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Charles Rivière-Hérard: 4/4/1843-5/3/44

Philippe Guerrier President: 5/3/1844 to 4/15/1845

Jean-Louis Pierrot President: 4/10/1845 to 3/1/1846

Jean Baptiste Riché President: 3/1/1846 to 2/27/1847

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 Herard ainé, surnamed Rivière, was but a soldier, and as such was not a sincere partisan of the civil regime. 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.

The Constitution of 1843

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 Herard 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.

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, in 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 Herard 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.

Discontent Against Charles Herard

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 Herard 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 Herard 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.