Leaders issue a preliminary declaration of independence

Alexandre Pétion and Clervaux deserted the French side and joined the insurgency, followed by troops under their command. Their choice reflected mounting fear that French rule would strip Black and...

Charles Leclerc died at Cap-Français during the epidemic that devastated the French expeditionary force. Disease, resistance, and logistical strain undermined France’s effort to reimpose colonial...

Toussaint Louverture died at Fort de Joux after months of imprisonment without trial. His death in exile did not end the revolution. The movement he had helped shape continued under leaders and...

At the Arcahaie congress, revolutionary leaders adopted a flag formed by removing the white band from the French tricolor and joining blue and red. Haitian tradition associates the act with Dessalines...

The Indigenous Army under Jean-Jacques Dessalines and François Capois defeated Rochambeau’s forces at Vertières near Cap-Français. The victory followed years of resistance, epidemic disease, and...

At Gonaïves, Jean-Jacques Dessalines and other revolutionary leaders proclaimed independence, formally breaking with France and naming the new state Haiti, from the Indigenous name Ayiti. The Act of...

Between February and 22 April 1804, Dessalines’s government directed killings of many remaining French residents, including civilians. Some non-French Europeans and professionals were spared, but many...

Revolutionary leaders proclaimed Dessalines emperor in September 1804, consolidating authority in the new state. His coronation took place on 8 October. The empire asserted Haiti’s sovereignty in a...

The Constitution of 1805 prohibited slavery and affirmed the independence of Haiti under Emperor Jacques Dessalines. It defined the state’s citizenship and authority while seeking to prevent a...

A group of Haitian officers and political opponents assassinated Emperor Jacques Dessalines near Pont-Rouge outside Port-au-Prince. His rule had defended independence and emancipation but also...