Dominican Republic and Haiti: Country Studies

Dominican Republic and Haiti: Country Studies
renewed attacks on the Dominican Republic. Both of his incursions
were defeated, however, and they contributed to his overthrow
by General Nicholas Geffrard. Soulouque was the last
Haitian leader to have been a slave.
Geffrard, a dark-skinned mulatto, restored the old order of
elite rule. His relatively long rule (1859-67) was peaceful and
progressive, in contrast to that of his predecessor. He is credited
with a number of accomplishments: he produced a new
constitution based on Petion's 1816 document, promoted education
and organized a medical school, cut the army by half,
and tried to improve the quality of cotton production. He also
signed a concordat with the Vatican in 1860 that ended a sixtyyear
schism with Rome, led to abler clergy, and gave Roman
Catholicism a privileged position among religions in Haiti. Geffrard
also won recognition for Haiti from the United States in
1862.
The 1860s were a difficult decade for Haiti politically and
economically. Geffrard was harassed by the elites and the
piquets throughout his rule. Under siege in Cap-Haitien, Geffrard
called in the British for support. He was the first Haitian
president to stay in power with foreign support, but not the
last. In 1867 General Sylvain Salnave, a light-skinned mulatto
populist with support from northern blacks and the poor in
Port-au-Prince, forced Geffrard to leave the country for
Jamaica.
Salnave, however, lacked the support of the cacos. After waging
several unsuccessful battles against them, he was pursued to
the Dominican border, captured, tried, and executed on January
15, 1870.
After setting up an interim provisional government, the
National Assembly selected Nissage Saget as president. Saget
completed his term of office (1870-74) and stepped down voluntarily.
His successor, President Boisrond Canal, resigned in
1879 in the absence of legislative cooperation. All of the subsequent
presidencies until 1915 began and ended with force or
the threat of it.
Rebellion, intrigue, and conspiracy continued to be commonplace
even under the rule of Louis Lysius Felicite Salomon
(1879-88), the most notable and effective president in the late
nineteenth century. From a political southern black family he
was well educated, well traveled, and politically experienced.
After living in France following his expulsion bv Herard. he
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