Bolívar issues an emancipation decree after receiving Haitian aid

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...

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...

After illness, paralysis, and growing opposition, Henry Christophe died on 8 October 1820 as unrest spread through the northern kingdom. His death opened the way for the northern state to rejoin the...

Jean-Pierre Boyer entered Cap-Haïtien and issued a proclamation calling for national unity after Christophe’s death and the collapse of the northern monarchy. The northern state joined the republic,...

King Charles X’s ordinance of 17 April 1825 offered diplomatic recognition of Haiti on condition that the Haitian state pay 150 million francs to compensate former colonists for property lost...

President Jean-Pierre Boyer accepted the French terms on 11 July after negotiations conducted under the threat of a naval force. France recognized Haitian independence, but Haiti was required to...