TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES:
—Obvious print and punctuation errors were corrected.
—Original work has a Table of Errata Corrige at the end of the volume.
This has been manteind out of consictency with original work; however,
errors listed have been corrected in text.
THE
PRESENT STATE OF HAYTI,
(SAINT DOMINGO,)
WITH REMARKS
ON ITS
AGRICULTURE, COMMERCE, LAWS, RELIGION,
FINANCES, AND POPULATION,
ETC. ETC.
BY JAMES FRANKLIN.
LONDON:
JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET.
MDCCCXXVIII.
G. WOODFALL, ANGEL COURT, SKINNER STREET, LONDON.
CONTENTS.
Page
PREFACE vii
Introduction 1
CHAPTER I.
Situation and general description of the French and Spanish
divisions, previously to the revolution in the former country. 13
CHAPTER II.
Cause of the revolution in the colony.—People of colour in
France.—Their proceedings.—League with the society of Amis des
Noirs.—Ogé’s rebellion.—His defeat and death.—Conduct of the
proprietors and planters.—Consequences of it. 39
CHAPTER III.
First revolt of the slaves in 1791.—Their ravages.—Decree of
the national assembly 4th April 1792.—Santhonax and Polverel—
their secret agency.—Encourage the slaves.—Their declaration of
freedom to the slaves.—Consequences arising from it.—Character
of the slaves.—Disabilities of the coloured people. 64
CHAPTER IV.
Effects of emancipating the slaves.—Arrival of the British
forces.—Their subsequent operations.—Evacuation by General
Maitland.—M. Charmilly negotiates with the English.—Views of the
English cabinet.—Parties in the contest.—And insincerity of the
French planters. 97
CHAPTER V.
The period between the evacuation by the British forces and the
arrival of the French army under Le Clerc.—Cultivation.—Law to
enforce it.—Character of Toussaint.—Reverses.—His arrangement
with the French general.—His seizure and removal to France. 117
CHAPTER VI.
The period from the seizure of Toussaint to the final expulsion
of the French by Dessalines, in 1803.—State of cultivation.—
Commerce declined—and observations on the population.—Its extent. 161
CHAPTER VII.
Independence declared.—Dessalines attempts to take the city of
Santo Domingo.—Raised to the imperial dignity.—New constitution.—
His atrocious massacres.—Attempts to import negroes from Africa.—
Encourages cultivators.—Census taken.—State of his army.—His
death and character. 175
CHAPTER VIII.
Christophe takes the command.—His officers of government.—Promotes
agriculture and commerce.—Petion
opposes him.—Cessation of arms mutually
agreed upon.—Christophe crowned king.—Code Henry.—Baron
de Vastey’s opinions.—Commissioners from
France.—Conduct to them.—Christophe pursues his
system of government.—Petion relaxes in his.—His
offers to the British government.—State of his dominions.—Has
recourse to a debased currency.—Consequences.—His
death.—Christophe negotiates for the possession
of the Spanish part.—Revolution in his dominions.—His
death. 195
CHAPTER IX.
Boyer elected president.—His character.—Revolution
in the north—annexed to the south.—Revolution
in Spanish part.—Union of the whole.—Measures
pursued after.—Overtures to France.—Arrival of
French fleet.—Negotiation and independence.—Baron
Mackau.—Dissatisfaction prevails.—British consul-general.—Further
dissatisfaction.—Determination not to
pay the indemnity.—Voluntary loan attempted—it fails.—Observations
on the inefficiency of government.—State
of the military.—Naval force, etc. 232
CHAPTER X.
Topographical sketch.—State of the roads.—Mode
of repair by criminals.—How criminals are treated.—Description
of inns.—Accommodations at them.—Mode
of travelling.—Value of land in several districts,
and in towns. 271
CHAPTER XI.
Agriculture.—Crops in Toussaint’s and Dessalines’
time.—System of Christophe and Petion.—Decline
under Boyer.—Crops in his time.—Attempts to revive
it.—Coercion resorted to.—Code Rural—doubts on
enforcing its clauses.—Disposal of lands.—Consequences
from it.—Incompetency of planters.—State of cultivation
of sugar, coffee, cocoa, cotton, indigo.—Free labour.—Consequences
arising from it—its inefficacy, etc. 317
CHAPTER XII.
Commerce.—State of exports and imports.—Exactions
at the customs—depredations and impositions.—Foreign
merchants—disabilities they labour under.—Insecurity.—State
of finances.—Revenue, etc. 368
CHAPTER XIII.
Haytian jurisprudence.—State of the courts.—Trial
by jury.—The judges.—Justices of the peace—their corruption.—State
of the church.—Account of a missionary.—Schism
in the church.—Moral and religious state
of the people shewn by their mode of living.—Description
of this mode.—Habitations described.—Furniture,
etc.—Education—its progress.—Government do not encourage
it.—Remarks on the consequences of not doing
so.—Qualifications of senators and communes—shew
the state of knowledge and education. 383
CHAPTER XIV.
Population.—Census 1824—opinion on it.—Further
statement.—Manner of taking the census.—Checks to
increase—decrease is evident—nature of those checks.—Increase
in the United States, according to Raymond.—Conclusion. 402
PREFACE.
THE Author has prepared this work for the press somewhat hastily,
and under many circumstances which heavily oppressed him; he hopes
therefore that the want of arrangement, and the dearth of matter which
may be observed in his narrative, will not subject it to a severe
condemnation. In presenting it to the public, he is not actuated by any
personal considerations, his object being to convey some information
respecting the resources of a country, and the character of a people,
which have been so variously represented. The short delineation here
attempted will, in all probability, suffice to shew that the accounts
which have been given at different times of Hayti and its inhabitants
have been much too highly coloured by the zealous advocates of negro
independence; and he is ready to confess that at one time he was
somewhat dazzled by the description, and was almost made a convert to
their opinions. It having been his lot however, at a subsequent period,
to hold considerable intercourse with the country, he has been enabled
to form what he considers a more correct estimate of its present
condition. Experience has convinced him that the representations so
generally received of the improvement which it has made are greatly
exaggerated, and he is not without the hope that the following sheets
will convey more correct information on the subject, and thus prove
useful to the merchant, if not interesting to the general reader.
He readily admits that in the historical part he has touched upon
matters which have been already handled by other and much abler
writers; this could not be very well avoided, the annals of Hayti
affording but few events, and those having been often detailed. He
conceived that such a summary of the history of the country would
be necessary to illustrate the cause of the revolution, to shew
the decline which ensued in agriculture and commerce, the decay
of knowledge, and the progress of vice and immorality among the
inhabitants.
Actuated therefore by the desire of throwing some light on the state
of Hayti, and giving a faithful representation of the condition of its
population, he ventures to solicit the attention of the public to the
facts which have fallen under his own personal observation.
THE PRESENT STATE
OF
HAYTI,
OR SAINT DOMINGO.
INTRODUCTION.
AN account of the present state of Hayti I believe has not yet been
submitted to the public; to offer one likely to meet with a favourable
reception is, I am aware, an undertaking of considerable difficulty:
it requires, no doubt, that the author should be well skilled in the
various branches of knowledge, in order to render it in every respect
satisfactory and interesting to the public. Ignorant as I acknowledge
myself to be in the higher walks of philosophy, and educated solely for
the more humble avocations of a mercantile life, I can lay no claim
to such acquirements: I must therefore rest my hope of commanding any
degree of attention, on the truth and correctness of the statements
which I shall produce, founded as they are on actual observation. I
am conscious that I am standing on delicate ground, and touching on a
subject likely to excite angry feelings in those who have long been the
eulogists of the republic, who have been its advocates when assailed,
and who have held it forth to the world as a country in which wealth
abounds, virtue flourishes, and freedom reigns triumphant, instead of
the oppression, the vice, and the poverty which once prevailed there;
but I will not shrink from the undertaking, though powerful obstacles
may present themselves, and formidable opponents be arrayed against me.
My object in the following sheets is, to endeavour to dissipate this
delusion, and to shew that there is nothing to warrant the unqualified
panegyrics poured forth by those individuals who have been the most
conspicuous for their zeal and enthusiasm, in holding up Hayti as a
“land flowing with milk and honey”. In the performance of this, I have
no other aim than that of benefiting the merchant and capitalist, the
manufacturer, and the trader, who have had no opportunity of visiting
a country to which their speculations in commerce may lead them, by
guarding them against the shoals and quicksands upon which adventurers,
destitute of information, are so frequently wrecked.
The admirers of Hayti have been very industrious in circulating the
most deceptive accounts of the state of its commerce, by garbled and
exaggerated specifications. They have led many to believe that its
imports and exports are daily on the increase, and that the resources
of the people for the purchase of the products and manufactures of
other states receive a gradual and steady augmentation. I am much
deceived if I shall not succeed in convincing the reader that this
representation is a perfect delusion, and that from the diminished
means of the people, the commerce of Hayti, instead of increasing,
annually sustains a considerable diminution; and that while the
present state of things continues to exist—while its rulers are weak
and imbecile, and the mass of the population are kept in a state of
the grossest ignorance—there does not appear a ray of hope that any
improvement may take place in the circumstances of the country, or that
any change will be effected, likely to prove advantageous to foreigners
disposed to embark in an intercourse with Hayti.
Several visits to Hayti—in two of which I had, from the nature of
my mission, occasion to remain there a considerable time—gave me
opportunities of seeing the actual state of it, in all its different
branches of agriculture, commerce, finances, and the moral and
religious condition of its people, together with the state of its
government and the views of its chief. I am therefore encouraged
to hope that my details may be productive of some benefit to the
commercial part of the community, and not be altogether unacceptable
to others, whose avocations are different, but who may be desirous of
correct information respecting those parts of the globe of which they
may know but little except the name.
An historical account of Hayti would be a superfluous undertaking; I
see nothing to add to what has already been written by Charlevoix,
Raynal, Edwards, Walton, and others, in their elaborate and voluminous
works, and who have omitted nothing interesting, or worthy of being
recorded, from its first discovery by the illustrious Columbus down to
a very recent period. Every event connected with its history seems to
have been most faithfully detailed by these writers, and their works
are entitled to the highest credit and consideration, as containing the
best and most authentic account of this very extensive island.
Impelled, no doubt, as they were with a desire to afford to the world
every possible information relative to the resources of the country,
and of the character and general habits of the people, they have
left little to be performed by their successors, except to notice
the changes and events which may have taken place since the date of
their latest productions. Besides a copious and a faithful historical
sketch, they have given a correct statistical view of its agriculture,
its commerce, and public revenue; they have also pointed out the
slow advances made by the people in industry, in morality, and in
general knowledge: but little, therefore, remains to be said on these
subjects, except to call the attention of the reader to the striking
contrast which the present situation of the republic exhibits, when
compared with that which it displayed before the revolution; to give a
brief sketch of Hayti as it is, with an occasional reference to Hayti
as it was. I must beg leave to assure my readers, that in executing
this task, I am actuated by no unfair nor unjust motives; I am only
anxious that the highly coloured statements which have been published
respecting its present wealth and prosperity should be submitted to
the test of candid and impartial scrutiny. For a series of years Hayti
has been made the theme of constant praise, and has excited no little
share of the public attention, on account of the unexampled efforts
which its slave population made to throw off the fetters by which they
had been previously bound, and on account of their having, as their
eulogists declare, made the most rapid and extraordinary strides in
civilization and social improvement. It must be admitted that the
revolution effected in Hayti, was an event almost unparalleled in
history; and that a people just emerging from a state of barbarism
should have so successfully combated and defeated the finest troops
of France, is no doubt a circumstance calculated to call forth no
trifling portion of astonishment and admiration: but when the partial
eulogists of the Haytians go to the length of asserting that they have
arrived at a high degree of moral improvement, that they have reached
a state of refinement little inferior to that which generally prevails
in Europe, the limits of truth are overstepped: such overstrained
assertions are totally destitute even of the semblance of truth, and
my personal experience enables me to declare, in the most explicit
and unqualified terms, that at this very moment, the people of Hayti
are in a worse state of ignorance than the slave population in the
British colonies. There are some cases, it is true, in which instances
of intelligence have been discovered in the Haytian citizen, but this
never occurs except where individuals have had the advantages of an
European education, or who, being the descendants of persons who
previously to the revolution were possessed of wealth, had the means
of travelling, for the purpose of acquiring the manners and customs of
more enlightened nations. But taking the people in the aggregate, they
are far from having made any advances in knowledge.
It has also been commonly asserted by the friends of Hayti, and I
believe very generally credited in Europe, that it preserves its
agricultural pre-eminence solely by free labour; now I think I shall
be able to prove to a demonstration that this is not the case, and
that it is too evident, from every document that has yet appeared on
the subject, that agriculture has been long on the wane, and has
sunk to the lowest possible ebb in every district of the republic;
that the true art and principles of the culture of the soil, are not
understood, or if in the least known, they are not practically applied.
There is nothing to be seen having the least resemblance to a colony,
flourishing in the wealth derived from a properly regulated system of
agriculture.
On the subject of free labour I shall have occasion to offer a few
remarks, and I trust that in doing so, I shall not be considered as
inimical to it, where-ever it may be found practicable to obtain it; on
the contrary, no man would be more happy to see that our own colonies
could be cultivated by free labour, provided a full compensation
should be honourably made to those whose interests might be endangered
by the experiment, if unsuccessful; but I shall, I think, be able to
shew that this is _absolutely impracticable_, and that the system of
labour so pursued in Hayti, instead of affording us a proof of what
may be accomplished by it, is illustrative of the fact, that it is by
coercion, and coercion only, that any return can be expected from the
employment of capital in the cultivation of soil in our West India
islands. I shall also be able to shew that Hayti presents no instance
in which the cultivation of the soil is successfully carried on without
the application of force to constrain the labourer: on the estates of
every individual connected with the government, all the labourers
employed work under the superintendence of a military police, and it
is on these properties alone that any thing resembling successful
agriculture exists in Hayti. I am aware that this will excite the
astonishment of persons who have been accustomed to think otherwise;
but I shall state facts which cannot be controverted, even by President
Boyer himself—nay, I shall produce circumstances which I have seen
with the utmost surprise on his own estate; circumstances that must
shew his warmest advocates, that all his boasted productions have not
been obtained without the application of that system against which they
loudly exclaim.
Instead of holding out an example of what might be accomplished by
a people released from bondage, without first having been prepared
for freedom by moral and religious instruction, I think Hayti rather
forms a beacon to warn us against the dangers and difficulties by
which that unhappy country has been overtaken. The present condition
of Hayti, arising from the events which have taken place since the
revolution, should render us exceedingly cautious how we plunge our
own colonies into the same misery and calamity; by conferring on a
rude and untaught people, without qualification, or without the least
restraint, an uncontrolled command over themselves. However acutely we
may feel for the miseries to which the West Indian slave was at one
period subjected, yet I cannot conceive it possible that any one can
be so destitute of correct information on the subject as not to know,
that at this moment the slave is in a condition far more happy, that he
possesses infinitely greater comforts and enjoyments, than any class of
labourers in Hayti, and that, from the judicious measures which have
been already adopted by the colonial legislatures, and from others
which are in contemplation, for improving the condition of the slave,
it is very rational to conclude that before long slavery will only be
considered as a name; and that were it to receive any other designation
it would furnish no peg on which the European philanthropist might hang
his declamations against slavery.
To place the slaves in the British colonies upon a footing with the
free labourers in Hayti, or with the largest proportion of the people
in that country, would be a work of easy accomplishment; but the effect
would be, to cause them to exchange a state of comparative plenty and
comfort, for one in which every species of tyranny and oppression, with
their concomitants, disease and want, are most lamentably conspicuous.
Whatever may be the views of the British Cabinet relative to their
colonies, I should warn it to steer clear of the erroneous policy
which has proved so fatal to Hayti, and should it be determined that a
change should be introduced into the policy hitherto pursued with so
much success, and with so much advantage in our colonial possessions,
I trust it will not be by emancipating the slave, before he is
prepared for freedom by a proper moral and religious education. Let
the system of slavery be gradually improved, and the slave will glide
imperceptibly into a state of freedom.
It is not my intention, in this early stage of my remarks, to enter
into any lengthened detail of the disunion or want of cordiality
subsisting between the two classes of people in Hayti: this I shall
reserve for its proper place; where it will be seen, that a very
strong dissatisfaction prevails amongst the black population, which
manifests itself upon almost every occasion of celebrating public
events, and festivities. This acrimonious feeling evidently arises
from the jealousy excited by the predominant influence of the coloured
people in the government. This influence, detrimental as it may be
to the good order and repose of the country, is courted and nurtured
by the president, to the great danger of overthrowing the whole
establishment. One or two attempts at revolt have been made by the
people of the north, who were the subjects of the late Christophe, and
from these efforts, although abortive, it may be inferred, that the
spirit for a more extensive commotion still lurks in their minds, and
that the least possible irritation would so agitate and inflame them,
that the whole would be thrown into a scene of disorder, tumult, and
irremediable confusion. The combinations are numerous and powerful,
but such was the extraordinary apathy of the government, that until a
communication was made by an individual to Boyer, neither he nor any
one of his officers had the least intimation that such proceedings were
in contemplation. The want of energy visible in the government makes it
obnoxious to the people, and no country like Hayti can be expected to
remain long in repose and tranquillity, unless its governors possess
both talent and resolution to command.
That the government of Hayti is the most inefficient and enervated of
any of the modern republics cannot be denied, and I cannot see the
least hope of an improvement, unless there be a complete revision of
its constitution, and a new one framed, better suited to the tastes
of the people, and more adapted to their present very rude state
of knowledge. From the present rulers it would be vain to expect
any effort which might prove beneficial to the country; any attempt
to cultivate or improve the habits and morals of the people, or to
promote agriculture. The members composing the present government,
seem to consider the poverty and ignorance of the people, as the best
safeguards of the security and permanence of their own property and
power.
A recognition of the independence of Hayti by Great Britain may give
some strength to the measures of its government, because the people
have called out loudly for the protection of that power, whilst they
have as loudly exclaimed against the policy pursued towards France. No
event in its history has excited in the republic greater abhorrence
or more general murmuring, than the act of purchasing from France
that which it had de facto possessed for twenty-one years unmolested
and undisturbed; thereby at once admitting the sovereignty of that
power over the island, and which sovereignty France will, at some
convenient period, unquestionably assert, and that without the least
fear of any inconvenient consequences arising from it; for what power
can give aid to the Haytians against France, when the former have
openly and formally admitted themselves to be a colony dependent upon
the French crown. Whatever intercourse Englishmen may be disposed to
maintain with Hayti, it is indispensable that they should use the most
vigilant precaution, and exact a rigid adherence to such treaties as
may have been entered into, if they would avoid certain loss; for the
Haytian character, taken generally, will be found, so far from being
entitled either to credit or confidence, not even to possess common
honesty. Compacts with them are easily made; but a faithful adherence
to agreements must not be expected;—their maxim is to break them,
whenever they find it can be accomplished with advantage.
CHAPTER I.
Situation and general description of the French and Spanish divisions,
previously to the Revolution in the former country.
THE island of St. Domingo, once the abode of fertility, and the scene
of extraordinary political changes and events, lies in latitude 18° 20´
north and in longitude 68° 40´ west from Greenwich, having on its west
the islands of Cuba and Jamaica, on its east Porto Rico, the Bahamas
on its north, and bounded southerly by the Carribean Sea. Its extent
has been variously stated; but Edwards, who describes it to be about
390 miles in length from east to west, seems the most correct; and it
appears from late surveys to be nearly 150 miles in breadth from north
to south. The Abbé Raynal has represented it at 200 leagues in length,
and from 60 to 80 in breadth, but it is evident that his estimation is
erroneous. Rainsford also states it to be about 450 miles in length,
but from every information which I could obtain, its length does not
appear to exceed 400 miles, nor its breadth 140. The reader, therefore,
must look into these discrepances, and judge between them. As it is
not easy to survey a country intersected by wilds and impenetrable
mountains, much is necessarily left to conjecture.
It is the most extensive, and was at one period of its history the most
productive of the Antilles, and was called by the aborigines Haiti, or
Highland, and by which ancient designation it is now generally known,
that of St. Domingo having been abolished at the revolution. To convey
an adequate idea of what this once delightful island was, is not the
object of the present work; on this head it is sufficient to observe
that in the richness and extent of its productions, and in its local
beauties, it exceeded every other island in the western hemisphere,
and that the two divisions of the east and the west, when under the
respective governments of Spain and France, were considered and indeed
known to be the most splendid and most important appendages to those
crowns. Its plains and valleys presented the most inviting scenes from
the richness of the pastures and the verdure with which they eternally
abounded. Its mountains were also said to contain ores of the most
valuable kind, and produce timber admirably adapted for every useful
or ornamental purpose. Nothing could exceed the extreme salubrity of
the whole country, nor could it be surpassed in the vast exuberance of
its luscious fruits, and in those productions of the soil which became
the general articles of export, and from which all the wealth and all
commerce of this colony flowed.
The French division, though infinitely less extensive than the Spanish
part, and not containing a third of the whole island, has been
considered the most valuable spot in the western world. The Spanish
division however has greater natural resources, and affords greater
facilities for agricultural operations: but the very extraordinary
exertions of the French planter in the culture of the soil, compensated
for the want of those advantages possessed by their Spanish neighbours,
who, more indolently disposed, relied on the produce of their mines,
which afforded, as they imagined, greater local riches than those which
could be obtained from either agriculture or commerce, forgetting that
these alone furnish the wealth which can render any country really and
permanently prosperous and great.
It appears from every authority, that the first colony established
here by the French, was settled in the sixteenth century, having been
attracted thither by the Buccaneers, who had previously obtained a
footing in the island from excursions which they often made from
Tortuga, for the purpose of hunting the bulls of the Spaniards. These
hardy and predatory warriors attracted the French, who supplied them
with such necessaries as they required, and even sent them many
settlers, with arms and implements for defence and labour. The extreme
fertility of the country invited them to make some efforts to gain
a permanent footing in it, and by means of intrigue coupled with a
little force, they succeeded in obtaining possession of the whole
of the west end, the line of which seems to have run in an oblique
direction, from about Cape François on the north to Cape Rosa on the
south. Having surmounted all the obstacles that presented themselves,
and having overcome those difficulties which generally accompany the
first attempts at colonization, or are met with in a newly discovered
land, they pursued with incredible ardour and industry the culture of
the soil, and the improvement of their valuable acquisition.
The Spanish court, jealous of and unable to contend with their rival
colonists, submitted to France, when the two cabinets at home came
to a mutual understanding and adjustment, respecting these foreign
possessions. An arrangement was entered into, under which commissioners
were appointed for settling the boundaries, and fixing the rights
which had formed the ground of disputes between the settlers of these
rival nations. The line of demarcation finally agreed upon commenced
at the bay of Mansenillo on the north, dividing in its course the
river Massacre; thence taking rather a westerly course, it reached an
acute point at Dondon, and afterwards proceeded southerly to the river
Pedernales.
This tract of country, as conceded to the French, contained about 1000
square leagues, exceedingly irregular in its character, intersected
with mountains, and having plains confined and difficult of approach,
so as to make it altogether much inferior in point of natural value to
even a single district of the Spanish division; having also two extreme
points or capes, Cape Nicolas Mole on the north, and Cape Tiburon on
the south-west extremity, in both of which the soil is less valuable,
from its being so very mountainous, and from its not possessing those
facilities of communication which can be obtained in other districts.
Notwithstanding the disadvantages against which the first settlers
had to contend, and in defiance of every local obstacle, they seemed
to have been impressed with the conviction, that if a spirit of
perseverance and labour could be diffused amongst them, they would
ultimately be richly rewarded for all their toil, and all that anxiety
and deprivation to which it appears, at their first setting out, they
were unquestionably subjected. Their conclusions were just, and time
shewed the correctness of the principles on which they reasoned and
acted, for their colony gradually rose in estimation; and at so early a
period as the year 1703, under the government of M. Auger, a native of
America, and who in early life had been in a state of slavery, it had
become of so much consideration to France, that the greatest possible
efforts were made to extend their system of cultivation to the whole
of their colonial territory. That officer was indefatigable, it is
said, in his exertions in encouraging and in stimulating the colonists
in the culture of the lands, and as he had been previously governor of
Guadaloupe, it is to be inferred that he possessed no ordinary skill in
the business of preparing the ground for the production of those exotic
and indigenous plants which became the main articles of export to the
mother-country. That he was a most efficient governor all writers
admit, for he had brought the state of his colony to a very high pitch
of prosperity, when he died, lamented by all who had lived under his
command. The plantations at this period had increased in every part,
particularly in the valleys, where the soil was more congenial, and
where the labour could be performed without being attended with those
difficulties which impeded it in the more mountainous districts. In the
western parts the cocoa-tree had begun to produce most luxuriantly,
yielding great wealth to individuals, and a large revenue to the state.
The sugar-cane had also arrived at great perfection, and the art of
manufacturing the sugar from it had been for some time carried on with
astonishing success. Coffee plantations were establishing, and the
planters in every direction were vying with each other in bringing
their properties into the highest possible state of cultivation.
In the year 1715, however, the island suffered a very severe calamity,
and in the succeeding year another followed, in both of which almost
all the cocoa-trees perished, and considerable damage was done to every
vegetable production; and the planters, who had by this time acquired
an easy, if not a competent fortune, sustained losses that only time
and continued exertion could possibly repair. It will be seen, however,
that a great improvement gradually followed, and that agriculture
had not been neglected, for in the year 1754 the colony had advanced
to a wonderful pitch of prosperity, and seems to have satisfied the
wishes of the proprietors of the soil, as well as the most sanguine
expectations of the government. It is said by an anonymous writer,
that “the various commodities exported from the island amounted to a
million and a quarter sterling, and the imports to one million seven
hundred and seventy-seven thousand five hundred and nine pounds.
There were fourteen thousand white inhabitants, nearly four thousand
free mulattoes, and one hundred and seventy-two thousand negroes;
five hundred and ninety-nine sugar plantations, three thousand three
hundred and seventy-nine of indigo, ninety-eight thousand nine hundred
and forty-six cocoa-trees, six million three hundred thousand three
hundred and sixty-seven cotton plants, and about twenty-two millions
of cassia-trees, sixty-three thousand horses and mules, ninety-three
thousand head of horned cattle, six millions of banana trees, upwards
of one million plots of potatoes, two hundred and twenty-six thousand
of yams, and nearly three million trenches of marrioc.”
From this period up to the French revolution the colony advanced still
further in prosperity, every year adding to the wealth of the planters,
and to the revenue of the crown. Nothing could exceed the condition
into which the plantations had been brought by their owners; a steady
and enlightened system of agriculture had been established, which had
been productive of the most beneficial results. Every plantation, laid
out with the greatest care and neatness, was so arranged as to bring
every part of the soil into use in its proper order of succession—not
the least particle appears to have escaped the eye of the owner, for
what could not be rendered fit for the production of the cane, served
either for cotton, coffee, indigo, or other plants. In the valleys
surrounded by mountains, the access to which for carriages was attended
with some danger, and consequently were chiefly in pasture, the verdure
was astonishing. These valleys having small rivulets or streams running
through them, and shaded by occasional groups of trees and shrubs,
which grew spontaneously on the margins of a spring, or round any body
of water that might occasionally be collected from the mountain falls,
became extremely valuable for the raising of cattle for the consumption
of the planters, and on this account extremely profitable to their
owners; for here the animals could graze undisturbed and cool under
a meridian sun, and range unmolested, indulging in the richness of
the surrounding herbage. The culture of the land for the sugar-cane
at this period seems to have engaged the greatest attention of the
planter, for at no time had such amazing crops been produced as in the
year preceding the revolution; the soil in the plains of the north,
Artibanite and the Cul de Sac, being peculiarly adapted for it, from
its extreme strength and excellent quality, and from its situation,
which enabled it to receive the aid of irrigation in seasons when
drought prevails. The estates also appropriated to the production
of sugar exhibited a degree of uniformity and order, in all the
departments of plantation labour, which can scarcely be exceeded even
at the present period, when the system is supposed to have become more
mature, and its true principles better understood.
The coffee plantations had at this time arrived at great
perfection—they were extensive, and exceedingly fruitful; for the
genius and industry of the proprietors were exerted to their utmost
limits in this branch of agriculture. Every property was divided and
subdivided into small fields, in which the trees were planted with all
that nicety and regularity which is often seen in a well regulated
nursery. The pruning-knife and the hoe were regularly applied to the
trees requiring to be dismembered of their superfluous branches, and
wanting nurture at their half expiring roots. The cotton and indigo
plantations had also arrived at the height of excellence in planting,
and it was not possible that greater abundance could have been obtained
from them, than that which was usually returned at or a few years
previously to the convulsion which took place. The cocoa tree was also
at this time exceedingly flourishing, and much care and attention were
bestowed upon its cultivation; its produce being found an article of no
inconsiderable demand, and extremely profitable in the returns which it
yielded the cultivator.
A better or clearer proof cannot be given of the highly improved state
of agriculture at this time, than by a reference to the number of
plantations which had been established, and to the quantity of produce
which had been exported to France, with the value of the whole, as
estimated by persons whose authority may be relied on, and who were
doubtless competent judges, from having in the island filled situations
which gave them opportunities of fairly estimating everything connected
with the country.
Moreau St. Mery, a writer of great credit, and a native of St. Domingo,
states, “that in the year 1791 there were, in the French division
alone, seven hundred and ninety-three sugar estates, seven hundred
and eighty-nine cotton plantations, three thousand one hundred and
seventeen of coffee, three thousand one hundred and fifty of indigo,
fifty-four cocoa manufactories, and six hundred and twenty-three
smaller settlements, on which were produced large quantities of Indian
corn, rice, pulse, and almost every description of vegetables required
for the consumption of the people. There were also forty thousand
horses, fifty thousand mules, and two hundred and fifty thousand cattle
and sheep; and that the quantity of land actually in cultivation was
about two million two hundred and eighty-nine thousand four hundred and
eighty acres.”
The quantity of produce exported from the island to France appears, by
various accounts, to have been very large indeed, furnishing a very
strong corroboration of the flourishing state of the colony, and of
the extent to which agriculture had been carried. It would appear that
not much regard was paid to other means by which the prosperity of
the country might have been enhanced, the inhabitants resting solely
on the culture of the soil to exalt the island in the eyes of the
parent state, and to make it an appendage worthy to be cherished and
protected. Mr. Edwards and others have stated the amount of exports as
follows: that is to say, about one hundred and sixty-three millions
four hundred thousand pounds of sugar, sixty-eight millions one hundred
and fifty thousand pounds of coffee, six millions two hundred and
eighty-six thousand pounds of cotton, nine hundred and thirty thousand
pounds of indigo, twenty-nine thousand hogsheads of molasses, and
three hundred puncheons of rum. Walton, in his Appendix, enumerates
many other articles of export besides those which I have named, and he
states the quantity of each much larger, and values the whole at about
six millions and ninety-four thousand two hundred and thirty pounds,
English money. The same writer observes, that the value of the imports
into the country about that time from France was four millions one
hundred and twenty-five thousand six hundred and ten pounds sterling.
At this period, also, it appears from authority, that the population
amounted to about forty thousand white people, twenty-eight thousand
free persons of colour, and about four hundred and fifty-five thousand
slaves; and that the valuation of the whole of the plantations in
culture, with the buildings, slaves, cattle, and every implement for
the use of agriculture, was estimated at fourteen hundred and ninety
millions of livres, or somewhat about seventy millions English money.
The Spanish division of Hayti is said to contain two-thirds of the
whole, and is estimated at about three thousand one hundred and fifty
square leagues, an extent of country capable of affording the means of
subsistence to a population of at least seven millions of souls. In
local advantages this part certainly exceeds the western division,
from its soil being almost in a virgin state, and a very large
proportion of its valleys and elevations never having been tilled.
The indolence and inactivity inherent in the Spanish character have
been displayed in all their colours in this part of St. Domingo; for
although their district possessed all the natural means required to
raise them to an equal pitch of splendour with their French neighbours,
yet so powerful were their propensities for pleasure, and every
species of amusement, that they devoted but little of their time to
the improvement of their properties, and they obtained from them but
little beyond a scanty supply for their own immediate wants. From
every source of information that can be consulted, it appears that
the Spaniards, from their earliest settlement down to the period when
they finally quitted the country, depended more on their mines than
on anything that possibly could be derived from either agriculture
or commerce; consequently agriculture was in a backward state, and
the culture of the soil made but a very slow progress: indeed, but a
very small proportion of the country was in a state of tillage; the
inhabitants merely paid a little attention to the natural pastures
which abounded in all the plains of the east, and whose luxuriance and
verdure continued throughout the whole year. In these they raised large
herds of cattle, for which they found a market, not only among their
neighbours the French, who required a considerable supply for their
estates, but they exported very large quantities to Jamaica and Cuba.
To the raising of cattle, therefore, and to the occasional cutting of
wood—mahogany, cedar, and a variety of other timbers for ornamental
work, as well as dye-woods,—did the Spaniards devote their time, and
hence did they contrive to satisfy their moderate and contracted wants,
without having recourse to tillage.
It has been observed, and I think very truly, that the most important
obstacle to the advancement of this part of Hayti, was the policy
pursued by Spain towards her colonies. The system of government under
which she ruled her transatlantic settlements seems to have been
one of extreme oppression, and of unexampled rigour, and, from the
earliest period of her sway, this system was most rigidly enforced
in Hispañeola. There does not appear upon record any circumstance
previously to the year 1700, which evinced a disposition on the part
of Spain to promote the welfare of the colony, by calling forth its
local resources, and by encouraging and tolerating settlers from
others of their unprofitable and barren islands, in which all their
energies and efforts had been fruitless and unavailing. The high state
of the west end, under their prudent and more assiduous neighbours
the French, whose industry and perseverance had astonished the world,
and whose judicious and highly commendable system for promoting the
cultivation of their country had become the theme of much praise and
admiration, seemed about this time to have produced among the Spaniards
some disposition to adopt measures for insuring to the parent state a
more lucrative trade from their colonies. The force of example was too
powerful to be resisted, and even the Court of Madrid began about this
time to devise measures which might improve, and which might call into
play all those resources which this highly fertile and most congenial
soil was known to possess. Governors of known prudence and patriotic
zeal for the interest of their nation were selected, and sent out,
with injunctions to promote the interests of agriculture, and to give
a spur to commerce, by opening an intercourse with their neighbours.
The wants of the French in cattle, mules, and horses, were exceedingly
extensive, and offered to the Spaniards an opportunity of improving
their properties, by providing a vent for the sale of their stock. It
gave an impulse to industry, and the once inert and unconcerned Spanish
planter became in time an active and enterprising agriculturist,
shaking off that languor by which he had been previously characterized,
and at length assuming a degree of animation and spirit, which enabled
him to take advantage of those resources which nature had placed within
his reach.
A mutual interchange and good understanding between the two powers
of France and Spain having taken place, this intercourse, become more
frequent and reciprocally beneficial, continued for a series of years.
In 1790, however, this most important branch of their commerce was cut
off by the convulsion into which the neighbouring province was thrown.
All that part of the population who dwelt on the frontiers withdrew
themselves into the interior, leaving behind them their cattle, which
fell into the hands of their rapacious neighbours, whose inroads
caused much consternation amongst the proprietors; but their slaves,
from habit or from some other powerful cause, remained unmoved and
attached to them, although they had before them such strong incentives
to revolt. Every appeal made by these people (and it is said, that
they made innumerable ones) to the cabinet of Spain for protection
against the fatal example of the French division, met with a very cold
reception, if not a positive rejection. In this state of suspense and
continued fear and alarm the people remained, until the disgraceful
treaty of Basle gave Hispañeola to the republican government of France;
and this event I cannot better describe than in the language of one
of the most correct writers on this country[1], whom I shall here
quote as an authority which has been hitherto deemed unquestionable.
Speaking of this event, which occurred in the year 1795, and of the
designs of the French rulers, he says, “though busied in the plans of
universal dominion on their own continent, their cabinet did not lose
sight or cease to entertain a hope of again possessing colonies abroad,
and they were well aware which were the most desirable. Perhaps no
system of invasion had been longer or more deeply premeditated, and
digested with more mysterious secrecy, than the entire subjugation
of Spain and her American settlements, in which, besides the common
views of aggrandizement, their constitutional enmity to the reigning
family acted as a powerful stimulus. This policy was coeval with that
ambition which marked the first career of the present ruler of France
and the specious veil under which the hidden, but continued advances
were regularly made towards the end in view, adds to the guilt of
duplicity and ingratitude, when we consider that Spain has scrupulously
maintained her treaty of alliance and has fulfilled the stipulations
entered into in 1795, notwithstanding all the three changes that have
given other names to the French government, without altering its
entity, or revolutionary or destructive system; that the cabinets of
Madrid have bended to a degree of abject condescension, rather than be
precipitated into a war; that they have sacrificed the interests and
inclinations of their people, and have been driven at length into a
state of non-reprisal, rather than risk a warfare with a nation they
respected, and though an ally, furnishing both men and money under
promises to share in the conquests made, they have been treated rather
as a faithless neutral without claim, representation, or character,
and thus their country has been impoverished and laid waste, and the
supports of national union and energy undermined.”
Further, in continuation of this disgraceful treaty, by which Spain so
abjectly submitted to surrender her colony to France, he says, “by this
instrument of diplomatic intrigue and subtlety Hispañeola was made over
unreservedly to France; the oldest subjects of the Spanish crown in the
western world were thus bartered like so many sheep, and an island, not
the capture of an enemy during war, and given up at its termination,
but one that had descended to them as a primitive right, and had
formed the glory of the preceding monarchs, who saw it discovered
and settled. When possession was given in further aggravation of the
Spanish natives, the transfer was received by Toussaint at the head of
the intrusive settlers of one division of the island, with whom the
former had previously and generously shared their territory; in short
by a horde of emancipated slaves to whom the French republic had given
equality, consistence, and power, and who now came to erect a new
standard on the spot consecrated by the labours and ashes of Columbus,
and long revered as an object of national pride.”
“In justice to the Dominican people it may be said, that none of the
Spanish settlements possess more of the amor patriæ which ought to
distinguish loyal subjects: they received the news as a thunder-bolt,
and the country presented an universal scene of lamentation. They
appealed to the humanity of their sovereign, but without effect, and
then had recourse to remonstrances.”
Receiving no answer to their prayers or to their remonstrances, the
people were left in a state bordering on despondency, with the only
alternative of leaving their native land, or of swearing allegiance
to a power in whom they could not confide, and which they had been
taught to detest. Emigration therefore was determined on, and all
orders—nuns, friars, clergy, and men of property and influence—with
their families and their slaves, embarked for Cuba, Porto Rico, and the
Spanish main, leaving behind them their possessions, to seek a shelter,
and to find homes and occupations, in a country in which they might be
protected by laws to which they had been accustomed, and submit to a
government which they had been taught to respect. The extent of this
emigration was considerable, and is said to have amounted to one third
of the population; and it is evident from a subsequent census that
this was not an exaggeration, and that so large a proportion of the
people absolutely left the country, abandoning their abodes and much
wealth rather than submit to a people whom they hated as the usurpers
of their possessions.
In the years 1789 and 1790, about which time the first disturbances
among the slaves in the French part of the island commenced, it appears
the Spanish division contained about one hundred and fifty thousand
souls or upwards; but by a subsequent census taken immediately after
the cession to the French, and after the spirit for emigration had in
some measure subsided, there remained only about one hundred thousand
of all descriptions, a very strong proof of the detestation in which
the Spaniards held this treaty, which assigned them over as subjects
of the republican government of France. It is very evident, however,
whatever impressions this arrangement might have made on the Spanish
colonists, that it was one dictated by the rulers in France, and
therefore accepted from necessity, and not from choice. The infamous
Godoy, Prince of Peace (which high sounding title was confirmed by
this treaty) was the leading personage in its negotiation, and being
secretly leagued with the French ministry, became a willing instrument
in consigning this bright and valuable appendage of the Spanish crown
to the more designing and crafty schemes of the French cabinet, which
had been from the beginning of their ambitious aim at universal
dominion, not unmindful of the advantages that were to be derived
from colonial possessions. When it is seen that the mistaken and weak
policy, as well as the pusillanimity of the Spanish cabinet, caused
so great a sacrifice as the dismemberment of their most valuable
colony, it becomes a matter of no astonishment that the people should
relax in their efforts to aid the means and resources of their parent
state, by any exertions, in the cultivation of their lands, beyond
what might be requisite for their own support. As this neglect and
heedless inattention to their prosperity had been for a series of years
observable, and as every incentive to industry was checked by the
measures of the crown, it is not to be wondered at that this division
of the island did not advance at the same rate as that which was under
the dominion of France. However manifest the declension of the colony
was to Spain, she never made any movements, nor adopted any means
indicating a desire to revive the drooping energies of the colonists,
and reinstate them in their former easy circumstances and affluence.
If the cabinet of Madrid had had recourse to those wise plans which
would have promoted the cause of agriculture and commerce, instead of
becoming a calm and unconcerned spectator of the decline of both, this
colony might still have remained the most brilliant gem in the Spanish
crown. A people who had, from the example of their neighbours, and by
an impulse the most surprising, been roused from a state of lethargy
and inactivity to great exertions in the culture of the soil, in the
breeding of cattle, and in commercial enterprise, might have exalted
their country to the highest possible state of prosperity, had their
efforts been seconded by the regulations of a wise government, and had
that protection been given to them to which they were surely entitled;
but instead of such support and protection, instead of being watched
over and guarded by their parent state, their prayers, their petitions,
and entreaties, were unattended to, and they were given up as a prey to
their rebellious and uncivilized neighbours, who used every exertion
to throw their country into a state of anarchy and confusion. The
individual and unsupported energies of the colonists, however, were
roused by the alarming predicament into which they had been thrown,
through the apathy and supineness of the cabinet of Spain, and they
effectually stopped the incursions of the pillagers for a time,
prevented the destruction of their towns and plantations, and finally,
by their firmness and perseverance, saved their properties from the
devastations which had destroyed those of the western division.
To the astonishment of the world, the slaves, as I have before
remarked, adhered with extraordinary fidelity to the cause of their
masters, and evinced no disposition to become participators in the
work of rebellion, nor to enrich themselves by the spoils obtained
by plunder, rapine, and every kind of predatory warfare. Although the
example to throw off the yoke of slavery was constantly before them,
few were the instances in which a slave joined the insurgents. Such
an attachment on the part of the slave towards his master, however,
is not to be wondered at, when it is known, that the Spaniards were
kind, indulgent, and liberal owners, always attentive to their wants,
and alive to their comforts; seldom inflicting punishment, except for
flagrant acts of insubordination and theft, but treating them with a
leniency and humanity which softened the rigours of slavery, and left
it to be known only by name.
Notwithstanding the enmity which always existed between the two
colonies, a smuggling trade was carried on, which, although not very
extensive, was exceedingly productive to the Spaniards, as it took
off part of their horned cattle, mules, horses, &c., and in return
for which they received the products and manufactures of Europe,
and slaves, which they could not obtain by the regular course of
importation, on any thing like the same moderate or favourable terms.
It is stated, that the French purchased annually upwards of twenty-five
thousand head of horned cattle and about two thousand five hundred
mules and horses; and that the Spaniards also transmitted upwards of
half a million of dollars in specie during the year, for the purchase
of goods, implements of agriculture, and negroes. Large shipments of
mahogany and dye-woods found their way to Spain and different parts
of Europe, and the United States, and indirectly to England: and a
considerable intercourse existed with the islands of Porto Rico, Cuba,
and Jamaica, to which latter two islands cattle were exported, and
mahogany and dye-woods found a market in Jamaica more advantageous than
any that could be found in Europe, owing to their being able to procure
their returns in a more direct way than through the mother-country or
any of the European states.
The commerce with Porto Rico and the Spanish main was also productive
of some profit to the people of St. Domingo. The advantages accruing
to the former arose from the facilities of smuggling, by which the
enormous duties on foreign European goods of thirty-four per cent.
in most cases were saved; and these goods could be purchased in St.
Domingo on more moderate terms, from having been illicitly obtained
from the French part of the island.
The trade to the United States was also of no little importance;
for the vessels of that country took large quantities of mahogany,
hides, some coffee, and a little dye-wood, in return for the cargoes
which they brought thither, consisting of flour, beef, pork, butter,
salted herrings, and dried cod-fish, with some East India goods, and
various descriptions of lumber of America, more useful and easy in
working for buildings than the hard wood of the country. The aggregate
value of the exports and imports of this part of the island I have
seen nowhere correctly stated: it is very evident, however, from the
various accounts which I have seen, that it was infinitely less than
the aggregate of the French part; and this may be safely confided
in from the extremely fertile state of the one, when compared with
the uncultivated condition of the other; from the industrious, the
assiduous, and enterprising spirit, so characteristic of the French
colonist, aided by the judicious measures of the cabinet of France,
which sought to protect and encourage the agriculture and commerce of
her colonies, whilst the Spaniards of the eastern division were left
to pursue both their agricultural and commercial avocations under
every species of discouragement and restraint. The energy displayed
by one government, and the very relaxed system pursued by the other,
accounts for the flourishing state of one part of this rich colony,
whilst its rival was steeped in poverty: nothing, therefore, is left
for conjecture as to the cause of so great a contrast; and both having
subsequently been shaken by the effects of those pernicious doctrines
so generally propagated at the Revolution, little is to be seen of the
antecedent state of either, and chaos, ignorance, and indolence have
superseded order, light, and industry.
Such was the state of the island at and during the two or three
succeeding years of the revolution, as related by several writers, and
confirmed by information obtained from individuals now residing in
the country, who were present during the troubles which agitated and
destroyed it, and reduced them from the height of affluence and peace
into misery, and oftentimes into want—from them, much, of course, was
to be elicited; and although I thought it a matter of prudence and a
necessary caution, not to rely too implicitly on their communications,
yet I always found them justly entitled to my confidence, on the
fullest investigation. I never had a cause to question their veracity.
Their account of the scenes which took place during the early stages
and progress of the revolution, accords with the statements of others
who have described them, and I have not been able to discover any
discrepances between them.