Haiti: Her History and Her Detractors/Part I: Chapter XIII
CHAPTER XIII
The revolutionists of 1843—Their reforms; the Constitution of 1843—Charles Hérard ainé, surnamed Rivière (December 30, 1843–May 3, 1844)—Loss of the Spanish portion of the island—Claims of the peasants of the Southern Department—Jean-Jacques Acaau—The period of transition—Guerrier (May 3, 1844–April 15, 1845)—Pierrot (April 16, 1845–March 1, 1846)—Riché (March 1, 1846–February 27, 1847).
The departure of Boyer had the effect of throwing the country into a state of political convulsions all the more acute, as the various elements which had contributed to the success of the revolution of 1843 were far from having the same tendencies or the same object. Those who had taken up arms with the impetuosity of youth in the name of liberty, craved for the termination of the military regime and for the establishment of a civil form of government. The man whom circumstances had placed in the foremost rank was unfortunately devoid of the qualities which go to the making up of a capable leader of a great liberal movement. Charles Hérard ainé, surnamed Rivière, was but a soldier, and as such was not a sincere partisan of the civil régime. On the other hand, great hopes were being entertained by the peasants, who had been promised a decided betterment of their condition. The new and conflicting ideas which were agitating each class of
people could not fail to cause friction.
In the mean time, a provisional government had been organized at Port-au-Prince (April 4, 1843). Popular elections were ordered, and the meeting of the Constituent Assembly was fixed for the 15th of September. Municipalities were created and the mayors began to exercise powers which hitherto had belonged to the military authorities.
The Constitution, enacted on the 30th of December, 1843, contained many important innovations. The judges were to be elected by the people, instead of being appointed by the President; all offenses, either criminal, political, or by the press, were to be submitted to trials by jury. Presidency for life was abolished; the term of the Chief of the Executive Power was limited to four years; and no measure could be adopted by the President without the countersign of the proper Minister. The right to introduce laws was conferred on the House of Representatives and on the Senate as well as on the President. Matters concerning the communes and the arrondissements were in charge of the municipalities and the arrondissement councils. An estimate of the revenues and expenses was to be voted annually; a Court of Accounts was instituted. The Army was declared a law-abiding body; and strict measures were enacted in view of guaranteeing personal freedom and respect of property.
The Haitians are still governed by most of the stipulations of the Constitution of 1843. Had it been earnestly carried out from the time it was adopted, it might have proved the beginning of a new era for Haiti. Charles Hérard ainé, who was elected President on the 30th of December, 1843, was unfortunately deficient in the competency necessary to facilitate the transition from a military to a civil government. When a member of the Provisional Government he had provoked discontent among the inhabitants of the Northern and Eastern Departments. He had shown no regard for the susceptibility of his fellow-citizens of the former Spanish territory. Besides, the Provisional Government had committed the error of decreeing, on the 27th of September, 1843, the closing to foreign commerce of all the ports of this portion of the island. This measure so excited the people that they rose in revolt on the 16th of January, 1844, a few days after the new President had taken the oath of office. The inhabitants of the former Spanish portion seceded from the Haitian Government and, on the 27th of February, 1844, established an independent State which they called the Dominican Republic.[1]
Whilst the territorial unity was being destroyed, grave complications were threatening the Republic of Haiti. In August, 1843, disturbances had already taken place in the South. The revolutionists, elated by their success, had completely forgotten the promises made to the peasants. The latter therefore gathered together in the plain of Cayes, with a view of obtaining what was due to them. But they were speedily dispersed, and their leaders, the Salomons, were sent in exile to Azua, an the former Spanish territory.
Haiti had still many great difficulties to overcome; but these were not insuperable. With earnest efforts and good will it was still possible to restore security by obtaining the confidence of the people. Unfortunately, Charles Hérard ainé deemed his sword all-sufficient in settling the delicate questions which were agitating the country. By openly avowing his antipathy to the Constitution, which had put a check on his authority, he had incurred the distrust of the liberals, to whom he owed his high dignity, and disturbed the peaceful security of those who believed that henceforth the laws would be faithfully obeyed by all. The President had also lost the sympathy of the peasants of the Southern Department by not keeping the promises made to them. In consequence, both classes of inhabitants, those of the country as well as those of the towns, were equally displeased. This situation, already fraught with danger, was still more aggravated by continual conflict between the civil and military authorities. The prerogatives of the mayors and the municipalities had to some extent restrained the powers hitherto vested solely in the military commandants of the arrondissements and communes, who therefore strove to regain their former importance; hence there started a struggle with the new civil functionaries created by institutions of too recent a date to command the respect of all, more especially as the Executive Power was giving his hearty support to the military party. The President set the bad example of not submitting to the civil power; consequently there existed between him and the Constituent Assembly, which but recently elected him President, a state of open warfare.
The popularity of Charles Hérard ainé was already on the wane when, at the head of the Haitian army, he undertook to subdue the insurgents of the Spanish portion of the island. The soldiers bravely performed their duty, so that the President entered Azua in the first days of April. There was nothing seriously to impede the advance of his army upon Santo Domingo. The days of the Dominican Republic were numbered, had it not been for the events which occurred at that moment at Cap-Haitien, Port-au-Prince, and Cayes, and which saved its existence. The discontent provoked by the acts attributable to the inexperience of Charles Hérard ainé broke out simultaneously in various places. In a proclamation of April 25 the inhabitants of Cap-Haitien seceded from his government; and a council of state appointed General Guerrier President of the Northern Department. On the 3d of May, 1844, Port-au-Prince, following Cap-Haitien's example, acclaimed Guerrier President of the Republic. The Southern Department was also in a much agitated condition. The peasants of Cayes were bent upon obtaining the fulfillment of the promises made to them. On the 27th of March, 1844, they assembled at Camp-Perrin and assumed the name of "L'Armée Souffrante" (the army of the sufferers). They chose a leader of their own, Jean-Jacques Acaau, who adopted the title of "General, Chief of the claims of his fellow-citizens." This was an absolutely illiterate man, but one possessed of that daring and gallantry which fascinate and arouse the masses. He soon became the prime mover of this popular outbreak, and on the 5th of April he took possession of the town of Cayes. The grievances of the country people, which had long been held in check, broke forth at last with a violence that terrified the inhabitants of the town. The peasants had one aim in view: the holding of the land; the means used in attaining this end were of minor importance to them. Like an impetuous torrent, Acaau's followers bore down, wreaking destruction on all who stood in their way. They committed many very regrettable excesses.
Whilst Acaau was enjoying his dictatorship at Cayes, the peasants in the Grand'Anse took up arms with the cries of "Down with the process-servers!"[2] They succeeded in occupying Jérémie and in becoming masters of the whole arrondissement of Nippes. Ridiculous as the cries of "Down with the process-servers!" may seem, they were nevertheless an evidence of the fixed idea of the peasants to remain in possession of their fields. Taking advantage of the hard circumstances in which they at that time found themselves, certain of the city merchants lent them money at usurious rates and, through the redemption proviso or by means of mortgage deeds, easily dispossessed them of their properties. By serving the judiciary acts the process-server foretold the approaching dispossession; hence the hatred he incurred.
Though political in the North and agrarian in the South, the agitation which was disturbing the entire country had the same object in view: the dismissal of Charles Hérard ainé, whose blunders were accountable for all this turmoil. The President was still at Azua when he heard that the people whose rights he had disregarded, had, so to speak, dismissed him. He did not try to resist their will, but he went to Arcahaie, from whence he sailed for Jamaica on the 2d of June, 1844.[3]
General Guerrier, who, on the 3d of May, 1844, became President of Haiti, was already 87 years old. After taking the oath of office on the 9th he devoted his efforts to the restoring of peace in the Southern province. As a veteran of the war for independence his deficiency in knowledge was counterbalanced by his great love for his country. He showed great moderation in exercising the dictatorship which circumstances had conferred upon him. At a word from him the peasants of the Southern Department laid down their arms. After restoring peace the government of President Guerrier undertook the problem of diffusing public instruction; a "Lycée" was created at Cap-Haitien and one at Cayes. A Council of State took the place of the House of Representatives and of the Senate.
President Guerrier, owing to his very advanced age, was unable to stand the fatigue of his high office; he died at Saint-Marc on the 15th of April, 1845.
The next day the Council of State elected General Pierrot President of the Republic. The new Chief of the Executive Power was not much younger than his predecessor, being 84 years old. His most pressing duty was to check the incursions of the Dominicans, who were harassing the Haitian troops along the borders. There they had elected General Santana President, and seized every opportunity to attack and annoy our soldiers. Their crafts also were making depredations on our coasts.
President Pierrot decided to open a campaign against the Dominicans, whom he considered merely as insurgents. The Haitians, however, not being anxious to engage upon war with their neighbors, were unwilling to support the President's views. Furthermore, he had displeased the army by conferring military rank on the leaders of the peasants of the Southern Department and on many of their followers. And there existed also among the inhabitants of the towns of this department a feeling of uneasiness regarding the tendencies of Pierrot, who had appointed Acaau, the former terrorist of Cayes, Commandant of the arrondissement of l'Anse-à-Veau. Fearing a new Jacquerie the townsmen made up their minds to divest Pierrot of his office. In consequence, on the 1st of March, 1846, General Jean-Baptiste Riché was proclaimed President of the Republic at Port-au-Prince.
On the 24th of March Pierrot resigned and, leaving Cap-Haitien, which he had made the capital of the country, retired to his plantation "Camp-Louise," where he led a quiet and peaceful life.[4]
His affability and good nature had secured for him the sympathy of the peasants of the Southern Department. They therefore resented his enforced retirement. They had little confidence in the newly elected President, who had fought against them in 1844. Acaau, who was in command of the arrondissement of Nippes, gave the signal for resistance. He openly defied Riché's authority and entrenched himself at Fort Saint-Laurent at l'Anse-a-Veau. He was defeated and took shelter on the Joly plantation, where, to avoid being captured, he blew out his brains with a pistol.
As soon as the South had been pacified, Riché put an end to the dictatorship which had been established since 1844. The Council of State created by Guerrier was transformed into a Senate, which, on the 14th of November, 1846, enacted the Constitution of 1816 with most of the modifications introduced in 1843. Unfortunately, presidency for life was restored. But Riché did not long enjoy the power intrusted to him. His health was not very robust, and was completely undermined by the fatigues of a journey he had undertaken into the North of the country. He returned to Port-au-Prince on the 23d of February, 1847, and died on the 27th of the same month.
The Council of the Secretaries of State immediately assumed the authority; and the Senate met on the 1st of March to elect a new President of the Republic. The struggle for the Presidency was between two candidates, Generals Souffrant and Paul. After eight ballots neither one was able to obtain a majority of votes. Both parties remaining obdurate, the Assembly decided to choose a man who was not aspiring to the dignity. In this way General Faustin Soulouque, who was far from expecting such an honor, was elected President of Haiti.
- ↑ In the United States people are in the habit of calling the whole Dominican Republic San Domingo. This is incorrect. San Domingo is the name of the Capital. The Dominican Republic is the correct designation of the country, whose inhabitants are known as Dominicans, and not as San Domingans as is often to be seen in American newspapers.
- ↑ It is noteworthy that the Haitian peasants, who knew nothing about the history of England, were manifesting the same aversion against the practitioners of law as was shown by the English serfs during the riots which took place in 1381 during the reign of Richard II. The serfs destroyed every judiciary document they could lay hands on and killed many lawyers in London.
- ↑ Charles Hérard ainé died in Jamaica.
- ↑ Pierrot died on the 18th of February, 1857.