The Sacred Heart of Early Haiti

This article examines lived religion in early Haiti under the presidency of Jean-Pierre Boyer (1818–43). It considers how Haitian citizens imagined their relationship to God at a time when the state hoped to build a national Haitian Catholic church. The article takes as its starting point a lay confraternity dedicated to the Sacred Heart in Cap-Haïtien. The article shows that both lay Catholics and statesmen built Catholic institutions during the early independence era before the state regularized its relationship to the Holy See. Lay devotions had diverse origins from across the Atlantic world. Moreover, lay worship shaped the process of nation building in Haiti, especially the presidency's goal of a nationalized, Haitian Catholicism.