By an ordinance of King Charles X on April 17, 1825, France recognized the independence of its colony of Saint-Domingue. This recognition was subject to the payment, by the Republic of Haiti, of a sum of 150 million gold francs intended to compensate the French colonists who had lost the properties they held in the colony, between 1791 and 1804. In July 1825, accompanied by a squadron, a senior officer of the French navy well-introduced to the Court, Baron de Mackau, was charged with delivering this ordinance to the President of Haiti, Jean-Pierre Boyer.

On his return from his mission in August 1825, Mackau wrote a report: this exceptional, largely unpublished document is at the heart of the work. At the initiative of the Haiti Patrimoine association, this publication of the Mackau report sheds a light of prime importance on the "debt of independence" imposed on Haiti by the former metropolis. A source of multiple oppositions since 1825, this historical subject remains relevant. It has resurfaced in Haiti over the last two decades, notably during the commemoration of the bicentennial of independence in 2003-2004, and in the aftermath of devastating earthquakes and cyclones, but always muted by the intensification of socio-political crises.

The chains that accompany this "debt of independence" are here approached in a long-term perspective, thanks to a critical apparatus and the articles signed by the four co-authors of the work, founding members of the Haiti Patrimoine association.