Haitian Realities and the Emigrants’ Return
This chapter focuses on the emigrants' return to their home nation. In all, emigrants returned home for similar reasons: unforeseen hardship, disease, and a clash between reality and what they had been led to believe. Disillusionment came in the form of a regime that failed to live up to its promise to uphold republican rights of equal citizenship and an economic landscape that discouraged rather than encouraged commercial enterprise. It was as if all the Americans' expectations were punctured one by one in Haiti's declining economy and failed diplomatic policy. For Boyer, the emigration was an enormous disappointment. It failed to bring about the desired result—American recognition.