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 AlexandrePétion’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.