page_title: Republic of Haiti (1820–1849)
section_title: Reign of Boyer
hierarchical_section_title: Republic of Haiti (1820–1849) / History / Reign of Boyer
caption_attribution_description: Traité avec Haïti (1825)
context_page_description: The Republic of Haiti from 1820 to 1849 was effectively a continuation of the first Republic of Haiti that had been in control of the south of what is now Haiti since 1806. This period of Haitian history commenced with the fall of the Kingdom of Haiti in the north and the reunification of Haiti in 1820 under Jean-Pierre Boyer. This period also encompassed Haitian occupation of Santo Domingo from 1822 to 1844 creating a unified political entity on the island of Hispaniola. Although termed a republic, this period of was dominated by Boyer's authoritarian rule as president-for-life until 1843. The first Republic of Haiti ended in 1849 when president Faustin Soulouque declared himself emperor, thus beginning the Second Empire of Haiti.
context_section_description: After the annexation of Spanish Haiti, Boyer took full powers with the title of “Supreme Chief of the Nation” with the right to choose his successor.
  In the two decades years that had followed the Haitian Revolution and the expulsion of the French colonial government in 1804, Haiti's de facto independence had not been recognized by the world powers.  In 1825, King Charles X of France decreed that his nation was to be compensated 150 million gold francs payable in five years in exchange for recognition of Haitian independence.  Under threat of invasion, Boyer agreed and by 1826 Haiti was recognized by almost all world powers with the exception of the United States of America.  In order to keep up with the payments committed to France, Boyer had to implement a special tax and negotiate a loan of 30 million to a French bank with an interest rate of 6%, while asking for a reduction of the debt.  Charles X also demanded a 50% reduction in customs duties for products exported to France.  The debt was reduced to 600 million payable in thirty years, in February 1838.  During Boyer's reign, Haiti's economy shifted from primarily sugarcane to primarily coffee exports.
  Boyer and his ministers, Jérôme-Maximilien Borgella and Jonathas Granville, were deeply involved in the mass migration of black Americans to Haiti.  Loring D. Dewey of the American Colonization Society (ACS) had been an advocate of former slave migration of the United States to Haiti, as opposed to the more common ACS strategy of repatriating black Americans to Liberia.  From September 1824, nearly 6,000 Americans, mainly people of free color, emigrated to Haiti in the space of a year.  Due to the island's poverty and the Boyer administration's inability to help support new immigrants in transition, most of the resettled black Americans returned to the United States in a short period of time.
caption: Boyer (right) and Baron Mackau (left) negotiating the Franco-Haitian Treaty of 1825.
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