UC Davis

This dissertation examines the ways the Republic of Haiti attempted to assert its independence during the Civil War era and the ways it negotiated nation building, education, and engaged with Caribbean revolutionaries. Starting with the end of the Haitian Revolution in 1804 and concluding with the signing of the 1826 indemnity with France, the competing Republic of Haiti, the focus of this dissertation, and its northern counterpart, the State/Kingdom of Haiti, fought a disastrous civil war attempting to become the “legitimate” Haiti and engaging with the broader Atlantic World. Both nations attempted to develop themselves to prevent reinvasion by European forces and prove the equality of Black people with Europeans. The Civil War concluded in 1820 when the king committed suicide, and the kingdom was absorbed into the Republic of Haiti. The goals of preventing reinvasion were finally achieved when Haiti signed away its financial independence to France in 1826.