Defiant Haiti: Free-Soil Runaways,Ship Seizures and the Politics of Diplomatic Non-Recognition in the Early Nineteenth Century

Uncomfortable with the potential influence of the Haitian Revolution on their slave populations and unwilling to deal on equal terms with non-white ambassadors or heads of state, the European colonial powers and the USA refused to formally recognize Haitian governments following the country's declaration of independence in 1804. For some British slave owners and US merchants, this policy of diplomatic non-recognition came at a cost. When slaves from surrounding British colonies escaped to Haiti, and when American merchants demanded restitution for ships and cargos seized by Haitian rulers, early Haitian regimes were free to rebuff and ignore the claims of unrecognized governments. Uneasy relations between British and US governments and the early Haitian Republic offer evidence of both the relative strength and autonomy of President Jean-Pierre Boyer's régime and the nature of the emancipationist policies that made Republican Haiti an attractive destination for hundreds of fugitive slaves from surrounding islands.