BLACK SOCIAL HISTORY Jean-Louis Pierrot

Jean-Louis Pierrot

5th President of Haiti
In office April 16, 1845 – March 1, 1846
Preceded by	Philippe Guerrier
Succeeded by	Jean-Baptiste Riché
Personal details
Born	1761 Acul-du-Nord, Saint-Domingue
Died	February 18, 1857 (aged 95 or 96) Acul-du-Nord, Haiti
Spouse(s)	Cécile Fatiman, Louisa Genevieve Coidavid

Jean-Louis Michel Pierrot (1761 – February 18, 1857) was a career officer and general in the Haitian Army and President of Haiti from April 16, 1845 to March 1, 1846.^[1]

During the period of the Haitian Kingdom, Henri Christophe (Henry I) promoted Pierrot to the rank of Lieutenant General in the Army and granted him the hereditary title of Prince.^{[citation needed]}

Pierrot was elected president of Haiti by the Council of State on April 16, 1845, the day after the death of Philippe Guerrier.^[1] As President of Haiti, he was intended to be a figurehead for the mulatto ruling class.^{[citation needed]} Pierrot's most pressing duty as the new president was to check the incursions of the Dominicans, who were harassing the Haitian troops along the borders.^[1] Dominican boats were also making depredations on Haiti's coasts.^[1] President Pierrot decided to open a campaign against the Dominicans, whom he considered merely as insurgents.^[1] Haitians, however, were not inclined to go to war with their neighbors, and were unwilling to support the President's views.^[1]

Furthermore, Pierrot had displeased the army by conferring military rank on the leaders of the peasants of the Sud Department and on many of their followers.^[1] In addition, the inhabitants of the towns of this department felt uneasy regarding the tendencies of Pierrot, who had appointed Jean-Jacques Acaau, the former terrorist of Cayes, as Commandant of the Anse-à-Veau Arrondissement.^[1] Fearing a peasant revolt, the townsmen decided to divest Pierrot of his office.^[1] In consequence, on March 1, 1846, General Jean-Baptiste Riché was proclaimed President of the Republic at Port-au-Prince.^[1] On that same day, Pierrot resigned and retired to his plantation called Camp-Louise, where he led a quiet and peaceful life.^[1]

Pierrot died on February 18, 1857.^[1]

Pierrot's daughter, Marie Louise Amélia Célestine (Princess Pierrot), in 1845 married Lieutenant-General Pierre Nord Alexis, a provincial governor under Emperor Faustin I, who later became Haitian Minister for War from 1867 to 1869 and president of Haiti from 1902 to 1908.^{[citation needed]}