Poetry of Revolution: Romanticism and National Projects

(Sean Pound) #1

longest of any Haitian leader, but it also boasts the most significant achievements of nineteenth-


century Haiti. It was under Boyer’s rule that all of present-day Haiti and the entire island of


Hispaniola were united into one political unit and that Haiti secured the long-awaited recognition


for its independence from France. In many ways, however, Haiti’s troubles were only beginning,


and several details of the period allude to the growing unrest which would eventually culminate


in a revolt against Boyer from within the country’s mulatto elite.^54


Jean-Pierre Boyer (1776-1850) was a mulatto who had served as a general of Alexandre

Pétion’s army during the Haitian Revolution. He later occupied key government posts in


Pétion’s southern republic, and having been named by Pétion to be his successor, became


president upon Pétion’s death in 1818. At this time, Haiti remained divided as King Henri


Christophe maintained an independent territory in the north. Christophe’s kingdom, however,


was already vulnerable to collapse, and activity against a repressive regime was well underway


when Boyer took office. Troops revolting against Christophe began their siege in the


northwestern city of Saint-Marc and were then joined by Boyer’s forces as they marched into the


kingdom’s capital of Cap-Haitian. Incapacitated by a stroke, Henri Christophe committed


suicide in his citadel rather than be defeated by approaching troops. Upon Christophe’s death,


Boyer became the official leader of both the north and the south, uniting Haiti as it had been


during Jean-Jacques Dessalines’ rule just after independence from 1804-1806. With the western


half of the island now under his control, Boyer sought to take possession of the eastern half as


well and unify the whole of Hispaniola for the first time since 1697.^55 Santo Domingo in the


east had declared its independence from Spain in 1821, but Boyer’s military excursion in 1822


(^54) Unless otherwise noted, the historical information to follow is taken from David Nicholls’ From Dessalines to
Duvalier: Race, Colour and National Independence in Haiti.
(^55) The only brief exception was Toussaint Louverture’s temporary rule over the island in 1801-1802.

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