Du Sénégal aux Antilles: Gaspard-Théodore Mollien en Haiti, 1825-1831

Gaspard-Théodore Mollien, famous for his exploration of the upper Senegal River at age 22 in 1818, later joined the French Foreign Service. He became vice-consul in Cap Haïtien in 1825 and sent long reports to Paris describing life in the young republic. Although a royalist, he felt compelled to laud the unique historical experiment that Haitian independence represented. In 1828, he became consul general of France in Port-au-Prince, and was very much involved in the negotiations between France and Haiti regarding the payment of the indemnity for former French plantations owners that had been imposed by France in 1825. His position having changed, his attitude changed too. He became a forceful defender of French interests against the Haitian government's resistance to paying the indemnity.