbean colonies. Dependent largely upon Europe’s seemingly insatiable lust for sugar, the development of the colony of Saint-Domingue was based upon massive labor intensive plantations. While cocoa, coffee, and indigo were all cultivated, sugar remained the foundation and mainstay of the colony of Saint-Domingue.

The sheer size and scope of the sugar economy can scarcely be perceived by us here in the modern day. 600 ships per year moved from Saint-Domingue to France, more than 1 million frenchmen directly depended upon the colony for their livelihoods. The colony was the richest French colony in the world, and for much of its history one of the richest European colonies in the world.

It should be noted; however, this opulent wealth was built upon some of the most grueling slave labor seen in our modern history. Malaria, and yellow fever thriving in the tropical climates, and barebone conditions most slaves found themselves in, ravaged the population. It is said throughout the 1780’s, the French brought 20-30,000 African slaves to the island. With population mortality rates of 50%, slave women often married multiple men, as it was far more likely they’d lose a husband, or multiple. These grim conditions were made worse by the abuses of the slave owning class, who squeezed every ounce of value from their slaves, preferring to work them to death, than provide any accommodations. In the slave owners view, they were as good as dead anyway.

Since 1795, the island of Hispaniola had been entirely unified under French rule, bringing an end to centuries of conflict, and scheming over control of the island. However, with the advent of slave rebellions and general instability since 1791, France had little time to enjoy their prize.


A Society in Full Breakdown


Saint-Domingue’s population was rigidly stratified based upon wealth, and race. There were in 1789, 40,000 whites, 28,000 freed blacks, and mixed race people of color, and 452,000 slaves. This population, while being wildly unbalanced, and unfair, had numerous social classes, the concentrated wealth into a vanishingly small number of elites.

At the bottom of the caste system, were the black slaves. Outnumbering every other class by as much as 10 to 1, the black and mixed enslaved class, was considered the blood the greased the wheels of French colonialism, and the French colonial economy. Expendable, numerous, and without any rights, life in Saint-Domingue was hell on earth for the enslaved class.

Just slightly above the enslaved african class, were mixed race slaves. Often having a father who was of the slaveholding class, or the various slave overseers, the mixed slaves were often born of violence, and pushed into a violent world. While facing the same grim conditions, and life expectancy as African slaves, their proximity, and familial ties to the slave owners, and overseers, meant that occasionally they would be freed, or face some kinder treatment, in a horrific twisted form.

Escaped slaves were the most hated group by the French. Known as maroons or marrons in French, escaped slaves were those who had managed to free themselves, and run away from slave plantations. They would hide in the mountains of Saint-Domingue, practicing subsistence agriculture, and hunting. Forming very close knit communities, the maroons were a model of self reliance, as there was no ability to contact or go near French society, meaning they could only rely upon themselves. While not as hazardous as being a french slave, the outlook for a Maroon was still rather bleak. Exposure, disease, famine, drought, or even slave catchers, could spell the end for this class of freedmen.

Meanwhile, there were other slaves on the island who weren’t African, or Mixed-African. There was a small number of white French indentured servants, many of whom had exchanged their freedom, for debts bondage, and a place in the New World. While they still had little in the way of money, and still suffered disease, and abuse, they were somewhat better off than African slaves. Indentured servants were usually protected under the law from egregious abuses. Rarely, after their term, an indentured servant would pursue compensation or other legal action against their employer, if they had been particularly abused. This form of redress would never be offered to the enslaved african, and mixed-african classes below them.

Some slaves managed to be freed through some way or another. Often being the child of a slave owner and a slave, sometimes the father would free the slave, in some pang of familial bond. These poor freedmen were a small but noticeable underclass. While having more rights than slaves, they had little in the way of true legal equality, living on the societal peripheries.

The second highest class were the so-called petit blancs, or little whites. These were the merchants, slave sellers, blacksmiths, small farmers, or the various administrative officials. The petit blancs dominated most professional positions. Generally on the same levels were poor french farmers, who could not afford the massive sprawling plantations as the grand blancs

The upper class was those wealthy planters who owned large plantations. Interestingly this upper class was split into two, on the lower end were some mixed-africans who managed to become wealthy slave owners in their own right. It’s estimated 1/3rd of plantation property, and 1/4th of slaves were owned by free mixed-africans. Nonetheless, they had numerous social restrictions placed upon them even owning property, and slaves. Freedmen were restricted from most major professions like medicine, or holding public office. So even their land and property was a cage they could not escape. The grand blancs or great whites, were the highest level of Haitian society, being wealthy white landowners. Lording over society, the vast majority of colonial wealth sat in their hands.

Such a society was immensely unstable, grand blancs wished to keep the status quo of their society, and continue to profit off slave labor. The black/mixed-african landowning class wished to be recognized as equal to whites. Poor whites and petit blancs felt a tinge of desire to have the lands, and wealth of their perceived lesser, landholding blacks/mixed-africans, as well as, the legal and social rights that the grand blancs had. Maroons continued their raids to free family members from plantations whenever they could, and above all slaves wanted to be free from their bondage entirely. An unsteady house of cards, Saint-Domingue society would come crashing down with the start of the Haitian Revolution.

 

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From Cape Tiburon to Cape Samaná - A United Hispaniola Timeline


Chapter 2: The Age of Heroes? 1789 Question, the Slave Rebellion of 1791, and the Haitian Revolution


One criticism often levied upon nations, and their founding myths is a tendency to glorify the founders and progenitors of a nation as near-perfect demi-gods. Haiti’s founding myth would be no different. From Julien Raimond and Vincent Ogé to the three founding fathers, Toussaint Louverture, Jean-Jacques Dessalines, and Henri Christophe, mainstream Haitian society, and general pop history have forgotten their humanity for idolatry. Dessalines and Louverture especially have been subject to this treatment, as they died in some supposed egalitarian struggle for the freedom of all men.

Despite much of their character traits, motives, and desires having been carved, and served as a sacrifice upon the altar of national mythos, and hero-worship, enough sources exist to develop a clear picture of these early “heroes” of the revolution, while still undoubtedly lacking in impartiality, these early sources offer us the closest rapprochement with truth.

The Revolutionary Progenitors: French Revolution Shatters Saint-Domingue

Following the French Revolution, the First French Republic ushered forth social change that threatened to completely and upend the already unstable social balance of Saint-Domingue. When the Universal Declaration of the Rights of Man was declared in 1789, it was curiously left open to interpretation who was considered equal.

For the planters on Saint-Domingue, the Universal Declaration served as an insult, and an excuse to pursue their independence. If the so-called French Republic was going to harm their bottom line, then they should declare their independence. The white planters wanted to establish a free planters state, where they could control their trade, and escape the taxes and restrictions of the French Republic.

For the African population of the island, the idea of a white planter-led independence movement was horrifying. While the French Empire had already given little in the way of restrictions on white slave owners, it was feared a free and independent Saint-Domingue would be even crueler, and more harsh upon their slaves.

Free people of color, especially wealthy planters, were rather overjoyed by the news of the declaration. A wealthy free person of color, a planter named Julien Raimond had been agitating for full legal equality. But not necessarily for slaves, as he was an indigo planter, instead pushing for freedmen to be viewed as equal to whites. It would be the work of Raimond, and the Society of the Friends of the Blacks, in France which would see the Republic institute reforms to allow freedmen to vote and have somewhat legal equality.

Another freedman, and perhaps more important to the later revolution, Vincent Ogé, was a Creole Haitian military officer, goldsmith, plantation owner, and merchant who would formally submit a demand for the right to vote. The local colonial governor blocked Ogé in his quest. In response, he would lead a 300-man insurgency around the area today known as Cap-Henry. As perhaps expected, his insurgency against the state would fail, and Ogé would be beaten upon a breaking wheel and beheaded for all to see. In death, Vincent Ogé would ascend into the pantheon of Haitian nationalist worship. Despite not caring much for slaves, or wanting to free them, Ogé’s death would serve as among the main inspirations for the Slave Rebellion of 1791.



At the Foot of Vesuvius

Within mainland France itself, the issue of slavery was tearing the nation apart, not unlike it would to the United States of America decades later. Enlightenment writers like Guillaume Raynal argued that not only was slavery a great moral evil, but also an impending disaster. Pointing to issues like white colonists' refusal to uphold the government’s decision granting the right to vote to free people of color. Colonists' refusals, clashed with free people of color leading to increasingly common outbreaks of sporadic violence. More interestingly would be the worrying levels of organization and hostility by slaves towards slave owners.

This tension in the colony, which one writer likened to “sleeping at the foot of Vesuvius” erupted into full rebellion on August 21, 1791. According to later tales, thousands of slaves attended a secret vodou ceremony as a massive tropical storm hit the island. It is said in the thunder lightning, and dark clouds the slaves saw their destiny. An omen of freedom. Across the island, slaves descended upon their masters in displays of brutal violence. Men were dragged from their beds, mistresses abused, and executed, in a shocking display, it is said even the children were not spared. The cruelty of the French owners towards their slaves had created an embittered, and equally racist enslaved population. The leader of this rebellion, if one could call it an organized rebellion, was Dutty Boukman, a high vodou priest. By the end of 10 days, the entire northern-western half of Hispaniola had fallen under slave control.

As September rolled around, the southern slaves had also rebelled. 13,000 slaves led by a freedwoman named Romaine-la-Prophétesse, originally born as a man named Romaine Rivière and was a freedman who had been a plantation owner. When the rebellion began in 1791, Romaine was identified as a vodou prophetess, dressed in women’s clothing, and began to adopt feminine titles believing to have been possessed by a female spirit. Plantations were sacked, and the slaves occupied the two southern cities of Léogâne and Jacmel.

Despite having long feared revolt, the planters had severely underestimated its size and scope. Within a few weeks, over 100,000 slaves had joined in the rebellion. Interestingly, these slaves fought for the king. Many of them falsely believed the King of France had intended to free them, and as such argued they were fighting for their rights as Frenchmen.

By 1792 after controlling a third of Saint-Domingue, and seeing the escalating violence by white militias, and slave rebels, the French National Assembly decided to pass a law that granted full civil rights to freed people of color.


The Coalition Invades: French Abolition of Slavery

As France and Great Britain came to blows in the War of the First Coalition, the Grand Blancs arranged a secret deal with the British. Believing the British would uphold their rights as slaveholders, and put down this slave revolt, they invited and supported the British invasion. For the Kingdom of Great Britain, their reasoning was simple, William Pitt the Prime Minister, feared a successful slave rebellion would inspire their colonies to revolt, further on a purely strategic goal, controlling France’s most important colony would be a useful negotiating tool.

Spain would also choose to join the rebellion. Controlling the other half of Hispaniola, the Spanish had similar fears of the rebellion spreading. Both Britain and Spain would send troops, guns, ammunition, and food to the rebels. Everywhere the British landed they were greeted as saviors, and their restoration of slavery made them beloved by slave owners, and despised by the slaves having just tasted freedom.

In a powerful move, that changed the fate of the colony forever. The French Republic sent its two commissioners, the hated Léger-Félicité Sonthonax and Étienne Polverel to formally declare slavery abolished in February 1794. Further, the Republic would grant legal, full legal, and political equality to all those now freed slaves.


Toussaint Louverture: From Traitor to Triumphant Hero

Entering into the story was one Toussaint Louverture. Despite his later being held up as a selfless hero of the revolution, during the early days, Louverture was working with the Spanish Army. He had accepted a full commission under Spain, and been made a Knight of the Order of Saint Isabella. Many reasons have been theorized as to why Louverture had continued to work with Spain, even after the declaration of the abolishment of slavery in 1794, some have claimed he did not trust the French, this would be accurate, as Napoleon reinforced slavery as soon as he gripped power. Others claim it was purely opportunistic, and Louverture was merely weighing the most likely-to-succeed option. Either way, Louverture would continue working with Spain, inflicting decisive defeats against French forces, and splitting Sonothonax off from the southern half of the colony.

As suddenly as he joined Spain, Louverture would switch sides, ambushing and destroying a Spanish force while they attended mass in May 1794. Caught on the back foot, the Spanish Army would be decisively routed and chased from the colony by soldiers under Louverture's command.

Britain too had been driven from Southern Saint-Domingue having been killed to the last man by a combination of yellow fever, and deliberate French executions of prisoners.

Prime Minister Pitt was; however, not finished yet. Even with the Spanish in retreat, and his forces decimated, he would launch a massive naval invasion, perhaps the greatest of the nation up to that point. In 1796, he would commit to sending 30,000 men, and 100 ships they would land on the island. Early on Britain had some success, taking Port-au-Prince, and several other coastal exclaves. Their success quickly began to turn to defeat, as yellow fever annihilated the British army. Compounding these losses, Louverture led a daring offensive on a British-held fort they named Fort Churchill. In a shocking display to the British, Louverture had drilled his army into a professional fighting force that proved almost an equal match for their European counterparts. Even though he was driven back from Fort Churchill, the British led by Thomas Maitland knew it was only a matter of time before they lost control of the fort, and the island in general. Sailing to London, Maitland advised the immediate withdrawal from the island.

By the end of 1798, the last British forces had left the island, Interestingly most of the Jamaican soldiers had switched sides, joining Louverture after being left behind during the withdrawal. Now at the apex of his power, Louverture was an unofficial dictator over the island. He would even crush a French plot to overthrow him. Supporting the mixed-race military leader Andre Rigaud, the War of Knives would see the mixed-race army under Rigaud launch brutal attacks, killing as many Louverture supporters, or accused supporters as they could find. Nonetheless, by 1800, Louverture had effectively suppressed Rigaud, who fled the island. Declaring himself governor for life, and pushing for an autonomous state, he had effectively crossed one line too many. The French, now ruled by Napoleon Bonaparte, organized a new campaign under the dreaded Charles Leclerc.


The Fall of Toussaint Louverture

Landing in Le Cap, in 1802 was a French expedition led by Charles Leclerc and two mixed-race commanders who had conflicted with Louverture, Alexander Pétion and Andre Rigaud. At Le Cap, they would encounter a garrison led by Henri Christophe. When ordered to surrender, Christophe refused, with Leclerc storming the city. Rather than surrender Christophe’s soldiers burnt the city before retreating. Effectively, Toussaint and Christophe had declared rebellion against France.

French assumptions about black people were severely tested by the brutal guerilla war the rebels would undertake. Many French believed that slavery was natural to the African race, and they would subserviently return to French rule. This belief was shattered when Haitian rebels sacked the city of Léogâne to the last man.

Donatien de Rochambeau, a known white supremacist would wage an attempted war of annihilation against any African he found. Instituting the first known usage of gas chambers, Rochambeau would turn ships into mobile death camps killing thousands with sulfur dioxide.

After 11 years of brutal fighting; however, the war came to a sudden pause. Toussaint Louverture would surrender to the Leclerc after being promised retirement, land, and freedom for the slaves. Many people today question why Louverture surrendered. He was known for his distrust of the French, so it seemed unwise for him to take their offers. Others believed he was simply tired after over a decade of conflict. Either way, Charles Leclerc would go against his word, immediately imprisoning him, and sending him back to France as a trophy prisoner. Louverture would never see Saint-Domingue again, dying in the mountains of France in 1803. The first, and perhaps most famous of the Haitian Three, was dead.

The Final Rebellion: Haitian Independence

Napoleonic control lasted for a few short months until the summer of 1802. As it became clear Napoleon intended to reintroduce slavery on the island, the former slaves once again were in open revolt. By this point the French army was in shambles, with only an estimated 8,000 soldiers left alive, Leclerc would request reinforcements. In another debacle, Napoleon would send the Polish Legion who would immediately defect after learning they were fighting to preserve slavery.

Leclerc would finally die of yellow fever, in a final act of cruelty ordering every African in Le Cap to drown. Taking over from Leclerc was Vicomte de Rochambeau, who adopted a near-genocidal policy of eliminating every African from the colony. Britain would once again enter the scene, this time on the side of their once-enemy rebels. Blockading the island effectively prevented contact between outposts, and most importantly any French reinforcements. As the French army slowly began to crumble Rochambeau would opt for a final stand at Le Cap.

The final battle of the Haitian Revolution known as the Battle of Vertières one of the fiercest battles of the war, as fatigued and fever-mad soldiers rushed into a furious melee. This battle would claim another devastating casualty, the second of the Haitian Three, Jean-Jacque Dessalines.[1]

With the leadership of Dessalines leftover army falling to Henri Christophe, the Haitian army besieged the garrison holding out in Le Cap. After two months of slow attrition, Rochambeau, and the French army would surrender to the English navy, who Christophe was more than happy to let capture the French. The Haitian Revolution had ended.


The Kingdom of Haiti is Born: An Act of Amnesty

On the smoldering ruins of Gonaïves, Henri Christophe would stand before a crowd of his soldiers, and declare the independence of Haiti from France. The losses had been costly, 200,000 Africans, and Mixed-Africans, while 50,000 Europeans had died in the colony's struggle for independence. Many cities were devastated, and the populace scattered. The economy was annihilated, and would struggle to recover, and may not have if not for the iron-fisted rule of Henri Christophe. While it wouldn’t be until the next year, when it was declared, it is usually considered January 1, 1804, that the Kingdom of Haiti began.

In a move surprising many, Henri Christophe would announce an official pardon of white colonists. As many would leave their hiding places, and enter into the open, many would call and demand Christophe execute them. Under advice from the English, Christophe would choose to spare the white population of the island, allowing them to choose to stay on the island, and help rebuild, or depart if they so wished.[2]

The so-called Sparing of Port-au-Prince was seen by many as a watershed moment in Haitian history. With the protection given to the white population, many Southern fears of genocide by their slaves were shown to be false. It would be by this metric, the total economic embargo of Haiti, that some southerners envisioned would never come to pass. An arms embargo and a general refusal to recognize the new kingdom would; however, remain.[3]

As the bloodiest chapter of Haitian history ends, we look at the supposed heroes of the past. Dessalines, Christophe, and even Louverture regularly switched sides and fought for and against slavery. All three took part in, or ignored horrific atrocities against their supposed racial enemies. Even supposed progenitors of the revolution like Julien Raimond, and Vincent Ogé weren’t fighting for anyone’s gain but their own. Perhaps the best way we can recontextualize the importance of these revolutionary heroes is not for their personalities, or for what they fought. Instead, the utilitarian approach may be the best one to take, and we instead celebrate the outcome of their fight.

Nonetheless, we must overall come to terms and grapple with the horrid nature of the Haitian War for Independence, and the horrid men who fought it. While we may feel tempted to ignore the reality, or point towards the imagined enemy as worse, it must be recorded and acknowledged the brutality and cruelty of the enslaved and the enslaver.


Notes

[1] The first major divergence of this timeline Jean-Jacque Dessalines, who was by this point the most popular and senior member of the Haitian Revolution, is killed during one of Rochambeau's campaigns. This would leave Henri Christophe as the last major revolutionary leader.

[2] It is well known Henri Christophe had a general affinity for European culture, and especially the English. It is unlikely he would have called for the wholesale slaughter of Europeans, as Dessalines did. Instead, it is far more likely he would have allowed those to leave who wished to, and protected the rest.

[3] In OTL, the massacre of the French was seen as a major reason for Southerners to be able to strongarm the later embargoes placed upon all Haitian goods by the United States. While I do think it is still highly unlikely the United States will recognize Haiti, or lift its firearm embargo, a full embargo of all Haitian goods is unlikely to pass, especially as southern fears are not validated by vindictive slave killings. This will help alleviate the economic burden Haiti suffered from economic isolation.

 

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From Cape Tiburon to Cape Samaná - A United Hispaniola Timeline


Chapter 3: The Reign of Henry I, Part 1: (1804-1820)

“Perhaps if we had something we could show you, if we had something we could show ourselves, you would respect us and we might respect ourselves. If we had even the names of our great men! If we could lay our hands on things we've made, monuments and towers and palaces, we might find our strength. While I live I shall try to build that pride we need, and build in terms white men as well as black can understand”

-Henri Christophe addressing Sir Home Riggs Popham, Commander-in-Chief of the English West Indian Fleet.

Of the founding fathers of Haiti, Henri Christophe is the most well-studied of the three. His personality, unlike Jean-Jacques Dessalines, and Toussaint Louverture Henri’s personality, his imperfections, and desires are more well known to us, and less mired in centuries of obfuscation. This is due to the fact Henri was lucky enough to have survived the war. Henri himself is perhaps among the most intriguing personalities in Haitian history. Known for vanity, and iron-fisted rule, but also genuine selflessness and conviction. While his policies are controversial, and his push for progress even for the sake of lives, his rule would set up a framework that would allow Haiti to survive the early tumultuous period of its independence.

A Muddled Past (1767 - 1802)

Henri is often described as a man plucked from the void, as most of his life before the revolution is largely based upon speculation and myth. Even as king, he was largely unwilling to rectify records or develop a concise timeline of his past. It is said that this malleability of his past was deliberate on his part, allowing him to effortlessly change who he was, and his history based purely on the crowd he was talking to, and what was needed for the time.

Born sometime in 1767, the usual date being assumed October 7. Henri was born in Granada or other theories postulate the island of St. Kitts. Born to a slave mother, and a freedman, Henri was separated from his parents and transported to northern Haiti at a young age. In 1779 at the age of 12, it is said Henri was recruited into the Chasseurs-Volontaires de Saint-Domingue where he served as a drummer boy. This regiment was composed of free mixed-race men of color, and a few slaves who fought in the American Revolutionary War most importantly at the Siege of Savannah. Henri himself later claimed to have been wounded during the battle, though the veracity of such a claim, cannot be verified.

Upon returning to Saint-Domingue, Henri did numerous skilled jobs usually above the pay of agricultural slaves. These included a mason, sailor, stable hand, waiter, and billiard maker. Among these jobs, his time as a waiter at La Couronne a popular hotel in Le-Cap, modern-day Cap-Henry brought him into close contact with wealthy white planters, and European visitors. It is said from these experiences his affinity with, and understanding of European, and especially, English culture.

Sometime before the 1791 Slave Rebellion, Henri gained his emancipation; however, the exact circumstances have largely been lost. When the great colonial conflagration started, Henri would immediately join the side of the rebels. Over time he would rise through the ranks, becoming a general under Louverture, and later the French. Eventually being named commander-in-chief of the Haitian rebels. When Louverture was captured, and Dessalines was killed, Henri was left as the sole leader of the Haitian Revolution and head of the new nation.


From Rebel Leader to King

Standing upon the rubble of his shattered colony, Henri Christophe had to decide how best to proceed in building a nation. Some Republican factions like Alexandre Pétion, another popular revolutionary general, and Jean-Pierre Boyer wanted to found the Haitian Republic, meanwhile, Henri Christophe heavily disagreed arguing that Haiti was destroyed, and shattered and needed a strong leader to rally behind as an icon and image. Henri, being the highest ranking military leader, the sole remaining face of the revolution, and most importantly being Afro-Haitian, was able to outmaneuver Pétion, and Boyer to establish the Kingdom of Haiti.

Crowned by Jean-Baptiste-Joseph Brelle, Henri Christophe became Henry I, of the Kingdom of Haiti. Opting out of a lavish ceremony Henry instead chose to be crowned before a crowd of his fellow Haitians, before the Our Lady of the Assumption Cathedral in Le-Cap, Henry was named:

“Henry, by the grace of God and constitutional law of the state, King of Haiti, Sovereign of Tortuga, Gonâve, and other adjacent islands, Destroyer of tyranny, Regenerator and Benefactor of the Haitian nation, Creator of her moral, political, and martial institutions, First crowned monarch of the New World, Defender of the faith, Founder of the Royal Military Order of Saint Henry.”

Initially extremely popular amongst the lower black populace, Henry was deeply disliked by the mixed-race middle, and upper classes who sneered at the idea of being beholden to an African slave. Moving with his supporters to the southern area of the country, Boyer, and Pétion would slowly begin gathering support for a plot against the new Kingdom.[1]


Delusions of Grandeur

Early in Henry’s reign, the clear vanity of his personality bled through. After spending life as a slave, he had become a King, a true rags to riches self-made story. In this he would reward himself, the Royal Military Order of Saint Henry would be established as an award, and high society given to those who proved themselves of the highest merit. Le-Cap, which had been the administrative heart of the old French colonial empire in the Caribbean, would be renamed to Cap-Henry, after the King and his son, also named Henry.

A large royal palace would be established near Cap-Henry, named the Palace of Sans-Souci, built between 1805 and 1808, this palace ironically also the tomb of the Haitian Kingdom was one of its first built structures.

Henry not only indulged himself in these grand displays but also extended them to many of his allies. Largely supporting wealthy black freed people of color, or meritorious soldiers who served with distinction, Henry would establish a national nobility system. This system consisted of four princes, eight dukes, 22 counts, 40 barons, and 14 knights ("chevaliers"). Aggravating to many mixed-race Haitians, these were in the beginning almost exclusively given to full-blooded Afro-Haitians.


Agrarian Corporalism

Of course, Haiti would need to pay not only for the extravagances of Henry’s regime but also to rebuild the Haitian agricultural economy as well. Henry was ambitious, not only did he want to maintain Haiti’s crop output, but also expand it, and grow larger. To do this, he would institute a system of widely hated Agrarian Corporalism.

Agrarian Corporalism would fit into the wider system of “Royal Service” in Haiti. All Haitians would be compelled to serve either in the military or work in the fields harvesting and processing sugar. In exchange for this service, Haitians would receive small, untaxed wages, and were encouraged to own small subsistence gardens. Wealthy Haitians could choose to pay a fee to have laborers work on their behalf instead of taking part in the Royal Service. This system would be immensely unpopular with many Haitians believing that they had been merely returned to slavery. Despite the hit his popularity would take, Henry’s system would pay back immensely.
By 1810, Haiti had a budget surplus of over 10 Million Francs, the sugar economy would roar back to life, and the Haitian economy began slowly coming back to its pre-revolutionary days. Mortality rates were somewhat lower than under the rule of the French as not only did workers receive payment, but were also encouraged to maintain their own gardens and houses.

The biggest outrage towards this system would be in the South, where Alexandre Pétion and his Republicans were enraged that Haiti had seemingly returned to slavery and forced labor after spending over a decade fighting to end the practice.


Foreign Policy of the Early Henry Regime

One of the greatest threats to Haiti would be the return of France and the general isolation of their export economy. Two major close calls shook Haiti during her early independence.

In 1814, the restored French monarchy under Louis XVIII began plotting with leftover white, and mixed-race landowners, to restore French colonial rule over Haiti. The plot was only foiled after the Haitian Army captured a French agent carrying details relating to the planned plot. In response, the entire nation was mobilized and began preparations for a state of war. Those who had been involved in the French plot were either killed by angry mobs or fled the island under the cover of moonlight. Louis XVIII would only abandon any plans to reconquer the island after the Haitian government officially reached out to British high society, and used their influence to pressure the British to step in. Henry was a somewhat liked figure amongst the British, due to his liking of British culture, often styling himself more akin to a British monarch, even adopting many trappings of the Westminster system.

A second great test would come in 1807 when a bill in the U.S. Congress would narrowly be defeated. This bill would illegalize, and prohibit exports of Haitian sugar, and coffee. The bill's failure only came due to the efforts of Henry to portray himself as a protector of whites in Haiti, and the nation as a safe for all races.

Even after overcoming these early challenges, Haiti was still faced with numerous difficulties. No nation would choose to recognize an independent slave state in the Caribbean, making diplomacy extremely difficult. Fortunately, while the official diplomatic channels were closed to Haiti, the gates of trade remained largely open. American, and British merchants especially began to replace French traders. Curiously, the minor German states also saw their fair share of enterprising merchants go to Haiti. The nation’s open ports made it easy for these small states to circumvent the brutal mercantilist policies of the French, and British. Haiti had before the revolution supplied 60% of European coffee, and now as an independent state, prices grew more accessible for smaller states.

In the realm of official diplomacy for Haiti, that came in 1807 when the British signed an agreement with Henry’s government. Under this agreement, Haiti would not back, or support slave rebellions, or encourage emancipation in colonial territories. In exchange, Britain would assist Haiti in maintaining its unrecognized independence by informing them of ship, and troop movements of hostile powers like France. While a long way from official recognition, the Haitian state would greatly profit from British assistance.


The Southern Revolt: Noble Reform

All of Henry’s early successes, his vanity, and his titles would nearly come crashing down in 1817. After a long life of stress, backstabbing, and military life, Henry would suffer a stroke. This event would shake Henry to his core, and throw him into a deep depression. In one case, Henry would even contemplate suicide. Bedridden, and ill, Henry would withdraw from public life, leaving more power in the hands of his advisory Parliament of Haiti.

Sensing the weakness of Henry, Alexandre Pétion and Jean-Pierre Boyer would launch an attempted palace coup against Henry. Promising to abolish forced labor, redistribute land, and create a republic, they gathered a sizable group of peasants, and mixed elites to their cause. The two with a group of soldiers would attack the Palace of Sans-Souci where Henry had largely isolated himself. Sending his fastest men to get help, Henry’s royal guard would hold the house against the dozens of besieging men. After a long bitter fight, the Haitian Army would arrive, killing Pétion, and Boyer as well as most of their cohorts.

Even with the coup being quashed riots would break out across Port-au-Prince, and other Southern cities, with mixed elites fanning the flames. Shouts of “death to the tyrant” and “long live the Republic'' would ring through the streets. Henry in a short snap back to his old ways sent in the military led by his illegitimate son who quashed the protests, and restored order.

Henry was deeply affected by his sickness and the failed coup. Realizing the precariousness of his own rule, he would institute reforms to ensure the stability of his Agrarian Corporalist, and Noble Peerage system. To those elite, and wealthy mixed-race members of society who had not participated in the failed coup, Henry would award them with noble titles, and lands. Soldiers who had loyally helped crush the protests would be granted small plots, and exempted from future forced labor. Finally, rewards would be granted to nobles who helped ensure the Agrarian Corporalist system remained stable. In a small olive branch to those who hated, and revolted against the system, Henry would slightly relax the demanded output, and push for better conditions on plantations.

As the early period of Henry’s rule faded, the change in the King himself had become evident. From a young, vain, and driven, Henry had pushed his nation to the brink of another rebellion It was only by sickness, and a failed coup, that the King experienced real and lasting change. As the youth exuberance of his early reign ends, Haiti stands more stable, and its Kingdom institutionalized. Now the nation would begin to soar, as it looked east towards the declining Spanish rule in Hispaniola.


Notes

[1] IRL, Alexandre Petion, and his followers were able to successfully establish a state in the South. This is largely due to the sudden assassination of Dessalines being a combined effort by both Petion and Christophe. Without Christophe needing to plot and partner with Petion and being the head of the Haitian rebels, he can assume sole control over the nation.

 

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From Cape Tiburon to Cape Samaná - A United Hispaniola Timeline


Chapter 4: The Reign of Henry I, 1821 - 1830


“French Haitians and the Spanish Haitians don't just share an island, Hispaniola, but a history, one that includes all the signal events that went into creating the modern world: Columbus, conquest, genocide, slavery, imperial war, revolution, and U.S. counterinsurgencies and military occupations.”

-Greg Grandin, The Rise, Fall, and Rise of Haiti (2015)

Henry’s last decade would revolve primarily around the unification of Hispaniola, with the sudden independence of Spanish Haiti in 1821. Despite most not knowing it at the time, this choice to unify Haiti would have rippling consequences for the nation, racial relations, and the development of the economy and its people.


España Boba (1809-1821)

With Spain in a state of crisis following the Peninsular War in Spain, the Spanish people were able to reconquer the Captaincy General of Santo Domingo, which had been ceded to France in 1795.

Even though they managed to retake Santo Domingo, life in the colony was horrific for those living in it. The economy dependent largely upon the Spanish state, collapsed most farmers were reduced to subsistence farming, and starvation ran rampant. Spain for its part was proven completely unable to help due to the Peninsular War, and the general instability within the mainland. During these lean years, money dried up on the island, and its few businessmen fled or were thrown into complete financial ruin.

Finally in 1814, when Spain was able to recover politically, and economically the people of Santo Domingo hoped their fortunes may yet turn around. Yet, they were sadly mistaken, as no sooner when Spanish King Ferdinand VII sat back upon the throne, did Spanish authorities completely neglect the colony. All of Spanish developmental aid went directly to Cuba, which was considered the more important of the two colonies.

As Cuba quickly became a new booming sugar economy, those white planters, and wealthy upper-class members of Santo Domingo jumped ship, abandoning the decaying colony, for the riches of the Cuban farmland. As Spain showed little interest in maintaining the colony, only sending over money to pay royal employees, the colony descended into chaos known as “the rule of the machete.” During this time great rancher families would act as warlords over their areas, maintaining peace, and crushing banditry which had become common.

Finally, unable to watch the degradation of the colony go on any longer, Spanish colonial administrator, Núñez de Cáceres, would lead a coup capturing Governor Pascual Real and expelling anyone else loyal to the crown. On November 30, 1821, The Republic of Spanish Haiti was declared.


A Brief Independence - Unification With Whom? 1821

Santo Domingo was of course never meant to remain independent. Núñez de Cáceres knew the weakness, and poverty ravaging his country, and the unlikelihood it would survive alone. Faced with an incredibly bleak future, de Cáceres looked to unify his newly independent nation with Simon Bolivar’s Republic of Gran Colombia. Sending overtures to Simon Bolivar, de Cáceres was met with a shocking silence from Bolivar. Gran Colombia was already in a state of crisis divided between centralists, and federalists who were tearing the republic apart. Unable to secure a promise of aid, de Cáceres was confronted with a plot and a different proposal.

Within the new Republic of Spanish Haiti many politicians, mixed-race elites, and military officers began pushing forward the idea of unification with French Haiti. Despite the elites turning their nose and scoffing at the idea of bending the knee to an Afro-Haitian king, they did; however, look towards the stability his reign brought. Even more enticing was the recent concessions Henry had made giving mixed-elites noble titles, and a higher degree of prominence in the ruling structure. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, Henry was old, ill, and by all accounts dying. If the mixed-race elites were to unify their two nations they may be able to circumvent, and eventually abolish the farce of a monarchy.

Even economically, businessmen, planters, and elites were impressed with Henry’s acumen. Already in Spanish Haiti, most land rights were based upon communal ownership, making the implementation of the forced labor system seen on the French half of the island largely unnecessary. The French Haitian's ability to trade with the European powers and smaller European nations also made unification lucrative for a nation that had languished under Spanish neglect.

The average Spanish Haitian viewed the West with either contempt or awe. Some more naive members of society looked at the idea of an African king with storybook wonder, while those with more common sense, and pragmatism quickly heard the stories of forced labor and nobility.

With the highest-ranking military officers, politicians, and an increasing number of middle-class landowners, planters, and businessmen pushing the cause of unification, Núñez de Cáceres would relent, issuing an official letter requesting the annexation of Spanish Haiti into the Kingdom of Haiti. Upon the news of the request, Henry would in a rare return to vigor, and youthfulness travel to the city of Santo Domingo with his son Henry II, and a retinue of soldiers, and politicians. Arriving on February 9, 1822, where he was met with a parade, and received by Núñez de Cáceres, who offered him the keys to the city, and by extension the whole nation. Henry would reject the keys to the city saying: "I have not come into this city as a conqueror, but by the will of its inhabitants united from Cape Tiburon to Cape Samaná in possession of one government."


King of Hispaniola - Coexistence or Assimilation? 1821-1824

Now truly a king of all of Hispaniola, Henry was at the apex of his, and the monarchy’s power in general. There was still the question of how the new Spanish Haiti would be integrated into the Kingdom. Two camps arose, those arguing for coexistence with the new Spanish Haiti, and those who argued for its assimilation into the Kingdom.

Arguments for assimilation were led by Charles Rivière-Hérard. Charles and his supporters believed the best way to integrate the new Republic of Spanish Haiti was to make the country French. Advocating the banning of the Spanish language, restrictions on Spanish cultural practices, and most bizarrely the banning of cockfighting.

In stark contrast to the assimilationists were those who advocated for coexistence. Victor Henry the heir to the throne, and Pablo Alí a chief military commander of the Santo Domingo Battalion 31 (Dark-skinned Battalion). These men argued that by suppressing the Spanish language, elites, and culture the Spaniards would merely lead a massive insurgency against the Haitians, in a war that the nation could sparsely afford or contain.

In his younger days, Henry may have sided with those in the assimilation faction. Their blunt, brutal method of ruling would have appealed to his desires to be a conqueror and expand Haitian greatness. Wisened by age, and at the increasing dominance of his heir, and parliament over government affairs, Henry would side with the coexistence faction. Spanish would be declared of dual-importance to the French language, Spanish cultural practices would be protected, and even spread to Western Haitian cities like Port-au-Prince, and Cap-Henry which quickly saw an influx of Spanish elites. Most importantly as a sweetener for many of the wealthy Spanish ranchers, the government would formalize their ownership of their lands, and sign protections to prevent expropriation by the government.

The integration would not be easy everywhere though, while most Spanish Haitians had communal agriculture, the introduction of sugar processing, and other high-demand, and high-risk crops greatly endangered Spanish Haitian lives causing great protestations. This would lead to a small but surprisingly resilient independence group known as “La Trinitaria” founded by Juan Pablo Duarte y Díez, an activist, utopian socialist, and so-called Dominican nationalist. For most elites; however, they remained content with the new situation, Haitian goods, and trade flowed west, access to the vast Haitian monetary reserves brought steady improvements, and the Haitian conscripts brought civility, and safety back to the lawlessness of the rule of the Machete. By 1824, the Spanish-French Haitian merger had been completed, and a new stable Kingdom of Haiti rose as the only power on the island.

Spanish Haitians were granted seats in the Haitian Parliament, and new noble titles were established and granted. Count of Santo Domingo was granted to Núñez de Cáceres, and Pablo Ali was named a Chevalier (knight). While many elites rolled their eyes, and scoffed at the notion of royal titles, most quietly accepted them, as slowly they began to jockey for power in the new combined Haitian state.


The French Debt Crisis - Haiti Back Under the French Boot - 1825

While Haiti had seemingly escaped French reprisals for their freedom, it seemed that sadly the nation could not outrun the French ire forever. France would begin by simply boxing in Haitian trade, trying to restrict, and prevent Haitian trade in the Atlantic, shortly after their independence. These initial measures largely failed due to British dominance in the Atlantic, and the unwillingness of the post-war French government under King Louis XVIII proved unwilling to entangle itself with the British over a colony.

The second attempt to strengthen Haiti was far more successful. Under newly crowned King Charles X, In 1825, two Man-of-Wars sailed into Cap-Henry. There they demanded the Haitian government pay an indemnity of 150 million Francs to the French government for losses incurred during the Haitian Revolution. The Haitian Parliament erupted into chaos as once again two sides developed. Charles Rivière-Hérard once again adopted a more hostile, and nationalistic stance, calling for the immediate mobilization of the Haitian Army, and preparations for a French invasion. Seigneur Pablo Ali once again argued for calm. Joined by many fellow Spanish Haitians like de Cáceres, they argued that instead of taking the newly stitched-together Kingdom of Haiti into a war that would decimate the destitute Spanish Haitian economy, they should pursue negotiation, and appeal to the United Kingdom for aid.

Henry, by this point bedridden once again, transferred the entire handling of the affair to his young son, the ambitious 21-year-old, Jacques-Victor Henry. Walking the tightrope between the nationalistic French Haitians, and conciliatory Spanish Haitians, Victor Henry would aim for a middle ground. Mobilizing the Haitian Army across the island Victor Henry would reach out to the British through an unofficial envoy, Thomas Ussher. Having been sent to oversee and facilitate Haitian trade, Ussher had been somewhat of an ambassador pending official British recognition. Ussher would reach out to London to approve him acting as a mediator which was granted shortly after. French admiral Guy-Victor Duperré would agree to hear Haitian offers.

Initially, Haiti would offer a promise of free trade, and open ports to the French merchants, who had been all but locked from Haitian ports causing a massive surge in sugar, and coffee prices. While the offer was tempting, Duperré would demand more from the Haitians who he knew were on the back foot. The second offer Haiti would present would be a promise of non-aggression to France, open ports, and negotiated repayment. Eventually after some back and forth between Duperré and Victor Henry, the amount was set at 90 million to be repaid over 50 years (the latter amount would be 70 million paid over 70 years). In exchange for this repayment, France would agree to recognize Haitian independence from France, and its rule over the entirety of Hispaniola. The United Kingdom as well, with a long connection with Henry, and being relatively impressed with the diplomacy displayed during the crisis would soon after recognize Haiti’s independence in 1829.

This agreement was viewed rather unpopularly by the Haitian people. Mobilized, and filled with proto-nationalistic zeal, the Haitian people saw Victor Henry as a weak Prince, and future King who had sold out the nation to French creditors. Attempts to salvage Victor Henry’s image would largely fail, and the beginning of the tragedy of King Henry II is said to have begun at this point.


The Death of Henry I - 1830

With the crisis over, Haiti would fall into relative quiet for the next 5 years. Nationalist propaganda in Santo Domingo would be suppressed by the government which would largely integrate large ranching families, and local administrators into the wider peerage (nobility) system.

Relations with the United States remained tense. The U.S.A. still utterly detested the idea of a freed slave republic, and many Southern planters remained deeply enraged about the defeat of a bill that would block Haitian imports. While some in the United States would move to Haiti, most interestingly some mixed-race Creole planters from Louisiana, Henry and the Haitian parliament actively rejected any attempts to settle African Americans on the island. Many elites worried about the ramifications of bringing an alien, republican borne class of citizens to their kingdom, especially so soon after the annexation of the massive Republic of Spanish Haiti.

Henry’s health continued its inexorable decline. Confined to his bed for most of the last years of his rule, he did not see the Kingdom grow, or enjoy its apex in strength. Finally, on October 8, 1830, Henri I, King of Haiti and all of Hispaniola died of most likely a pulmonary embolism.

Across Haiti, flags were lowered, as a funeral procession brought Henry’s body through the streets.

Most citizens felt conflicted over the news of Henry’s death. Many French Haitian elites, mourned the loss of their king, both Mixed-Haitian and Afro-Haitians alike. Henry had led them to freedom, granted them lands, and built a new prosperous kingdom, in which all (wealthy) free people could profit regardless of race. The average Haitian felt bittersweet. While the father of the nation, independence had not been as liberating as most Haitians hoped. Many still worked in the same fields they had been enslaved in. While granted wages, and encouraged to garden their small plots, they nonetheless were compelled to terms of service in the dangerous task of sugar harvesting. The taste of independence and freedom had turned sour in many Haitians ’ mouths.

Now Henry’s son, Jacques-Victor Henry Christophe was crowned, Henry II. Widely disliked by French Haitians as the traitor who signed the Haitian Debt Repayments, and disrespected by Spanish Haitians, Henry II would face an uphill battle for the entirety of his rule.


Legacy of Henry I

Unlike Jean-Jacque Dessalines or Toussaint Louverture, Henry Christophe is far more explored and understood in Haitian society, both his flaws and strengths are often discussed in societal circles. Most polling among Haitians rank him as among the most popular leaders in Haitian history. When asked why, most Haitians repeated the adage of a strong man doing what needed to be done to safeguard the revolution. Also leading to this more modern rise in popularity has been nationalist propaganda of Henry as a racial egalitarian who pushed for an equal society, and smashed racism, imperialism, and colonialism in Haiti.

Away from this propaganda, historians generally have a mixed view of Henry as a masterful opportunist. Switching sides multiple times during the Haitian Revolution, Henry had found himself the last founding father standing when the dust settled. Effortlessly giving into the calls for a strong leader, he crowned himself a king and pandered to Afro-Haitians, and when the poor grew increasingly angry at forced labor, and turned towards the mixed-race elites, Henry collaborated with them too.

Henry’s reign set up most of the problems that would plague Haiti throughout its history, forced labor, and land tenancy that favored large landed elites while actively weakening communal, or self-owned plots. Racial pandering in politics, and concessions to mixed-race elites who had no loyalty to the state, and saw Afro-Haitians as fundamentally lesser. Even diplomatically, though the blame was saddled upon his son, it was under Henry that France extracted the beginning of a massive debt repayment.

To his credit, despite the future problems Henry set up, he also ensured Haiti would survive. Demands for land redistribution were rejected, and most historical economists believe they would've likely destroyed the nation's economy. A smart fiscal policy meant that even with French debts, Henry left a budget surplus of more than 3 million francs upon his death. Starting his rule as an unrecognized ruler of what was considered a rebel province, Henry had secured recognition from the United Kingdom and France. Relative social tolerance on his part also allowed for the integration of Spanish Haiti without massive repressions of Spanish culture or the people.

A complicated and conflicted man, Henri Christophe, now passed into history. The Tragedy of Henry II now began.

 

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From Cape Tiburon to Cape Samaná - A United Hispaniola Timeline


Chapter 5: The Tragedy of King Henry II (1830-1842)

“Many have said Jacque-Victor Henry was doomed from the start. Ruling over what was already a decaying neo-feudal structure in an age that was quickly leaving it behind. Hated by his so-called nobles, and hated by the common people, perhaps it should be unsurprising that the Earth itself opened up and swallowed him and his dynasty alive.”
-Philippe Celestin, the Tragedy of King Henry II (1990)

When Henry II was raised to the throne, surrounded by nobles, and family, it is said he nearly fainted. While he had always expected to be forced to take the throne one day, he did not feel ready. Compounding this feeling of inadequacy and dread, his nobles hated him, and his illegitimate brother Thomas de Belliard coveted his power. Jacque-Victor Henry had no allies, and no family except his two power-hungry, and scheming sisters princesses Françoise-Améthyste, and Anne-Athénaïre, and his mother former Queen Marie-Louise Coidavid who had become dejected, and broken with the death of her husband. Heavy is the head that wears the crown, especially when it shoulders the weight of the crown alone.


Plots in the Darkness

The death of Henry I sent immediate shockwaves through the Kingdom of Haiti. As Henry II mourned, his half-brother, the illegitimate Thomas de Belliard attempted to maneuver his way into power. Belliard was entirely the opposite of Henry II, while not a legitimate heir to the throne, Belliard was far more popular than his half-brother. Mixed race, a military general, and known for his authoritative attitude Belliard was a far better choice to lead. Even with these obvious qualifiers to rule, Belliard would never get his chance. Reaching out to mixed-race elite families, the wannabe usurper was rebuffed by the men he reached out to. Contrary to Belliard’s belief, and perhaps arrogance, the mixed-race elites did not want him as their king. From Spanish Haiti to Port-au-Prince, the elites of Haiti now dreamed of republicanism for the nation. Even if they still wanted to preserve the Kingdom, they certainly did not want a strong, ambitious, and bold leader like Thomas de Belliard. He had overplayed his hand, if the nobles had to be stuck with a king, better a weak, and pliable one like Jacque-Victor Henry, than one they could not control.

Even within the halls of the Palace of Sans-Souci, Belliard found little success. Attempting to negotiate, and according to some accounts marry his half-sisters, Belliard’s plot would fall apart, when much to his chagrin his sisters would conspire amongst each other, revealing his proposals to each sister. Humiliated, Belliard’s antics would enrage the former Queen, Marie-Louise who in a rare moment of being roused from her deep depression, had Belliard arrested. While Henry II, would be encouraged by his sisters, and mother to execute Belliard, Henry would hesitate. Killing him, or even leaving him in prison may lead to a rebellion by the army who were extremely pro-Belliard, and anti-Henry.

After discussions with some of his more sycophantic advisors, Henry would choose to release Belliard; however, he would be reassigned, sent to Monte Tina, allegedly to root out supposed resistance from La Trinitaria, but mostly to ensure he could not wrest control of anything beyond low morale, and under-equipped Spanish Haitian soldiers.

Even though Henry II had taken a wiser, and more careful approach to dealing with his erstwhile close kin he would be mocked relentlessly. One common insult would be pointing to his sisters who were very open about their demands to take Belliard’s head, claiming that Christophe's ferocity only lived on in the women of the royal family.


The End and Enduring Legacy of La Trinitaria

Another of the often ignored, and even occasionally attacked aspects of Henry’s rule would be the defeat, and destruction of La Trinitaria. Founded by Juan Pablo Duarte the romanticist nationalist, and utopian socialist. The group initially spread among European-trained intellectuals, like Duarte.

In Spanish Haiti, the group struggled to find any traction towards their idea of Dominican Independence. Instead, waves of Haitian Republicanism were dominating the intellectual circles. This vying for power, and most importantly recruits hamstrung the group's efforts to mobilize. The Haitian government's relaxed nature towards Spanish cultural practices, and even raising Spanish to dual importance also took much of the nationalistic sentiments from many elites. Most average Spanish Haitians also were uninterested in nationalistic fervor as they had seen some improvements in their lives since unification. Most anger felt was towards the sugar planting system, and conscripted labor rather than actual anger at the Haitian government for oppression.

A massive blow to the efforts of La Trinitaria would come in 1833 when the second most important member of the group, Francisco del Rosario Sánchez met with Henry II and managed to extract concessions from the Haitian King. Promising further efforts to constitutionalize, and enshrine Spanish, as well as numerous other concessions including religious protections for the Catholic Church which Haiti was in schism with. In return, Sánchez would give away his co-conspirators and their holdout locations which the Haitian military would crack down upon.

Faced with an increasingly violent, and hardline government, and with dwindling numbers, Duarte would attempt to secure alliances within the Haitian Parliament, approaching liberals like Jonathas Granville. While Granville sympathized with La Trinitaria and the pressure they were feeling for the government, he opposed Spanish Haitian independence, and much of his block was made up of Spanish Mixed-Race politicians. As talks of an alliance broke down, Duarte gambled towards breaking up the close ties between Spanish Mixed-Race Haitians and French Mixed-Race Haitians politically through assassination. On October 14, 1839, a La Trinitarian assassin tried to shoot Granville in the street. By this point, long expecting an assassination and being a former soldier who fought with Napoleon, drew his gun first and shot the assassin. [1]

The retribution against La Trinitaria was swift. Duarte, who had gone into hiding years ago, was killed near, curiously enough, Monte Tina. A proper Haitian Army had been sent to the area to relieve Thomas de Belliard's understaffed army. With a proper unit in the area, they were able to more effectively comb the area, and Duarte instead of surrendering chose to die fighting during a raid on their encampments by the Haitians. In 1840 after decades of resistance, La Trinitaria effectively ceased to exist.

Once again despite having neutralized another enemy, this did little to help Henry’s popularity. Granville railed against Henry’s previous inaction that had led to the failed assassination attempt on Granville. He argued that if the government had taken the threat seriously from the beginning and sent actual units to Mount Tina, then La Trinitaria could have been quashed in the 1830s.

Even time it seems did nothing to help the legacy of Henry II, in fact, later in Haitian history, there would be much romanticism of La Trinitaria, despite their attempts to bring down the Kingdom, and separate Spanish Haiti from the French half of the island. Much of this romanticization came from self-proclaimed Mixed-Race Haitians and “Whitening” movements in the 1930’s-50’s. The irony is, that these whitening nationalists of that era would have scarcely found anything in common with La Trinitaria. Even with claims to the contrary, modern historians have found little to support accusations of racism or “whitening” desires in La Trinitaria. Duarte regularly integrated Afro-Spanish Haitians into his group, nor did he hate the monarchy because of a radical racial hatred, instead he was a cultural nationalist, who believed the island was too culturally different to form a cohesive nation.


Jonathan Granville, Republicanism, and the 1841 Compromise

Before the death of Henri Christophe, the monarchy had effectively kept a cap on the forces of republicanism. Even the integration of Spanish Haiti that had brought numerous new ideas, especially the forces of “a colorist democracy”, and liberalism had been largely suppressed by the personal ties Henry had made.

These ties would immediately break down with the ascension of his son to the throne. The forces of the Haitian Parliament would coalesce to begin agitating for the first steps towards a constitutional monarchy, and even a full-scale republic.

As was always the case, Haitian politics was divided between the colorist upper house senate and the liberal lower Chamber of Deputies. Each had their own goals and regularly got in each other’s way when attempting to weaken the power of the monarchy.

On the Senate sat the so-called “colorists” believed inherently the only path to build the state racially equal was through the assignment of seats in Parliament based upon race. Only by creating an entrenched system where every black (mainly western Afro-Haitian) seat in Parliament, there would be one Mixed-Race and one white seat. Jonathas Granville was among the biggest proponents of the system, and the all-around leader of the Senate of Haiti. He received generous backing and support from the Haitian Mixed-Race elites, especially Spanish Haitians. Pointing to flaws within the system, many would call this pseudo-racialism mean forced equality, citing that largely Black Haitian districts would also be forced to find both White and Mixed-Race Haitians to run alongside them, in a form of racial party block voting. Granville would eventually be negotiated down from this heady idealism to a more conservative, equal number of seats per racial group. Granville also pushed for the emigration of African Americans from the United States of America to the Kingdom. He believed these new African Americans would be more open towards Republicanism, and stoke the idea of rebellion among the average Afro-Haitian who were mostly ambivalent towards the monarchy, but not actively in favor of Republicanism.

Meanwhile in the lower house, the Chamber of Deputies, a far more liberal and egalitarian ideal had taken root. This group, called the Liberals, would largely be opposed to the machinations of the upper house. Liberals under the leadership of General Jean-Jacques Acaau believed racialism and institutionalization of racialism would only set up to leave Haiti eternally divided, (if a Kingdom or as a Republic), between the different races, constantly vying for power, and control over each other. Acaau himself was extremely sympathetic to the cause of La Trinitaria believing their beliefs in the inability of cultural integration or coexistence between the different people of Haiti were only being reinforced, and proven correct by the monarchy, and the Senate. Unlike the Senate which generally bided their time, the Chamber of Deputies was far more openly Republican.

Amid these vying factions Henry would largely fail to clamp down on either. Instead, as always, his nature for pragmatism, and negotiation would push him to negotiate with Granville and Acaau, even as both largely wanted to see his fall from power.

The first concession that Henry would make, would be ceding legislative authority to the Parliament. While maintaining some veto, and emergency powers including the ability to dissolve parliament, the Parliament could now create, and pass laws, and even override Henry’s veto with a 2/3rds majority. In return for this quite frankly massive concession from the dejected, and defeated Henry, he would simply demand one thing, the removal of the monarchy question. By accepting this compromise, Parliament would not be allowed to now, or in the future bring off the monarchy's legitimacy, or ability to be the executive of the nation.

A relatively stunning demand from Henry II, whom both Granville and Acaau did not generally think of as a political operator. Many theories have been put forward as to who set up Henry to make this demand. Some claim it was his mother Marie-Louise; however, most historians outright reject this theory. Even by the uncharacteristic fury she had shown against Thomas de Belliard, she was still largely melancholy and withdrawn from the affairs of the state. Others pointed towards his sisters, Françoise-Améthyste, and Anne-Athénaïre; these claims are also just as unlikely. Both showed their characteristic rage after the announcement of the deal was made, and both would never have relinquished their family's power over the monarchy. Finally, many claimed it was Henry’s wife Socorro Sánchez del Rosario, who is notable for being the sister of Francisco del Rosario Sánchez the revolutionary leader who had flipped on his allies in La Trinitaria. An outspoken feminist, and journalist it’s likely she would have nudged her husband's hands toward a more liberal and modern government.

Either way, Granville would reluctantly accept the deal, while Acaau would obstinately refuse, leading to screaming matches between himself, and Granville. Even with liberals digging their heels in, the Senate, and many in the Chamber of Deputies would agree to this new deal, and for a moment, it seemed in 1841, as if Haiti may have found internal peace in the Kingdom. Even Henry was happy having recently welcomed his son and heir, Jean-Christophe Henry III into the world.


The 1842 Cap-Henry Earthquake “Kingsbane”

The 1842 Earthquake also known as “Kingsbane” or the Great Earthquake was an 8.1 magnitude earthquake that rocked Cap-Henry on May 7. Shortly after the Earthquake the northern half of the island was then struck by a powerful tsunami.

Among the shattered remnants of Cap-Henry the parliament building was destroyed, killing several MP’s who happened to be in the Parliament building at 5 PM when the earthquake struck. The reason the Earthquake is known; however, is not because of the destruction of the Parliament building. Instead, we look at the ruins of the San-Souci Palace.

The royal residence was located only a few miles from the epicenter of the quake. The powerful shockwaves from the earthquake shattered the palace’s walls and brought down the ceiling upon the royal family, and all those inside. In the chaos and confusion that followed in the hours after the earthquake, guards, and even citizens from the nearby town of Milot came to the city to see what had become of the palace.

In the ruins of the palace, crushed under a large piece of rubble lay Jacques-Victor Henry II, holding his son, and wife in his arms, he was 38 years old. Other casualties included his sisters and several royal guards who had been trying to usher them to safety.

His mother, Marie-Louise survived the quake, upon hearing the loss of her entire family, it is said she flew into a complete mental collapse, tearing her hair and screaming “Why has God chosen to forsake my family? What great evil have I committed that I am to be left here, and they all taken from me?”

In total, it’s estimated that 5-6,000 Haitians died in what was the most powerful earthquake to ever hit the island. With the entire royal family crushed beneath the rubble, and only the unstable and broken Marie-Louise left alive, the government called an emergency “Royal Council” still keeping the facade of a royal government. It is said when Thomas de Belliard heard of the death of his entire family he wept. While yes he coveted the power of the throne, he had never wanted Henry to die.

Now, de Belliard, Granville, Acaau, and thousands of representatives would gather south in the city of Port-au-Prince which had been left unscathed by the recent earthquake. This Royal Council, later called the Haitian Constitutional Convention, would deliver a final coup de grace to the Haitian Kingdom, and both Henry’s legacy.


An Enduring Legacy of Failure

Unlike his father who is still remembered fondly in Haitian history, Henry II is scorned by everyone across the Haitian political spectrum and society. Among liberals, he is hated for stifling the implementation of a liberal democracy in Haiti. For Republicans, he was scorned for upholding the monarchy status even if it was only for a single year. Monarchists hated him for giving up power to the parliament, and even the religious thought Henry was cursed.

Even San-Souci Palace would never be rebuilt. Today it is a tomb to the Christophe Dynasty, and the Kingdom of Haiti as a whole. Locals claim the Palace ruins are haunted, and you can hear the weeping of Henry, and his family as they relive their last moments in perpetuity. In the 1970s Henry II and his family were reburied in a familial tomb created by the new government.

In the short term, Henry largely would fail, his final deal ratified with parliament, as the “Royal Council'' gathered, they looked to hungrily carve up the only successful concession Henry had received, the upholding of the Haitian Monarchy itself.


Notes

[1] IOTL Granville was assassinated suddenly on the orders of Boyer’s government. In this timeline having been a soldier, and having prior knowledge of the likelihood of an assassination, Granville defends himself.

 

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From Cape Tiburon to Cape Samaná - A United Hispaniola Timeline


Chapter 6: Royal Council (1842), and the Presidency of Jonathas Granville (1843-1853)


“Time that everything destroys, is respecting his tomb
It will grow for thee the most beautiful Laurel
If death, as they say, is a terrible mystery
As the future unfolds, it will break through the Earth!”
-Words Engraved Upon the Jonathas Granville’s Tomb (1857)

As the Christophe dynasty lay crushed under a pile of rubble, and even the capital bearing its name Cap-Henry lay in ruins, an emergency “Royal Council” was convened in Port-au-Prince. This council would be known as the Haitian Constitutional Convention. Sitting at the head of this “Royal Council” would be none other than the man instrumental in weakening the monarchy in the first place, Jonathas Granville.


The Rise of Jonathas Granville


From a young age, it seemed to most people that Granville was destined for greatness, few could’ve expected just how far he would rise. Born to Simon Peter Granville, and Marie-Thérèse-Anne Labrosse in a wealthy borough of Port-de-Paix. His father had been a tutor for future revolutionary Toussaint Louverture's sons. Sent to Paris as a teenager, Granville arrived during the fall of the French Directory, and the rise of the Triumvirate, he was deeply attracted both to the liberal ideals spreading through the city, but also to the strong order and stability that Napoleon Bonaparte had brought.

While attending the National Institute des Colonies, Granville sat out the Haitian Revolution, instead becoming a skilled swordsman, poet, orator, and diplomat. Joining Napoleon’s army, Granville would see the final collapse and end of the Napoleonic Empire, with Granville himself narrowly avoiding death during the Battle of Leipzig.

Hanging around in France after the restoration of the Monarchy, and the Hundred Days Campaign, the now older Jonathas Granville had decided his taste for combat was largely satisfied. Returning to the new Kingdom of Haiti, Granville’s knack for diplomacy, and wealthy familial background quickly saw his rise through the ranks of politics in the Kingdom. Eventually earning a seat in the Senate for the Port-au-Paix region, right next to Cap-Henry this was considered by many an affront to the Afro-Haitian Monarchy.

Even before the earthquake, Granville had been among the prominent men in the entire nation and had actively played a role in weakening the monarchy. Echoing his time serving under Napoleon, Granville lambasted the tyranny of absolutism, and unassailable leaders, pointing to it only bringing a nation to eventual destruction. Quietly, Granville actively campaigned for the end of the monarchy, and the shift to an entirely democratic republic, based upon equal representation for both Mixed-Race and Afro-Haitians. Despite these idealisms, Granville was pragmatic, unlike many of the more radical members of the Chamber of Deputies, he pushed for the slow undermining of the monarchy through the development of the socio-political consciousness of the average Haitian. Even then, he was still not opposed to keeping the monarchy, especially when the late King Henry II, agreed to relinquish massive amounts of legislative, and executive power to the Haitian Parliament, and Prime Minister, a role which Jonathas Granville would soon secure for himself.

With the 1842 Cap-Henry Earthquake, all of Granville’s careful politicking, and coalition building were shattered as now a bickering royal council of businessmen, liberals, nobles, pretenders to the throne, and conservatives now found themselves attempting to wrest power.


The King is Dead, Long Live the Republic! (1843)

Later histories and paintings would show a gallant and united Council, united in purpose to end the tyranny of King and restore the rights of man that had been so long denied under the oppressive Code Henry [1] the truth, as is always the case, is far more opaque. In fact, during the initial opening days of what would become a 6 months long convention, it was unclear if the monarchy would be overthrown at all, or merely replaced with the last living heir of the Christophe dynasty.

Thomas de Belliard would present a very strong case for himself to be put on the throne. A military general, who had recently crushed La Trinitaria, even while being largely given under armed, and undermanned units. De Belliard would make a rather large mistake when presenting his case to the Royal Council. He would lay out a plan to repeal the 1841 Compromise, reinstitute total royal prerogative, and reform the nobility system to open the ranks to new businessmen, and entrepreneurs. He also advocated further entrenchments of the forced labor system, geared towards new infrastructure to connect both halves of the islands more efficiently. He would be railed against by Jean-Jacques Acaau’s liberal faction, as well as Granville’s own “colorist” faction. Both refused vehemently to allow the 1841 Compromise to be repealed after spending so much time, and political capital to push the compromise forward. De Belliard would attempt to walk back his demands; however, the Liberals would refuse any discussion on maintaining the monarchy, and Granville deeply distrusted Belliard’s imperialist ambitions, believing it to be an imitation of Napoleon, and that any deal made would merely press his power.

With De Belliard’s faction swept aside, both Acaau, and Granville agreed to completely, and dismantle the monarchy, seeing no alternative monarch to choose, and not trusting the imperialist faction. A new Republic of Haiti would be formed, keeping the Westminster-style system that Henry had instituted. Instead of a Monarch, a President would be chosen by direct vote. The powers of the President were left mostly vague; however, Granville believed the President should be relatively powerless and a figurehead. The so-called colorist system would give equal seats to each racial group, splitting the island halfway down the middle, with often little regard for the large amounts of mixed-race Creole living in southwestern Haiti, and Afro-Haitians living in eastern Haiti. A provision for universal suffrage would almost immediately be tabled by Granville much to the chagrin of his liberal opposition.

The Haitian Constitution of November 8, 1842, would be signed by members of the Parliament, most importantly Granville, Accau, and reluctantly de Belliard. In preliminary elections, Granville would be chosen as the First President of the Republic of Haiti. For Prime Minister, despite many demands, Charles Rivière-Hérard, another military general turned politician, had a fierce military, and then political rivalry with the liberal Accau.


Abolishment Forced Labor (1843 - 1860)

One of the most despised elements of the rule of the two Henry's was the forced labor system. Sugar harvesting and processing was still an immensely dangerous system, but its maintenance was one of the only reasons Haiti’s economy had been able to survive and grow post-revolution. Nonetheless, this system could not be held together forever, especially as Haitians grew increasingly agitated and hostile toward the government.

In 1843 as his first pledge, President Granville signed the Abolition of Forced Labor Act, under this act the process by which forced labor was used in dangerous work like sugar processing, and other refinement tasks would be gradually scaled back before being fully abolished.

The most difficult issue was how to keep the economy afloat, and to maintain the French debt repayments. The first way Haiti would approach this was to incur further debts. Starting around 1845, processing using multiple-effect-evaporators would enter into working production. While the initial blueprints dated back to 1820, it wasn’t until nearly 25 years later Norbert Rillieux managed to get his patent used in factories. Granville, using up considerable cash reserves, would purchase these multi-effect-evaporators to help ease sugar harvesting and processing. More importantly, large farms which often processed the harvested sugar needed less manpower, and could switch to cheaper wage labor. Major factories like those in Port-au-Prince, Santo Domingo, and the recently rebuilding Cap-Henry would also adopt mechanization, and while dangerous, produced far fewer casualties than previous methods of forced labor. To appease the elites who often owned these large plantations, and by the extent stood to lose the most from labor loss, machinery was given to them at low-to-no cost.

For the average farmer though, Granville would propose a simple change. Lifting French colonial laws that banned indigo, smaller farmers would be encouraged not only to produce subsistence crops, but also their own small easily produced cash crops like Indigo, or Coffee, which Haiti was still among the largest producers of. Haitian peasants would also be allowed to keep the lands they had been allotted during the periods of forced labor. Meanwhile, in Santo Domingo, the government would invest massively into protecting and expanding support for the cattle ranching that was taking place, especially along the coasts.

Progress would be slow, delayed by later troubles in the Haitian Republic, but by 1860, an adequate if not completely comparable solution to the issue of forced labor, and economic stability was found.


The Non-Partisan President

While President Granville had cultivated his faction and swept most of the Senate, he did not; however, wished for the Presidency to be a partisan position. Renouncing any affiliations to the developing Liberal Party of Haiti, National Party of Haiti, or the so-called Loyalist Party of Haiti (de Belliard’s monarchists), Granville positioned himself as above petty party politics, instead making deals with both Liberals and Nationals to pass the necessary legislation.

Unfortunately for Granville, his idealized non-partisan presidency would not long outlast him, nor would his weak figurehead ideas. As in the next decades, power would centralize increasingly in the President, leading to the creation of what has often been compared by political scientists as an Imperial Presidency or elected autocracy.


1st Great Migration (1840-1854)

A crowning achievement of Granville’s tenure would be the so-called 1st Great Migration. During his time, freedmen from the United States, especially intellectuals, poets, and other upper-caste African Americans were encouraged to move to Haiti.

While the Great Migration began in the later years of Henry II, it began to pick up steam after his death. Granville would open the floodgate to immigration-shattering restrictions, and ignore the fears of the elites in Haitian society, many of whom feared a new educated class of liberal idealists flooding into Haiti.

Stylizing itself as a liberal democratic beacon of liberty for all men, the Haitian Republic attracted thousands of freed African Americans who could afford to make the journey south. While many had high ideas they soon were hit with blunt reality. Racial tensions, class divide, and segregated voting had not merely been done away with because everyone in the nation had a darker skin tone. Instead, Haitian society pitted new distinctions based on skin tone and wealth. Some African Americans returned home, bitter, penniless, and without hope. Others struck it rich using their proportionally wealthier upbringings in the United States as a way to dominate the Haitian market, men like Andre Saintil, and Robert Victor would turn into wealthy factory owners.

Haiti accepting an increasing number of African Americans spurred some amount of debate in the halls of the United States Congress, and among abolitionists. U.S. President John Tyler, while an ardent supporter of Slavery, and slave owner who upheld previous decisions to not recognize Haiti, turned a blind eye to the abundance of Haitian goods that came from their ports. Further, Tyler believed the exodus of freedmen from the north would defang abolitionism, and give a much-needed win to the cause of slavery, especially as they had suffered a brutal humiliation after their embargo was defeated in a congressional senate vote.


The Fight for Universal Male Suffrage

Granville’s greatest failure, and indeed the one that consumed most of his presidency would be the cause of universal suffrage. From early on, President Granville had ardently fought against the elitism inherent in the Haitian social structure, much of which was a holdover from the days of the old French colony.

Only landed, and literate Haitians possessed the ability to vote meaning many Afro-Haitians, and Mixed Spanish-Haitians were denied the ability to have their voices heard politically. While the idea of universal suffrage was extremely popular in Haiti among the average person, most elites and even liberals hated the idea. Two main arguments would present themselves, the appeal to paternalism, and the appeal to profits.

The appeal to paternalism would follow this general line: “While yes, it would be nice to allow every male Haitian to vote, are the people ready to? Our people are largely illiterate, and could easily be swayed by populist rhetoric, or radicalism. So, voting only based upon those who can read is by far a better system, instead of allowing everyone to vote we should instead focus on improving access to education.” This argument appealed heavily to liberals. While many had high ideals about creating an equal, and just society they did not believe the average Haitian had the mental acuity, or competence to be able to vote, and needed the guiding hand of enlightened intellectuals to lead them to their eventual securing of the right to vote.

Among those concerned about profits, and their power there was an entirely different line of thinking. On the floors of the Senate, they delivered fiery speeches denouncing “The idealistic European liberalism, and utopian socialism of the Granville Presidency. Why should we allow those who have not achieved, and have not carved out their positions of power, and prestige the right to have their vote weighted to the same degree as us, the best of society?”

Trapped between the two, was Granville, and one surprising ally, Thomas de Belliard. The now-growing elderly statesman had shifted his monarchist Loyalist Party from open monarchist elitism to Bonapartist anti-elitism. Reluctantly Granville was forced to make deals with de Belliard, even going as far as to promote him to a Minister without portfolio. Despite this uneasy alliance, both Granville and de Belliard were unable to see the Universal Suffrage Act passed through Parliament. The failure of the act would swell supporters of the Loyalist Party, increasing monarchist sentiments, especially among Afro-Haitians who still were a large underclass within Haitian society.


Resigned to Defeat

With perhaps his biggest hope to transform and create the Haitian Republic into a true egalitarian state dashed upon the rocks, Jonathas Granville would announce his final act. He would resign after 2 full terms in office. Already 68 years old by the end of his last term in office, Granville would attempt to set a new precedent. No President of Haiti should serve more than 2 terms.

Granville would not live long to see his Haitian Republic break apart and descend into the fires of civil conflict. Dying only 2 years after he left office, just before his 71st birthday. Perhaps it was for the best, already left a broken man by his pitfalls, Granville would remark that he had been a failure, and had made Haiti weaker as a result.

In his restrained presidency, Jonathas Granville had attempted to mark himself as a just, and democratic ruler. Instead, his restraint led to a less democratic, and equal Haiti. His compromises kept Haitians in forced bondage for another 7 years after his term, and his compromising with radical elements like Thomas de Belliard would lead his beloved nation into the fires of war, and dictatorialism.

Today, Jonathas Granville is seen as a man ahead of his time. An enlightenment thinker, poet, and gentleman warrior, his life would be heavily idealized after his death. Subject to poems, plays, and movies, Granville has transcended his arguably mediocre presidency, into a hero of modern Haiti, a second founding father.


Notes

[1] Code Henry was an expansive series of criminal and civil legal structures laid out by Henri Christophe during his divided Kingdom period IRL. With no overthrow, this expansive legal system would see a far more widespread implementation across the entire island.

 

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From Cape Tiburon to Cape Samaná - A United Hispaniola Timeline


Chapter 7: The Haitian Civil War, A War of the Bastards, Reconstruction (1853-1863)


“That was the beginning of the civil war. Many years have gone by and blood keeps running, soaking the soil of Haiti, but I am not there to weep.”
- Isabel Allende, Island Beneath the Sea, 2009

No matter how long the Henrys lay dead, it seemed Haiti was unable to escape the long shadow Henry, and the Christophe family left behind. Among those many issues was the many illegitimate children Henry left behind. The most influential, and perhaps the only Henry himself ever recognized was Thomas de Belliard. Even Henry’s true son, Henry II was constantly overshadowed by his erstwhile half-sibling, who constantly plotted against, and undercut his rule. Even with the death of the monarchy, and de Belliard’s advanced age, his scheming never stopped. This chapter in Haitian history would be forever known as “The War of the Bastards”


An Unpopular Election (1853)

The sudden announcement by Jonathas Granville that he would not stand for a third term would send shockwaves through the Haitian political establishment. While many had expected Granville to retire after his second term, his refusal to choose, or prepare a successor created a great deal of confusion and chaos in the political establishment. Anger spun like a seething mass among the Haitian populace, as many marched, and protested that the government fulfill Granville’s demands, of universal male suffrage for all Haitians above the age of 25. As the government cracked down upon these civilian protests, the election was held on April 1, 1853, with both the Liberal Party, National Party, and Loyalist Party all running candidates.

The Liberal Party as always ran Jean-Jacques Acaau, who by now was an extremely old, but experienced hand in Haitian politics. Even so, Acaau was a firebrand, and political outsider, who even in his old age and prestigious career managed to ruffle the feathers of the Haitian elites.
The main opposition to Acaau was the National Party which ran the conservative mixed-race Spanish-Haitian general José Antonio Salcedo y Ramírez. A relatively moderate compromise candidate, Ramirez would pull from both the Liberal and National Parties promising to institute moderated reforms that balanced both social and economic needs for all Haitians.

Finally, the Loyalists put the elderly Thomas de Belliard as their candidate, once again advocating for Bonapartist monarchism, anti-elitism, and universal male suffrage. This made de Belliard the most popular candidate based purely on public opinion, but the least favorite among the actual voting base of landed elites.

With such an existential threat to their power, both the National and Liberal parties would unite behind a united ticket. José Antonio Salcedo y Ramírez would serve as the President, while Jean-Jacques Acaau would achieve his long-coveted position of Prime Minister. The unity ticket delivered a humiliating blow to the Loyalists sweeping around 90% of the eligible seats. The result, despite being largely expected, still enraged the Loyalists who became increasingly fueled by the growing public discontent towards the denial of universal suffrage.


Royalist Coup, and Republican Counter-Coup (1853)

The new unity ticket laid out a comprehensive plan to reform Haitian society. This included a more rapid dismantling of forced labor, discussions of expanding suffrage and expanding access to education. For a moment it seemed as if Haiti may pull itself back from the brink of chaos. Popular opinion began to cool towards the radicalism of the Loyalist Party, and de Belliard became anxious. Perhaps his final chance to restore the monarchy, and write his name in the history books was disappearing. Beginning to plot with his other allies, most notably another of Henri Christophe’s illegitimate children, and his younger half-brother Pierre Nord Alexis, the Loyalists would make their move.

With a force of veteran soldiers and Loyalist civilian supporters, Thomas de Belliard would seize the National Assembly building in Port-au-Prince on May 21, 1853. Here he would capture and order the surrender of the Haitian government including President José Antonio Salcedo y Ramírez, and Prime Minister Jean-Jacques Acaau. While Ramírez would surrender without issue, Acaau refused to yield, leading to Acaau committing suicide in his office in the National Assembly building. After only a single month in power, the unity ticket was now shattered and scattered to the winds by de Belliard.

Thomas de Belliard would declare his intention to restore the Haitian monarchy, wearing the crown of Henry I, and II, and adopting the title of Prince-President Thomas Christophe de Belliard. Almost immediately the nation was split along racial lines. While many Afro-Haitians were supportive of the new regime, Mixed-Race Haitians, and especially Spanish-Haitians outright rejected this new development.

Rallying behind a young general named Sylvain Salnave, the Haitian Republican Army would launch a counter-coup only 12 days after Thomas de Belliard had taken power. Unfortunately, de Belliard had caught wind of the changing atmosphere in Port-au-Prince and had moved himself and his supporters to Cap-Henry. Quickly getting the cooperation of local Afro-Haitian elites, and governors, de Belliard took over the states of Latibonit, Nòdwès, and parts of Nò. The Battle lines were drawn, and the Haitian Civil War began.


Haitian Civil War (1853-1855), Haitian-Spanish War (1854-1855)

The Haitian Civil War would be the first true test of the Republic’s convictions not only to democracy but to its sovereignty. With Europeans meddling from abroad, and the Haitian Kingdom pushing its propaganda, the Republic teetered on the edge of anarchy.

Now the sworn-in President in Port-au-Prince, Sylvain Salnave set about mobilizing as many Haitians as he could to the fight. In a bold declaration, made with the backing of his nobles, Salnave promised that any Haitian who fought for him would be granted land and the vote. The subsequent recruitment wave washed over the nation like a tsunami. So many men applied, that riots broke out in several cities after the government closed recruitment offices.

Even within a crushing numeric disadvantage, the self-professed Kingdom of Haiti, and its King Thomas I, had their advantages. Mainly most of Thomas’ forces were old veterans. These men had counter-insurgency training and were used to fighting undersupplied, and undermanned as they had in the mountains of Eastern Haiti.

Early battles consisted of mainly skirmishes with Thomas’ forces testing the Haitian Republican Army. Early on at the Battle of Hinche, the elite forces of Thomas’ army clashed with the Haitians under conservative Charles Rivière-Hérard. Newly recruited, under-trained, and excited for battle, the Haitian Republicans rushed forward in anticipation, quickly losing organization as they clashed against the veterans of Thomas’ army. Leading from the front the old pretender held the line, encouraging his men to stand, and hold fast, calmly bringing down the Republicans as they rushed forward. By the time some men reached and charged the Loyalist line, they were exhausted and in many cases already wounded. Thomas would order his men on a counterattack, demolishing Rivière-Hérard and killing the old general in the panicked retreat. Hinche would fall to the Loyalists, as the Republican Army regrouped, and prepared for a new offensive.

Sensing blood in the water, the Spanish Empire under Isabella II would launch a punitive expedition into Eastern Haiti in an attempt to reestablish their hold over Santo Domingo which they had never recognized as independent or ceded to the Haitian state. Launching a military expedition, Spanish forces landed in Santo Domingo. Spain had imagined retaking the east from the so-called barbaric Haitians the Spanish would be met as heroes. The reality they faced was near-constant uprisings the moments their boots hit the ground in Santo Domingo.

Garrisoning Santo Domingo required immense amounts of Spanish effort, so they turned to a native collaborator hoping this would calm the situation. Enter a disgruntled Spanish Haitian named Pedro Santana y Familias, who passed over multiple times for promotion, after seeing the failure of the Haitian Republican Army to defend his home of Hinche, Santana agreed to defect and become the Spanish governor of Santo Domingo, and eventually the leader of the colony if restored. Putting a native Spanish-Haitian did little to help endear the Europeans to the wider populace. Many, while not fond of Afro-Haitians, saw themselves nationally as independent, and a part of the Haitian Republic, and not subjects of an occupying force, as had been a common feeling in the early years of annexation. The Haitian Republican Army of the East under the command of Gaspar Polanco Borbón would encircle and hold Santo Domingo under a state of siege, beating back several attempts by the poorly supplied, and low morale Spanish, and conscripted Spanish Haitian forces from breaking out of the city.

After a year of holding the city, Spanish forces grew increasingly mutinous, especially after facing near-constant protests, and riots from the city's inhabitants itself. Pedro Santana the supposedly great general struggled under ever deteriorating conditions in Santo Domingo, and these conditions hampered efforts to make an offensive outside of the city. In May of 1855 Spain slowly began to withdraw, uprisings in Barcelona against forced conscription, and taxation, as well as the general unfavorability of the conflict caused Spain to quickly abandon its attempted foreign adventure. Pedro Santana would flee the city spending the last decade of his life in Madrid.

Gaspar Polanco Borbón for his part would enter in Santo Domingo a hero, and be given the title of Marshal of Haiti, one of the first Spanish Haitians to bear such a prestigious title of the Republic.


Fall of the Mummer King (1855)

Oftentimes when people speak of the Haitian Civil War they speak of Battles of Hinche, or Gonaïves; however, no major battle truly brought the rebellion, instead, it was the betrayal of King Thomas against his half-brother and the populace as a whole.

A life being scorned, and slighted left Thomas cold, and hateful. The moment he touched power, he did not give into the populace’s demands that he had so carefully played on to encourage revolt. Attempts to secure voting rights, or even protest would be met with brutal crackdowns, and massacres in the streets of Cap-Henry, and forced labor was strengthened and intensified to build fortifications, and roads for soldiers to move. This forced conscription created increasing hostility towards Thomas who most felt had betrayed their trust, as he had reneged on every promise he had made to them.

The first discussions of removing Thomas came in early 1855, while the front with the Haitian Republican Army remained relatively static, many defected politicians and nobles began to plot to put Pierre Nord Alexis on the throne. While Alexis’ exact knowledge of the plotting, or if he agreed to it is unknown, Thomas responded swiftly and brutally, capturing and executing the plotting nobles, and stripped Alexis of his titles, and prepared to have him arrested.

Choosing to strike first, Pierre Nord Alexis declared his loyalty to the Haitian Republic and split from the Kingdom. Defecting and bringing several hundred soldiers with him, President Salnave would graciously accept Alexis back to the Republic.

Leading his small detachment, Alexis would prove himself an able commander, at the Second Battle of Hinche, Alexis would break ranks and lead his small detachment shattering the Loyalist army's flank, causing them to flee, allowing the Republicans to retake the city.

Promoted to the head of his army, Alexis and his soldiers would oversee the final march on Cap-Henry. Choosing to meet him head-on, King Thomas sallied forth from the city and made a head-on attack. Outnumbered, and divided, some Haitian loyalists immediately switched sides upon seeing Alexis. Nonetheless, Thomas would push forward, leading a charge in what became known as “The Battle of the Bastards”, in which Alexis and Thomas would directly face each other in combat. After hours of intense back and forth, Thomas’ army would retreat into the city.
Doggedly pursued by the Haitian Republicans, and unwilling to let himself be captured by Pierre Nord Alexis, King Thomas Christophe de Belliard chose to commit suicide, shooting himself with his father’s famous silver pistol. Cap-Henry and soldiers across the now fallen Kingdom would throw down their arms, surrendering to the Haitian Republicans. Most Afro-Haitian nobles would use their relative wealth to secure passage out of the Kingdom. Most ended up in Cuba, or Jamaica where despite their wealth they were discriminated against, and persecuted by colonial officials, and Europeans.


A Most Radical Reconstruction (1855 - 1863)

President Sylvain Salnave now sat as the undisputed ruler of Haiti, yet the Haiti he now presided over was immensely broken. The Afro-Haitian elites had betrayed the nation, and many wanted revenge.

Extreme racial hatred had been born from the conflict, with some Mixed-Haitian elites believing Afro-Haitians to be naturally traitorous, and prone to betrayal. They argued any Afro-Haitian lands should be divided and given to respectable groups like White or Mixed-Haitians.

Rejecting these pulls of the nation towards racial extremism, President Salnave would begin a process of national reform, and reconciliation. Cities like Hinche, Gonaives, and Cap-Henry which had been devastated by artillery fire, and heavy fighting would be rebuilt. When it came to the issue of what to do with the now unowned lands that many Afro-Haitian planters and elites had abandoned, or were now considered forfeit, Salnave decided to simply put the land under National control. From there the land would be divided and handed out to private planters, or communal Afro-Haitian villages. This land tenure program would create a new Afro-Haitian middle class and greatly weaken the power of elites in that area of the Republic of Haiti. On the downside, this would intensify and put pressure on the Haitian government later to institute land reform throughout the whole nation.

Fulfilling his promise, all soldiers who had fought for the Republic gained parcels of land, and the ability to vote in elections. While it would not soothe everyone’s desires, especially Afro-Haitians who would be excluded from being granted the vote for military service, this step would slowly begin the move for eventual full universal male suffrage.

After two of the most tumultuous terms since the Haitian Revolution, President Salnave would choose to resign and not seek a third term in office. Despite coming in on the back of a coup, Sylvain Salnave would be beloved as a savior of the Haitian Republic. Immortalized in Haitian history and culture as the Haitian Cincinnatus, a warrior who grabbed the reins of the Republic to save it from monarchism, and barbarity. After his retirement, he would become a beloved socialite and political theorist within the nation. After the U.S. occupation of Haiti, he would leave Port-au-Prince, retiring to the countryside until his death at the age of 84, in 1910.

 

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From Cape Tiburon to Cape Samaná - A United Hispaniola Timeline


Chapter 8. Fabre Geffrard/Pierre Théoma Boisrond-Canal: The Rise of the Mixed-Race Oligarchy “Mulattocracy” (1863 - 1873)

"A rich black is a mulatto, a poor mulatto is a black.”
- Haitian Proverb

As Haiti fell back into a state of normalcy after the Civil War, it was clear something in Haitian society had changed. The balance of power, which for many years had favored the Afro-Haitian populace and elites, had been in one fell swoop, shattered. The election of 1863 would show the rise and stranglehold the Mixed-Race Haitians had secured over both reconstruction and wider Haitian society, the “Mulattocracy” as it would later be known had begun.


The Election of 1863

The elections of April 1863, would show a thunderous rise of the National Party of Haiti, and the weakening of the Haitian liberals who had dominated mixed-race communities since the integration of Spanish Haiti.

Initially, many Mixed-Race elites had supported the liberals, as they had been a way to secure further rights for Mixed-Race Haitians against the domination of the Afro-Haitians under the rule of the Henrys, and Jonathas Granville. It should be noted, that even during this early time, Mixed-Race Haitians did not vote as a block, with a small but noticeable minority siding with the National Party, due to beliefs that the liberal's push for wider social, and political reform would lead to the loss of privileges, and status held by elites of both races. When the Haitian Civil War and the subsequent Radical Reconstruction under President Sylvain Salnave began, the Mixed-Race Haitian elites fled the Liberal Party en masse. Granting voting rights to veterans, and the redistribution of land from Afro-Haitian elites to peasants, and villages was seen as a massive existential threat to the power of elites in Haitian society. The ball to Universal Male Suffrage had started rolling, and now there was nothing the elites could do to stop it.

Nonetheless, it would be wrong to say the reforms had hurt the Mixed-Race Haitians. This would be wholly incorrect. Giving voting rights to soldiers, and the flight of many Afro-Haitian elites had ensured that the majority of Haitians who could vote for President or the Legislature would be Mixed-Race Haitians. Afro-Haitian soldiers who fought for Thomas de Belliard were not granted the right to vote, and in many cases had lost their land. Some Afro-Haitians had been given land during Salnave’s redistributive campaigns, but even then much more of the land went to Mixed-Race Haitians or communal villages.

Even still, the potential future threat of a future demand for land reform in Mixed-Race Haitians dominated lands, and the now increasing likelihood of universal male suffrage in a decade, largely squandered any potential good faith once shared between the Liberal Party and elites. This meant that by the 1863 election, the National Party’s candidate Fabre Geffrard swept the electoral stage, running on a platform of anti-populism, normalcy, and national stability. His Vice President Pierre Théoma Boisrond-Canal, a younger, and more idealistic candidate pulled in numerous intellectuals, especially those of the burgeoning whitening movement.


An Unexpected Friend

While Haiti had been embroiled in her civil war and reconstruction, the United States of America had descended into her own American Civil War in 1861. Initially, Haiti was skeptical and worried about its neighbors falling into a Civil War, especially when one of the factions was a slaving, imperialistic “nation” known as the Confederate States of America.

These fears would be replaced by potential profit, and hope, as in 1861 American President Abraham Lincoln would formally recognize the Haitian Republic as an independent nation, securing the long-elusive recognition from its largest neighbor.

Now, under President Geffrard, Haiti would reap the rewards of this new relationship, as American industries still hungered for cotton, indigo, tobacco, and coffee that it was now being deprived of by the Confederate States. This would create a nearly decade-long economic boom known as the 1860 Haitian Surge (1863-1872).

This economic boom would see American businesses make their entrance officially into the now-recognized Haitian Republic, especially American fruit companies. The influx of wealth and capital would allow Haiti to bankroll its beginnings of industrialization, and from the civil war, it would soon push well beyond its initial pre-civil war economy.


Bankrolling the Future

When people often think of 1800s conservatism and racial democracy, they do not often think of advancement and reform. While this is often true for many politicians, Fabre Geffrard was different. He had bold dreams of industrializing Haiti and joining the modern world that was developing around the state. To this end, a large amount of capital would be needed. The state still held large amounts of land from the end of the war. Much of this land was agriculturally still viable, and just lacked new ownership, after the flight of many Afro-Haitian elites.

To bankroll new industrial subsidies and ventures, Geffrard would sell off excess government land to those who could afford it. While some private small landholders and even leftover Afro-Haitian elites managed to claim land, most of this government-owned land was sold off to primarily Mixes-Race Haitian elites. This effectively cut the throat of the Afro-Haitian power in the region, as their dominance weakened, and became ever eroded, as they were disadvantaged by the state.

The money made from the sale of government land would be poured directly into the industrialization of the economy.


Burgeoning Industrialization

With a heavy focus on industrialization, the state of the Haitian economy would also change. While free market trade had in general always been the norm in the Haitian economy, it often left local industries outcompeted, and more funding pushed towards agricultural pursuits.

Geffrard would fund local industries through subsidization, rather than hardline tariff policies, embraced by more mercantilist members of the Haitian Parliament. Instead favoring non-invasive methods to grow the Haitian economy.

Of course, it should be noted these loans, and subsidies would massively favor the Mixed-Race Haitian elites, and disadvantage small business owners, especially Afro-Haitian ones. Factory conditions in growing urban centers like Port-au-Prince, Cap-Henry, and Santo Domingo would be exceptionally poor, with industrial accidents skyrocketing.

Haitian writers, especially those of the marginalized Afro-Haitian communities, would compare these factories to the old slavery of the past, with similar high mortality, and injury rates, for low pay and no benefits. Haitian soil once again became slick with the blood of poor Afro-Haitian workers while Mixed-Race and White Haitians would reap most of the benefits. It was fair to say, that by the end of President Gefrard’s rule the economic portion of the “Mulattocracy '' had firmly calcified.

Haitian railways would also grow during this period with rail lines running from Santo Domingo to Port-au-Prince rising. Mortality as with everything in Haiti remained exceptionally high, with thousands dying to see the construction of the pan-island rail line.


Death of the Elder Statesmen (1872)

For 9 years, Fabre Geffrard had guided the nation through its industrialization with a strong mix of conservatism, and a free market approach to economics. As December approached, President Geffrard became increasingly sluggish, ill, and tired. On December 31, 1872, President Fabre Geffrard would suffer a heart attack, and die.

The nation immediately entered into a state of mourning, especially among Haitian elites who had lived under the economic golden age of his careful hand. His funeral procession was said to be miles long and paraded through the streets of Port-au-Prince. His successor, Vice President Pierre Théoma Boisrond-Canal delivered a touching tribute, paying homage to the late President, whom he called the father of modern Haiti.

Fabre Geffrard for decades after his death would be looked up to as a modernizing figure of Haiti. Respected, and cherished by the Mixed Race establishment, he would be downright reviled by Afro-Haitians, socialists, communists, and intellectuals. A more nuanced, and modern view of history should acknowledge that while Geffrard did play an important role in guiding Haitian industrialization, he also did so on the backs of a massive underclass that were deliberately excluded from avenues of social mobility. It is unfair to solely put the development of the so-called “Mulattocracy” or rule of the mixed race, it should be noted that he directly shattered the previous attempts at reconciliation and tolerance created by his predecessors.

Geffrard, Mixed-Race Elites, and the National Party’s actions would doom their nation to racial, and social strife which would warp the people of Haiti’s perceptions forever.


The Theorist In Charge - Pierre Théoma Boisrond-Canal Presidency (1872-1873)

Pierre Théoma Boisrond-Canal started off his career in Haitian politics as a political commentator and theorist. Few would've ever expected him to rise to the ranks of Vice President, let alone now sit at the highest office in the Haitian government.

However, it would just so happen that Boisrond-Canal and his theories were in the right place, at the right time. Pushing forward the ideas of what would later be called Blanqueamiento in other Latin American countries, Boisrond-Canal believed in the inherent superiority of Mixed-Race Haitians purely by being more European.

While initially a more fringe belief, it gained increasing prominence after the Haitian Civil War in which the inherent inferiority of Afro-Haitians was pointed to as the reason for their uprising and betrayal of the republic, for “barbaric autocracy.”

After producing numerous feverish works, advocating for his insane view of the world, Boisrond-Canal had become elevated to among the highest members of Haitian intellectual circles. This brought him onto the radar of the National Party, and Fabre Geffrard who was looking to pad the presidential ticket with a younger, and intellectually appealing member of high society. Even so, Boisrond-Canal was never never meant to lead in any real capacity. Idealistic, and inexperienced, Boisrond-Canal was largely kept out of running the Geffrard administration, at one point commenting sardonically, “I am but a show pony, trotted out every time the President requires the support of an intellectual class he is too out of touch with to secure on his own.”

Frustrated, and perhaps rightfully so, it is surprising that when Fabre Geffrard died, Boisrond-Canal deeply and publicly mourned him. Delivering an unexpectedly powerful eulogy, the now President of Haiti, admonished his now unenviable task, believing he was barely half the president or statesmen Geffrard had been. While many modern historians often adopt a more cynical lens, especially when talking about someone as morally reprehensible as Pierre Boisrond-Canal, most Haitians at the times believed this eulogy and his outpouring of grief to be genuine as the new President was applauded in even the most cynical Haitian press.

Despite being sidelined, and treated as a “show pony”, it seems there was at least some genuine respect between the late President and his Vice President. Now the uncertain burden of rule fell to the unprepared Boisrond-Canal alone.


The Rise of Mulattocracy: Universal Suffrage?

Despite being a racialist and far-right by modern definitions, for his time President Boisrond-Canal was an important piece of forward-thinking legislation. It would only be unfortunate that it would be done in service of creating a racial caste system.

The issue of male suffrage plagued the Haitian nation for decades. The new President would bite the bullet but in an extremely racial way. Voting rights would be extended to all Haitian males above the age of 25, who could pass a literacy test. Of course, the difficulty of the test would be fixed to the racial makeup of the person. White Haitians could expect a purely verbal confirmation of if they could read. Mixed-race (Afro-White, and Native-White) Haitians could expect a small children’s book to read, or even simple questions on a test. Mixed-race Haitians of “darker complexion” (Afro-Native), could expect a harsher literacy test, with much more scrutiny. Afro-Haitians for their part were almost entirely barred from voting, and literacy tests often done in old French or Spanish, with deliberately vague or difficult questions.

Wealthy Afro-Haitians could, as the old saying went, buy their way into mulatto status, either giving enough money to the government, bribery, or paying their way to vote. But they were a very small minority. From the years 1863 to 1946, over 70% of the eligible population (Afro-Haitians, women, “illiterates”, poor Mixed-race Haitians) would be entirely prevented from voting. Boisrond-Canal’s legacy was now etched in hate and fanatical devotion to racial pseudoscience, and it would leave its stain on Haitian history forever.


Retirement, Death, and Legacy (1873)

With only around 4 months left in his term, Pierre Boisrond-Canal would largely dedicate himself to further development and promotion of his sickening ideology.

Schools would receive and be mandated to teach texts related to Boisrond-Canal, and his works. His seminal work, Towards a New Haiti, would become commonly mandated reading materials. This ensured his intellectual pollutant dragged down generations of young Haitians, damning the nation's soul as badly as the President himself.

When his term was up, Boisrond-Canal announced he would retire. A pseudo-intellectual through and through, the President would attempt to emulate the great Cincinnatus and Jonathas Granville, retiring now that the great “racial and social crisis has been answered.”

Returning to his large farm in rural Haiti, Pierre Boisrond-Canal would continue to peddle filth into the world, including books on Rome, and Greece, and even delving into the growing world of pseudo-history like Atlantis. Among his more spurious claims attempted to pin African Empires like Mali, Kanem-Bornu, and other great states as an outgrowth of white immigration. Eventually, when the U.S. Occupation arrived in Haiti, Boisrond-Canal became a loud and ferocious supporter, being among those advocating for unity with America. This would sour the old President, even to those who had eaten his racial philosophy, and pseudo-history as American occupation was universally unpopular, even among those who profited.

Eventually, in 1905, Boisrond-Canal died at the age of 72. While his public popularity would remain mixed until the fall of the “Mulattocracy” in 1946, afterward, he would be widely reviled and hated. His ideas towards “whitening” would poison the Haitian Republic, and lead to the growth of counter-racial nationalism in the form of Noirisme. Today his books are banned in Haiti, beyond academic usage, with many being destroyed in the fires of 1946.

 

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9. The Last Liberal: Gregorio Luperón (1873-1878)

Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the center cannot hold;
-William Butler Yeats

Under the rising tide of racial apartheid, and social stratification, the Liberal Party would make their last gasp. Perhaps the final chance to save the First Republic of Haiti, the failure of the liberals to stop the cracks forming in the Haitian system, or patch the growing divide between Afro-Haitians and Mixed-Race Haitians, and end the ideals of Boisrond-Canal, would signal the final death knell for moderate politics for the next hundred years. In front of Haiti lies autocracy, oligarchy, and suppression. The death of liberalism is all that lies in front of us, and the Presidency of Gregorio Luperón.


A Life of Exclusion

Oftentimes when we think of a Mixed-Race Haitian in the 1870’s we think of the Mulattocracy, racial privilege, and oppression of the Afro-Haitians. For Gregorio Luperón, this mantra does not hold. Born to a white father, and an Afro-Haitian mother in the northern provinces of what was the newly annexed Spanish Haiti, in 1839, Luperón was refused by his father who did not wish to lower his social status by living with an Afro-Haitian woman, and still clung to old Spaniard views of race and ethnicity. Despite living in the dying days of the Haitian Kingdom, many white Haitians in Santo-Domingo did not wish to mingle their lines with Afro-Haitians and tended to believe in the burgeoning theories that would later develop into Pierre Boisrond-Canal’s poisonous ideology.

Expelled from even his father’s recognition, Gregorio took the surname of his mother, Duperron. Suffering under the poor conditions that faced a single mother in 19th century Haiti, Gregorio would work from a young age, just to help put enough food on the table for him and his mother. It would be these early experiences that shaped him and molded him into his later liberal beliefs.
A self-made man, he would teach himself to read at age 14, starting a small merchant business when he turned 16, under the name Luperón seemingly in a deliberate move at self-affirmation. By age 20, Luperón would become a wealthy bourgeois in his town of Puerto Plata. Avoiding the Haitian Civil War, he would instead focus on expanding his wealth, and power into Santo-Domingo, and the newly destroyed city of Hinche, coming in on the ground floor of its reconstruction.

This reconstruction, and his relative willingness to hire, and care for Afro-Haitians whom many Mixed-Race Haitians viewed as inferior, and traitors, even if not intended served as a powerful political statement, especially during the racist policies of Pierre Boisrond-Canal, and Fabre Geffrard. Coming into the view of the Haitian Liberal Party, reeling from its mass defections, the Liberal Party desired to use Luperón as a young, charismatic, and Mixed-Race face to hopefully walk back the Haitian Republic from the brink of racial segregation.


Election of 1873

Clinging on for a few months, Pierre Boisrond-Canal achieved his horrifying desires. Racial segregation, stratified voting, literacy tests, and pseudo-scientific education. With these 5 months of cruelty inflicted, Boisrond-Canal perhaps mercifully called for elections, drunk off of his success.

Gregorio Luperón ran a fierce campaign. Naturally a gifted orator, he had a knack for politically promising reform but kept exceptionally quiet about what he planned on reforming. Vague pandering to the populist desires of Haitians for “reform”, and “advancement” the young Luperón served as a stark, and hopeful contrast to the National Party. The incumbent National Party ran the old, conservative, and boring Lysius Saloman. Uncharismatic, and anti-populist, Saloman ran on a platform of enjoying the economic boom, preserving the system, and stopping any new reforms. Even as unpopular, and uncharismatic as Saloman was, it was still expected he would win. With only around 25% of the population able to vote, many of them being middle and upper-class Mixed-Haitians, many of whom benefitted from the economic boom of the previous National Party government, many expected the young and untested Luperón to be delivered a crushing electoral loss, and end this upstarts political career.

Overconfidence and underinvestment meant few Haitians turned out for the election, becoming the least voted for election in Haitian history. So perhaps it should have been unsurprising when the young firebrand managed to energize his base enough to go out and vote at the polls. In an extremely narrow margin, Gregorio Luperón would defeat Lysius Saloman in a massive upset.

This would be the easy part of Luperón’s entire political career, as President he would face a Parliament stacked with conservatives, and even liberals bought by conservative money. Any reform he would make would be shot through with compromises, and hand-wringing that would leave any reform act full of loopholes, and with toothless enforcement. The slow death of Haitian liberalism would now begin.


Failure to Reform “Universal” Male Suffrage

A major belief held by Luperón would be the unfairness of the so-called universal male suffrage passed by the previous National Party government. Undoing this would prove a monumental challenge, and one Luperón was unfit to muster.

Immediately when putting forward a piece of legislation calling for the removal of literacy tests, and poll taxes, the National Party MPs led by Paul Tirésias Augustin Simon Sam would rip the act apart. Calling Luperón everything from a “race traitor” to promoting “degeneration of the national character”, the naive Luperón had expected most of the Haitian Parliament to be in favor of the act. He would deliver numerous speeches pointing towards the years of service Afro-Haitians had brought to Haiti, and how the original revolutionaries were Afro-Haitian slaves.

Perhaps, in a fantasy world, these powerful speeches would have worked. In a better world, it may have bridged the racial divide and brought Haitians together. Sadly, that is not the world we live in. Despite delivering popular addresses, and genuinely rallying popular support around him, President Luperón was not arguing to win over the populace. He was arguing against Haitian money, and in that arena, the National Party, and Simon Sam eviscerated him. Bribing everyone in the Liberal Party they could, and blackmailing the rest, when the vote finally came, only 12 people voted for the passage of the act. President Luperón delivered his first, but not his last humiliation.

Outside of the Haitian Parliament, resentment rose, the populace had seen their democratic will suppressed by moneyed interest, crushed underfoot by the relentless pursuit of capital, and the supposed necessity of a servile and passive underclass not so different from the French rule of nearly 70 years ago. This resentment would take the form of riots, forcing Luperón to order the Haitian police to put them down. Numerous people would die in what the National Party press would call “Luperón’s Riots”.

Even with riots suppressed, something had changed in Haiti, not only did people defect from the center, believing the nation could no longer be saved by traditional means, the waves of radical movements like Noirsme would begin to grow among the Afro-Haitian populace.


A Small Victory - Secularism in Haiti

Few victories can be positively attributed to the so-called “Last Liberal” as Luperón would later be known. But the triumph of secularism would be among those few that left a lasting impact on the Haitian nation.

Unlike in Mexico, or even the United States, Haiti existed in a form of limbo with the Papal States and the Catholic Church. Upon their independence during the Haitian Revolution, the new Republic of Haiti would receive no recognition from the Papacy. This left the Haitian Catholic Church in a state of schism with the Holy See and the Vatican. Functionally, the Haitian Catholic Church would be weakened, cut off from the support of the wider Catholic world, and any outside aid.

Weaker than their contemporaries in Mexico, or the rest of Latin America, Gregorio Luperón would more easily pass a law calling for the establishment of an entirely secular state, separating the Haitian Church and State. Furthermore, Luperón would amend the Haitian constitution, in effect disallowing any member of Parliament from being a priest and blocking them from running for office. Finally, the Haitian government was given supreme authority over allowing, or disallowing religious institutions, and would maintain a degree of influence in disallowing illegal activities being carried out by any religious body. Education too would become nationwide secular. Notably, Luperón would avoid harsh anti-clerical laws, allowing churches to remain tax-exempt, and not forcing the sale of land to the state. This in effect avoided many of the Church's fears, and avoided the harsh rebellions against the state, as seen in Mexico from their 1857 Constitution.

Conservatives would initially rail against this secularism, with Simon-Sam calling it a travesty, and slide towards “Napoleonic tyranny”, wise to their tricks; however, President Luperón would keep his party in line, and appeal to the nationalistic sentiments of many in the National Party, pointing to how the Papacy refused to recognize Haiti, so why should Haiti bend their great nation to the Catholic Church’s rule. This would be enough to cobble together enough support, ensuring the act passed, and even future governments would uphold the relatively lenient terms. The Haitian Catholic Church, already in schism with the Papacy, was relatively unaffected by the change many benefited from the legal tax immunity, and protections of their private church property, the government provided.

The most enduring part of his legacy, the Luperón 1875 Constitution would ensure the beginnings of a long tradition of secularism and even irreligion in Haiti. Even when the Vatican approached Haiti about the recognition of Haitian independence in 1888, Luperón’s old rival, Lysius Salomon would refuse to cede any authority, grant political or economic power to the papacy, perhaps in a show of respect, or consolidate nationalism. It would not be until the end of the First Haitian Republic, and the U.S. occupation that the Vatican would officially recognize the independence of Haiti.


The Ride Ends - The End of the Haitian Economic Boom

All economic booms must come to an end. Even in Haiti in what seemed like a glorious return to the pre-revolution golden age for the planters, the economy eventually became too bloated, and lazy for its good. From the end of the United States Civil War, commodity crops like sugar, coffee, indigo, and tobacco would enter into a steady decline. As new colonies were exploited and pushed into Asia, and eventually Africa, Haiti’s principled position as the primary source of the globe commodity goods began to decline.

Even the move towards industrialization of the harvesting and processing industry by former President Fabre Geffrard could not offset the massive decline in prices. As governments often do, the Haitian government had continually reinvested profits into the Haitian agrarian economy, from harvesting to food processing. Putting every egg in the proverbial basket, the Haitian economy would stagnate, and when faced with the growing influx of cheap foreign sugar begin to wither, and die. Of course, it would take many more decades for the economy to shift and change, but except for a brief “Dance of the Millions” in 1920 and the 1974 Arab-Soviet rush, the “Age of Sugar” was over.

It would be entirely unfair to blame President Luperón for this, had it been a National Party President, nothing would have changed. Nothing changed under his successors, or anyone else until the 1960’s. Nonetheless, the President’s seeming apathy in the face of changing economic circumstances, or perhaps lacking the political capital, failed to act, and Haiti would be blown under the waves for another century.

A side-effect of the Haitian economic decline would be the opening of its land and markets to insidious American fruit companies. While the Haitian government would keep their most aggressive, and violent tendencies restrained, the fact the weakened Haitian economy could now be more easily preyed upon by foreign companies, would soon have disastrous consequences for thousands of farmers.


More Failure, and the End of the Luperón Presidency

With the economy in shambles, and the government blocking his most major reform, many expected President Luperón to sit on his laurels for the rest of his presidency and attempt to not rock the boat until he had secured a second term. These people did not know President Luperón would attempt to pass his final piece of legislation through to the Parliament. The Land Reform Act of 1877 would attempt to establish low-cost loans and subsidies for small farmers being adversely hit by the changes in the global market, and allow them to expand their small holdings, also allowing new peasants to own their land which was previously often under landlords, or communal villages.

This bill would send the Haitian Parliament into a seething rage. Luperón would be named the Communard President, a deliberate jab and comparison of him to the failed Paris Commune of 1871. Even many of the President’s allies would desert him during this bill leading to Luperón delivering an ominous prediction:

“For I have given you all a chance to save your land, and your hides. Instead, you have chosen your greed and arrogance. History will damn us all to the fires of hell for our failures today. They will damn me for my failure to force this bill through, and you all for your obstinacy.”

Once again beaten in Parliament, President Luperón would largely resign himself, believing not only was the National Party doomed, but the Liberal Party as well. Society and the so-called Mulattocracy were more caught up in protecting their privileges, and land that they would openly forego sane, and rational economic and social policy.

Declining to run for a second term, Gregorio Luperón, largely sat out his last year as President. Delegating his responsibilities to Prime Minister Fernando Arturo de Meriño, who had already been largely bought by the National Party, and their deep pockets.

While it would be a foregone conclusion the National Party would reclaim its mandate to rule, the President largely did not care. Whether Liberal or Nationalist, Haiti was now on a crash course for suffering, and eventually disaster, and no matter how much he shifted the wheel, he could not avert the ship from the rocks.


Predictions Come True - Retirement of Gregorio Luperón

Leaving office on April 17, 1878, turning over the keys to the Presidency to the resurgent National Party, Luperón would return to Puerto Plata which he had long since cursed himself for leaving in the first place.

Despite his failures as President, Gregorio Luperón would be beloved by the Haitian people whom he had tried and failed to champion during his time in office. This only seemed to have deepened Luperón's depression as he had failed to achieve anything for the people who had trusted, loved, and put their hopes in. As the economic and social situation continued to decline in Haiti, Luperón and his wife Ana Luisa Tavárez retired, selling his business off, and moving temporarily to the island of St. Thomas, living off of his massive savings from years as a successful and forward-thinking businessman.

When Ulises Hilarión Heureaux eventually became President, Luperón would initially vocally support, and encourage his followers to support Heureaux, who he saw as a tough if brutish reformer that could drag Haiti from the muck and mire. Their cordial relations would soon sour, as the increasingly dictatorial Heureaux would seek a third term in office. Denouncing him as a dictator, and believing he was at fault for the continuing decline of Haitian politics, Luperón would entirely retreat from public life.

Only when the Republic finally fell in 1891, would Luperón leave his self-imposed exile, publicly mourning the death of the nation, and admonishing his fault in leading it to the social, and economic collapse that allowed foreigners, and puppet dictators to occupy the nation. Eventually, in 1898, Gregorio Luperón would become bedridden, and seemingly be on the verge of death. In his final moments, the former President would whisper out his final words:

“Men like me, should not die lying down”

While attempting to lift his head, Luperón would pass away, a final failure, on top of all the others.


Legacy of the “Last Liberal”

Never again would the liberalism of Luperón ever rise in Haiti. Even when democracy came to everyone in Haiti in the 50’s, it would not be a liberal democracy. Instead, it is the cold dominant party competitive authoritarianism we see today. Anti-radicalism, and anti-discrimination, under the cold pragmatism of a singular party. Each Haitian Prime Minister and President look to Luperón, not as a source of emulation, but to avoid. Luperón became a source for strongmen, and a justification for dominant party democracy, and the uselessness of populism.

Still, even to call Gregorio Luperón entirely a failure which every politician should avoid would be far too cruel to the man’s legacy. While yes, he served as an important reminder of the dangers of populism, and the necessity for pragmatism in the halls of Parliament, he also served as a source of unity among the populace as a whole, who upset the system to sweep him into power.

Even legislatively while Voting Reform and Land Reform failed, being shot apart by his party alongside the vicious machinations of the National Party, and entrenched economic interests, Secularism, a so cherished institution of the Western World, would never have found itself instituted in Haiti without his wise guidance and leadership skills. In a Haiti where so often money equaled power, and influence, Luperón used nationalism to overcome the senses of even the most greedy Haitian politician.

While not ruling with malice or cruelty, his ineffectualness proved to be as disastrous as dictatorialism. Yet, in a few short decades, everyone in Haiti would look wistfully back towards his reign, begging to turn back the clock towards a simpler time, or the poor idealistic, but well-meaning, President Gregorio Luperón.

 

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From Cape Tiburon to Cape Samaná - A United Hispaniola Timeline​

10. Breaking the National Party: Presidency of Paul Tirésias Augustin Simon Sam (1878 - 1882) and Lysius Salomon (1882 - 1888)


“Riding high from their string of political victories, and the effective blocking of the Liberal agenda of President Gregorio Luperón, the National Party assumed full control of Haiti under Tirésias Simon Sam. No one could have predicted that by the end of his rule, the National Party would be broken beyond repair.”
-A Young People’s Guide to Haitian History

The National Party had thundered back to resurgence, following their surprising upset loss to the Liberals in 1873. Under the guidance of Paul Tirésias Augustin Simon Sam the National Party would block, defang, and neuter the Liberal legislation of President Gregorio Luperón, effectively breaking the back of the party.

With Simon Sam at the head of the party, the National Party secured the 1878 election, and for a moment it seemed as if the National Party had secured perpetual single-party rule. Fate would have other plans; however, the National Party would die with President Simon Sam and his Vice President Lysius Salomon.


Fall of the Liberal Party, Election of 1878

The Presidency of Luperón had been a massive disappointment for both poor Afro-Haitians and even Mixed Race Haitian intellectuals who had bankrolled his rule. While some important reforms like secularism were introduced, legal inequality and voting rights restricted to the upper classes persisted, and dominated the social issues of the day.

Paul Simon Sam had risen through the ranks of the National Party after the failures of the elder Lysius Salomon to rouse the populace to vote, leading to a humiliating victory twice in a row against Luperón, and the liberals. As the party reoriented itself, Simon Sam presented himself as a firebrand populist. Not leaning heavily into the racialism of Boisrond-Canal and his clique, or the more status quo conservatives of Lysius Saloman, Paul Simon Sam presented himself as the moderate populist for the majority of the people.

Lysius Salomon would become Paul Simon Sam’s VP, as an olive branch to the nearly decade-long leader of the National Party. Simon Sam used the populist tactics of former President Luperón, to deliver rousing speeches to especially Mixed-Race Haitians who had been disaffected by the implosion of the Liberal Party, as it struggled to find a new leader.
By the time of the actual election, the National Party was the sole party with any chance of victory, as the Liberal Party splintered into the True Liberals, Old Liberals, and New Liberal Parties respectively, all pointing at each other as traitors, and themselves as the true leader of Haiti. Most Haitians, upset with this infighting, and division, either did not vote or were sucked into the National Party, on the backs of Simon Sam’s nationalistic promises of “A United Haiti.”


The First Nationalist President

Oftentimes Haitians are derisively teased as the most nationalistic inhabitants of the Caribbean. While much of that can be attributed to deliberate government policy after the 1940s revolution, much of Haiti’s nationalism stems from President Simon Sam.

Stylizing himself as an all-Haitian president, Simon Sam distanced himself from the Europhilia of Mixed Race Haitians or the Afrophilia of Afro-Haitians. Instead, the new President would set about transforming Haiti into a state, with its own national identity.

Under his presidency, Haitian cultural festivals, and cultural holidays would become more widely promoted and celebrated. Cultural activities like cockfighting and barbecue would be officially recognized not only as Haitian, but integral to the identity of the Hispaniola islands. His efforts were at first resisted by the Boisrond-Canal clique within his own National Party. These men argued by celebrating the cultural practices of the unenlightened Afro-Haitians, that the government would begin to slowly weaken, and dilute the nation, and Haitian racial identity as a whole.

Nonetheless, Simon Sam would extend protections to even Afro-Haitian voodoo, and cultural practices, recognizing them as equal to those of the “pure” Roman Catholic Church, mainly Mixed-Race Haitians. While a far cry from a sort of legal equality, especially in true positions of power, the beginning of Afro-Haitian pride in their own culture, and view of it being equal to Mixed-Race Haitians would send ripples through Afro-Haitian intellectual communities, especially those who would begin to develop the idea of Noirisme.

By 1880, Haitian National Clubs, called for a “Nationalistic Education” that emphasized the importance of the Haitian Revolution, the triumphs of the supposedly lesser Haitian people over the more “advanced” European empires, and that even the mighty Napoleonic Armies could not subdue the yearning for freedom, of the Haitian people. These ideas would be expressly resisted by the Europhile Boisrond-Canal clique who argued that it had been White Haitians, and Mixed-Race Haitians, European blood that allowed them to triumph over their invaders, pointing to the relative “barbarity” and disorganization of “enslaved rabble.” President Simon Sam’s decision to side with the more revolutionary romanticist nationalists would cause a split in his party.

The Boisrond-Canal Party would split forming the ominously named Party of the Regeneration. This far-right party would espouse the racialism and pseudo-scientific racial science that would epitomize the later party, especially under the Trujillo regime. For now; however, the National Party remained ascendant, courting romanticist nationalists, Afro-Haitian, and Mixed Race Haitian intellectuals, and most of the upper class. Had things remained this way, perhaps Simon Sam would be remembered as among Haiti’s best presidents.


The German Scandal, National Dream Extinguished?

As the German Empire unified, it went from an important Haitian partner that circumvented the iron hold of European imperialists over trade, to a nationalistic, and imperialist Empire that eyed its friend of convenience with growing envy. Looking for provocation, the Germans would find one in March 1882.

A disagreement between a Haitian merchant house, and a group of German merchants would lead to a massive brawl between German, and Haitian merchants. When the Haitian police arrived, they would arrest both the German, and Haitian merchants, and sentence them both to a stint in the local prison. In response, German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck under pressure from inside the German Imperial Reichstag would send warships to Port-au-Prince.

Issuing a set of ridiculous demands to the Haitian government, the German navy demanded Haiti give Germany unfettered access to Haitian ports, a principled place in the Haitian market, repayment of the merchant's debts, and diplomatic immunity for Germans in Haiti.

While German Chancellor Bismarck was largely mixed on colonies, the Imperial Reichstag was filled with German imperialists, many of whom had specific desires and designs upon Haiti. They believed the Haitians would make a perfect protectorate if not an outright colony to the German Empire, due to their long history of trading, and German influence.

Meanwhile, President Simon Sam and the Haitian Parliament were in a state of chaos. Filling the entire parliament with romanticist nationalists may have had a positive effect on Haitian unity, but did not produce sane, and stable foreign policy decisions. Hawkish members of the National Party favored readying the Haitian Army and people for a new war against European outsiders in a supposed second Haitian Revolution. Dovish members of parliament called to seek a middle ground, and while not completely giving in to the Germans they should instead negotiate. Finally, the small but noisy Party of the Regeneration saw the Germans as a potential steward into a more racially pure future.

As the Haitian Parliament raged, and the German Imperial Navy grew more impatient in Port-au-Prince, an international hand came into the mix. The United States of America, under President Chester A. Arthur, still reeling from the assassination of his predecessor James Garfield, found himself increasingly pressured to act. Unwilling to start his term being seen as a weak and ineffectual leader, President Arthur dispatched U.S. Ambassador to Haiti, John Langston to deliver an ultimatum to the Haitian government, while a U.S. ambassador in the German Empire would dispatch one as well. This ultimatum would call for both Haiti and Germany to come to the negotiating table, overseen fairly by the United States.

Being called to the negotiating table, and unable to stand against both the German Empire, and the United States, President Simon Sam would agree to negotiate, and accept whatever humiliating concessions would be extracted. Haiti and Germany would meet in New York, and agree on a set of mutual terms. The German merchant would be released from jail, and compensated for losses in property, and Haiti would pay the debts covering the merchant house in Port-au-Prince. Germany would pull back the merchant who had been arrested, reign in further behaviors from rowdy merchants, remove its naval ships, and respect “U.S. interests in the Caribbean.”

Haiti was forced to accept the terms of this hastily drawn-up arrangement lest they be invaded. Most worryingly, the final point of the agreement seemed to indicate Haiti was in the U.S. sphere of influence, and so could be seen as little more than a vassal for the U.S. to project its power onto.


The Fall of President Paul Simon Sam

Returning home at the start of April, President Simon Sam was greeted with immediate vitriolic hate from Haitians. After spending nearly 4 years cultivating Haitian pride, and nationalism, the supposed “All-Haitian President” had gone to New York, and surrendered the nation’s sovereignty, and ability to enforce its laws and prison sentences to the United States.

From Santo Domingo to Cap-Henry, Haitians were calling for the resignation of the President, while in the Parliament, National Party members stood side by side with the opposition to call for the arrest of Simon Sam. Haitian newspapers were abuzz with rumors that the President had been paid off by German or American interests to surrender the nation to a collection of foreign banksters, and corporations.

President Simon Sam himself was in conflict within his cabinet. Vice President Lysius Salomon, perhaps seeing a chance to step out of the shadows finally, and retake his position in the party, began orchestrating the downfall of the President.

Even if not a populist, Salomon was an old hand at politics, he knew where to put money, and who to talk to to bring the President down. With a ferocity that was conspicuously absent during his previous presidential campaigns, the long-scorned Salomon bribed, intimidated, and blackmailed everyone he had to. Overnight Simon Sam saw his friends dwindle, and the opposition against him rose like a tidal wave.

Nationwide protests rocked Haiti, as overnight it seemed as if the entire nation had turned against the populist President. Turning towards begging, Simon Sam would beg the various liberal factions, all of whom would turn their heads away from him. Even the europhiles in the Party of Regeneration felt Simon Sam was too weak, and unpopular for even them to support. Without any allies, and the increasing likelihood he would be impeached, or worse, Paul Simon Sam would turn to his Vice President.

Despite knowing Lysius had likely betrayed him, Simon Sam offered a simple proposition. He would resign without issue, and leave politics forever; however, he would require that Lysius Salomon pardon him for any crimes, or wrongdoing that happened during his presidency. If Salomon refused or reneged on their offer, Simon Sam would reveal their corrupt bargain and would bring down the Vice President with him.

Initially hesitant to accept the offer, Salomon would accept, realizing if he refused, the President may replace him with a Vice President who would accept the deal. Biting the bullet, and accepting the political fallout that would follow with it, Lysius Salomon would become the next President of Haiti, his long-coveted dream, and he only had to cut the legs out from under an ally to do so. The corrupt bargain was signed on an official document, one which Simon Sam kept hidden so if the new President broke their promise it could be leaked.

Accepting his fate, Paul Simon Sam would announce his resignation on December 20, 1882, before a roaring crowd of protesters, and supporters. The populist had proven unable to control the beast he helped foster. Now, it was up to the elderly, and bitter President Lysius Salomon to guide the increasingly divided country.


The Presidency of Lysius Salomon

Had this been the end of the chaos, the National Party may have survived. Beaten and bruised yes, but it was still relatively stable with the resignation of Simon Sam; however, it would be the corrupt bargain itself that broke the National Party, and the First Republic as a whole.

Immediately facing the onset of an election, President Salomon would be forced to oblige the demands of the populace and not withhold an election. Thankfully, this would not be a repeat of 1873, Lysius Salomon and the National Party, while certainly weaker than in 1878, was not on the verge of breaking. Paranoid, and unwilling not to be humiliated again in his career, Salomon would do everything in his power to rig the 1883 elections. Ballot stuffing, voter intimidation, and National Party harassment gangs ensured the still-divided liberal parties were unable to unify or mobilize against him. This sole focus on crushing the liberals; however, would lead to the growing power of the Party of Regeneration, a group which Salomon did not think to be a true threat to his power. From their previous low of a few seats in the National Assembly, the Party of Regeneration under their leader Monpoint Jeune, a close confidant of Boisrond-Canal, would amass enough votes to become the 3rd largest party in the Haitian parliament, making them a sizable kingmaker in passing legislation.

For Salomon himself, he had to wrangle his party together. He did not believe in the nationalist cause but recognized the importance of his base. Promising to promote nationalist ministers, especially in areas of foreign affairs to avoid a repeat of the “German Scandal” as it was being called in Haitian media, Salomon was able to establish an uneasy understanding and partnership with the increasingly nationalist bent National Party itself. With the party rallied, ballot boxes stuffed, and the opposition cowed, the National Party swept into victory once again, with Lysius Salomon proudly staring on.

Upon actually becoming President, Lysius Salomon finally put into place his dream pet projects. For years Lysius had called for greater attempts to integrate the island, and been largely ignored by the mainstream establishment. Among his first acts would be the solidifying and creation of a pan-island postal system, known as the Haitian National Post Service. Even today, Lysisus Salomon often adorns Haitian postage stamps due to his central role in its creation. Also under his term the Pan-Haiti Railway would be complete with any citizen being able to start in Santo Domingo, go to Port-au-Prince, Cap-Henry, Puerto Plata, and back to Santo Domingo without ever leaving the train. For the first time goods, and people could travel across the nation at speeds unheard of until planes and automobiles became more widespread.

All of this would not come without suffering. Railway building had always been particularly hazardous in Haiti, casualties would increase as Salomon demanded his so-called Salomon Rail Line be finished by the end of his term. Throwing mass amounts of money, and bodies into the proverbial meat grinder cost significant amounts of wealth to the Haitian state, in his single-minded desire towards “modernity” not seen since the days of Fabre Geffrard, Salomon would commit money the Haitian government did not have to spend, causing the Haitian government to borrow ever-increasing amounts of debt from foreign banks, especially the United States. This only served to further fuel paranoid discussions that the National Party had long since sold the nation out to American banksters, and corporate interests.

Today, President Salomon is widely considered an opportunist, and not a true believer of Haitian nationalism, or Haitiness, yet he would preside over an important development that helped in further solidifying the ideas of Haitian nationalism. In 1888, when the Papacy approached President Lysius Salomon, shortly before his fall, they offered the Haitian President a deal. Accept the Catholic Church as the state religion, and grant the Haitian Catholic Church access to National funding, and support. While there was some pressure from the Catholic Church inside Haiti, to try and push Salamon into surrendering, he would stand firm asserting the secular reforms of his one-time political rival Gregorio Luperón, and the doctrine of national sovereignty, espoused by his predecessor Simon Sam. While it would do little to halt the coming storm, it was perhaps the best send-off that the First Republic and Salomon could hope for. From here, there would be only the deluge of chaos.


The Corrupt Bargain, Impeachment, and Assassination of President Lysius Salomon

Lyisus Salomon perhaps thought himself invincible. Riding upon the highs of his triumph over his political opposition, and the slow repair of his National Party image, the President grew more bold, and arrogant.

In a move that would spell the end of his political career and life, Lysius Salomon would order the arrest, and trial of former President, Paul Simon Sam. When Simon Sam was arrested, he would hide the documents that traded the presidency for a pardon and would be arrested by the Haitian Police. Meeting with a journalist during his trial, Simon Sam would reveal the location of the document to the journalist Jean Robert Marcelin.

Jean Robert Marcelin would recount the events of finding the document:

“Upon arriving at the former President’s humble country estate in Grande-Rivière-du-Nord, I was confronted with a shocking sight. It seemed that before my arrival, members of the Haitian police, or perhaps more likely, the National Party, had ransacked Mr. Simon Sam’s estate. Furniture upturned, upholstery torn, and shelves knocked over. This only furthered my suspicion that the former President had been telling the truth about the “corrupt bargain” he and President Salomon had made. They had attempted and failed, to seize the documents before anyone else could find them, and leak the information. Luckily for myself, and the Republic as a whole, they did not know the hiding place Mr. Simon Sam had informed me of. In the fireplace, which rarely saw use due to the heat, and humidity of the countryside, there was a compartment, in it rolled up, and carefully preserved, the documents. Hurriedly, I made my way back to Port-au-Prince, and unrolled the document, spelled out in plain letterhead, “From the Office of President Simon Sam”, it detailed the deal in which in exchange for granting Lysius Salomon his long sought-after office of President, he would pardon Simon Sam, regardless of guilt, or public demand.

Since publishing the details of the document, the President and National Party have done everything in their power to intimidate, suppress, and harass me. Nonetheless, I will continue to persevere until the corrupt tyrant falls.”

The breaking of the initial story sent shockwaves throughout Haitian society, while the government may have been able to hold firm and delegitimize the rumors made by Paul Simon Sam, and Jean Marcelin after the second story broke of deliberate intimidation and threats made by the National Party, and Haitian Police, the populace new, the story was true.

Almost immediately calls for Salomon’s resignation were pushed forward. Unlike the former President, Lysius Salomon openly refused any calls for his resignation. To make matters worse, he would fire his Vice President, and refuse any calls from Parliament to step down or appoint a new Vice President. As the crisis mounted, protests turned to riots in the streets of Port-au-Prince, and Santo Domingo, as many feared Haiti may be returning to the civil war days of Thomas de Belliard.

As the Parliament began to hold a vote for the impeachment of President Salomon, he would send a group of National Party members to harass, and attack the Parliament building, immediately, this caused chaos as the President had effectively launched a self-coup. Then, on April 17, 1889, a contingent of soldiers called in to suppress the riots that followed Salomon’s self-coup, under the command of Spanish Haitian general, Ulises Heureaux launched a coup d'etat, marching his soldiers on the Executive Residence, killing President Lysius Salomon, who was found slumped over his desk with a bullet to the chest.


Legacy of Lysius Salomon

Joining the ranks of the most reviled Haitian Presidents, Lysius Salomon would be reviled by later historians and even most modern-day historians. An elder, and long-respected politician, Salomon had never been content being just a party leader, or just a respected statesman. He desired more, and as he was scorned three elections in a row, either by voters or his party, he finally broke. His rise, and fall would become a legendary tale within Haiti, often retold, and acted out in movies, plays, and even music.

His predecessor, Paul Simon Sam is often seen in the reverse. An upstart populist, who was corrupt, greedy, and willing to use whatever tactic he needed to use to win, Simon Sam transformed from a relatively repugnant character to repetent, and willing to sacrifice himself, and President Salomon, if it meant the corrupt tyrant fell with him. Unlike Salomon, Simon Sam would live until 1919, being repentant, especially in his role in bringing down the Haitian Republic, and opening the door for the American dictatorship, and occupation that followed. While never truly being forgiven, or achieving political office again, Simon Sam would become a relatively respected elder statesman, a role he was content with, and found peace in, unlike his erstwhile ally.

Either way, both men in equal measure brought the end of the First Republic of Haiti. From here began the dictatorship of Ulises Heureaux, and eventually the U.S. occupation. Haiti would enter into a great darkness, from which an end would not be seen until 1946. The Haitian Republic, while limping on until 1891, was for all intents, and purposes dead. The Second Era of Haitian History is over.

 

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From Cape Tiburon to Cape Samaná - A United Hispaniola Timeline​

11. Ulises Heureaux, End of the First Republic of Haiti, and the Start of the 20 Years Humiliation (1889 - 1891)


“Yes, I may fall here, but the liberty of Haiti will never be extinguished. As long as people yearn for the days in which they once again are free from the control of dictators, and European empires, they will buck against your rule. Gentlemen, you may revile me today, and you may speak ill of me tomorrow, history will prove me right, and will cast you all down into the pits of hell.”
-Ulises Heureaux before being executed (1891)

The villain of the First Republic, Ulises Heureaux has been mischaracterized, misattributed and deliberately lied about for decades. Painted as a power-hungry tyrant, among the many infesting the rotting corpse of the Republic like maggots, Heureaux was for much of modern Haitian history among its most hated leaders.

Much like Henry II, and Paul Simon Sam, recent history has made a more concerted effort to recontextualize and parse the truth from nearly 50 years of propaganda. While a dictator in practical terms, Heureaux never saw himself as one, still styling himself as a Caretaker President of Haiti, operating under the provisions of emergency rule, and a genuine mandate from the Parliament.

If he lived in a different age, perhaps Heureaux might be remembered as a Ceasar or Cinncinatus, but instead, he lived in the dying days of a Republic that had been moribund for decades.


“I Did What I Had To”

Up until now, Heureaux had largely existed in the background of Haitian political, and military life. Joining the military a few years after the end of the Haitian Civil War, Heureaux rose through the ranks of the military that had largely been hollowed out by nearly 5 years of conflict both internally, and externally.

Becoming a lieutenant, Heureaux met and befriended future President Gregorio Luperón, the two became close friends, and when Luperón started his political career, lieutenant Heureaux would avidly campaign for his fellow liberal populist Luperón. When he was eventually elected in 1873, Luperón would ensure his friend was well rewarded, with Heureaux being elevated to the rank of General.

While a naked display of clientelism, General Heureaux would prove himself an able leader. Beloved by the soldiers under his command, and keeping his nose out of the political scene, Heureaux kept his image clean, especially when the National Party came back to power in the aftermath of the collapse of the Liberal Party. Long dissatisfied with his old allies' inability to pass meaningful reforms, Heureaux had abandoned his belief in democracy as a path to political reform in the face of continuous failures. Changing his skin, he was among the first Spanish Haitian liberals to switch sides and throw his support behind the ascendant National Party, all but assured a place in the new administration.

Keeping himself aligned with the new government, Heureaux followed orders, standing down when Paul Simon Sam refused to fight the German Empire, though his popularity would soar after loud declarations affirming his belief the Haitian Army was ready and able to drive the German menace back into the ocean if needed. Heureaux stood aside as the political crisis led to the fall of Simon Sam, he was even prepared to sit idly by and watch as Haiti fractured in the corruption scandals that rocked the presidency of Lysius Salomon.

After over a decade of watching; however, Ulises Heureaux saw his chance to strike forth and seize the initiative. President Lysius Salomon would order Heureaux to march his army into Port-au-Prince and crush the rioters, in effect protecting the self-coup Salomon had just launched. Instead, General Heureaux would launch a coup against Salomon leading to the would-be dictator's death, from an unknown assailant's wound to the chest.

Taking the mantle of Caretaker President of Haiti, Ulises Heureaux unknowingly became the last President of the First Republic of Haiti, in a special address, Heureaux would justify his actions as necessary to protect the Haitian Republic and save the institutions of the state.


“But Perhaps I Did Not Do Enough”

President Heureaux faced Haiti in a state of total collapse. Reckless spending by the previous 5 governments, had increasingly ballooned the debt of Haiti, the nation that had just recently finished paying off French creditors, and now was massively in debt to German, American, and British bankers.

The Haitian government struggled to make payments on its loans leading to a spiraling economic crisis. This brought the government under the ire of the American government, and more worryingly American Imperialist policies. U.S. President Benjamin Harrison looked upon Haiti with growing hunger, and even worry. If Haiti refused or was unable to pay back its loans, European empires may have a necessary casus belli to justify an invasion, putting colonial empires not only back on the continent, but in America’s backyard, pressing a knife right on the nation’s exposed underbelly of Louisiana. Unable to find a reasonable course to justify a war in 1888, Harrison would soon find his justification from his admirals.

President Heureaux for his part was a military man. While he understood war, organization, and appealing to his soldiers, he did not understand economics. To make matters worse he was surrounded by sycophants and political grifters who used their proximity to reap the rewards of his rule.

Internal resistance to the President’s rule was rife. Parliament demanded the restoration of elections, government ministers demanded reform, and the populace wanted alleviation of their economic burdens. Radical politicians promised land reform, child labor laws, and even voting rights to Afro-Haitians. These radicals pulled at the fabrics of an already fraying society, as Heureaux’s only recourse was to crack down upon their demands.

Even when Heureaux did open dialogue with protestors, and began to hear their concerns, he was met with opposition from right-wing reactionaries who considered any changes to the economic system, or voting rights as tantamount to treason.

The only way President Heureaux managed to keep hold of power during these 4 years was to turn back to a trusted ally, clientelism. Taking massive loans, Heureaux paid, and bought every ally, and supporter he could. Even as the train approached the cliff, the President kept funneling in money, pushing his nation, and the economy closer, and closer to the brink of bankruptcy, entirely because he could not stop, if he stopped printing money, he could no longer pay his supporters, if he could not afford bribes he’d lose support, if he lost support he’d be replaced by someone who would promise to pay them. Haiti had entered into an economic death spiral.

By 1890, the Haitian economy was entirely tapped. There were no new loans to take out, no creditors willing to do business, and no aid from any nation without humiliating vassalage attached. Heureaux turned to something illegal, and something that would doom his entire career. The President would print 10 million unsecured Haitian Gourde, virtually ruining every merchant in the country overnight. The Haitian economy would finally collapse by 1891, with no signs of salvation.


“Those Who Would Prey Upon Our Misery”

The Americans watched the collapse of Haiti with growing concern, and also excitement. Benjamin Harrison, a largely forgettable President by American standards, was about to become the most reviled man in Haiti. Finally having a casus belli for invasion, the President would order rear guard admiral Bancroft Gherardi, to sail into Port-au-Prince. There he would deliver a simple ultimatum to the Haitian government, sell the U.S. the port of Môle Saint-Nicolas, Frederick Douglass, who had been named American ambassador to Haiti would begin to exert immense pressure against Heureaux to negotiate the transfer of the desired American port, and numerous other concessions that would establish an American economic and steamship monopoly over Haiti.

Douglass attempted to get Haiti to recognize the dire financial straits it was in, and realize that selling the port would be of economic and trade interest to Haiti, revitalizing the island's trade. The arrival of American gunships further put pressure on the situation. Blame has been passed around for years over the reason for the failure of negotiations. Douglass asserted the arrival of Bancroft Gherardi scared the Haitians away from the negotiating table, while the American military blamed Fredrick Douglass’ passiveness towards the Haitians. Either way, negotiations broke down, Douglass was expelled, and Heureaux prepared for war.

Without money, a tired, and broken populace, and crumbling governmental institutions it was unlikely the Haitian Army could effectively stand against the United States; however, Harrison agreed with Douglass that a full-scale invasion would be costly, and likely provide little in the way of tangible benefit. Instead, of giving Douglass a final chance, the ambassador was ordered to find someone more amenable to the American cause.

Frederick Douglass would find this person in Florvil Hyppolite, a general, and underling to President Heureaux. Often accused of being sympathetic to American interests, Hyppolite had been evicted from his position by Heureaux when the Môle Saint-Nicolas Affair started. Douglass would reach out, promising that if Heureaux could form enough opposition, and lead an armed uprising against the government, the United States would provide help in the “occupation and reconstruction of the Haitian nation.”

Accepting the American offer, Hyppolite had little difficulty in securing support. Merchants despised Heureaux for throwing them into economic ruin; the military and political allies of Heureaux had long since found the bribes they had been paid were useless due to rampant inflation. Gathering a large rebel force, Hyppolite would meet the Heureaux forces near Jacmel, Heureaux’s armies suffering from massive desertions would be greatly outmatched by the Haitian rebels who had received generous American support. The Battle of Jacmel would be a crushing defeat, with the President barely escaping being captured.

Retreating to Port-au-Prince, Heureaux was captured by American marines who had recently landed in the city to little opposition. The last President of the First Republic of Haiti was captured attempting to escape the capital under the cover of darkness.

Dragged before an angry crowd, Ulises Heureaux gave his final statement:

“So you people of Haiti wish to see me dead? Despite the vitriol you now level against me, I did what I had to do. Surrounded by you all now, your traitorous faces, I see perhaps I did not do enough to prevent the coming storm. Now, the Americans, and those who would prey upon our misery have arrived to feast upon our dear lands. To my fellow Haitians, I apologize that I failed you all. To those of you who took arms against me under your little caudillo, yes, I may fall here, but the liberty of Haiti will never be extinguished. As long as people yearn for the days in which they once again are free from the control of dictators, and European empires, they will buck against your rule. Gentlemen, you may revile me today, and you may speak ill of me tomorrow, history will prove me right, and will cast you all down into the pits of hell.”

On July 28, 1891, Ulises Heureaux was executed by firing squad in front of the National Assembly. With him the First Haitian Republic ceased to exist as Florvil Hyppolite was propped onto the throne, naming himself “Dictator (Caudillo) of the Haitian State.”


“History Will Prove Me Right”

As soon as Heureaux’s body hit the ground he was descended upon by the angry crowd. Surging forward, after 4 years of worsening hardship, the populace took to the now corpse as an object of hate and ridicule. The former president's corpse would be mangled and dismembered by the mob. The only thing stopping the carnage was eventually a supposedly “wild woman” named Aline Casseus beseeched the crowd to stop, which by this point was mainly angry youths.

Casseus has been a deep admirer of President Heureaux, and upon finding what little remained of him, gathered his body into a sack. In perhaps a final show of respect, or attempted benevolence, Florvil Hyppolite would sponsor Aline Casseus’ trip to Puerto Plata, where she returned Ulises Heureaux’s remains to his wife Catalina Flan.[1]

For the next half-century, Ulises Heureaux would be subject to immense besmirchment on the part of the U.S.-backed dictators, and Rafael Trujillo. Portrayed as a traitor, and corrupt pilferer of the Haitian economy, the entire collapse of the First Republic was placed solely upon his shoulders. While the Caudillos of Haiti escaped criticism.

When the period of Caudillos ended in the 1940’s, Haiti would reevaluate Ulises Heureaux and his rule. While yes he had been corrupt, spending millions on bribes, and bankrupting the Haitian economy, it was not solely his fault. The previous administration's reckless spending had brought Haiti to its knees, so it would be unfair to pin the blame on Heureaux. More importantly, while some had claimed Heureaux was a despotic tyrant, who seized power, most neglected the fact, that he had taken power from the corrupt, and dictatorial Lysius Salomon, who had nearly brought down the Haitian Republic due to his own bruised ego. Had the coup not happened, it’s likely Haiti would’ve broken into a second civil war and ended up occupied anyway. Nowadays, Heureaux is seen as a tragic hero, a final attempt to hold back the chaos and stem the tide. Sadly, he never really had a chance. The Haitian Republic was gone, the so-called “Twenty Years Humiliation” had begun under the traitorous Caudillo, and American marines that were now marching their boots in Port-au-Prince, and Santo Domingo.


Notes

[1] This whole series of events is the fate that befell Jean Jacques Dessalines after he was assassinated irl. A crowd dismembered him, with kids being the final defilers until a supposed mad woman managed to gather his remains and bury them with the support and patronage of one of those men who plotted against him, Alexander Pétion, the irl and in this timeline rival of King Henri.

 

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From Cape Tiburon to Cape Samaná - A United Hispaniola Timeline​

12. The 20 Years Humiliation Part 1: Florvil Hyppolite (1891-1896)


“A different Haiti is—always, and still—possible. But only if we grapple with its history and the outsized role that the United States has exerted upon it. The centennial of the occupation offers the ideal opportunity to do so. The invasion of Haiti by U.S. Marines transformed U.S. culture and foreign policy. It changed black and mixed-race thought. It devastated Haiti. Any thought of a “different” Haiti must, then, proceed from the acknowledgment that contemporary Haiti is not ahistorical. Instead, it is a product of imperialist intervention. It is the result of Pan-African solidarity. It is the consequence of past decisions made by outsiders who also envisioned a “different” Haiti, for better or worse. I hope, then, that this series becomes just one part of a larger conversation about the material and intellectual effects of an occupation that is more present than the past.”

-Laurent DuBois: Haiti: The Aftershocks of History (2012)

As the Haitian Republic was swept into the dustbin of history, a new state was born. The State of Haiti, often called derisively the U.S. colony of Hispaniola, was guided in its early years by Florvil Hyppolite, the Benedict Arnold of Haiti, who would lead the nation to suffer, and plunge the nation into starvation, corporatocracy, and insurgency.


The American Bootlicker

Born in Cap-Henry to a mixed French-African family, Florvil Hyppolite had an elitist background and upbringing. Hyppolite was from a young age enamored with and educated by Western academics. Studying in New York he became an Americanophile, after seeing the affluence, and wealth of New York, especially its high society. He also became a believer in the works of Pierre Boisornd-Canal and other promoters of racial science.

Hyppolite saw, and approved of the racial stratification of New York, with the less enlightened African Americans on the bottom rung of society, while mixed-race, and new immigrants occupied a somewhat higher position, with wealthy white Americans on top. Hyppolite was somewhat more of a believer in social mobility, believing if Africans, and Mixed Race people became educated and proved themselves worthy could rise to the rank of Mulatto, or even culturally white.

Of course, these ideas were insane even in the heyday of American occupation. It was a useful tool for those in power to always keep the option of integration, and raising the underclass, but holding it just out of reach.

Returning to Haiti, Florvil enrolled in the Haitian Army, distinguishing himself as an intelligent, and thoughtful soldier. Being promoted by Lysius Salomon he would be among those who would later coup Salomon when he tried to launch a self-coup and consolidate a dictatorship.

While initially being friendly with the new President Ulises Heureaux, the two gradually fell out as Heureaux drove the Haitian economy into its final descent towards bankruptcy. When U.S. Rear Admiral Bancroft Gherardi sailed the White Squadron into Port-au-Prince, and Santo Domingo, General Hyppolite would be among those promoting that the government capitulate to the Americans and handing over Môle Saint-Nicolas. In response, Heureaux had Hyppolite demoted and sent to Puerto Plata where he would stay out of government affairs.


The Fall of the First Republic

Unfortunately, the Haitian government underestimated Florvil Hyppolite and the Americans whom he had been favoring. U.S. Ambassador to Haiti the famous Fredrick Douglass would approach Hyppolite on the orders of U.S. President Benjamin Harrison. The United States would agree to provide arms, and military support to Hyppolite should he launch an armed rebellion against Ulises Heureaux and install a more friendly pro-American regime.

Seeing an opportunity to secure his place in a new Haiti, Hyppolite would contact military garrisons around Santo Domingo, and Puerto Plata. Growing unrest, useless currency, and lax rule by Heureaux angered many of his once loudest supporters in Spanish Haiti, opening up a spot for Hyppolite to secure their loyalty with American arms and funding.

Rising in rebellion, in June 1891, Hyppolite, and the Santo Domingo garrison seized the city, opening the port to American marines who quickly landed and secured the location for the American navy who would help crush unrest in the city against Hyppolite’s rule.

Marching West, the better-supplied, and higher morale forces of Hyppolite crushed Heureaux’s army at the Battle of Jacmel, routing and annihilating his army. Heureaux would be later captured, and executed by American marines in Port-au-Prince. Florvil Hyppolite would march into Port-au-Prince at the head of an army, and be announced as “The First Caudillo of the Haitian State.” The First Republic of Haiti had been swept away under the rapturous applause of the Haitian crowd, begging for relief from the catastrophe, and instability of the past decade. Sadly, the Haitian populace would experience a far greater level of suffering than anything they had before.


Bloody August, First Cacos War, U.S. Marines Tighten Their Hold

Seizing power did not; however, endear the new American occupation, or their puppet Caudillo Hyppolite for very long. Within the first weeks of the occupation, protests by the National Party, and even the various Liberal parties began. These parties, once divided by petty partisan politics, quickly united against the common foe of American rule. The Nationalists angry about the infringement on Haitian sovereignty, and the Liberals incensed by the loss of Haitian democracy, both began to protest against the new Caudillo. The American and Hyppolite response was swift and brutal. In a month that would become immortalized as Bloody August, the Haitian-American forces would open fire on protestors, who responded with escalating protests that quickly became riots.

By the end of “Bloody August”, an estimated 292 Haitians were killed in the streets of Port-au-Prince, and Santo Domingo. Even defeated, the spirit of the Nationalists, and Liberals was not broken. Forming insurgency groups known as the Cacos, Liberals, Nationalists, farmers, and anyone else opposed to the occupation would take to the hills and form an armed revolutionary band led by Dr. Pierre François Joseph Benoit Rosalvo Bobo. Named Cacos for the plumed bird that hid in the Haitian forests. The Cacos became prolific in the art of ambush, and hit and run tactics.

From August to November 1891, the period of the First Cacos War began. The Cacos rebels under the command of Rosalvo Bobo would make some gains, capturing Fort Rivière and making it a base of operations. Hyppolite and the American marines would occupy strategic locations across the interior of the island, attempting to fortify and prepare against a rebel offensive.
Suddenly, in October 1891, the Cacos would launch a massive offensive on the U.S.-Haitian-held Fort Dipitie, the Haitian Cacos would come close to breaching and capturing the fort; however a surprise arrival of American reinforcements, and fierce hand-to-hand fighting saw the Cacos defeated with 75 killed, and 325 captured greatly weakening the Cacos rebels who retreated to Fort Rivière pursued by the U.S. marines, and Haitian loyalist forces.

Finally, at the Battle of Fort Rivière, the loyalists, and marines breached a small opening in the Haitian walls, opening fire upon the rebels from behind. This allowed the combined forces of the U.S. and Haiti to advance, breaking through the front gates of the fort. In total 80 Cacos rebels, including rebel leader Josaphat Jean-Joseph were killed in the siege, to a single US-Loyalist casualty. The First Cacos War had officially ended; however, the leader of the Cacos Rosalvo Bobo eluded capture, retreating into the mountains to prepare a new campaign.

With the Cacos crushed, at least for now, American control over Haiti became more entrenched. U.S. marines occupied major forts, and cities across Haiti, while Hyppolite’s forces were directed to occupy less strategically valuable, and more remote locations. This, of course, caused some outrage amongst Haitian soldiers who were being subordinated, and mistreated within their nation, in comparison to the guest occupiers.


Swift Retaliation, The Return of Forced Labor, and “Jumping Jim Crow”

The American Commander and Chief of the Haitian intervention force, William Banks Caperton, would order “swift retaliation” against villages, and towns that supported the Haitian rebels in their cause. Caudillo Hyppolite would issue a protest to the American forces, but would nonetheless do nothing to stop U.S. marines, and even allow his forces to take part in the slaughter.

Much of this retaliation would be aimed at the Afro-Haitian populace living in eastern, and northeastern Haiti. American marines and Haitian soldiers would strike fast, and viciously. Men, women, and children would not be spared in one of the most appalling, and disgusting examples of American brutality during its campaigns in Latin America.

Afro-Haitian villages would vanish overnight, being replaced by smoldering ruins, with a raised U.S., and the Haitian flag left as evidence of a “victory over barbaric rebels.” Oftentimes, these villages had not taken part in the rebellion whatsoever, being targeted purely based on their race. Mixed-race Haitians were largely spared upon the request of President Harrison, and Caudillo Hyppolite. Nonetheless, some who lived alongside Afro-Haitians would be caught in the crossfire, and by the end of the “swift retaliation” campaign, thousands of Haitians would die.

On top of violence, many villages, and towns were emptied to take part in “Forced Labor programs” reminiscent of the Kingdom of Haiti. These laborers were unpaid, exposed to brutal slavelike conditions, and deployed to repair infrastructure, build new railways to connect the island, and cut down forests to make room for new American companies' interests.

American company men, Haitian Mixed-Race overseers, and white Haitian administrators would plunder the Haitian countryside, slicking the soil with the blood of Afro-Haitians, and Mixed-Race Haitians who had the gall to be poor, and illiterate. Thousands of Haitians' bones were crushed, and bodies were blown apart within the tunnels carved out of the Haitian countryside to make way for the so-called modernity of railways, and American companies. New corporate towns professed the new ideas of welfare paternalism, and quashing labor unions in exchange for “benevolent corporate overlords” who would graciously guide their workforce towards a prosperous life. In reality behind these glittering idealistic endorsements, corporate towns in Haiti were little more than slave pens, where workers often paid back companies with their own money for rent and food.

As American tendrils slithered across Haiti, a new unwelcome arrival would bring down the full brunt of racial violence against Afro-Haitians. Jumping Jim Crow in all its disgusting cruel mockery would reach Haiti, being entertained by the mixed-race, and white Haitians the so-called Jim Crow Laws adopted by the United States would reach the ears of Haitian legislators who would sponsor similar legislation.

The Haitian Racial Hygiene Laws of 1896 [1] would establish a firm separation of the races in Haiti. According to the new acts, Afro-Haitians would be entirely prevented from having children, or otherwise “mixing” with either Mixed-Race Haitians or White Haitians. Further laws would crack down on Vodou, African cultural practices in public spaces, and even barbecue which originated in Afro-Haitian communities. Finally, segregation that prevented Afro-Haitians from living near, going to school with, or even using the same restrooms, or restaurants as Mixed-Race and White Haitians were implemented.

The result of these Racial Hygiene Laws would be devastating for the Afro-Haitian populace. The Afro-Haitian population would slowly begin to decrease as mortality remained high, and many no longer had access to healthcare. Generational wealth, educational attainment, and wages, which were already lower for Afro-Haitians before the formal implementation of restrictions from the central government, all fell drastically across the board. The radicalization effect the Racial Hygiene Laws would have upon the populace would also be massive, as Afro-Haitians, and Mixed-Race Haitians readily began approaching ideologues calling for the burgeoning movement of Black consciousness, and nationalism, or the whitening movements of the Regeneration Party.


Internal Resistance, Second Cacos War Begins, Death of Florvil Hyppolite

Even if some of society had happily become co-opted by Hyppolite, and the American occupiers, many Haitians openly were resistant to the Haitian state. It is said by the start of the Second Cacos War in 1896, 25% of Haitians were in some way. It became a growing crisis that even Caudillo Hyppolite could not effectively defend against.

Within intellectual circles of Haiti debate raged. The most important figure in the fight for intellectual pseudo-science was Anténor Firmin. This Afro-Haitian who had been born in the ever-shrinking Haitian middle class became a well-known intellectual writing a succinct but eloquent rebuttal of Boisrond-Canal. Later when the ideas of racial hygiene were growing more prominent in Haiti, Firmin would write a criticism called “The Equality of Races” This book would assert the ideas of Aryanism, White Supremacy, and Racial division were based upon pseudoscience. Firmin would point to the lack of evidence of skull shape, and brain size as strong correlative factors in evidence of intelligence. To further reinforce his point, Firmin would point to Chinese people having a heavier brain than Europeans, this directly refuted the points made by so-called Aryanists as being the most intelligent, or advanced race. Unfortunately, Firmin was largely yelled down by the “scientific community” many of whom had staked political careers upon proving their pseudoscience, even if they had to lie, or misread data.

Anténor Firmin even though he would have little impact in halting the ruling government in Haiti, or convincing the upper classes, he would have far more success within Afro-Haitian communities and abroad. His most influential ideological contribution would be the foundation of Pan-Africanism, which would promote common unity amongst African people culturally, socially, and in some cases politically to defeat European colonization, and white supremacy. Alongside Benito Sylvain, and Henry Sylvester Williams they would hold the 1900 Pan-African Conference would lay the foundations for the eventual formation of the African Union. Another ambition of Firmin; however, less successful would be the Pan-Caribbean unification project between Haiti, Cuba, Jamaica, and Puerto Rico. The idea would fail to materialize between 1875-1898. His final contribution would be the development of Noirisme. While initially merely calling for the empowerment of Afro-Haitians, it would eventually be bastardized by François Duvalier and his TonTon Macoute terrorists and become a black supremacist ideology calling for the elevation of Afro-Haitians as superior to Mixed-Race and White Haitians, and the militarization of vodou culture to strengthen Duvalier’s insane cult of personality he fostered amongst his drug-addled followers.

For now, the aggressive and high-profile debates of Firmin, alongside the Racial Hygiene laws, pushed Haiti into a Second Cacos War (1896-1898) and would see the death of Hyppolite himself in battle.

By 1896, Caudillo Hyppolite was already an extremely old, and sick man. When a rebellion broke out near Santo Domingo, Hyppolite would gather an army to march east. During the Battle of El Carretón, the Caudillo in his arrogance would only bring a relatively small force with him against the rebels. In a complete ambush near the village of El Carretón, the Haitian army would be routed by rebel forces. Hyppolite himself was supposedly killed fighting rebels; however, rumors abound that he was killed on the orders of his successor Juan Isidro Jimenes Pereyra, or even just by disgruntled soldiers. Nonetheless, Hyppolite’s body was never found, though according to traditional legend, his head adorned a pike carried at the front of the Cacos rebel battalion, not unlike what was done to slaves during the Haitian Revolution.


Succession, and A Traitor’s Due

When reports trickled back to Port-au-Prince about the death of the Caudillo, temporarily the Haitian government panicked. With most of the government being reshuffled, and staffed with white nationalists, racial supremacists, and other degenerate ideologues, there was little in the way of a positive, or even a sane leader to choose to lead the nation. Instead, the U.S. occupiers would look to the Haitian military to select a new ruler. They found Juan Isidro Jiménes Grullón, a Haitian general, and firm believer in the ideas of the new state, especially racial whitening.

Often described as the “First Whitened Leader of Haiti”, Juan Grullón was swiftly named the Second Caudillo of the Haitian State.

Occasionally, some Haitians would attempt to keep the idealized image of Florvil Hyppolite as a savior of the Haitian nation against the degradation of the previous Republic. Despite their attempts, Hyppolite would be reviled, even amongst those in the eventual Party of Regeneration-led government. He was seen as a weak-willed moderate by nationalists, and racialists, a traitorous lout by liberals, and republicans, and an imperial enabler by socialists, and leftists.

The new Caudillo Grullón would do little to memorialize Hyppolite, no statues would be raised, and no songs of mourning sung. Instead, the monstrous machine Florvil Hyppolite built, and quickly lost control of, would continue forth, exterminating, and annihilating in a churning mass of blood, gore, and tears.


Notes

[1] Based upon the 1895 Book by quack Alfred Ploetz, Racial Hygiene Basics, would be crucial in promoting racial hygiene laws in Germany. Later, Ploetz would become a member of the Nazi Party and influence much of their pseudoscientific beliefs on race.

 

[Eigengrau17]

From Cape Tiburon to Cape Samaná - A United Hispaniola Timeline​

13. 20 Years Humiliation 2: Juan Isidoro Jimenes (1896 - 1907)

“Everyone has the potential to unearth their powers and trap a lover, create a child, heal the sick, end their enemies, and even transform their life. Not everyone taps into that knowing, but it is always there at their disposal. People understand that while some are sprinkled with a little magic, others are born with the don, with the gift, with the full force. It is what it is. My people believe deeply, even if they wear their Catholic cloaks daily for safety. But when shit hits the fan — and shit always hits the fan — they turn to the soil, to the skies, and the leaders of the other side. But this isn’t the island. This is not a place with an open vein of magic. This is a place where an entire race has oppressed and sat above the rest. On this land, the blood- spills always bubble back up to the surface, and instead of cleaning it, the oppressors constantly cover it up with cement. Entonces dime, who here would believe my vision?”
― Lorraine Avila, The Making of Yolanda la Bruja

As Caudillo Florvil Hyppolite lay dead, his body lost to history, and his name crushed under the boot of false progress, a successor took the throne. Juan Jimenes Pereya, the quiet, and dutiful second in command, the proper servant, a man who raised no fuss, and made no enemies. So, it seemed almost a perfect choice that the quiet Jimenes be selected by the U.S. Marines, and military administration to be the second Caudillo of Haiti. Not only would Haiti continue to strangle under the iron grip of their American oppressors, but under Caudillo Jimenes, the terror would expand into previously unimaginable depths of despair.


Beware the Quiet Ones

Most Haitians even at the time of his ascension did not know who Juan Jimenes was. The elites who pried into his past found themselves stonewalled by the quiet, and cold demeanor of the man himself. Even modern-day historians struggle to piece together the most basic facts of a man who shaped so much of modern-day Haiti.

What is known is that Juan Jimenes was born in Santo Domingo in 1847. His father Manuel Jimenes was recently widowed, choosing to marry again to Altagracia Pereyra Pérez, of whom Juan Jimenes would be born.

Neither extremely rich nor extremely poor, Jimenes had a relatively comfortable middle-class life. Joining the Haitian Army, Jimenes would settle into the role of an officer, where he was described as cold, distant, and apolitical. Perhaps, this is why when Ulises Heureaux was overthrown in 1891 Jimenes was promoted to a General. As the new Haitian Caudillo purged the army, and society of Afro-Haitian influences, Jimenes once again found a way to advance his station. Proving himself during the First Cacos War, it was under the General’s command at Fort Rivière that he would lead an army into the gaps in the Fort, and flank the Cacos, bringing the siege to a quicker conclusion.

Brutal, and efficient, General Jimenes would lead the brutal swift retaliation campaigns, being largely unafraid to get his hands dirty and command Haitian soldiers to commit brutal state-sanctioned terrorism and massacres.

When the Second Cacos War erupted due to the brutal treatment of the Haitian government, and as a byproduct of Jimenes, and the U.S. Marines's campaign of terror, it is said General Jimenes himself downplayed the strength and numbers of the rebels and led to Florvil Hyppolites doomed campaign in the east, and eventual death.

Once again being in the right place, and being neither liked, nor disliked by his peers, Juan Jimenes was elevated to the role of the Second Caudillo of the Haitian State, by the U.S. occupation force, and the puppet legislature.


Bringing the Parliament into Line
Caudillo Jimenes is remembered for his extreme permissiveness, especially towards the American occupation force. When they delivered him a set of laws to implement he approved without hesitation, when the Americans pointed to a village on the map, he destroyed it, and when the Americans asked for labor, he would enslaved as many Afro-Haitians as needed.

His attitude of permissiveness did not seem to extend; however, to the Haitian Parliament. The Haitian legislative branch had for the past 6 years been largely window-dressing to the regime. Sidestepped by the President, and entirely ignored by the U.S. Marines, the legislature at the best of times was treated as a rubber stamp, and at worst actively kept disbanded.

Parliamentary meetings were in general a mess. Hyppolite had filled Parliament with yesmen, sycophants, aryanists, scientific racists, and all manner of disgusting cretins. Parliamentary decorum had long since broken down, with meetings regularly ending in brawls in the streets.

Caudillo Jimenes did not approve of this state of affairs. While the Haitian Parliament may be a figurehead, it still represented the nation. Setting on a path of ambitious reform, Jimenes would perhaps make his only meaningful decision of his entire time in office, placing Henry Nord Alexis in the office of Prime Minister. Henry Nord Alexis was the son of Pierre Nord Alexis who himself was an illegitimate child of Henri Christophe.

Henry Nord Alexis’ job was simple. Reign Parliament, and reform the Haitian legislative branch into something resembling a government. Alexis would embark on his new campaign with vigor, and zeal. The Haitian Senate, which for decades had been little more than a place for rich Haitians to meet, and discuss their social standings, was entirely dissolved. In its place, the Haitian Parliament was merged and encompassed the jobs of both the Senate and Chamber of Deputies. Decorum was restored, with a new code of conduct strictly enforced.

Unable to entirely clear the Haitian Parliament of racialists, and aryanists, it does seem Henry Alexis tried to curb their power. Expelling their rabid, and insane proponents, Alexis moderated much of Parliament, while being unable to break Haitian's Racial Hygiene laws, which would ensure they were at least more systemized, and known. While paltry to the Afro-Haitians who suffered under them, it should be noted Alexis’ seeming disdain for the laws, as a mixed-race descendant of the once famous Afro-Haitian Christophe family.

Ironically, this ancestry would be among the reasons Alexis was held up as a proper model of racial whitening. This is despite the man himself despising the ideology, and seemingly attempting to undermine it from within. By the end of his time as Prime Minister in 1907, Henry Nord Alexis had turned the system into a well-oiled machine, in stark contrast to how it had been in 1896.


The Second Cacos War of 1896 - 1898

Juan Jimenes may have been expected to ignore and downplay the Second Cacos War like he had encouraged his predecessor to do, but Jimenes immediately struck out against the Cacos, mobilizing a large force, backed by the American marines. This willingness to immediately treat the Cacos as a destabilizing threat further gave credence to rumors he had set up Florvil Hyppolite to be killed.

The new U.S. President William McKinley, a staunch imperialist, and protectionist would encourage a quick and decisive victory in the Second Cacos War and send a large number of U.S. soldiers to the island to augment the American army in the area.

The Cacos under the command of a 19-year-old named Benoît Batraville launched perhaps their most daring raid to date, the uprising of Santo Domingo. Using stolen Haitian uniforms, the Cacos were able to slip past the local garrison (ironically many of the Cacos rebels were Afro-Haitian) and take positions in the city. When given the command in January 1897, 500 Cacos soldiers rose, setting fire to several buildings, and seizing the Santo Domingo armory. A failed assassination attempt on Juan Jimenes who had been visiting the eastern side of the island would lead to the rebellion within the city slowly falling apart as their plan began to unravel. American soldiers and Haitian loyalists would clear out the city block by block, and interrogate each soldier. Despite this, Benoît Batraville and several other soldiers were able to slip out of the city unscathed bringing with them American rifles, and equipment.

The combined allied forces even in their military victory had been humiliated by the Cacos who had killed numerous Haitian MPs, and officers in the chaos of the battle. Marine reinforcements and Haitian loyalists would fortify Port-au-Prince as it was likely the final battle would take place in the city. Knowing the exhaustion of the Haitian people, and the likely reprisals the American and Loyalist forces would exact upon them, the Cacos mobilized their largest force, 50,000 Cacos rebels, under the command of Benoît Batraville, and Rosalvo Bobo, the Cacos would breach the city, and overwhelm the local garrison. A young Smedley Butler would earn his first commendations for holding the city's port, while he and his Haitian comrade in arms were under intense fire from the Cacos one field gun.

After a full day of holding out alone, the American reinforcements would arrive under the command of Admiral William Caperton, the Americans would link up with Butler, and Caudillo Jimenes, and drive the Cacos back. By the end of the day, the combined arms of the loyalists and American reinforcements annihilated the Cacos siege. While exact numbers are unknown it is said that perhaps as many as 10,000 Cacos were killed; however, most modern historians place the estimate far lower. Either way, the Cacos would not recover after their defeat, being scattered and pursued by the brutal vengeance of the Haitian loyalists.

The Second Cacos campaign would end much as the first. Afro-Haitian villages depopulated, and thousands put to the sword. Yet, despite their second defeat, resistance continued to exist. Some raids continued on convoys, conscripted workers ran from their posts, and workers sabotaged factories.


United Fruit, Slave Labor, and the Dismantling of Haitian Education
The U.S. occupation reached new levels of humiliation for the Haitian government. In 1900 as a part of a revised treaty in the aftermath of the Second Cacos War, American advisors would collect 5% of all Haitian revenue to be paid back to the American government. As a result, the government was forced to tighten expenditure and cut the amount of native Haitians hired in government employment.

The arrival of United Fruit in 1901, signaled the beginning of the Banana Wars in Haiti. Against the backdrop of native Haitian resistance, thousands of acres of land were seized the turned over to the United Fruit Company who began planting bananas, sisal, and even cotton. This shift in production on prime Haitian agricultural land triggered a new rush by local elites, many of whom forced the peasants they rented land to into growing cash crops. Staple crops crashed, and many Haitians who had previously been subsistence farmers, starved even as crop yields increased. One U.S. agency investigating the effects of the occupation reported that by the end of the U.S. occupation, the Haitian peasants who made up 90% of the population were at starvation levels. Thousands would perish in this great hunger, and critical food insecurity in Haiti would last well into the 70’s.

Slave labor cut down trees across Haiti, on both sides of the island. This land was turned into new plantations for United Fruit, and rich elites who greedily snapped up the open land. Unfortunately, this would begin a process of agricultural decline, as soil eroded from overfarming and weather erosion. Even as farmland increased, yields per capita began a decline that would also last in the 70’s.

Perhaps the only positive of the U.S. occupation would be its various infrastructure projects. 2,200 miles of roads, 378 bridges, 138 modern farms, and numerous hospitals, schools, public buildings, and even drinking water were brought into Port-au-Prince and Santo Domingo. Irrigation projects also were massively expanded. Perhaps most impressively the first telephones in the Caribbean arose in Port-au-Prince. Even this would be a poison pill, as most of the infrastructure projects were pilfered to fill American officers' salaries, as such much of the infrastructure was shoddily built and subpar.

The Haitian education system would be entirely overhauled in a way despised even by the Haitian Parliament, and elites. Liberal arts and racial sciences would be toned down, and in some cases entirely removed. The new education system would be crafted around technical skills, in an attempt to craft a pliable nation of middle managers, and technicians who could be used by the American corporations. Elites were even enraged by this system, believing weakening racial education would see people eventually realize the artificiality of their system, and revolt against it. Haitian intellectuals would reject the undoing of all liberal arts as harmful to intellectual development, in the pursuit of profit.


Rising Discontent, and the Fall of Juan Jimenes

Discontent would continue to grow as the years dragged on. Much of this discontent centered around one of the major figures leading the U.S. occupation, Colonel Littleton Walker. Even though the mixed-race Haitians were supposed to be those being uplifted to a more “white” culture, Littleton still called them “black below the surface.” [1] His thinly veiled racism, the U.S. pilfering of the Haitian treasury, and growing strikes, and uprisings prompted Juan Jimenes to surprisingly announce his retirement.

Recognizing the situation he was in, Jimenes gave the following speech:

“Through my near decade of rule over the Haitian state, I believe I have brought peace, development, and stability to the nation. The traitorous strikers in Santo Domingo and the poets in Port-au-Prince may try to tell you differently, but Haiti has never been so prosperous as it is now after my rule. Nonetheless, I have accomplished everything I intended to do, and will now proudly retire to my home in the east, among the new civilization we have built, from the mixed, and backward nation that existed before.”

In his place, the American officials would choose the efficient Henry Nord Alexis to be the third, and final Caudillo of the Haitian State. Retiring to the countryside Juan Jimenes would remain a controversial figure even during the pro-American regimes of the Second Republic. In 1919, Juan Jimenes would die at the age of 72.

In modern-day parlance, Jimenese is widely hated even more than the United States is among common Haitians. Called a traitor, during the Third Republic, much of his statues, and works would be torn down, and cast aside.

For now, the third Caudillo, former Prime Minister Henry Nord Alexis, the Mixed-Haitian heir to the Christophe lineage, would attempt to unite Haiti and end the U.S. occupation.


Notes

[1] I am NOT writing out the disgusting things this dude said. Read his Wikipedia if you want to get a taste of some of the things in this horrific piece of work.

 

[Eigengrau17]

From Cape Tiburon to Cape Samaná - A United Hispaniola Timeline​

14. 20 Years Humiliation 3: In Another Lifetime, Henry Nord Alexis (1907 - 1909)


“In another lifetime, I may have been made a King. In another lifetime, I would have ruled over a fair and equal Haiti. In another lifetime, I’d never kowtow to American corporations. In another lifetime, I’d be beloved by all Haitians. But, in this lifetime, I am no king. In this lifetime, I rule over a society in which half rest under the boot of the other half. In this lifetime, I kiss the hand of every American man, even as their daggers sink into the Earth. In this lifetime, no one will love me.

-Henry Nord Alexis, In Another Lifetime, 1908

Henry Nord Alexis’ life was often a cruel mockery. Heir to an Afro-Haitian dynasty that once enriched and promised a future to Haiti, Alexis, or Henry III as he was frequently mockingly called now found himself at the head of a nation actively silencing and oppressing its Afro-Haitian population. Even Alexis himself was held up as some evidence of Mixed-Race whitening even though he despised the system. Torn between the identity of African, and White, this would represent the struggle Haiti itself would find itself in for decades afterward.


The Man Who Would Be King

Henry Nord Alexis, was the son of Pierre Nord Alexis who had fought on the side of the monarchists during the Haitian Civil War, helping Thomas de Belliard. That was until de Belliard, and Alexis split over policy, and Pierre Nord Alexis switched sides to help the Republicans crush the upstart Second Kingdom of Haiti.

Defeating the monarchists, and killing Thomas de Belliard, Pierre Nord Alexis would struggle within the Haitian Republic. Failing to secure any popular support, and being widely viewed as a traitorous opportunist, Pierre Alexis would fail to make any real social standing in Haiti. Marrying a white heiress to a local landowner, Alexis would scrape together somewhat of a social position among local elites in Hinche. Nonetheless, when their son, the mixed-race Henry Nord Alexis was born, Pierre expected big things from his son.

Educated in the best American, and French schools, by 1873 Henry Alexis would find himself among the ascendant National Party. By 1880, Henry was an MP in the Haitian Chamber of Deputies during the disastrous rule of Paul Simon Sam and expertly pushed through articles of impeachment past the lower house after the 1881 German Affair. President Simon Sam would resign before being removed, but Henry would be seen as one of the main architects of his downfall in the Haitian Parliament. Nonetheless, he soon butted heads with the new President, the corrupt Lysius Salomon, being largely sidelined, and harassed. So, in 1888, Henry supported the coup by Ulises Heureaux against Salomon after the latter launched a self-coup. Quickly following the coup, Heureaux and Henry would suffer a falling out due to Henry being vocally critical of Heureaux’s corruption, and ruinous continuation of economic policies that pushed the nation ever closer to bankruptcy.

Being expelled from Parliament, Henry Nord Alexis would generally lurk in the background of the political scene, being in an underground anti-Heureaux movement. This undercurrent of unrest would be utilized by Florvil Hyppolite and the American invasion. Co-opted into the new State of Haiti, Alexis would struggle to wrangle the Haitian Parliament into a functioning institution. Empowered under the rule of Caudillo Juan Jimenes, Alexis would be named Prime Minister of the rubber-stamp Haitian Parliament.

Instituting several reforms such as merging the Senate and Chamber of Deputies, cracking down on bribery, and corruption, and enforcing a code of conduct, Prime Minister Henry had done far more than anyone expected him to do in his relatively easy position. This brought him into the view of the Americans, who struggled to hold Haiti together, and growing tired of the lax hand of Juan Jimenes opted to instead force the old general to resign in what most labeled a palace coup.

Named the Third Caudillo of Haiti, Henry Nord Alexis took up the poisoned chalice of leading the Haitian State, and much like his father became a new traitor to the Republic.


Ending the Terror

The first thing the so-called third traitorous caudillo did was end the horrific terror carried out by Haitian forces, and American marines. The great campaigns of swift retribution were ended, and instead, forces were redirected towards stamping out the last embers of the Cacos insurgencies in the mountains in the east.
The worst Haitian offenders were punished, stripped of their titles, and thrown out of the military. While the Americans were beyond the reproach of the Haitian government, they would beg the U.S. government to reassign many of these perpetrators of systemic abuses.

Next, forced labor to build infrastructure and new American corporate plantations were also ended. Instead, a more normalized wage system was implemented. While paltry at best, most agreed it was somewhat of a step up from slavery. Of course, these reforms were largely virtue signaling. The villages had already been destroyed, land taken and given to U.S. corporations, and the plantations already constructed. Many who may have been content to celebrate the end of the terror, merely needed to talk to the workers outside, suffering under the industrialized terror of Victorian-era business practices, and choked under the growing smog of Port-au-Prince, and Santo Domingo.


The Great Strike of 1908

Reforms are often a double-edged sword. When a regime, especially one as brutal as the State of Haiti, and the U.S. occupation administration, releases its grip, oftentimes the populace rises against the continued existence of the regime itself, threatening to bring down the whole state.

The collapse of the Haitian state would come off of the 1908 Great Strike. Industrial conditions within the nation had always been particularly atrocious. Under the American occupation, Port-au-Prince, and Santo Domingo experienced a particularly rapid form of industrialization. Within this mass industrialization, trade unions would naturally begin to form to better advocate for, and fight for worker’s rights. The Haitian State would of course brutally crack down on the trade unions.

For every protest against the state, the Haitian police would descend on the protestors arresting, beating, and occasionally killing members of the unions. When the unions began to strike, the American corporations would merely replace strikers with new workers from the mass influx of Afro-Haitians from the lands appropriated, and stolen by United Fruit, and Haitian elites. These Afro-Haitians would clash with Mixed Race Haitian union workers who saw themselves being replaced by lessers. This led to the union strikes taking often a violent racial tone, with Afro-Haitian slums of Santo Domingo, and Port-au-Prince being set ablaze by angry union workers. Afro-Haitians were being disbarred often physically from entering into factories by union workers.

Strikes, while initially limited to only a few American factories soon began to spread. Across Port-au-Prince, Santo Domingo, Puerto Plata, Gonaïves, and Punta Cana experienced mass unrest, and strikes. Factories shut down the entire Haitian economy, the pivotal moment of the strike would come when the Port-au-Prince Port would completely shut down any transport in and out of the country. Haitian produce began to rot in the fields of the corporate plantations, even so-called corporate towns would begin to descend into violence between strikers, and corporate security forces.

During this time men like Dantes Bellegarde would rise from the ranks of Haitian society, binding together the often combative intellectuals, and working-class unionists. Even more racialist intellectuals within Haiti were tired of the instability. In coffee houses, libraries, and high society gatherings, Haitian elites, and intellectuals argued about how to end the leaching of Haiti’s land, and people by the Americans. Siding with the protestors, Dantes Bellegarde and many other Haitians would send a letter to the American President Theodore Roosevelt Jr. They would argue that continued American occupation had only led to escalating violence, threatening not only to hurt American profits, but potentially put a radically anti-American into power, and destabilize the whole region. Within Washington D.C. the debate raged within the halls of Congress, and the White House. Many had desired to at some point annex Haiti, and use it as almost a racial reservation of African Americans. While this dream had largely failed to materialize, and been abandoned after President Ulysses S. Grant, the desire to annex, and control Haiti had remained. As conflict within Haiti continued; however, the United States grew increasingly dissuaded from attempting to annex the nation. Even within Congress, a bill pushing for the formal annexation of Haiti was shot down by Congress. Theodore Roosevelt, despite his imperialist fame, would finally give up on the project, instead opting for a similar idea as had been done with Cuba in 1905.

As days turned into weeks violence continued to escalate. The American government would make a fateful decision. They would announce the beginning of a process of disengagement, and return to self-rule for Haiti. Henry Nord Alexis would be given to go-ahead to prepare new elections. In the streets of cities around Haiti, there would be a great outpour of celebration and jubilation as people looked forward to freedom from occupation.


The American Departure: Haitian Election of 1909

The American departure would come with strings attached. Most importantly the United States would retain the right to intervene in Haiti to “preserve stability.” More insidiously, American fruit companies and other businesses would retain their right to be free of Haitian taxation, and be granted a market monopoly, entirely unassailable by Haitian lawmakers, or anti-trust laws, which was a great irony coming from the great trust buster Theodore Roosevelt.

The Haitian people would be granted their freedom no matter how bittersweet it was. The Haitian Racial Hygiene Laws would be maintained, including the voting laws which targeted “illiterates, and social degenerates.” Caudillo Henry would privately denounce the continuation of these laws, but publicly could not stand against the elites or American occupiers.

The chained, and weak Haitian democracy emboldened like the New National Party, this right-wing conservative party would uphold the status quo, but unlike the more radical racists, and pseudo-scientific racialists, the New National Party was largely ambivalent towards the so-called racial whitening of other groups. Instead, they enjoyed the pliable, and disenfranchised Afro-Haitians and saw no desire to “uplift them racially or culturally”, like the more radical right-wing parties. Those parties still existed; however, the Party of the Regeneration which had never truly fallen away during the American occupation, came back with a vengeance becoming the second-largest political party in Haiti. Esoteric, racist, and nationalist the Party of the Regeneration advocated for racial whitening, suppression of African elements of Haitian culture, and importation of white populations from abroad. Despite never (legitimately) winning an election, their influence over policymaking would remain massive.

The New Liberal Party would represent the withering Haitian left. Largely crushed and suppressed from the era of the First and Second Cacos War, was now made up of a collection of virtue-signaling elites and feckless intellectuals trying to sell books, and their beliefs, rather than promote change. This would be the third largest party, and divorce Haitian workers from the moderate left, pushing them towards more radical extremes.

The first election of the so-called Second Republic of Haiti somehow was even worse than the elections before the collapse of the First Republic. State-controlled candidates, state-controlled ballots, restrictions to literate mainly Afro-Haitian, and White Haitian males, and the systematic suppression of union or populist protests for expanded suffrage.

Caudillo Henry Nord Alexis would not run in these elections, largely being dejected from politics. Publicly he would present this as a supposed legitimization of the new republic, by getting rid of the dictators of the old. The main candidates allowed in these elections were Tancrède Auguste of the New Nationalist Party, and the 20-year-old, nationalist Juan Rafael Estrella Ureña. Both would put up a brilliant campaign, with Ureña presenting a sane, rational, and romanticist face to the Party of the Regeneration, and Tancrède Auguste who ran on a campaign of binding the old Granville Republican traditions to the new post-American order. After a close campaign, Auguste would nudge out Ureña with around 54% of the ballots. The new old order had won and was re-entrenched.


Resignation of Henry Nord Alexis: End of the American Occupation

On May 1, 1909, the flags of the United States would be lowered from Port-au-Prince, Santo Domingo, and Môle-Saint-Nicolas. Slowly over the coming years, U.S. occupation forces would trickle out of the forts they had been tasked with occupying, and maintaining. In their place, Haitian soldiers would once again guard their nation entirely.

Even as America left Haiti, things had largely remained the same. American corporations would still rule Haiti with impunity, unassailable, untaxed, and holding a free hand over their security and control. Haitian lumber was still cut down at devastating speeds driving many animal species into extinction, especially numerous species endemic to the Haitian islands.

For Henry in his lifetime, he would receive no praise and no awards. He was not seen as a restorer of the Republic, but rather the last in a long line of dictators. The last caudillo of Haiti, died in a state of self-imposed exile, living in New York, attempting to write and salvage his shattered reputation.

When the Second Republic finally fell, and Haiti moved into its Third, Henry was rehabilitated. Seen by many as a tragic figure, torn between doing what was best for the people, and not being overthrown by the Americans for being too radical. In more modern times; however, contemporary scientists have begun to reassess Henry's rehabilitation. While privately he claimed to abhor the system of segregation and racial hygiene laws, he never made any attempts to weaken, or even publicly denounce the system.

It seems Henry was an opportunist, overly ambitious, and was instead caught within the whirlpool of his ambition. In his boundless quest to restore his family's name, which had been tarnished by his father, the pressure of this self-imposed expectation, pushed Henry to collaboration, and meek subservience to a brutal system of exploitation.

Either way, the last Caudillo fell, and the State of Haiti became a brutal memory. Its scars can be felt throughout the nation today. The ecology was lost forever, the population failed to mass killings, and generations were thrown from building wealth into cyclical poverty. Perhaps most cruelly the Haitian people were permanently divided by their races. Today, the occupation is considered a sore spot in Haitian history, with much of the racial animus felt today stemming from it. Even the racial questions it created remain eternally taboo, kept from political and public discourse, expelled to the internet, and intellectual debate.

 

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From Cape Tiburon to Cape Samaná - A United Hispaniola Timeline​

15. The Flawed Second Republic Begins: Tancrède Auguste (1909-1914)

“What are we? Since that's your question, I'm going to answer you. We're this country, and it wouldn't be a thing without us, nothing at all. Who does the planting? Who does the watering? Who does the harvesting? Coffee, cotton, rice, sugar cane, cacao, corn, bananas, vegetables, and all the fruits, who's going to grow them if we don't? Yet with all that, we're poor, that's true. We're out of luck, that's true. We're miserable, that's true. But do you know why, brother? Because of our ignorance. We don't know yet what a force we are, what a single force - all the peasants, all the Negroes of the plain and hill, all united. Someday, when we get wise to that, we'll rise from one end of the country to the other. Then we'll call a General Assembly of the Masters of the Dew, a great big coumbite of farmers and we'll clear out poverty and plant a new life.

Jacques Roumain ''Masters of the Dew"

The end of the American occupation was bittersweet for the populace as a whole. While the American boot was off the Haitian throat directly, for most Haitians life as brutal and short as it had been under the Americans, scarcely improved for them. Now even elites in Haitian society, who had grown increasingly richer from the American occupation, found themselves terrified of being alone, no longer under the backing of America’s umbrella, and military. Tancrède Auguste inspired no hope, no confidence, and no likely escape for anyone. Instead, he represented the continuation, the machine’s gears continuing to tear through the flesh of the nation, without any guise of stopping, or changing even as it rusted and sputtered.


A Mediocre Rise

As is often the case with many of Haiti’s self-made leaders of this period of Haitian history, Joseph Antoine Tancrède Auguste came from a well-to-do, middle-class family. His early life is mostly considered standard, and he was educated in Cap-Henry and went on to own a successful trading house in the city.

During the American occupation, Auguste and his trading house greatly expanded output to cover gaps in the economy, as the Caudillos clamped down upon businesses that aided rebels. This made Auguste and his family among the wealthiest members of Haitian society, even outpacing many White Haitians, much to their chagrin.

A close ally of Henry Nord Alexis, Auguste would fund Alexis’ campaigns to reform and bring the Haitian Parliament back into line. He would also bankroll lobbying efforts back in Washington D.C. to convince the American government to agree to the ending of the American Occupation of Haiti.

When the American government agreed it would be leaving Haiti, Auguste jumped to the task of forming a new political party. Using his immense wealth, and connections within American occupation forces, and the business world, Tancrède Auguste would take the reins of the largely defunct National Party, forming the New National Party of Haiti.

Distinguished, wealthy, and allegedly apolitical, especially when compared to the rabid racists of Juan Rafael Estrella Ureña, and the Party of the Regeneration. Even the liberal opposition under the New Liberal Party did little to effectively oppose Auguste and the New National Party. As a sign of goodwill, and perhaps to keep the liberals out of his way, the leader of the New Liberal Party Oreste Zamor was invited to be the Vice President of Haiti, much to the anger of liberal supporters, Zamor openly accepted the invitation. The defeated liberal opposition found itself neatly swept up and put into the orbit of the New National Party, even as their supporters defected to more radical left-wing movements. Seymour Pradel, a rival within the New National Party was selected as Prime Minister, in itself an insult due to how weakened the office of the Prime Minister had become even since before the American occupation.


The Banality of Evil

The first, and only term of President Auguste was largely considered uneventful, and for this reason, he is often optimized as the banality of evil. Under his reign, no major attempts were made to pass any legislation to enshrine, enhance, or at all establish worker’s rights in Haiti. Despite numerous high-profile books published not only in Haiti, but even in the United States, any attempt to pass workers legislation was eviscerated on the Haitian Parliament floor, or even killed before it even reached a vote. Even an attempt to enshrine better conditions for white workers by the Party of the Regeneration was defeated after an aggressive vote-whipping campaign by Prime Minister Pradel.

Unsurprisingly, both laborers and intellectuals especially Afro-Haitians despised this so-called Second Republic. Influential writers like Jean Price-Mars advocated for the rights of his fellow Afro-Haitians and helped foster the re-embracement of Vodou, and other traditional African culture amongst Afro-Haitians. While his words would be later twisted by the likes of Francios Duvalier, Price-Mar's work would remain instrumental in the struggle for Haitian equality. Another prominent antagonist to this new Republic was a dead man. This man Oswald Durand, was a poet and playwright whose works that deal with race, equality, and aristocracy earned him the nickname the Haitian Shakespeare. Even from the dead, his works grew in popularity, and after decades of being ignored grew in popularity among the burgeoning consciousness of Afro-Haitians. Etzer Vilaire, another Haitian poet, and also a lawyer challenged the continuing legality of the Racial Hygiene Laws and advocated for the rights of trade unions, and workers.

As to be expected, the government met any criticism of the new regime with swift brutality. When labor organizers attempted to repeat the 1908 protests which had brought about the end of the American Occupation, and the State of Haiti, the new Haitian police quickly responded. Jean Price-Mars was sentenced to a short prison term, Oswald Durand’s works were banned, and any public showing was suppressed. Even Etzer Vilaire was disbarred from practicing law.

To dissuade middle-class support, Haitian lawmakers routinely pointed out how these protesters would merely spark a return of the American marines, and lead to a new occupation or even outright annexation. Protesting was shown as a traitorous action, that only those who were treasonous or an American agent would dare carry out.

This is often why President Auguste is called banal. His system continued the exploitation of Haiti’s people. It didn’t commit mass slaughter of the populace, or actively execute dissent. Instead, a quiet blacklisting of major intellectuals, arrests for labor organizers, and a continued gripping of the middle class by a combination of fear of European invasion, and propaganda kept the system grinding along.


The Ticking Time Bomb: Afro-Haitian Racial Consciousness

Despite how well known the Racial Hygiene Laws are in Haiti, and even as the legacy of the racial apartheid remains, oftentimes it is difficult for those to imagine outside of the nation. As Haiti today is known for its relatively heavy restrictions on racial discussion, bans of racial political organizations, or even censorship of media that discusses racial subjects, the idea of racial consciousness, and racially based politics are embedded in Haitian history, especially in the Second Republic.

While the idea of racial consciousness among both Mixed-Race, and White Haitian's upper classes had begun to be developed from the works of Boisrond-Canal, and other writers, it truly had existed in a vacuum. Unchallenged, and unfettered, the ideas had no bearing on the day-to-day lives of most Haitians, especially the lower class.

This would begin to change, as “whitening” was challenged by the works of Afro-Haitian writer Jean Price-Mars, and the idea of Noirisme, or Blackness promoted the dismantlement of the racial apartheid, and empowerment of African culture, and even religious practices like vodou. Noirisme would initially emerge during the 1909-1910 protests in which Afro-Haitian workers strike against often White Haitian, and Mixed-Race Haitians owners and upper management. Decrying not only the workplace itself but the inherent privileges granted to the other races themselves.

This idea of racial consciousness, and the privileges that one's group often gave, prompted many Mixed-Race Haitians, and White Haitians to respond in the opposite way protestors had hoped. Instead of empathy, when confronted about their privilege, many of these groups became angry. They had strived and achieved their positions in society and felt insulted that any Afro-Haitian would allege that their achievements came from the mere status of their birth.

Many of these offended parties would turn to the so-called “whitening” groups, and other radical racial ideologies, of their deflection. Instead of arguing that there were any inherent biases within the Haitian system, or that some (but not all) of their achievements were made even a modicum easier by their race, they took a hardline in the opposite position. Afro-Haitians who rioted, protested, or even formed rebel groups against the government had fallen from civilization. Destroying their homes, and their jobs, Afro-Haitians were solely to blame for their own lower status in society. More esoteric among these groups argued the reasoning was biological, but most would simply argue a degree of cultural degeneration, especially as Vodou returned to prominence.

So as often is sadly the case in racially divided societies like the Second Republic, the response to moderate calls for equal opportunity, and to be treated as first-class citizens, of the privileged classes, many of whom struggled themselves, or were poor, responded with anger. This anger was preyed upon easily by the Party of the Regeneration, and racial nationalists, who spun into their narrative that Afro-Haitians needed to rise from their barbarity and become Haitian (white, or mixed race) again.

Of course, this loud rejection of equality, and the demeaning of their entire race and culture by the upper castes of the Haitian racial pyramid, would only cause Afro-Haitians who had initially been extremely moderate in their demands (asking only to end the Racial Hygiene Laws) to turn towards increasingly radical ideas. Jean Price-Mars would later write:

“The loss, and bastardization of my movement, into the radical racial ultranationalism, and tyranny of François Duvalier, and his terrorists, is perhaps the greatest tragedy to befall Haiti. What began afterward was a massive race to the bottom between white, and black supremacists, both expanding in their cruelty and intensifying in their hate. In the middle, the people of Haiti are caught between bombings, state-sanctioned terrorism, and brutal repressions.”

For now, both sides would continue to gnaw away at the moderates of the New National Party, and New Liberal Party, pulling them towards the extremes of the black, and white nationalists.


The 1914 Haitian Election

The 1914 elections would be bittersweet for Joseph Auguste. Running for a second term, the opposition against the President was immense. Afro-Haitian protests against his Presidency grew more extreme during the election cycle, as the New National Party ran virtually unchallenged by the New Liberal Party who continued their active collaboration with the ruling NNP.

Armed gangs of National Party members regularly beat up, and even occasionally killed protesting Afro-Haitians. The violence came to a head on Black Wednesday, when in February 1914, Haitian police opened fire on a group of mostly peaceful protesters. This caused a protracted riot that the Haitian military would be forced to quash. The bloodiness of the crackdown turned even some Haitian soldiers away from the regime and radicalized even more on all sides. Whitening supporters believed the race war was coming, Noirisme supporters believed peace was increasingly impossible, and the military grew more demoralized.

Unsurprisingly, President Tancrède Auguste won the 1914 election. His celebration of this victory would be extremely short-lived.


Assassination of President Tancrède Auguste

The second inauguration of President Tancrède Auguste would also be the end of his career. March 1, was an unseasonably cold and rainy day, and the crowds felt it. Protests screeched, and howled, demanding Auguste’s resignation before having even been re-inaugurated. These protestors could scarcely imagine what was about to happen. While being sworn in for a second term, the National Palace of Haiti exploded.

In an instant, Tancrède Auguste was said to have disintegrated while still holding his hand up and facing the crowd off of the steps of the National Palace. Also killed were the First Lady of Haiti, and several staff, including a Chief Justice of Haiti, and parliament members. In total, it’s said 200 people died, and 500 more were wounded including numerous protestors.

An AP report from the time said:

“So great was the force of the explosion, that several small cannons, fragments of iron, and shells were thrown long distances in all directions, and many of the palace attendants were killed. Every house in the city was shaken violently and the entire population, greatly alarmed, rushed into the street”[1]

Notably, the Prime Minister of Haiti, Seymour Pradel, Vice President of Haiti, Oreste Zamour, and Minister of Defense, General Cincinnatus Leconte were all suspiciously absent at the time of the explosion. This fueled the probably true rumor that the three had conspired to murder the President. While official police reports stated the cause was accidental immolation of gunpowder stored near an open flame near the National Palace, no one was ever charged or investigated for the supposed accident.

Despite his unpopularity, Auguste was still buried with full state honors. His death shocked the entire nation, as such a brazen, and open act of political assassination, scared even his most ardent critics. This so-called Second Republic seemed as doomed as the first.

Modern views towards Tancrède Auguste are even less charitable than at the time. Viewed as an enabler of the continuation of the worst parts of the American occupation, Auguste is seen as having squandered Haiti’s second chance at a truly free democratic republic.

Now, a triumvirate of the Prime Minister, Vice President, and Minister of Defense would jockey, and pull at each other in a quest to secure the Presidency for themselves.


Notes:

[1] This is the AP report from the explosion that killed President Cincinnatus Leconte in 1912.

 

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From Cape Tiburon to Cape Samaná - A United Hispaniola Timeline​

16. The Triumvirate: José Bordas Valdez (1914-1915), Seymour Pradel (1915-1916), and Oreste Zamour (1916-1919)

“It is the destiny, of the people of Haiti to suffer”
-Jean Claude Duvalier

(Slaying the Hydra - Louis Cheron)

The sudden and violent death of President Tancrède Auguste threw Haiti into a state of disarray. He may have been a deeply unpopular President, but the assassination of Auguste threw the entire national consciousness into panic. From Cap Henry to Santo Domingo, whispers of a return to the Caudillos, or worse another American occupation whipped through every facet of Haitian society, from the lowliest peasant to the opulent landowning aristocrat sipping tea on the balcony of his estate. In this chaos, and uncertainty the Haitian Triumvirate, or perhaps more accurately the Haitian Hydra stepped up to cease the limelight for themselves. The next 5 years would see a cavalcade of palace coups, intrigue, and political sabotage, in a tale as old as the Romans of antiquity.


First Triumvir: José Bordas Valdez (1914 - 1915)

If you remember back to the previous assassination, it had been Cincinnatus Leconte, a general in the Haitian Army, and a Minister of Defense who had been principal in the plot to kill President Augsute. After all, the leader of the Haitian military could easily gain access to the necessary number of barrels of gunpowder, to turn the National Palace into rubble scattered across Port-au-Prince. So, it may be somewhat eyebrow-raising that Leconte, at the apex of his power, with Haiti merely waiting to be seized, instead chose not to become the President of the Republic. A further reading into Leconte’s background; however, reveals why he did not abscond from his guilt in the assassination, and procure the Presidency for himself.

Cincinnatus Leconte was perhaps surprising to the period, Afro-Haitian. While being a wealthy Afro-Haitian could afford you the status of “Mulatto” within Haitian society, it would be wholly ineffective in making Leconte the President. Another principal factor in why Cincinnatus turned down his chance at presidency would be tragic, and personal. His favored nephew, Joseph Laroche had died on the Titanic in 1912, having been one of the only black passengers on the voyage. The loss of his nephew, who had been like a son to Cincinnatus deeply affected him, leaving him in periods of melancholy, and self-seclusion. Of least importance, but still notable nonetheless, would be the optics involved with seizing the presidency after such a mass tragedy as the assassination of Tancrède Auguste would merely confirm the widely held suspicion that the Minister of Defense; who had neglected to attend such an important ceremony as the inauguration of the President, had actively set up his assassination. Distancing himself from the Presidency, and the events of the death of Tancrède Auguste, Leconte would choose a subordinate, José Bordas Valdez, an affable, and loyal puppet, this would allow Leconte the distance he needed, while ensuring he could continue to guide the state, like a marionette on string.

President Valdez with the agreement of the other triumvirate members was sworn in on May 2, 1914, the day after the death of the President had been officially confirmed. Valdez’s term, which would only last for a year, and 134 days, would dedicate himself to finding the cause of President Auguste’s death. To appease the masses, as well as the American embassy, Valdez would task the Haitian Army to find the culprits behind the alleged assassination attempt. Of course, in reality, it was Leconte who maintained his role as Ministry of Defense, would chase empty leads, make massive productions of dragging common criminals for questioning, and leave them bloodied in the streets.

Had it not been for the fact we are almost guaranteed that Leconte committed the assassination with the rest of the Triumvirate, his show trials, and investigations would almost seem to be genuine.

Valdez, and Leconte; however, very quickly ran afoul of their fellow triumvir politicians. Perhaps it was due to the amount of time Leconte and his puppet actor dedicated to putting on a show. Arguably, just pure avarice by Vice President Seymour Pradel, and Prime Minister Oreste Zamour compelled them to push for the downfall of their erstwhile ally. Maybe their syllogism for taking down Valdez was paltry personal grievances. It is said during this time Pradel made advances upon Leconte’s younger sister in an attempt to merge their two families and consolidate his hold on power, and their alliance only to be spurned by Leconte and his sister.

In any case, the fall of José Valdez and, to an extent, his puppeteer Cincinnatus Leconte came with relative swiftness. Succeeding the announcement from the Ministry of Defense that cleared itself of any wrongdoing in the death of former President Auguste, President Valdez pronounced that the death had been an accident.

Seizing the opportunity by the throat, Vice President Pradel and Prime Minister Zamour would denounce President Valdez as being controlled by “Afro-Haitian interests”, a thinly veiled jab at Leconte, and that he was unwilling or more accurately unable to bring those who carried out the assassination of Auguste to justice. In an extraordinary session of the Haitian Parliament, Zamour would impeach President José Valdez. The Parliament, itself under the thumb of Zamour voted overwhelmingly in favor of the impeachment, crossing the 2/3rd’s majority required.

Valdez was declared removed from office, as well as, anyone in the cabinet, most importantly this stripped Cincinnatus Leconte of his direct influence. Seymour Pradel quickly adopted the position of the presidency, quietly naming Oreste Zamour as the new Vice President, vacating the office of Prime Minister to a malleable underling.


A Failed Philosopher King: Seymour Pradel (1915-1916)

Holding the dubious honor of the second shortest term in office, Seymour Pradel was never meant for an office as powerful as the Haitian Presidency. Soft-spoken, shy, a poet, and scholar, Pradel had attempted to stylize himself under the Aurelian ideals of the philosopher king. In reality for the short 7 months he was in office, Pradel folded under pressure, backed off of any strong ideological beliefs, and was overruled by Oreste Zamour, who was standing behind the curtain whispering in his ear.

Almost immediately upon stepping into office, Pradel and Zamour would order the arrest, and indefinite detention of José Valdez, and Cincinnatus Leconte. Whereas Valdez was captured without a fight, Leconte proved extremely slippery. Escaping to Cap Henry under the cover of darkness, the Leconte family secured passage upon a British vessel that had been docked. With his siblings and nephews, Cincinnatus would move to Jamaica, which had developed a reputation as a refuge, and haven for persecuted Afro-Haitian intellectuals, dispossessed by the Haitian state. A sad state of affairs when a European colony in 1900 proved more amenable to Afro-Haitian intellectuals than Haiti itself a supposedly free republic.

With Cincinnatus in exile, the government found little reason to imprison Valdez. Even the most bloodthirsty Haitian politician would find little recourse to kill, hurt, or otherwise detain the friendly, and cooperative Valdez. In return for his safety, and clearance of guilt, José Valdez signed a document confirming Leconte’s guilt in the murder of Tancrède Auguste, while clearing himself by saying that the now exiled Leconte had threatened him.

Concomitant to the final destruction of Leconte’s reputation, and legacy the two friends of circumstance Oreste, and Seymour faced off against each other. The Vice President needed a reason to have President Pradel removed, he had with little difficulty removed Valdez, the soft-spoken Pradel was a far harder target. The President had founded and operated several literary, and political magazines including, Jeune Haïti, and La Ronde. This allowed him a large platform by which to speak to Haitian elites who in reality controlled the Haitian government. If Pradel began a protracted campaign of denunciation against Zamour it would be unlikely the uneducated former General and uncharismatic Zamour would survive the court of public opinion.

Instead of connections, Oreste Zamour merely bided his time. Thankfully for Zamour, there would not be long to wait. While President Pradel invited intellectuals, poets, and artists into the executive residency, and devoted mass sums of public expenditure to the construction of a massively opulent palace, the Haitian economy which had barely recovered from the pre-American occupation collapse, would be hit by a new crippling blow. The introduction of unrestricted submarine warfare and the British blockade of Germany cut off Haiti from one of its largest sources of trade revenue, Germany, and Central Europe had been vital to the Haitian economy even under the American occupation.

Haiti’s economy screeched to a halt, and that was when Zamour made his move. In fiery speeches before Parliament, the usually reserved Vice President launched into incendiary tirades against Pradel. Pointing to the burning of money used on constructing a new national palace, during a time of international crisis, as well as, his wasteful patronage of artists, and poets. Average Haitians suffering under the increased economic strain, rallied behind Zamour, who in their view, promised a return to smart fiscal policy, and guidance during the First World War. Much to everyone’s surprise, and Zamour’s delight, President Pradel froze in the face of the increasing economic crisis. Even as Haiti burned around him, Pradel fell into melancholy and despondency. In the end, he was not Marcus Aurelias or Alexander the Great, he was just a simulacrum.

President Seymour Pradel would be asked for his resignation by Oreste Zamour on May 1, 1916. Pradel would meekly, and without a word spoken between the two, sign his article of resignation.


Bittersweet Victory: Oreste Zamour 1916-1919

Oreste Zamour had secured his place as the President of the Republic of Haiti. Like Caesar, he had forced out Crassus, and Pompey and could now rule his fractured state. Victory would not be as sweet as Zamour had hoped it would taste. Instead, he would watch as the fruits of his harvest rotted in his mouth, and Haiti continued to suffer under the malaise that plagued the Second Republic.

The deck was stacked immediately against Zamour when he made the fateful decision to cross the Rubicon and silence his opposition. Zamour was Mixed-Haitian and from a relatively poor, underprivileged background. Even though he had been a White-Haitian or wealthy Mixed-Haitian he still suffered from another Achilles heel, he was the leader of the New Liberal Party. While the New Liberal Party and New National Party were largely indistinguishable by this point in the Second Republic, he was still the leader of the smaller political party. To ameliorate the situation before it created tension, Zamour would form the National Reconstruction Government a coalition between the New National Party, and the New Liberal Party which would secure both a comfortable supermajority in parliament, and grant him full control over the levers of the state. In a show of token gratitude, and an olive branch to the New National Party, party boss Horacio Vásquez would be made Vice President of the new National Reconstruction Government.

With the National Party in tow, Zamour now faced the monumental task of steering the Haitian economy towards recovery. He would open Haiti to new markets, and make a surprising new friend. The Japanese Empire was on the rise in Asia and had recently proved itself as a global power not only by defeating the Russian Empire but also by seizing German colonies once the First World War finally began.

Japan had also been keen to expand its interests in the non-colonized world, this was done through the paramilitary group the Black Dragon Society. Japan’s goal to become at least front-facing, a global leader of colonized people and lead a supposed Pan-Asianist crusade, resonated with the Haitians who maintained their pride in defeating the global European Empires to gain their independence. Both became kindred spirits, and Haiti opened its market to the industrializing Japanese Empire, and Japan opened itself to Haitian sugar, cotton, and indigo.

This relationship established by Zamour would have far-reaching impacts, as during the Second World War numerous Japanese refugees, and eventually Chinese refugees would build their homes in Eastern Haiti.

Even if opening its market to Asia did not stave off the continued economic downturn, Zamour would swallow a bitter pill, turning to the United States, Zamour would offer even more lucrative concessions in return for American investment, and trade.


Back Where We Started? Death of Oreste Zamour (1919)

As expected the Haitian people responded with rage when they learned the American would be tightening its leash around Haiti’s throat. Riots broke out in Santo Domingo and Port-au-Prince, and police would respond as they had previously in Haitian history, with brutal crackdowns.

In return for American aid and investment, Zamour would join the First World War on the side of the Entente. Haitian soldiers would never see any active duty, but the fact President Zamour had so openly jumped to serve America, and follow their lead further rubbed in the face of the Haitians how enslaved to the American machine their nation was.

The defeat of the German Empire did little to help the situation. Europe was ravaged, while the economies of everyone besides the United States had suffered immensely. All of the previously established business ties in Central Europe vanished as Austria-Hungary vanished overnight, and the new Weimar Republic of Germany was saddled with massive debts.

As 1919 approached, the opposition demanded President Oreste Zamour call for immediate elections. Within the National Reconstruction Government, Zamour was immensely unpopular. Unwilling to declare their support for a doomed candidate Vice President Horacio Vásquez resigned, calling for new elections. Traditional allies of Zamour, even the American diplomats, and businessmen began to desert him en masse. The Haitian government had effectively collapsed overnight with the President only able to pass legislation by executive privilege.

Still, Zamour resisted for nearly an entire year, unwilling to see all of his work go to waste, and his goal of the presidency be robbed from him by an uncontrollable economic crisis that he to his credit, had no perfect solution to alleviate.

Entering into negotiations with whoever he could, Zamour would spend 1919 making humiliating concessions to the Party of the Regeneration, and New National Party to even manage to pass a yearly budget. Falling back on bribery, many Haitians feared the nation was returning to the days of the end of the First Republic, with Ulises Heureaux. Taking action that had so long been denied to them, an unknown assailant would make their move. While speaking to angry opponents at a protest outside of a restaurant Zamour habitually frequented, a man stepped forward from the crowd, drew his revolver, and fired 3 shots, hitting Zamour in the chest, and sending the crowd scattering, as the President’s guard began wildly firing.

Oreste Zamour would be transported to the Executive Residency where doctors would attempt to save his life. Unfortunately, medical practices in the best of times were still relatively crude, especially in Haiti, and Zamour would die of his wounds, not even surviving the night.

Modern historians and doctors have examined the wounds as described by his attending physician, and the established consensus is that Zamour could have easily survived his wounds. The revelation has provoked conspiracy theories about the doctors on the pay of the New National Party arranged the President’s death. More sane, and rational commentators have pointed out that the rushed nature in which a doctor was secured made the likelihood of a mistake relatively high.

No matter who was responsible for Zamour’s death, and if his assassin was killed in the crowd when the Presidential Guard opened fire, what can be ascertained is that Haiti now found itself back where it started. Indebted to the American government, with a dead president, and a radicalized society, the Triumvirate had led Haiti back to where it had been before 1914.

 

[Eigengrau17]

Epilogue: For Now?


When I first started writing this story, it was more of an exercise to see if I could. I wanted to attempt to push the boundaries of my own creativity, and see to what extent I could save a nation that was seemingly doomed by history to be a failed state.

I would not say the Haiti I have created is without problems, in fact it has many of the same problems as before, an iron fisted racial caste system, disenfranchisement for most likely 80% of the population, a horrendous track record for worker’s rights, and civil rights, perhaps it’s only saving grace is a free press.

But, at least for now I have managed to prove that yes by better leadership, and a more rational, and intelligent policy towards Spanish Haitians (Dominicans irl), then Haiti should have been easily able to not only hold onto the eastern half of Hispaniola, but the island thrive at least for a short time.

The shift towards White Haitian dominance is something we see in other South, and Latin American countries. Brazil most notably had their whitening policies, but even Haiti itself had a disproportionate level of wealth, and power concentrated in the hands of the old Mixed-Race elite class, even when they had often been enemies of the slave rebellion.

Should I ever return to this story, and desire to reach the modern day, you’d see the whitening reach its fever pitch under the rule of the insanely racist, and most likely insecure Rafael Trujillo. He is among the most interesting figures I would have covered. Not only was he anti-Haitian but his own family lineage traced back, allegedly, to the Haitian revolutionary leaders. Whether his hard-line anti-Haitianism was due to his own lineage, or if he was aware of such a connection, who can say.

For now, while this story was not insanely popular, or captured much attention on the site, I hope for you few (usually 7-8 of you) who stuck around and read every chapter, I thank you.

Thank you for reading, and stay curious of the weirder alt history scenarios,
Eigengrau