Then in 1801, a decade after the Haitian Revolution began, and after Napoleon deposed the Spanish king, Toussaint Louverture briefly captured the Spanish portion of Hispaniola. Spain had ceded Hispaniola to France under the Treaty of Basel in 1795, and did not regain control until 1809. During this and French rule, Higüey was a district of the Ozama department. After Spanish forces regained control in the España Boba period, Higüey again became part of the El Seibo región. In 1821, during the brief Spanish Republic of Haiti, the area tried to protect itself from its much larger neighbors by allying with Gran Colombia. However, wars both with Haiti and for independence continued. In 1822, Haitian forces under the command of Jean-Pierre Boyer recaptured Higüey in the Haitian occupation of Santo Domingo. The local economy sputtered under military rule and land expropriations, although slavery did end under both Haitian control and British naval enforcement throughout the Caribbean of antislavery policies advocated by William Wilberforce.