Poetry of Revolution: Romanticism and National Projects

throughout the Caribbean (having it be free from slavery and from European influence) were put

off to a distant and uncertain future.

Although the necessity, benefits, or repercussions of the treaty with France continue to

spark much debate, the one undeniable consequence came in the form of economic devastation.

For its initial payments, Haiti was forced to secure a large bank loan from France, and Boyer’s

government also attempted to raise funds in the form of domestic taxation which fell

disproportionately hard on rural workers. Boyer’s 1826 Code Rural was designed to increase the

cultivation of crops for export. This new set of agricultural and labor laws mandated that

Haitians who were not public functionaries work the land and do so with little freedom of

mobility by remaining on assigned plantations as stipulated by the government. Ultimately the

Code failed for several reasons. One theory suggests that with the threat of French invasion

waning, the average Haitian was content to produce food for local or individual consumption. A

sparse military presence also made enforcing the laws difficult, especially given the resistance on

the part of peasants to the Code’s harsh working conditions.^59 In many ways, Boyer’s policies

seemed doomed either way; the unpopularity of the Code among rural blacks was countered by

support for the laws from many mulattos. A decade after its demise, contributors from the

Haitian elite criticized Boyer in L’Union for renouncing what they believed would have

benefited the Haitian economy over time.^60

Boyer’s decision to relinquish the Code was followed by a search for alternative means to

boost agricultural output. Without the labor source formally supplied by large numbers of

Africans arriving during the slave trade, Haiti had been unable since the Revolution to keep up

(^59) These ideas are taken from Robert I Rotbert’s Haiti: The Politics of Squalor (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1971).
(^60) A series of criticisms to this effect can be found in a lengthy speech by Henri Dumesle’s which was transcribed in
L’Union on April 29, 1838.