1889, October 9 – 1891: (A Prophecy of Peace: The Inauguration of Hyppolite, Frederick Douglass, and the Constitution of 1889): Louis Mondestin Florvil Hyppo…

1889, October 9 – 1891: (A Prophecy of Peace: The Inauguration of Hyppolite, Frederick Douglass, and the Constitution of 1889): Louis Mondestin Florvil Hyppolite was chosen president on October 9, 1889, and took the oath at Gonaïves on the 17th. The new constitution — modeled on that of 1879, moderate, practical, and democratic — was destined to remain in force for twenty-nine years, the record for longevity in a field of swift and early mortality. The new cabinet was a good one, with Firmin heading Foreign Affairs and Finance, Monpoint at War, and Cauvin at Justice, while its concession to the South was the appointment of Rameau’s nephew Dantès to Public Instruction, who breathed life into the university and bluntly told the legislature that rural schools no longer existed. In the American legation there was a new face: President Harrison sent Frederick Douglass, the most distinguished American Black of his time, while sadly and somewhat down in the world Ebenezer Bassett returned as Douglass’s clerk at $825 per annum. Douglass described Hyppolite as a man of medium height, dark brown complexion, and gray hair, with a well-balanced head, clear steady eye, and high intelligence — a man not to be trifled with, whose election was a prophecy of peace. Hyppolite augured this purpose with a general amnesty on November 5, and on February 3, 1890, met with Dominican dictator Heureaux at Thomazeau to reaffirm past agreements that Haiti and Santo Domingo would keep hands off each other’s internal politics. Although the public debt had soared to $20 million, logwood was booming, the coffee crop was bounteous, and in Firmin Haiti had an honest Finance Minister who in his first year reduced the debt by 13 percent.