1879-10-02: (Lysius Salomon Becomes President, a Wealthy Educated Black Man Who Attempts to Modernize Haiti by Establishing the National Bank, Professionaliz…

1879-10-02: (Lysius Salomon Becomes President, a Wealthy Educated Black Man Who Attempts to Modernize Haiti by Establishing the National Bank, Professionalizing the Military, and Creating the Nation’s First Postal System): On October 2, 1879, Lysius Salomon assumed the presidency of Haiti. Born on June 30, 1815, into a wealthy educated Black family in Les Cayes, Salomon had served as Soulouque’s minister of finance before fleeing into exile after the emperor’s abdication in 1859. He spent two decades in Paris and London, observing firsthand how underdeveloped Haiti was compared to the European powers. When he returned in 1879, he carried those observations into a modernization program that was the most ambitious since Christophe’s. In 1880, he established the National Bank of Haiti and sought to suppress official corruption. He created the nation’s first postal system, adhered to the rules of the International Postal Union, and issued Haiti’s first postage stamps. He granted the British a franchise to connect Port-au-Prince to Jamaica with an undersea cable. He expanded education, restored agricultural productivity, and professionalized the military. These achievements were real. But they coexisted with authoritarian rule, mulatto resentment, and the crushing weight of the French indemnity.