Haiti: The Black Country That Won Its Freedom and Independence & Was Billed 122 Years For It

Jean-Pierre Boyer: The man who agreed to the debt payment to the French.
Jean-Pierre Boyer was born in Port-au-Prince and was the biracial son of a French tailor and an African mother, a slave from the Congo. He was sent to France by his father for his education. During the French Revolution, he served as a battalion commander, and fought against Toussaint Louverture in the early years of the Haitian Revolution. He later allied himself with André Rigaud, also of mulatto ancestry, in the latter's abortive insurrection against Toussaint to try to keep control of the southern region of Saint-Domingue (modern-day Haiti).

After going into exile in France during the Haitian Revolution, Boyer and Alexandre Pétion returned in 1802 with the French troops led by General Charles Leclerc. After it became clear the French were going to try to reimpose slavery and restrictions on free gens de couleur, Boyer joined the patriots under Pétion and Jean-Jacques Dessalines, who led the colony to independence. After Pétion rose to power in the Republic of Haiti in the South, he chose Boyer as his successor. He was reportedly under the influence of his (and his predecessor's) lover and mistress, Marie-Madeleine Lachenais (a mulatto), who acted as his political adviser. (Boyer’s political adviser was his mistress).
Boyer was anxious to eliminate the threat from France and opened negotiations. An agreement was reached on 11 July 1825, when Boyer signed an indemnity treaty. It stated that France would recognize Haiti as an independent country in return for 150 million francs paid within five years. While this sum was later reduced to 90 million francs (in 1838), it was the blow that crushed Haiti’s economy.

Benoit Joseph André Rigaud was a leading mulatto military general during the Haitian Revolution. Among his protégés were Alexandre Pétion and Jean-Pierre Boyer, both future presidents of Haïti.
Rigaud rebelled against Toussaint Louverture's government, leading to the War of the South. He successfully seceded the southern state from Haiti and proclaimed Presidency of the southern state of Haiti.

Exile and Imprisonment: After losing the War of the South to Toussaint Louverture, Rigaud fled to France in 1800. He later returned with French forces in 1802, but was imprisoned in France at Fort de Joux from 1803 until his eventual release.Return to Haiti: He came back to Haiti in 1810 and tried to set up a separate state in the southern part of the country.

Rigaud was born in Saint-Domingue (modern day Haiti) to André Rigaud, a wealthy French slave planter (slave plantation owner) and Rose Bossy Depa, a slave woman. His father acknowledged the mixed-race (mulatto) boy as his at a young age and sent him to Bordeaux, France, where he was trained as a goldsmith.

Rigaud was known to wear a brown-haired wig with straight hair to resemble a white man as closely as possible.
Among Andre Rigaud protégés were Alexandre Pétion and Jean-Pierre Boyer, both future presidents of Haïti. (All 3 mixed-race mulattos).