Editing Haiti (section)

====Unification of Hispaniola (1821–1844)====
{{main|Republic of Haiti (1820–1849)|Haitian occupation of Santo Domingo}}
[[File:President Jean-Pierre Boyer of Haiti (Hispaniola Unification Regime) Portrait.jpg|thumb|Jean-Pierre Boyer, ruler of Haiti 1818–1843]]
Beginning in 1821, President [[Jean-Pierre Boyer]], also an ''homme de couleur'' and successor to Pétion, reunified the island following the suicide of Henry Christophe.<ref name="Encylopedia Britannica - Haiti"/><ref>{{cite web|last=Sagás|first=Ernesto|title=An apparent contradiction? Popular perceptions of Haiti and the foreign policy of the Dominican Republic|publisher=Sixth Annual Conference of the Haitian Studies Association|date=14 October 1994|url=http://haitiforever.com/windowsonhaiti/esagas2.shtml|access-date=19 August 2007|archive-date=29 September 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929072156/http://haitiforever.com/windowsonhaiti/esagas2.shtml|url-status=live}}</ref> After [[Republic of Spanish Haiti|Santo Domingo]] declared its independence from Spain on 30 November 1821, Boyer invaded, seeking to [[Unification of Hispaniola|unite the entire island]] by force and ending slavery in Santo Domingo.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/168728/Dominican-Republic/129491/History|title=Dominican Republic – History|encyclopedia=Britannica.com|access-date=24 July 2013|archive-date=29 September 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220929180917/https://www.britannica.com/place/Dominican-Republic|url-status=live}}</ref>

Struggling to revive the agricultural economy to produce [[commodity crops]], Boyer passed the Code Rural, which denied peasant laborers the right to leave the land, enter the towns, or start farms or shops of their own, causing much resentment as most peasants wished to have their own farms rather than work on plantations.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/76479/Jean-Pierre-Boyer?anchor=ref126082|title=Jean-Pierre Boyer (President of Haiti)|encyclopedia=Britannica.com|access-date=24 July 2013|archive-date=6 October 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006131451/http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/76479/Jean-Pierre-Boyer?anchor=ref126082|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.webster.edu/%7Ecorbetre/haiti/history/earlyhaiti/boyer.htm|title=1820 – 1843: The rule of Jean-Pierre Boyer|last=Corbett|first=Bob|publisher=Webster University|date=July 1995|access-date=24 July 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131221124022/http://www2.webster.edu/~corbetre/haiti/history/earlyhaiti/boyer.htm|archive-date=21 December 2013}}</ref>

Starting in September 1824, more than 6,000 [[African Americans]] migrated to Haiti, with transportation paid by an American philanthropic group similar in function to the [[American Colonization Society]] and its efforts in [[Liberia]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.webster.edu/~corbetre/haiti-archive/msg00868.html|title=Haiti And Its Diaspora: New Historical, Cultural And Economic Frontiers, reprint from ''US Gazette'' Philadelphia, 1824|last=Firire|first=Girard Alphonse|publisher=Webster.edu|date=27 August 1999|access-date=24 July 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130910113052/http://www2.webster.edu/~corbetre/haiti-archive/msg00868.html|archive-date=10 September 2013}}</ref> Many found the conditions too harsh and returned to the United States.{{Citation needed|date=June 2024}}

In July 1825, [[Charles X of France|King Charles X]] of [[France]], during a period of restoration of the [[French monarchy]], sent a [[French Navy|fleet]] to reconquer Haiti. Under pressure, President Boyer agreed to a treaty by which France formally recognized the independence of the state in exchange for [[Haiti indemnity controversy|a payment]] of 150 million [[francs]], or $560 million in today's dollars.<ref name="Encylopedia Britannica - Haiti"/><ref>{{Cite news |last=Nagourney |first=Eric |date=2022-05-20 |title=6 Takeaways About Haiti’s Reparations to France |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/20/world/americas/takeaways-haiti-reparations-france.html |access-date=2025-05-06 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> By an order of 17 April 1826, the King of France renounced his rights of sovereignty and formally recognized the independence of Haiti.<ref name="FrenchEmbassy">{{cite web|title=La première ambassade française en Haïti|url=https://ht.ambafrance.org/La-premiere-ambassade-francaise-en-Haiti|website=Menu Contenu Plan du siteAmbassade de France à Port-au-Prince|publisher=Government of France|access-date=27 October 2017|language=fr|archive-date=8 April 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220408154957/https://ht.ambafrance.org/La-premiere-ambassade-francaise-en-Haiti|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>M. Degros, Création des postes diplomatiques et consulaires, Revue d'histoire diplomatique, 1986; in French</ref><ref>J-F. Brière, Haïti et la France, 1804–1848 : le rêve brisé, Paris, Karthala 2008; in French</ref> The enforced payments to France hampered Haiti's economic growth for years, exacerbated by the fact that many [[Western world|Western]] states continued to refuse formal [[Diplomacy|diplomatic]] recognition to Haiti; Britain recognized Haitian independence in 1833, and the United States not until 1862.<ref name="Encylopedia Britannica - Haiti"/> Haiti borrowed heavily from Western banks at extremely high interest rates to repay the debt, an amount estimated to be between $21 billion and $115 billion in lost economic growth over time, or as much as eight times the size of Haiti's economy in 2020.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Nagourney |first=Eric |date=2022-05-20 |title=6 Takeaways About Haiti’s Reparations to France |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/20/world/americas/takeaways-haiti-reparations-france.html |access-date=2025-05-06 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Although the amount of the reparations was reduced to 90 million in 1838, by 1900 80% of Haiti's government spending was debt repayment and the country did not finish repaying it until 1947.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/jan/14/haiti-history-earthquake-disaster|title=Haiti: a long descent to hell|last=Henley|first=Jon|date=14 January 2010|website=The Guardian|language=en|access-date=15 October 2018|archive-date=15 July 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150715012830/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/jan/14/haiti-history-earthquake-disaster|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Bradt13"/>