Haitian Emigration

Haitian Emigration refers to the emigration of free blacks from the United States to Haiti in the early 19th century.

In an attempt to break out from the United States’ racist filled society, antebellum free Blacks emigrated to Haiti. Although a few emigrants left for Haiti during the 1810s, it was not until 1824 that with the support of the Haitian President Jean Pierre Boyer that the emigration began in earnest. The Haitian emigration project ran against the wishes of the American Colonization Society, which attempted to remove free Blacks as far as Africa and dreaded the idea of strengthening the Black state of Haiti. Several thousand Blacks departed toward Haiti the summer of 1824 and the flow continued until 1826 when the Haitian government stopped paying and defraying the transportation costs. U.S. Blacks continued moving to Haiti after this, but the numbers were never as high as those that left between the years of 1824–1826. Another Haitian emigration scheme began in 1859 and lasted for about three years. Even though this project had the support of Abraham Lincoln and other political figures, the frustrations of the 1820s and an increasing Black identification with the U.S. substantially hindered the enthusiasm this time.