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The mobilizations of the Piquets (so called the "insurgent farmers" between 1844 and 1848) are undoubtedly the first expression of democratic radicalism in the history of our political and social struggles after independence. They go beyond the "peasant fury" experienced under the presidency of Pétion and Boyer (insurrection of Goman, rebellion of June 1811 near Les Cayes) as well as under the reign of Christophe (uprising of Meyer and Rebecca in 1807 in the North-West). Indeed, it was this time, particularly from 1844 to 1846, a fight led by a fringe importance of Jean-Jacques Acaau, the main leader of the popular protest during the great crisis that followed from 1843 to 1848, comes from the region of Torbeck "Young, proud and pretty handsome", he knows how to read and write, says Madiou. Former lieutenant of the Gendarmerie, military body which according to the Rural Code of Boyer also deals with the rural police, it is thus close to the deprivations of the daily universe of the peasants parcellaires and day laborers.
Gustave d'Allaux reports that before the outbreak of the insurrection Jean-Jacques Accau, wearing on his head a hat pierced, wearing a jacket and trousers collette, would have gone barefoot to the ordeal of his parish. There, he would have made the public commitment to keep this outfit until the day when finally we will take into account the "orders of the divine providence", that is to say, in other words, when will be satisfied the claims growers for fair prices both in the sale of commodities and the purchase of imported goods, for education accessible to all and for
The peasant rebellion led by Jean-Jacques Acaau has three great moments:
the offensenive (March-May 1844), neutralization (May-September 1844) and the revival (March-August 1846).
After a few days of intensive preparations by about thirty promoters, the movement left Camp-Perrin, where he had established his headquarters since March 26, 1844, to attack the main cities of the South. This is how Les Cayes, Jérémie, Miragoâne, and Aquin were successively occupied. This rise in peasant agitation decisively contributed to the fall of President Rivière Hérard and the appointment of Philippe Guerrier to replace him at the beginning of May of the same year.
In conquered cities no measure is taken for the satisfaction of the great demands of the workers of the earth. In addition, the division settles among the leaders of the peasant mobilization who are all promoted to positions of command in the military apparatus of the state. This new situation generates serious limitations that will ultimately encourage the implementation of a policy of neutralization, weakening and recovery of all protest action of farmers to maintain the status quo ante. From May to September 1844, Jean-Jacques Acaau, at the same time embarrassed by the effects of his inconsistencies and victim of the hostility of his opponents, as well as of his closest supporters of yesterday, was obliged to submit to the authority of the central power. He ended up being tried and imprisoned in Saint-Marc, far from his area of implantation and operation.
The rivalries between the various clans that dominated the political scene lead to the creation of a climate conducive to the liberation of the peasant leader, although he still had to remain in Saint-Marc. Then President Pierrot appointed him commander of the district of Nippes. His return to the South, around July 1845, provoked much enthusiasm. Solomon notes that he still exerts a "magical influence" on the populations of several regions of the Department. At the proclamation of the overthrow of Pierrot and the accession of Riché to the presidency on March 1st, 1846, the main Piquet leaders of the Les Cayes region were still divided, but this time as respective supporters of the former and the new president. They nearly clashed with each other. However, a dozen days later, the rivalries were overcome and all recognized the authority of the successor Pierrot.
As for Acaau, probably in memory of the events which occurred in 1844 during which the current Head of State, in the company of Geffrard, had braked Piquets in advance towards Miragoâne, he opposed for his part first days of March, to the appointment of Riché as President of the Republic. On Saturday, March 7, he opened hostilities at L'Anse-à-Veau and retrenched in Fort Saint-Laurent. The next day 8, with the successive arrival on the scene of the generals Samedi Thelemaque and Pierre Philippeaux, 7,000 men were gathered against him. In front of them, he barely gathered about two hundred partisans. After a duel of artillery, the assault was given against its entrenchment. Faced with the overwhelming superiority of the opposing forces, he abandoned the position and took refuge "on the Joly Habitation in a locale named Clerin". Tracked by the troops launched in pursuit, his presence "on the heights of the Broissard Habitation about two places of Anse-à-Veau" was ultimately revealed by three paid informers, Closier Cheri, Guillaume Désir and Marcellus Billard.
The popular tradition, transmitted orally from generation to generation among the inhabitants of the area over all the years that separate us from these events, allowed us on the one hand to identify the exact hiding place where died Acaau and other to specify the circumstances of his suicide. The information gathered on the ground about these two facts perfectly concretizes this "long memory" studied by anthropologists and cultivated especially in the village universe. They allow to establish an articulation between this important historical moment of the peasant struggle of the time and the lived experience of a family, in this case that of the friend who has given asylum to the hunted leader. Thus, in the end, a religious phenomenon of high symbolic value has occurred for the entire sociocultural landscape of the region, thus ensuring, over time, a significant presence of the leader of the popular rebellion.
With regard to the place of the ultimate refuge of Acaau, it is about a cave located at a distance quite far from Fort Saint-Laurent and forming a kind of cul-de-base-natural pit. In this place, which has become sacred today and where offerings in honor of the spirit of the fugitive who lived there, have been regularly deposited, Clérin himself assured the supply of his protege. Denounced, he is arrested and is subjected to a lot of abuse. One of his sons, to avoid him the worst, then leads the army to the hiding place. Arrested, the head of the Peasant insurrection quickly realizes the presence of the soldiers and without hesitation puts an end to his life himself so as not to fall alive in the hands of his enemies. According to written sources, this is happening on March 11 around midnight. Acaau would have remained alive for only 3 to 4 days in the cache that Clérin had found for him. In any case, the historians indicate that after his disappearance and until the end of August of the same year, his partisans maintain a relentless resistance which is finally mastered by a fierce repression carried out systematically during six successive months . Acaau would have remained alive for only 3 to 4 days in the cache that Clérin had found for him. In any case, the historians indicate that after his disappearance and until the end of August of the same year, his partisans maintain a relentless resistance which is finally mastered by a fierce repression carried out systematically during six successive months . Acaau would have remained alive for only 3 to 4 days in the cache that Clérin had found for him. In any case, the historians indicate that after his disappearance and until the end of August of the same year, his partisans maintain a relentless resistance which is finally mastered by a fierce repression carried out systematically during six successive months .
The resurgence of the Piquets' struggle in 1848 was part of another context. This time, contrary to previous situations, the peasant protest did not conflict with the aims of the head of the central government. It became rather a valuable asset in the political battle that Soulouque delivered at that time to consolidate his own position as head of state in conflict with powerful opponents in the world of the ruling classes. Basically, the movement of Piquets, after many adventures, ended up being recovered by the new social category reigning.
References[]
Jean-Jacques ACAAU, Defender of the Farmers, by Michael Hector, Historian of the Memory Foundation - [1]