Ayiti

1. 1804. The first years Ayiti

2. 13 years of war had decimated the country. • Plantations went untended • Hundreds of thousands had died in the struggle. • 100,000 in 1802 alone • Haiti isolated by world powers. • All slave holding societies • Napoleon's dreams of American empire ended. Aftermath

3. February 1804- Accuses French planters who had either returned or stayed in the colony with conspiring to bring French back. • Begins to massacre Whites on the island • Reasons: return violences of slavery • Worry about French return • Take their wealth • Hatred of whites • Priests, doctors, apothecaries, artisans spared • ‘Good Whites’ also sparred, those who had fought for freedom and independence. Dessalines in Charge

4. Dessalines Proclaimes: • “Yes we have repaid these cannibals, war for war, crime for crime, outrage for out rage. I have saved my country, I have avenged the Americans. Never again shall colonists of European set foot on this soil as master or landowner. This shall henceforward be the foundation of our constitution… War to the death of the tyrants! This is my motto. Liberty! Independence is our rallying cry. April 28, 1804

5. Napoleon had conquered Poland. • 5,000 Polish troops were part of the forces sent to fight in Haiti • Most died 700 returned, 400 or so stayed • Thought they were being sent to liberate people • Realized it was to reinstate slavery. • Defected from the French • Jan HenrykDąbrowski • Articles 12-13 of 1805 constitution allow for Germans and Poles to hold land in Haiti Except Polish troops. blancpolone

6. Dessalines only trusted the people he had fought with. • Mulatto or Black. • All major generals assigned command of a region • Petion- West • Christophe-North • Geffard- South • Gabart- Artibonite Military reign.

7. The Military rule was necessary to secure the country incase of a French invasion. • This would plague Haitian leaders for the next twenty years. • Mountains and interior were where soldiers were able to defeat French and English. • Dessalines fortifies these areas. • Some designed to defend Haiti from Santo Domingo which still had French military stationed there. Fear of French Return

8. Plantations and irrigation in ruins. • Money to build these things spent on defending the country. • Everyone had to be trained in how to run a government. • He had killed most of the people who knew how to do this. • Many people did want to return to work in their old plantations • Invited African Americans to come live and work in a free country. Building a colony into a country

9. Majority of population was illiterate. Majority of the population spoke Kreyol and new government chose to operate in French alienating the population The population did not want to engage in plantation work, they wanted instead to work small plots of land. Problems in doing so

10. Slave holding nations isolated Haiti • U.S. worried that Haitian revolution would spread. • None of the colonial powers recognized Haiti’s independence. • Yet, both British, French, and American traders were doing business in Haiti. • Britain tried to enter into a unfavorable trade agreement with Haiti and Dessalines refused them. Foreign Relations

11. Emphasized his role as the person who liberated Haiti and Haitians. • Issues the Constitution May 20, 1805 • Crowns himself Emperor, • Responsibilities, • Establish law and order • Appoint civil and military functionaries • Finances of the state • Power of declaring war • Commuting prison sentences Dessalines as Emperor

12. Aided the emperor in governing • Two ministers • Vernet- Minister of Interior and fincances • Gerin- Minister of War • Secretary of State- JusteChanlette Ministers

13. Other constitution regarding laws • Regulated legitimacy for all children whether born out of wedlock or not. • Established a judicial system. • Regulated administration of the state • Freedom of religion • Colors of the flag- Red and Black Clauses of Constitution

14. January 1,1804- October 17,1806 • Characterized by strong military type leadership. • Placed plantations in the hands of the state. • In the beginning he maintained large plantations • Towards the end, he showed signs of distributing land • No Mulatto could claim their father’s land • Alienated many of his officers • Faced strong resistance in the South Dessalines rule

15. Legacy of Civil War • Had killed many Mulattoes • They were most numerous and powerful • When touring the south in 1806 he was upset that dyewood was being readied to ship over seas. • He had outlawed logging • Burn the harvest, which outraged merchants The south

16. Dessalines actions angered many generals • Responded by issuing arrest warrants for generals • Generals Rose up against him • Insurrection broke out in Port Salut October 8 • Christophe acknowledged as leader • Petion joins insurrection • Petion and Christophe come to an agreement accepting, allowing, or plotting Dessalines assignation Pont Rouge

17. Heads south to restore peace • Leaves Marchland October 15 • Ambush set for him at Pont Rouge • Surrounded • Shot in the head • Defilee gathers his remains • Remembered as a Lwa- • Ogou Dessalines • God of war Death of an Emperor

18. In a play Defilee says • “What the French could not accomplish, have the really done it, these monsters …… Haiti as dared what Saint Domingue had tried in vain” HenockTrouillot