A Limited Friendship: Haitian–British Relations Post Recognition

Abstract

Historians have paid scant attention to how Haitian president Jean-Pierre Boyer sought to knit Haiti more closely to Great Britain in the 1820s. With the arrival of British diplomatic representative, Consular-General Charles Mackenzie in 1825 to Haiti, his presence set in motion a series of exertions by Boyer and his administration to secure British friendship by using the British National Archival diplomatic materials from the Foreign Office. This research fills in significant gaps around Boyer's manoeuvrings in achieving this end and offers a correction of sorts on Boyer's presidency. This work contributes a more complete (and nuanced) picture of how Haiti struggled to achieve sovereignty in its early life as a post-independent country in a sea of hostile and unfriendly neighbours.