The Present State of Hayti (Saint Domingo) with Remarks on its Agriculture, Commerce, Laws, Religion, Finances, and Population

After a short period had elapsed, he also began to concert measures for the reduction of the Spanish part of the island. The city of Santo Domingo had rendered ineffectual all the efforts of the blacks to sow dissensions among the people. There were but few slaves in this part of the island, and those were living in so great a state of equality with the people, that slavery was only known by name, and they evinced no desire whatever to throw off their adherence to their masters, and join their brethren of the west. Both these parties united in their resolution to oppose the tyrant, whom they equally detested, should he appear before Santo Domingo. At last Dessalines laid siege to the city, vainly conceiving that the terror of his name and the extent of his achievements would deter the people from making any resistance, and that they would surrender on his first appearance before it, on being assured of his protection and friendship. But in this he was egregiously deceived, for the besieged made strong preparations for defence, and determined on the most vigorous efforts to repel his attacks. In the mean time a reinforcement having arrived from France, proved a very seasonable succour to the inhabitants; this induced Dessalines to raise the siege and return to the west, without having been able to carry into effect this last design, which caused him no little chagrin and disappointment.

His tour through the country, and his incursion to the Spanish part of the island, were followed in a short time by his elevation to the imperial dignity; on the 8th of October, 1804, with great parade and splendour, he was crowned “Emperor of Hayti.” His elevation to the imperial throne was recognized in the following year by the new constitution, and being proclaimed immediately throughout the island, the announcement was received with little or no enthusiasm.

In this new constitution there are some things which certainly indicate a great desire for the improvement of the country, and manifest a very strong wish to promote the happiness and improve the condition of the people, and to introduce something like morality among them. It says, that no Haytian is entitled to the privileges of a citizen, who does not inherit all the qualities of a good father, a good son, and a good husband. No child could be disinherited by his parents; emigration subjected a person to the loss of his citizenship, and a citizen becoming bankrupt lost all his privileges; all citizens too were required to make themselves skilful in some mechanical trade. Such enactments as these did credit to the people from whom they emanated, and must in some measure soften our detestation of Dessalines, who consented that they should form a part of the fundamental laws which he was sworn to observe, and by which he engaged to govern. By the new constitution also religion was tolerated, although it was declared that there should be no predominant religion, copying in this particular the United States, which it was the aim of the Haytians to imitate as nearly as circumstances would permit. Marriage it declared to be merely a civil ceremony, tending to improve society, and to inspire the people with a disgust for the unlimited sensuality then so prevalent in the country.

Dessalines during his imperial reign made the strongest efforts to increase the population of the island, his ferocious disposition having been somewhat softened by the sweets of peace and tranquillity, which now in all parts happily reigned. People of colour and blacks began to return to their homes, and others from the French and British colonies found their way thither, and were received in a very cordial manner, every pledge of protection being given them. One act of the emperor, however, for the purpose of increasing his male population, seems to have excited no little astonishment as well as indignation, and that was the importation of people from Africa. For this object he wished to enter into a commercial treaty with the British agent from Jamaica, offering to open the ports of Hayti to the British slave ships, and to grant to the Jamaica importers the exclusive right of selling negroes in Hayti! True it is, the privilege was to extend to the importation of men only, and that they were not to be sold to any other persons but those appointed by the government, which wanted them, as it has been generally wished should be understood, to increase their military establishment, but which in fact required them for the cultivation of the government lands which had fallen into a state of neglect and unproductiveness. This arrangement however did not take place; not by reason of any backwardness evinced by the emperor, but because no disposition was shewn by the British agent to accept the offer of a grant, which, to say the least of it, appeared a most extraordinary and unaccountable measure. Some have observed, that the emperor himself was dissuaded from it on the ground that its principle was nearly allied to that slave trade, to which it could not fail to give encouragement; but he contended, that it was a measure of necessity, of political expediency, which, with him, superseded every other consideration; and besides, he alleged that he should be performing an act of humanity towards the African race, by permitting them to be brought into his dominions, as otherwise they would be taken to Jamaica and made slaves.

From a note which I obtained of a census taken in 1805, the population of Hayti appears to have amounted to about four hundred thousand, of all denominations, so that by natural augmentation and by emigration from other countries, there was an evident increase in three years of at least twenty-five thousand, taking M. Humboldt’s statement of the population in 1802 to be a correct one. But from the manner in which the census was taken, a considerable degree of inaccuracy must have arisen, and hence the census of 1805 may in all probability have overstated the actual number: otherwise the increase seems to have been prodigious, and consequently questionable. The taking of a census was left entirely to the military officers of the respective districts in which they commanded, and a very large proportion of these personages could neither read nor write, and no great confidence can therefore be placed in these returns.

Placide Justin states the amount of the census of 1805 at three hundred and eighty thousand, and twenty thousand, which from a variety of causes, he says, may have been omitted in the returns. This is a strong evidence of their mode of taking a census being most imperfect.

Dessalines was particularly solicitous for the encouragement of the cultivators of the soil, and held out to them every possible inducement to labour. The code of Toussaint was enforced, and the people seemed to work contentedly, but not to the same extent as they did in Toussaint’s time. By Dessalines the cultivators were permitted to change the estates on which they had chosen to work, on expressing to the commanding officer of the district that they wished to do so, and by assigning a sufficient reason for such wish: but on no other account could they leave the property without incurring the penalty attached to such an offence. Now whatever may be said about the freedom of the cultivators by the advocates for free labour, I must be permitted to say, that no instance has yet been adduced of such freedom in practice, and I must beg leave to maintain still that the code of Toussaint, which was acted upon by his successor, exhibits a greater proof of the existence of coercion than any thing I have seen, and that the conduct pursued by Dessalines towards the cultivators, though he wished it to be understood that he was anxious for their welfare, was harsh and severe in the extreme, and that those who worked on the government estates felt it so. It has been communicated to me by an individual who managed one of the properties held by the government, that Dessalines, who well knew the work which could be performed by one man, had a regular daily return sent in to him of the quantum of work done, and should there have been any relaxation from the day before, he broke out into a torrent of abuse, and often sentenced the negligent negroes, as a punishment, to labour on the public roads.

The greater portion of the labour bestowed upon the soil was confined to the cultivation of coffee. The sugar plantations having been destroyed and the works demolished, but little sugar was now made in proportion to the quantity produced in the time of the French, as will be shewn hereafter in my general remarks upon the agricultural state of the country, and the specifications of the returns at the respective periods.

Dessalines, it is said, paid some attention to the clergy, although he was but little better than an infidel. He gave strict injunctions that all persons should be attentive to the celebration of public worship, and particularly observe the sabbath. This was a measure dictated by policy, for the better preserving order, and keeping the people in a tranquil state. He went through the exterior forms of religious worship as a matter of necessity, and as an example to his subjects, but not from any inward feelings of devotion or regard for religion. He encouraged marriage as much as possible among his people, and rigidly exacted attention to it, and endeavoured to impress his people with the impropriety of sensuality and voluptuousness; but in his own person he appears to have been the most depraved and most licentious man in the country.

The army of the emperor did not form a very powerful body. His standing force after the conclusion of the war did not exceed twenty thousand men, of infantry and cavalry. The militia, or, as they were formerly termed, the national guards, were numerous, because every man from the age of sixteen to fifty was obliged to assemble four times a year, and undergo a regular service of training for several days at each period, when they returned to their usual avocations. His troops were active, well disciplined and armed, but their clothing was of the coarsest kind, and at all times in the very worst condition. All the fortifications in the different parts of the island he endeavoured to put in a proper state of defence, lest the French should make another descent, of which they were at times very apprehensive, and he took care to keep all the provision grounds in the vicinity of the several fastnesses in the mountains in a good state, that the different garrisons might be well supplied with provisions in case it should, at any subsequent period, become necessary to resort to them for security. The good old maxim, that the best security for the preservation of peace is always to be prepared for war, seems not to have been forgotten by Dessalines, or by those on whom the executive part of his government devolved.

Although Dessalines, impressed at last by a sense of his own enormities, endeavoured to make some atonement for them, yet the people, who had so often experienced the severity of his mandates, and dreaded a recurrence of similar measures, secretly detested him as a savage and a tyrant, under whom it was not possible to expect happiness or repose; and any indication of mildness and humanity was only considered the forerunner of some atrocious crime which he meditated. Wearied out by his suspicions and jealousies, deprived of friends and connexions who were often snatched from them, and hurried to an immediate execution, without even the semblance of judicial proceedings having been instituted against them, the people at last determined to dethrone him, and aided by his troops, who could no longer submit to his caprices and his tyranny, they conspired against him, and in the vicinity of Port au Prince, and at no great distance from the north gate of the city, he was killed by one of his own soldiers, on the 17th of October, 1806.

The individual who shot him was a mulatto youth, whom I have seen, and who at the time of the tyrant’s death did not exceed fifteen years of age. He was attached to the militia, and was in ambush at the time of Dessalines’ advance at the head of his staff, accompanied by some soldiers. The moment they saw their master fall, some of them attempted to revenge his death, but they met a similar fate: others rejoiced at an event which appeared to them merely in the light of just retribution for crimes of unparalleled inhumanity and atrocity.

Dessalines had been a slave; his master was a carpenter, or shingler, somewhat like a tiler in England. He was short, but very stoutly formed, and capable of undergoing more than the ordinary fatigue of men. His capacity was not extensive, rising but little, if at all, above mediocrity; he could neither read nor write, with the exception of being capable of signing his name. His military talents had more the appearance of daring movements, than of judicious and well planned operations; and he more often succeeded by his own courage and example, than by the superiority of his arrangements. His activity was surprising, and the celerity with which he moved from one point of his command to another, astonished even his enemies. He was vain, capricious, and fond of flattery; and those who were most forward to compliment him for his exterior embellishments, to which he was exceedingly attentive, were certain of being admitted into his favour. His last wife, for he had been twice married, is now living in Port au Prince in retirement, and with a very small income. She is quite neglected by the present government, to its disgrace, as she had often been the means of staying the bloody hand of her husband, when he was about to sign an order for the indiscriminate execution of the whites and mulattoes. She bears the marks of a negress who at one time was extremely handsome, and her exterior must have been commanding: she is rather above the middle size of females, but not too tall, nor yet too large in proportion. The white inhabitants of Port au Prince, and particularly strangers who occasionally visit it, never fail to attempt to obtain a sight of her, as her name and her character excite a great deal of interest, and surely entitle her to the best support of the existing government, which boasts – and it is only an empty boast – of being generous to those who have rendered the country a service.

CHAPTER VIII

Christophe takes the command. – His officers of government. – Promotes agriculture and commerce. – Petion opposes him. – Cessation of arms mutually agreed upon. – Christophe crowned king. – Code Henry. – Baron de Vastey’s opinions. – Commissioners from France. – Conduct to them. – Christophe pursues his system of government. – Petion relaxes in his. – His offers to the British government. – State of his dominions. – Has recourse to a debased currency. – Consequences. – His death. – Christophe negotiates for the possession of the Spanish part. – Revolution in his dominions. – His death

When Dessalines fell, the people seemed to consider that they were released from the most abject and oppressive tyranny, and the event was celebrated with the greatest demonstrations of joy; and satisfaction and comfort were observed in the countenances of the people, whilst the soldiers congratulated each other on being relieved from a state of servitude almost insupportable. It was no doubt a most fortunate event for the liberty of the people, and their exultations therefore cannot be in the least a matter of astonishment.

There was one evil however which they had not to contend with in the time of Dessalines, a competition for the chief command. He had kept all in subordination by the terror of his name, none daring to oppose him; and consequently, so long as the people attended to the duties of their station, and remained passive observers of the measures of his government, they were not molested; but after his death, civil war was rekindled, and their repose much disturbed, and consequently their avocations for a time were again partially suspended.

Christophe, who had been next in command to Dessalines, and who, during the period of Toussaint’s sway, displayed great skill and activity at the head of the troops under his command, and to whom was entrusted the defence of the city of Cape François, on the arrival of the French army under Le Clerc, now assumed the supreme command in Hayti, and from his spirit and talent he seemed better qualified for this important trust than any other of the officers attached to the government. At this period he stood very high in the estimation of the people, and his humanity, with his moral and religious conduct, had diffused a general satisfaction and approval of his elevation. His bravery was indisputable, as he had upon several trying occasions manifested a degree of courage, which inspired his troops with confidence and his country with admiration. His assumption of the supreme command was therefore pleasing to his countrymen, who were not backward in proving that his elevation met with their universal concurrence, and that they looked forward for the most flourishing and happy times from an event so auspicious.

Christophe displayed great judgment and good sense at the very beginning of his government by calling around him men of talent, both black and coloured, whether they had been at all times attached to the cause of independence, or, on the contrary, had on some occasions been ranged in opposition to it. He made no distinction; he looked for men of abilities wherever they could be found, and he had no aversion for even the whites (unless they were French, of whom he was always suspicious from their intriguing characters), having several of them near him, with whom he would often consult on matters of state policy, and on his future views with regard to agriculture, commerce, and matters of finance. To these persons he always paid implicit attention, deliberated upon every subject which they thought it prudent to suggest, and otherwise evinced a confidence in them, which in return inspired respect for his authority and an attachment for his person. With one of his secretaries, Mons. Dupuy, afterwards Baron Dupuy, I have had some conversation on subjects connected with the history of his country. He was a man of education and of great natural talents; had acquired considerable information on matters of government, and seemed to possess no little degree of knowledge of the politics and views of the European cabinets. His mind was well stored with historical information, and he was sensible of the way by which his country was to exalt herself in the estimation of the world. He looked upon it to be the first duty of the executive to devise plans for the encouragement of agriculture, and for the extension of commerce; and he left no means untried to endeavour to open an intercourse with those countries from which there was a probability of deriving advantages, and with England in particular, which he highly extolled. To Mons. Dupuy, Christophe looked up with attention; and although he was a man of colour, which, as some have insinuated, was objectionable, not one in his suite received more attention, for there was not one who could be more serviceable: as the chief’s interpreter too he was invaluable, and no man could have been more faithful towards his master.

De Vastey, another of his secretaries, was also a man of strong natural understanding, and a work described as his “Reflections on the Blacks and Whites”, with his notes, printed at Cape Haytian, 1814, shews, that he possessed no little acquaintance with history, and that he was not without some knowledge of mankind in most countries, as well as of the opinions entertained in Europe on the affairs of his country. De Vastey is now living at the Cape in retirement, and is exceedingly attentive to the English residents, for whom he has a very high respect and veneration. He is a black.

Mons. Prevost, afterwards Count Limonade, and secretary for foreign affairs, exhibited proofs of a very strong mind, and displayed considerable knowledge in political matters, as his state papers particularly exemplify: in him also Christophe placed great confidence, and to him he entrusted the entire regulation of his foreign communications; and in doing so, he shewed that he confided in a servant of no ordinary judgment and discretion, who seemed to be impressed with a sense of the importance of his duties, and shewed a great desire to acquit himself to the satisfaction of his chief, and to ensure the respect of his countrymen.

With such men as these, and one or two others, English and Americans, Christophe generally conferred, and to their suggestions for his future plans of governing, he generally, if not always, acceded: and it is not a matter therefore of any surprise if the regulations with which he commenced his career should be marked by great judgment, discretion, and good policy.

The first step of Christophe was to assume the plain and simple designation of “Chief of the Government of Hayti”, under which, and not the imperial dignity, it was his determination to govern; and he made the most prompt arrangements for immediately endeavouring to establish a commercial understanding with Great Britain and the United States. To effect this object he expressed the greatest anxiety to several of the officers of the British men-of-war who frequented the port of the Cape, and to whom he always shewed the greatest courtesy and civility. To the Americans who were about him, and who had taken up their residence at the Cape for the purpose of carrying on their commercial dealings with the people, he also expressed a similar desire; and the latter, always on the alert to communicate any thing likely to extend the commercial intercourse of their country, immediately undertook to transmit his wish to their government, but the proposition made to the British did not at that time receive an immediate acquiescence. Had it been consistent with the British colonial interests to enter into a commercial treaty at this time, there is no doubt, I think, of one having been concluded, which would have insured to Great Britain privileges of trade that would not have been conceded to any other country. Every man connected with the government, and who had any weight with Christophe, considered it of paramount consequence that the countenance of England should be gained, if possible, and that it was expedient that such advantages should be offered as would induce that power to enter into a commercial treaty with them, without at all adverting to the effect it might produce on other powers: but it does not appear that such measures were ever adopted, and it is presumed, that an intimation was given from an undoubted quarter, that no propositions could be received by the British government at that juncture in consequence of the effect it might produce in their own colonies. The matter, therefore, remained in suspense, and Christophe began to turn his attention to other important measures for the aggrandizement of his country.

His first address teemed with sentiments which did honour to the feelings by which he was actuated. It was dated the 24th of October, 1806, and set forth the system which he intended to pursue with respect to commerce. It proclaimed certain free ports, and that the flag of all nations would be respected, and property protected; that personal security was pledged; and that the odious law, passed by his predecessor Dessalines, which established exclusive consignments in the citizens of the country, was abrogated, and that every individual should be privileged to place his property in the hands of his own factor, who should have the full protection of the government.

Such regulations were productive of the greatest benefit to the country. Americans and Europeans began to find their advantage in trading with Hayti; and the manufactures of England, with the provisions of the United States, began to flow into it freely, and in quantities quite large enough for the means of the people, in return for which they obtained the staple products of the country, and on terms that enabled them to carry on a very beneficial and lucrative trade. The people were not disposed for any of the extravagantly rich manufactures of Europe; they confined themselves entirely to such as their means would permit them to purchase, and in no case was a system of credit resorted to; every thing was confined to barter with foreigners, who certainly were not yet sufficiently conscious of the rectitude and integrity of the people, to adopt a measure which was likely to be attended with so much danger of loss. Where, therefore, there was no credit, there was but little if any risk, and the commerce of Hayti was, in consequence of such a system, of great advantage to those who engaged in it, many of those who first adventured thither realizing handsome fortunes.