p. 14 | HENRY WILLIAMS by Henry Williams

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Oct 21, 1902

HENRY WILLIAMS

By Henry Williams

Hayti

HENRY WILLIAMS

‘The republic of Hayti lies in the western, or French, part of the island of the same name. The old Caribbean meaning of the word is “mountainous.” It was the second place which Columbus visited in America, and the site of the first European colony, which was called, in honor of the Spanish queen, Isabella. The first negro slaves were brought here in 1522. The native Indian population had dwindled from two million to twenty-one thousand in 1711, and it is doubtful if any of their descendants now exist. The French came in 1630, and grew so rapidly that their settlement was formed into an independent department in 1714. The Spaniards tried in vain to drive them from the island, and by the treaty of Ryswick, France held the western part of the island, but the boundary was not definitely fixed until 1777.

The free colored population demanded to be put on an equal footing with the whites in 1790, and organized an army to enforce their demands. The whites defeated them, and put their leader to death; but in 1791 the assembly granted the demand, and order was apparently restored. The same year, however, the slaves rose in insurrection, and the colony was rent by civil war. The Spaniards and the English interfered, and the French commissioners, in retaliation, declared all the population free and equal. They appointed Toussaint Louverture commander of the black army. The English and the Spanish were driven out, and by the treaty of Basel in 1795 the Spanish part of the island was ceded to France.

Louverture restored order and prosperity, but was treacherously captured and sent to Paris by order of Napoleon, who sent a fleet under General Leclerc to restore slavery to St. Domingo. The gallant captive died a prisoner soon after. Dessalines, who succeeded Louverture as leader, was also a vigorous and sagacious man. The French were compelled to give up their attempt, and capitulated to the English fleet, Jan. 1, 1804. St. Domingo declared itself a free and independent republic, and Dessalines was chosen governor for life. But October 8 he violated his oath, and proclaimed himself emperor of Hayti. He was assassinated in 1806. The eastern part of the island was given back to Spain, and the western portion, or Hayti, was left at the mercy of rival factions for several years.

In 1822 Boyer united the whole island in one government, and France acknowledged its independence in 1825. In 1842 Boyer was expelled, and the east set up a republic by itself, and Hayti was left to factional feuds. Soulouque was elected president of Hayti in 1847, assumed the title of emperor two years, and was deposed and exiled in 1858, when a republic was again established. Two presidents were expelled in turn, but the third, Nisage Saget, restored peace and order. General Salomon was elected in 1879 for seven years. He put down an attempted rebellion, and was

re-elected for seven years more, June 2, 1888. President Salomon expelled two of his generals, Manigat and Legitime. This was followed by a general uprising, and the president abdicated, and left the country for France, where he died. Then a rival contest between General Hyppolyte and General Legitime continued, in which the latter was brought into conflict with the United States, on account of the seizure of an American vessel, and the provisional president, Legitime, had to recede from his position, Aug. 22, 1889. He abandoned Hayti, and left his rival, Gen. Flovil Hyppolite, as president, who died suddenly in 1896. Gen. T. R. S. Sam was immediately elected to the presidency, on the thirty-first of March of the same year.

Up to the present time the republic of Hayti has been ruled by seventeen chiefs, of whom two were emperors, one king, and the rest presidents.

Cape Haytien, Hayti.