The Imperial Constitution affirms abolition and defines Haitian sovereignty

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 Fort-Dauphin, Dessalines, Christophe, and Clervaux signed a declaration vowing that Saint-Domingue would no longer live under French domination. This November proclamation preceded the formal Act...

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...

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...

After the conflict following Dessalines’s assassination, Henri Christophe’s northern State of Haiti adopted a constitution on 17 February 1807, while Alexandre Pétion’s southern and western Republic...

A constitutional act transformed Christophe’s northern state into the Kingdom of Haiti. He was crowned Henry I on 2 June. Christophe’s government built schools, fortifications, and state institutions,...

President Alexandre Pétion received Simón Bolívar in Haiti after the independence struggle in Venezuela had suffered setbacks. Haiti offered refuge and promised material support for a renewed...

Following Haitian assistance, Bolívar issued an emancipation decree in Carúpano, Venezuela, on 2 June 1816. The decree did not immediately end slavery throughout the region, but it reflected the...