Geffrard promulgates the Rural Code that will govern peasant life for a century

On 27 October 1864 President Fabre Geffrard promulgated Haiti’s second Rural Code, 132 articles in nine chapters. The first, Boyer’s, had been repealed in 1843. It was meant to take effect on 1 January 1865, but unrest and a shortage of staff delayed its application. It stayed in force until François Duvalier issued his own code on 16 May 1962.