Philippe Guerrier

Philippe Guerrier (born December 19, 1757 in Grande Rivière du Nord , † April 15, 1845 in Saint-Marc ) was a Haitian politician and President of Haiti .

biography

Military career

Already during the War of Independence from 1801 to 1804 he was a soldier and as such was characterized by particular bravery, especially in the Battle of Vertières . After the reintroduction of slavery in the French colonies by Napoleon Bonaparte , the rebellious blacks in the French part of Hispaniola under Jean-Jacques Dessalines defeated the French decisively at the Battle of Vertières on November 18, 1803 and thus finally won the independence of Haiti .

After the War of Independence, he left the army and settled as a farmer on a plantation . For his services to the independence of Haiti, he was later raised to the nobility by King Henry I (Henri I) as Duke ( Duc ) de L'Avance.

President 1844 to 1845

The uprisings against President Riviere-Hérard in southern and northern Haiti

The situation in the Sud department was tense. The smallholders of Les Cayes expected the fulfillment of promises made to them by Charles Riviere-Hérard . On March 27, 1844, at a meeting in Camp-Perrin, the suffering army ( "L'Armée Souffrante" ) was set up under the leadership of Jean-Jacques Acaau. Acaau, a man with no education whatsoever, was given the title of general and had a talent for mass mobilization. This made him the leader of the popular uprising that succeeded in conquering Les Cayes on April 5, 1844. In the aftermath there were brutal and bloody outbreaks of violence by the poor rural population against the rich urban population.

While Acaau ruled as the dictator of Les Cayes, the small farmers of Grand'Anse also took up arms. They conquered Jérémie and soon took control of the entire Nippes department . There were also outbreaks of violence against the urban population, who had previously granted the poor rural population high-interest loans and took over their land after not paying the interest.

After the criticism of President Charles Riviere-Hérard spread to the north of Haiti, the residents of Cap-Haitien refused to support his government in a proclamation of April 25, 1844. At the same time, Guerrier was appointed President of Northern Haiti by the State Council .

Although there were political reasons for the uprisings in the north and agricultural reasons in the south, the common goal of both regions of the country was the overthrow of Riviere-Hérard, whose failures were the basis for the uprisings. This was in Azua in the Dominican Republic , which had recently declared itself independent of Haiti on February 27, 1844 by General Pedro Santana . Ultimately, however, he made no resistance to his deposition, but went first to Arcahaie in the Ouest department and later into exile in Jamaica .

Presidency

On May 3, 1844, the population of the capital Port-au-Prince followed the example of Cap-Haitien and solemnly welcomed Guerrier as the new President of Haiti .

After taking his oath of office on May 9, 1844, he began to restore peace in southern Haiti. In doing so, he tried to use the dictatorial authority conferred on him by the presidency only moderately, so that at his request the rebellious small farmers of the south actually put down their arms.

He then began reforming the public education system and founded secondary schools ( Lycées ) in Cap-Haitien and Les Cayes . On the other hand, there was a change in parliamentarianism in the political system by replacing the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate with a Council of State.

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predecessor	Office	successor
Charles Riviere-Hérard	President of Haiti May 3, 1844 - April 15, 1845	Jean-Louis Pierrot

personal data
SURNAME	Guerrier, Philippe
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	President of Haiti
DATE OF BIRTH	December 19, 1757
PLACE OF BIRTH	Grande Rivière du Nord
DATE OF DEATH	April 15, 1845
Place of death	Saint-Marc (Haiti)