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The death of Alexandre Pétion, the founder of the Republic, was a source of profound and unanimous regret. No other President has ever had such a hold on his fellow-citizens' affections. The people, who cherished him dearly, remained true to the form of government he had established. The day after, on the 30th of March, 1818, the Senate met and elected Jean-Pierre Boyer, President for life. Even this choice was a homage to the memory of the departed ruler; for Boyer had been the spoiled child of Pétion and the commander of his body-guard.

The new President was well informed for a man of his time. Of an upright and extremely thrifty nature, the first thing to receive his attention after his election was the finances, which were in a bad condition owing to the extreme generosity of his predecessor. He undertook also to restore peace and security in the Grand'Anse, which since January, 1807, Goman had been harassing. At the beginning of 1819 Boyer dispatched a strong body of men against Goman, who was completely defeated, and killed while trying to make his escape. This portion of the territory once pacified the President sought to restore unity in the Government of the country.

Pétion's wise and kind policy had already provoked many defections among Christophe's followers. Monarchy was indeed a very heavy burden to the inhabitants of the Northern and Artibonite provinces, whilst under the Republic the people enjoyed more liberty. Comparisons were all in favor of the latter form of government, and, in order to maintain his authority, Christophe had to resort more and more to violence. He was aware of the fact that a struggle between his troops and the republican soldiers would be detrimental to his cause in consequence he was anxious to prevent being attacked by Boyer, who was more aggressive than Pétion. He found an obliging agent in the English Admiral Homer Popham. The latter went to Port-au-Prince in April, 1820, and did his utmost to induce the President to leave King Henri alone. Sir Homer was principally pleading the cause of the English commerce, which enjoyed great privileges in Christophe's dominion. However, he failed in his purpose, for Boyer refused to commit himself by any promise. The President had full knowledge of the fact that the people in the North and the Artibonite were in a great state of discontent and would avail themselves of the first opportunity of shaking off the yoke.

President Boyer neglected none of the means which might bring under his rule that portion of territory hitherto under Christophe's authority. On October 16 he was at Saint-Marc; on the 21st he arrived at Gonaives, and on the 26th of October, 1820, he entered Cap, where the former subjects of Henri I decided to become part of the Republic. In this manner the secession with its possibilities of grave consequences for the future of the country came happily to an end.

The union of all the Haitians was complete. Boyer was thus enabled to undertake the realization of the plan of Dessalines, who thought that Haiti should have no other limits than those laid out for her by nature and the sea. After the expulsion of the French in 1809 the inhabitants of the eastern portion of the island had again acknowledged Spain's authority.

The Whole Island Under Boyer's Authority

The vicinity of this Power had always made the Haitians uneasy; they were in consequence determined to embrace the first opportunity to get rid of it. Whilst at Cap-Haitien, Boyer had many interviews with secret agents sent by the inhabitants of the Spanish portion of the island. He in turn dispatched to them trust-worthy emissaries with the mission of directly preparing the way for the union of the whole country under one government. However, Nunez de Caceres, one of the leaders of the uprising then being prepared against Spain, thought that it would be more advantageous to establish an independent State and to form with Haiti nothing more than an offensive and defensive alliance; according to his idea the new State was to become one of the Colombian Confederation. Boyer lost no time in taking the necessary measures for the frustration of this plan. Before Caceres had had time to give the signal for the insurrection, Monte-Christi and Laxavon hoisted the Haitian flag (November 15, 1821). On the night of November 30 and on December 1 Caceres and his followers took possession of the most important posts in the town of Santo Domingo; and the Spanish Governor, Pascal Real, unable to uphold Spain's authority, left the place on the 5th of December. Still believing in the possibility of carrying out his idea of independence, Caceres hoisted the Colombian flag and proclaimed the establishment of the Dominican Republic. But the public mind had already been won over to the cause of Haiti, the flag of which was floating over such important towns as Puerto-Plata, Macoris, Banica, Azua, etc. In support of these friendly demonstrations President Boyer, on the 16th of January, 1822, left Port-au-Prince at the head of 14,000 soldiers for Santo Domingo. The inhabitants of the former Spanish territory welcomed the President of Haiti and his army with the greatest enthusiasm. Nunez de Caceres was unable to resist the trend of public opinion. Yielding to the wish of his fellow-citizens he hoisted the Haitian flag at Santo Domingo on the 19th of January, 1822. And on the 9th of February President Boyer entered the town, loudly cheered by the inhabitants. Without bloodshed both the former French and Spanish portions of the island became united and threw in their destinies one with the other; and for twenty-two years the Haitian flag floated over the whole island of Haiti.

However, a few French colonists at Samana were striving to prevent this peaceful union. They still were slave-owners. At the first demonstrations on behalf of Haiti they had hastened to ask for the protection of the Governor of Martinique. In consequence a French squadron was dispatched to Samana, which they found, upon arriving, already in possession of the Haitians. The firm attitude assumed by the new occupants compelled the French to withdraw. In this way was slavery abolished throughout the whole island.

After organizing the administration and taking such measures as were necessitated by the circumstances, Boyer left Santo Domingo on March 10, and on the 6th of May, 1822, he was at Port-au-Prince.

Attitude of Great Britain and the United States

Territorial unity having now become an accomplished fact, it remained for Haiti to strive to put an end to her misunderstanding with France. It was impossible to make the most of the riches of the island so long as there was the probability of an attack from the former mother country. Complete security could only be obtained through the recognition of Haitian independence by France. It was thought that Great Britain would gladly help in bringing about this result. In consequence, Pétion and Christophe unhesitatingly granted special privileges to British commerce. Boyer adopted the same policy. Whilst all foreign products had to pay an import duty of 12 per cent, those from Great Britain paid only 7 per cent; and when these products were imported by Haitian ships, the duty was further reduced to 5 per cent. Great Britain profited by these advantages but did not show the least inclination to lend assistance to Haiti. On the contrary, in the treaty additional to the Paris treaty, Great Britain promised not to counteract any of the means to which France might resort in order to recover Saint-Domingue and to subdue the inhabitants of that colony. And as it would be perhaps necessary to almost exterminate the inhabitants of the colony in order to subdue them, Great Britain, though requesting the abolition of the slave-trade, forgot for a while her philanthropic principles and authorized France to continue this barbarous trade for five years, as it would probably be the only way of repeopling the depopulated island. In spite of this attitude, greatly out of keeping with the commercial privileges which had been granted her, the Haitians had still the hope that Great Britain could be induced to recognize their independence and to help them to obtain the same recognition from France. But they were rudely disillusioned when, in 1823, Great Britain recognized the independence of Mexico, Colombia, etc., and refrained from recognizing theirs. They knew finally that they could not expect any assistance from this Power. In consequence, in 1825, they abolished all the privileges by which the British were profiting and ordered that henceforth the import tax of 12 per cent would be indiscriminately levied on all foreign products.

As to the United States, Haiti had not even thought of having recourse to their intervention. In that country the partisans of slavery were at that time omnipotent. They naturally could not help bearing ill-will against the former slaves, who had not only created a sovereign State, but who had even dared to transform their territory into an asylum of freedom and liberty for the unfortunate human beings who, on account of their color, were elsewhere subjected to a shameful yoke. President Boyer had even sent an agent to New York to encourage the men of the black race to emigrate to Haiti. No wonder then was it that the United States recognized the independence of Colombia, etc., and ignored that of Haiti.

Thus the young Republic, at the very beginning of its existence, found itself isolated and compelled to face the power of France without the sympathy of a single nation. But Haiti, with a sense of her responsibility, remained undaunted and spared nothing in order to preserve her autonomy. French commerce was suffering no less than that of Haiti, owing to the bad feeling existing between the two countries. On both sides the necessity of coming to some kind of an agreement was felt. Still, France could not yet make up her mind to accept as an accomplished fact the loss of her colony. In 1821, after the failure of the agents sent to Pétion, she once again entertained the idea of forcibly establishing a protectorate over Haiti; with that end in view Mr. Dupetit Thouars was dispatched to Haiti. Boyer, like his predecessor, flatly refused to take such a proposal into consideration. This evidently did not have the effect of discouraging France, as in 1823 another agent, Mr. Liot, was sent to Port-au-Prince. His instructions were to try to induce President Boyer to take the initiative in the negotiations for the acknowledgment of the independence of his country. In May the President of Haiti charged the French General, Jacques Boyé, who had given many proofs of his friend-ship to the Haitians, to enter into a parley with France. The French Government commissioned Mr. Esmangart to confer with the Haitian envoy. The two agents opened the negotiations at Brussels on the 16th of August, 1823. The Haitian plenipotentiary requested the full recognition of the independence of the Republic and, in return, offered freedom from all import duties, during the next five years, on all French products; and at the conclusion of that time the duties on French products were to be only one-half of the amount levied on all other foreign products. Mr. Esmangart refused to recognize the full independence of Haiti; he put an end to the parleys and left Brussels on the 22d of August. This last display of France's ill will produced a very bad impression in Haiti. On the 6th of January, 1824, President Boyer issued a proclamation ordering various energetic measures relative to the defense of the Haitian territory. Arms and ammunition were stored in the interior of the island, in all places which could serve as the basis of military operations.