Part I

1. Intro
2. Coming to America / middle passage
3. Mistreatment of the slaves
4. The revolution
5. Toussaint Louverture
6. Dessalines origins

Part II
7. Leclerc expedition
8. The war of knives
8A. Dessalines
9. Crete à Pierrot
10. Toussaint arrest*
11. French generals
12. Return to revolution
13. Camp Gerard**
14. Strategic planning
15. Campaign to conquer
16. Vertieres: Dessalines /Capois, Gabbart, and Daut
17. Dessalines speeches***
18. Proclamation
19. Declaration
20. Spanish speech
21. French massacre
22. I have avenged America
23. Letter to Jefferson / letter to the American Journals
24. America for 40 gourdes
25. Constitution 1805
26. Plot to kill ****
27. Assassination
28. Annex
29. Legacy
 Human Oath

It is our duty to proceed from what is near to what is distant. To proceed from what is known to
that which is less known; to gather the traditions from those who have reported them, to correct
them as much as possible, and to leave the rest as it is, in order to make our work help anyone
who seeks truth, loves wisdom, and stop the influx of weapons of massive mental destruction.

JAL
Foreword ***

Knowing that a job is never perfect, I will not advocate that mine is. However, I have done my
best to avoid guesswork and deductions. I have only transcribed information found through
reputable primary sources. Some data completely refute others that are very popular, but such is
the life, the truth always triumphs in the end. Haiti's rich and bouncy history cannot be restricted
to the whims of the vanquished or its workers, so I think it is time for our brothers and sisters to
hear or read different documented and justified information about the Founding Father of the
Haitian nation.
Given that facts and actions have often had a significant impact on humanity and sometimes
remain inaccessible to the vast majority to become esoteric instruments, it is the duty of every
responsible and concerned citizen to contribute to the emancipation of his contemporaries and to
elucidate them by making this instrument exoteric. The truth for posterity.
I would like to thank all those who in one way or another contributed to the realization of this
project, in particular G. Harry Louis, Tessa Iana Louis, Shelby S. Louis, S. G. for their advice. It
is with a light heart that I bequeath this instrument concerning the Emperor Jean Jacques
Dessalines to all the elites, to all the masses of my country and mainly to all those whose task is
to pass on knowledge to young people who constitute the future of the country.
“…and suddenly there was light.”
 Part I
The Origin of Dessalines

Coming to America
In 1492, Christopher Columbus sailed from Europe to the New World, a continent named
*America. He first landed in the Bahamas, before continuing to Cuba, Haiti, and the other
islands that constitute the Caribbean. Upon his return to Spain, he declared the court ruled by
Isabella that he had discovered paradise, because his eyes had never admired such beauty and
splendor before. The fact that those places comprise many mines of what those Europeans
consider invaluable riches; greediness took over the common sense of those desperate people.
Remember they came from a continent devoid of the blessings of nature, where life, in itself
constitute a hardship. The soil in most parts of this continent did not produce any goods, be they
edible, combustible, or else.
The gold mines of the new continent kindled the fire of greediness of those criminals*. They did
not hesitate a second to put the natives who had welcomed them with open arms and kind hearts
to work. They had achieved the great feat of killing or causing the deaths of over 8 million
people in a span of 15 years. Hence the need for stronger and more resilient people to work the
mines and tilt the land became a dilemma. One Las Casas Bartholomeus suggested using people
from Alkebulan**. Alkebulan,** according to Dr. Cheik Anta Diop, one of the most respected
authorities and pioneered on African history, stated that the ancient name of Africa is Alkebulan
**meaning the mother of Mankind. This is the oldest and only word with indigenous origin used
to refer to Africa. It was used by the Moors, Nubians, Numidians, Kart-Haddans
(Carthagenians), and Ethiopians. However, the word Alkebulan in Arabic means “the land of the
blacks”. It is also worth mentioning that if this word has Arabic origin as stated by other sources,
this would negate its indigenous origin and it being the original name of Africa, the continent.
Las Casas’ recommendations created the most gruesome, ruthless economic industry in the
history of humankind, which consisted of the infernal triangle. They called one of the legs of
that triangle “The middle passage”.
Middle Passage,

**This is the leg of the forced journey of captured or sold Africans across the Atlantic Ocean to
the new world. It is reported that sometimes warring empires would sell their own brothers
captured in battles to wicked Europeans sailors and empires. However, it is a recorded fact that
those avid adventurers would foray into the deep of Africa to capture, kidnap Africans to take
them on ships destined for what is called the New World. * It was one leg of the triangular trade
route where European adventurers took cheap goods (such as knives, guns, ammunition, cotton
cloth, tools, and brass dishes) to Africa in return for able bodies. The purpose of these vile trades
were to have enough Africans to work as slaves in the Americas and the Caribbeans. The mostly
raw materials produced on the plantations (sugar, rice, tobacco, indigo, rum, and cotton) brought
huge profits to the country of the colonizers. About 50% of France’s economy, for example
comes from one of its most prized colonies “Saint Domingue”, which they have dubbed the
Pearl of the Antilleans.

From about 1511 to the mid-19th century, millions of African men, women, and children have
had to endure the 21-to-90-day journey on overcrowded sailing ships manned by sailors from the
Netherlands, Great Britain, Portugal, Spain, and France.

Those traders usually anchored off the coast of Guinea to load their cargoes. Those ships, laden
with approximately 500 or more human beings supposedly bought from rival tribes, but mostly
kidnaped by the slave traders, would leave Africa with their human goods to the new world. The
leg from Africa to Al Merika today known as America was fraught with danger and was very
brutal. Shackled together in the boat hold, the men, women, and children had to do everything in
that sty from releasing their bodies from any extra substances to eating the meager portion of
food that they fed them throughout the voyage.

During these journeys, they were exposed to different types of dangers, sometimes pirates or
enemy ships would raid the ships transporting them. During bad weather, some of them would be
thrown overboard dead or alive to lighten the ships. Moreover, in bad weather the oppressive
heat and noxious fumes in the unventilated and unsanitary holds caused fevers and dysentery,
which caused a high mortality rate. Deaths during the Middle Passage have been estimated at 13
percent of the load on almost every trip. So many bodies of dead or dying Africans were
regularly jettisoned into the ocean. Which caused sharks to follow the slave ships expecting a
hearty meal.

In memory of those who did not make it, Jason de Caires Taylor has sculpted the monument of
the 26 children holding hands under water off the coast of Grenada. For more information on the
subjects of slave treatments during the middle passage, one can read the works of Sowande M.
Mustakeem.

The situation on the ships were so bad that between 1699 and 1845, 55 mutinies were recorded.
Slave trading became such a profitable business that the British established the Royal African
Company (RAC) in 1660. The RAC was the leader in the history of the Atlantic slave trade.
They shipped more African slaves to America than any other such companies. The head of this
company was none other, but the Duke of York, the brother of King Charles II, and in 1685,
York took the throne as James II. This is proof that queens and kings approved of the slave trade,
and made their fortunes from it. Today many rich families from France, England, and other
European countries are thriving because of the slave trade.

***Although, some countries have received reparations, the land of Haiti, where the trees, rivers, the mountains, and
the ocean had witnessed some of the most brutal cruelties of slavery, before gaining its independence, had never
received a dime as compensation for slavery. Haiti has received neither reparations for slavery nor restitution for the
115 million francs paid to France in 1825, albeit not for lack of trying. This payment was the result of Alexandre
Sabes Petion’s proposition to Dauxyon Lavayisse, a French envoy in 1814. The then President Alexandre Sabes
Petion did make that offer public knowledge (the people and the army) by publishing it in the December 3, 1814
copy of the Government Journal. Charles X, king of France in 1825, demanded the said payment, and Jean Pierre
Boyer agreed to pay the money, thus putting a stranglehold on Haiti’s economy, which is still asphyxiating the
country today.*****
The Middle Passage supplied the New World with its major workforce and brought enormous
profits to international slave traders. At the same time, it exacted a terrible price in physical and
emotional anguish on the part of the uprooted Africans; it also revealed the callousness to human
suffering developed among the traders.
Mistreatments of the Slaves
Those poor souls yanked from their country arrived to the Americas at different reception ports, some landed in
Jamaica, some in North and South America, and others in Haiti.
****
On each plantation, there was a commander, usually a “petit blan” or sometimes a slave. He
supervised the other slaves. However, the master always made sure not to favor one African
ethnic group over the others. Most slaves who came to Saint-Domingue worked in fields or
shops; younger slaves often became household servants, and old slaves were employed as
surveillants. Some slaves became skilled workers, and they received privileges such as better
food, the ability to go into town, “ liberté des savanes” (freedom of movement), a sort of
freedom with certain rules. Slaves were considered highly valuable as properties.
There were numerous kinds of plantations in Saint-Domingue. Some planters produced indigo,
cotton, and coffee; these plantations were small in scale, and usually only had 15-30 slaves,
creating an intimate work environment among the slaves. However, the most valuable
plantations produced sugar. The average sugar plantation employed 300 slaves, and the largest
sugar plantation on record employed 1400 slaves. These plantations took up only 14% of Saint-
Domingue's cultivated land; comparatively, coffee was 50% of all cultivated land, indigo was
22%, and cotton only 5%. Because of the comparative investment requirement between sugar
plantations and all other plantation types, there was a big economic gap between normal planters
and sugar "lords."
While grands blancs owned 800 large scale sugar plantations, the petits blancs and gens de
couleur (people of color) owned 11,700 small scale plantations, of which petits blancs owned
5,700 plantations, counting 3,000 indigo, 2,000 coffee, and 700 cotton; the affranchis and
Creoles of color owned 6,000 plantations that mainly produced coffee of which they held an
economic monopoly.

The Code Noir regulated behavior and treatment of slaves in the French colonies
Some sugar planters, bent on earning high sugar yields, worked their slaves very hard. Costs to
start a sugar cane plantation were very high, often causing the proprietor of the plantation to go
into deep debt. Many slaves on sugar cane plantations died within a few years; it was cheaper to
import new slaves than to improve working conditions. The death rate of slaves on Saint
Domingue's sugar cane plantations was higher than anywhere else in the Western hemisphere;
indeed, slaves working on sugar plantations in Saint-Domingue came to have a 6-10% annual
mortality rate, causing Saint Domingue’s sugar planters to import new slaves frequently.
Over the colony's couple of hundred-year course, about a million slaves succumbed to the
conditions of slavery. Some slaves of African ethnicities who believed in metempsychosis, the
belief of the soul's migration at death, committed suicide shortly after arriving on the island, as
they believed that in death they could return to their home territory where they would regain the
rank, wealth, relatives, and friends that they had. Some pregnant slaves living in poor conditions
on sugar plantations did not survive long enough or have healthy enough pregnancies to birth
live babies, but if they did, the children often died young due to malnourishment. On some sugar
plantations, food was insufficient, and slaves were expected to grow and prepare it for
themselves on top of their 12-hour workdays.

In 1685, the French king Louis XIV decreed the Code Noir, a regulation of the treatment of
slaves. Although the Code Noir was established to protect the rights of slaves, a thorough
reading of the code reveals that it was a set of rules and regulations to alienate the slaves of their
human rights and channeled them into a more obedient and submissive servant. The presence of
a rural police did neither change nor deter slave owners to treat the slaves with humanity. Most
slaves were abused. There are many recorded instances where slaves were whipped, burned,
buried alive, restrained and allowed to be bitten by swarms of insects, mutilated, raped, and had
limbs amputated. On some plantations, slaves caught eating the sugar cane crop would be forced
to wear tin muzzles in the fields. Those who escaped would be pursued by bloodhounds and
often eaten alive by the trained carnivorous creatures. ***

About 48,000 slaves in Saint Domingue escaped from their plantation; slaveholders hired bounty
hunters to catch these rebels called maroons. Those who were not caught and re-enslaved
established communities away from settled areas. Maroons would organize raids on
plantations, stealing supplies that their communities needed to survive, such as food, tools and
weapons. One famous maroon, François Mackandal, escaped into the mountains in the middle of
the 18th century and went on to plan attacks on plantation owners. Mackandal was caught
and burned at the stake in 1758, but his legend lived on to inspire rebellion among slaves — and
fear among slaveholders.
The maroons formed close-knit communities that practiced small-scale agriculture and hunting.
They were known to return to plantations to free family members and friends. On a few
occasions, they also joined the Taíno settlements, who had escaped the Spanish in the 17th
century. In the late 17th and early 18th centuries, there were a large number of maroons living in
the Bahoruco mountains. In 1702, a French expedition against them killed three maroons and
captured 11, but over 30 evaded, and retreated further into the mountainous forests. Further
expeditions were carried out against them with limited success, though they did succeed in
capturing one of their leaders, Michel, in 1719. In subsequent expeditions, in 1728 and 1733,
French forces captured 46 and 32 maroons respectively. No matter how many detachments were
sent against these maroons, they continued to attract runaways. Expeditions in 1740, 1742, 1746,
1757 and 1761 had minor successes against these maroons, but failed to destroy their hideaways.
In 1776-7, a joint French-Spanish expedition ventured into the border regions of the Bahoruco
mountains, with the intention of destroying the maroon settlements there. However, the maroons
had been alerted of their coming, and had abandoned their villages and caves, retreating further
into the mountainous forests where they could not be found. The detachment eventually returned,
unsuccessful, and having lost many soldiers to illness and desertion. In the years that followed,
the maroons attacked several settlements, including Fond-Parisien, for food, weapons,
gunpowder and women. It was on one of these excursions that one of the maroon leaders,
Kebinda, who had been born in freedom in the mountains, was captured. He later died in
captivity.
In 1782, de Saint-Larry decided to offer peace terms to one of the maroon leaders, Santiago,
granted them freedom in return for which they would hunt all further runaways and return them
to their owners. Eventually, at the end of 1785, terms were agreed, and the more than 100
maroons under Santiago's command stopped making incursions into French colonial territory.
In addition to escaping, slaves resisted by poisoning slaveholders, their families, their livestock,
and other slaves — this was a common and feared enough occurrence that in, December 1746,
the French king banned poisoning. Arson was another form of slave resistance.
The Revolution
The revolution of Saint Domingue remained arguably the greatest revolution known to modern
men. Although it took place after the 1776 United States revolution, and 1789 French revolution,
it had the distinct objective of really making all men equal regardless of creed, faith, culture, skin
color, and race.
This major revolution started in 1791 and reached its pinnacle in November 1803 with the
proclamation of independence. During those years, many leaders have risen and fallen from
grace.
Everything started with the meeting at Bwa Kay Iman where prominent leaders under the aegis
of a man named Bookman, probably a Houngan though some same people say that he was a
Muslim, convened to prepare a plan of action against the slave masters, and plantation owners.
People of all faith were present in that meeting, even though the prayer was a voodoo ceremony
and ritual, according to Antoine Dalmas relating a free and respected black man named Ignace
who participated in the meeting. They sacrificed a pig whose throat was most likely cut by a
mambo, who then distributed its blood and other parts to the participants. This well thought out
plan almost got thwarted for two reasons: 1. When Oge and Chavannes got caught during their
revolution, and Oge, a man of faint heart who was not ready for a real revolution, upon
witnessing the dismemberment of Chavannes, decided to reveal some secrets to save his own
life. The captain who wrote Oge’s deposition did not believe that those ignorant black people
would be able to elaborate such a scheme, where everyone was supposed to meet to plan this
revolution. The captain’s name, historical irony, was Vertières. (Rainsford, 1805)
After that meeting of 14 August 1791, A date was set to begin the hostilities. However, some of
those who partook in the meeting from the Northwest could not wait for the set date and wanted
to act immediately. An advised leader refrained them from doing so, hence, sticking to the
meticulously elaborated plan.
According to Antoine Dalmas, on August 21, 1791, suddenly there was an uproar in the whole
area of the North as slaves attacked their masters, their master’s properties killing and burning
everything on their path. It was a very difficult couple of days for the planters who had to flee to
the city. Based on Dalmas statements, the revolution would have succeeded that same night if the
other slaves were as brave as Bookman. Unfortunately, after a couple of days the planters had
regained control thanks to the French soldiers. Not too long after, they captured Bookman, killed
him, and exhibited his head on a stick throughout the whole Northern Department to instill fear
in the slaves’ heart. Albeit the success of the planters in squashing the attack, this was, only the
beginning of the movement, because this time it was not an uprising, but a real revolution.

The hostilities began on August 20, 1791, but it is very important to understand that all actions
are also the results of thoughts. Since those thoughts emanated on that August 14, 1791 I
consider that date as the beginning of the Haitian Revolution. Let us look at a rendition of the
only primary source about that famous night. This excerpt is from a book written by Antoine
Dalmas in 1793, published in 1814 (Histoire de la Revolution de Saint Domingue, p114 - 120)
where he recounted the words of a free black man named Ignace to the commander of Mr.
Mosut’s plantation.

< It was on August 1971 that the revolt started on one of the habitation of Mr. Gallifet called
La Gossette with the assassination of Mr. Mosut who was in charge of the said habitation. The
following details came from affidavit of many slaves and free blacks given to the Senechal of the
Cap who went on the scene to investigate and gather evidence against the culprits. There, the
Senechal learned that a distinguished old black named Ignace who contrarily to other blacks did
not have to work, who was treated differently, knew about the secret of the revolt. In a long
conference that he had with the other black slaves and a free man of Grande Rivière du Nord
(who participated in Ogé’s gate) on the day before the revolt, he had this to say, “The time of
vengeance is near, tomorrow night; all white people must be exterminated. We rely on your
promises and on your influence. Mr. Mosut should be one of the first victims; you will prepare
Blaise mentally to kill him. No more talks, no more details, no more fears. The universality of
the movement will not leave any place to hide, any chance to escape to the white people. They
are all going to die the same way, and if some of them avoid our knives, they will not escape the
fire that is going to turn this place to ashes.” The dispositions of this plan were elaborated a few
days before among the principal leaders on the habitation Le Normand, in Morne Rouge. Before
leaving, they celebrated a type of feast or sacrifice in the middle of an uncultivated wooded land
of the habitation Choiseul called Caïman (Kay Iman) where a great number of Negroes usually
meet>.
The details of the fight on the night of the revolt are not necessary for the purpose of this work.
In addition to Ignace, many other prominent black leaders participated in the meeting of Bwa
Kay Iman.

Besides Bookman who presided over the meeting, Jean François Papillon (Petekou), Georges
Biassou, Jeanot Bullet. There is a possibility that Toussaint Breda (although a catholic) as a
lieutenant in Papillon’s army, Jean Jacques Dessalines, etc were present at the meeting. In
Dalmas book, he talks about the sacrifice of a black pig. Those with some knowledge in voodoo
understand that a Manbo usually performs this ritual. In this book, we will not state for sure the
name of the Manbo, because in Dalmas tale, there is no stated name. However, many people
have tried to put a name on that manbo and they often say that it was Cecile Fatima. Factual
analysis makes it very difficult to accept Fatima as the Manbo. That source claimed that Fatima
was the daughter of a female slave that the prince of Corsica sold into slavery, and her brothers
disappeared during slavery (name of source not mentioned, for there is no bad publicity). This
means that Fatima was a mulatto and most of that lot never experienced slavery in Saint
Domingue. Facts: Fatima or Fatiman is a female name of Muslim origin. That source also cited
Fatima as Marie Louise Coidavid’s sister, the sole queen of Haiti from 1811 to 1820. Since we
know that Marie Louise Coidavid was born in 1778 into a free black family and that her father
Mr. Melgrin and her mother Celestina Coidavid owned the Hotel La Couronne (Waterman,
Charles (1935). "Marie-Louise Christophe". Carib Queens. Bruce Humphries, Inc. pp. 101–
106.), it would be very difficult for her sister Cecile Fatima to have been a slave. Facts:
Celestina Coidavid was the mother of both sisters according to both sources. The family was
catholic. Fatima was born in 1771, she attended school at the convent Notre Dame du Cap
Français, and there she was initiated in voodoo by Princess Amethyst. This constitutes a huge
discrepancy since Princess Amethyst is the daughter of King Henri the First and Marie Louise
Coidavid, hence the niece of Cecile Fatima.
Therefore, we will not refute Fatima’s presence in the meeting in Bwa Kay Iman, but we will not
support it either, because there are too many discrepancies and subjectivities in that source’s
version.
After the initial attack on August 21, 1791, the prime leaders of this movement disbanded after
the capture and the death of Bookman. Jean François Papillon and Georges Biassou had tried and
sentenced Jeannot Bullet to death because of his cruelties (Dubois, p. 112, 123). Papillon sided
with the Spanish and started conquering some cities and big towns of the western side of the
island. Toussaint, who receives a better position with the French, turned against Papillon and
regained the lost territories for France. The Spaniards deemed that Papillon had become more of
a liability decided to remove him from Saint Domngue. He travelled to Cuba where the then
Governor did not feel at ease with Papillon’s presence on the island and demanded that he left.
Papillon finally traveled to Spain where he died in Cadiz in 1805.
Georges Biassou who also joined forces with the Spanish fared much better than his counterpart
Papillon. He travelled to Florida where he changed his first name to Jorge. He bought a
plantation in St Augustine and became a slave owner himself. He died when he was 60 years old
on July 14, 1801 during a brawl while he was drunk.
However, the facts that Biassou had slaves of his own, and that Toussaint had his own
plantations and presumably, his own slaves; and that he, Toussaint, wanted to remain an
autonomous French colony corroborate the statement of a United States of America agent. That
agent had stated that those leaders have confided in him that they did not want total
independence, but a better lifestyle for themselves.
Toussaint Louverture defeated his old chief Jean François to restore the French authority in many
cities and town of Saint Domingue. He switched his allegiance many times from the Spanish to
the French then to the British, before returning to the French side. In the meantime, the
agreement resulting in the treaty of Basel (1795) granted possession of the Eastern side of the
island to the French. Hence, when Toussaint became governor, he was in charge of the whole
island and a French general Jean Louis Ferrand was in charge of the Eastern part of the island,
today the Dominican Republic.
Toussaint reign over Saint Domingue lasted from April 1, 1797 to May 5, 1802. During his
reign, he promulgated on July 8, 1801 the Constitution of Saint Domingue, which was not, and
should never be considered as a Haitian Constitution, because at such time the Empire of Hayti
did not exist. Let us examine the preamble and the first three articles of that constitution.
An important detail that one should take into consideration is the fact that Toussaint was a groom
that grew up in the confines of the premises of the owner. Therefore, as a house slave, his vision
was very different from those that had to endure the hardship of the plantation and the
mistreatment of the commanders.
Haitian Constitution of 1801
The representatives of the colony of Saint-Domingue, gathered in Central Assembly, have
arrested and established the constitutional bases of the regime of the French colony of Saint
Domingue as follows:
TITLE I Of the Territory
Art. 1. – Saint-Domingue in its entire expanse, and Samana, La Tortue, La Gonave, Les
Cayemites, L'Ile-a-Vache, La Saone and other adjacent islands form the territory of a single
colony, which is part of the French Empire, but ruled under particular laws.
Art. 2. – The territory of this colony is divided in departments, arrondissements (districts) and
TITLE II Of the Inhabitants
Art. 3. - There cannot exist slaves on this territory, servitude is therein forever abolished. All
men are born, lived and die free and French.
Art. 4. – All men, regardless of color, are eligible to all employment

The preamble states clearly that this territory is a French colony. Art 1. Reiterates the fact that
this expanse, this territory belongs to the French Empire, although ruled by particular laws.
Art. 3. Made it clear that slavery is abolished. However, the inhabitants of this island are born
French, Live and Die as free French citizens. This is an irrefutable evidence that Toussaint did
not have any intention to create a free independent nation. Toussaint participated in many battles
during the revolution, and most of which we will cover further down. On June 7, 1802 Jean
Baptiste Brunet arrested Toussaint and sent him to France where he died miserably at Fort de
Joux in a cold jail cell.
At the meeting of Bwa Kay Iman, apart from the well-known leaders, one man was part of the
regimen of Toussaint; his name was Jean Jacques Dessalines. When Toussaint parted way with
Papillon and Biassou, Dessalines kept his allegiance to his chief and remained in Toussaint’s
army. Toussaint admired him for his bravery and loyal obedience. He became Toussaint’s
adjutant and led most of the encounters against enemies’ forces.
This work is about Jean Jacques Dessalines. Together we are going to explore his origins, his
life, his prowesses, and failures while debunking some of the lies and myths about that special
man that we should consider as the prophet of the black race. We will base our work only on
facts and statements mostly from primary sources.
**Jean Jacques Dessalines, Our Prophet
Each race has their own main prophet, the Jews have Moses, the Arabs have Muhammad, the
Europeans and Christians have Jesus, and we, the Africans have Dessalines the Liberator.
Yeshu in Aramaic, Yeshua in Hebrew, Isa Ibn Maryam in Arabic, and Jesus for the Christian is a
worldwide known prophet who came to this world to save the world. He supposedly came to
save everybody regardless of race and ethnicity. However, considering the plight of people of
African descent even atter the coming of Jesus, we may dare state that those people were not
included in the mighty plan of salvation.
Jean Jacques Dessalines
Dessalines came to the world with the mission of delivering Black people from their terrible
plight. Moreover, his mission was broader, because his dream was to deliver people of all shade,
faith or belief from oppression, exploitation, and abuse. He avoided to hurt people that he
deemed righteous. He even spared some French that he considered worthy from the wrath of God
as he put it.
The origins of Dessalines varied depend on the author and the period in question. We believe
that it is of the utmost importance to establish the origins of Dessalines. It is only through this
exercise that we will be able to grasp the grandeur of the founder and liberator of the Black
Empire of Hayti.
Before getting in depth into the true origins of Dessalines, it is paramount to emphasize the fact
that for almost forty years after his assassination, it was forbidden to mention Dessalines’ name.
Anyone during that period who uttered Dessalines’ name had declared his own death sentence.
Some people were killed because their neighbors or their friends or foes had justly or unjustly
reported that they usually talked about Dessalines.
On October 17, 1845, Lysius Felicite Salomon Jeune, a member of President Geffrard
Government gave his famous speech, which he dubbed National Reparation to restore
Dessalines status and to give him a solemn tribute. Below is the original speech in French,
followed by our English rendition:

***
Messieurs,
Celui dont le règne est un règne de tous les siècles et dont la domination est de tous les âges, le
Seigneur, le Dieu des armées, marquent de son doigt providentiel le temps, le lieu où doivent
s’accomplir ses hauts desseins. C’est ce suprême moteur des mondes qui réservait à une de nos
illustrations militaires, au chef valeureux qui tient en ses mains Ies rênes du Gouvemement,
à JEAN-LOUIS PIERROT, la gloire d’opérer une grande oeuvre de réparation nationale, un
noble voeu, une grande pensée, de rendre enfin un hommage public et solennel à la mémoire du
vengeur de la race, du libérateur d’Haiti, du héros de l’lndépendance, du fameux:
JEAN-JACQUES DESSALINES
DESSALINES!!!… Ah! permettez, Messieurs, qu’avant de poursuivre mon sujet, permettez que
je m’incline devant Ia puissance et Ia majesté d’un si grand jour, devant les souvenirs que
réveillent une des plus glorieuses vies et des plus grandes infortunes dont le siècle fut temoin.
C’etait l’époque où des idées nouvelles travaillaient la plus intéressante partie du globe et
menaçaient surtout l’existence d’un des plus illustres trônes de la terre. Le cri de Liberté poussé
par la France revolutionnaire traversa les mers et l’écho le répéta dans la plus riche colonie du
Nouveau Monde; à St-Domingue on parla aussi de droit et de liberte. Mais Dieu refusa
constamment son sourire aux fils de l’Afrique qui les premiers réclamèrent les droits de
l’homme. Car ceux-là dominés par un pur sentiment de vanité et d’égoisme se montrèrent
insensibles aux souffrances, à l’humiliation de leurs freres gemissant dans les fers: en effet les
Ogé, les Chavannes meconnaissaient leur mission, trahissant leur mandat quand ils réclamaient
de la métropole des droits qui ne devaient appartenir qu’ à un très petit nombre. La France tour à
tour caressa ou excita les passions de la colonie de St-Domingue ; et chaque jour de nouveaux
faits venaient dévoiler Ia fallace des promesses de la mère patrie.
Mais un homme extraordinaire, TOUSSAINT LOUVERTURE, parut au milieu de nous comme
un prédestiné; naguère esclave perdu dans la foule, personne ne l’avait deviné. ll parut comme un
instrument dont se sert parfois la Providence pour envoyer ses avertissements aux peuples et aux
potentats. Nouveau Spartacus, il terrassa ses oppresseurs et humilia les orgueils: animateur de
tous les partis, tous les pouvoirs se resumèrent dans lui; et il devint le drapeau de la révolution à
St Domingue.
Mais pour punir l’audace de cet esclave révolté et pour rasseoir son autorité sur Ia colonie, le
Consulat jeta sur nos plages une armée déjà fameuse par ses exploits. Victorieuse, les feux de ses
bivouacs venaient d’éclairer naguère les bords du Nil, du Rhin et les sentiers escarpés des Alpes.
Vaincu par la ruse et non par la force, Toussaint Louverture tomba dans les pièges que lui fit
tendre le Capitaine General Leclerc, il fut enlevé du sol natal et conduit sur le continent européen
où s’éteignit sa vie.
Sur les traces de ce puissant génie, mais avec plus d’énergie et de résolution, un républicain
farouche, un spartiate, un vigoureux athlète de la sainte cause, le terrible Dessalines marchait à la
réalisation des desseins de la Providence sur la trace africaine. Son nom etait déjà célèbre dans
notre drame révolutionnaire et son courage éprouvé lui avait acquis une influence positive sur la
masse. Heritier du pouvoir de Toussaint, Dessalines fut le bras vengeur, le bras exterminateur qui
dut retirer ses frères de la honte et de l’humiliation. La guerre se ralluma sanglante. O vous que
le temps n’a pas encore moissonnés, vaillants soldats de la liberté et de l’Indépendance, nobles
debris d’une epoque à jamais memorable! Ah! daignez nous redire tout ce que vous avez fait et
tout ce que vous avez vu faire. Parlez-nous de votre valeur, de votre gloire; parlez-nous surtout
du plus grand de vous tous, de JEAN-JACQUES DESSALINES. Peignez-nous ce héros
marchant à votre tête, guidant vos pas dans les retraites inexpugnables des grands Cahos;
peignez-le-nous portant la terreur de son nom et de ses armées dans les flancs déchirés des
montagnes de la Grande-Riviere; montrez-le-nous déconcertant la bravoure française à Ia Crete-
a-Pierrot et ·semant-la-flamme a St-Marc;·à Léogâne, au-Port-au-Prince et surtout au Haut-du-
Cap, au poste célèbre de Vertières où l’on vit expirer sur les efforts de l’Africain Ia valeur de ces
vieilles légions dont la gloire avait eu deja tant de retentissement dans le monde.
Enfin les droits sacrés de la justice ont triomphé. Echappés d’un grand naufrage, les débris de.
l’armée expéditionnaire de St-Domingue s’embarquèrent; ils auront à annoncer aux dominateurs
de l’Europe leurs beaux faits d’armes, leurs succès et leurs revers.
La terre d’Haiti n’etait plus foulée par des maitres, ni par des esclaves et la paix venait de
s’asseoir à l’ombre du palmier symbolique. L’enthousiasme populaire salua un si grand
événement et vota le tribut de sa sainte entreprise.
JEAN-JACQUES DESSALINES était deja Gouverneur General à vie d’Haiti quand la raison
d’Etat lui decerna la couronne imperiale et le 8 octobre 1804, un ministre de la religion versait
l’huile sainte sur son front et le consacrait oint du Seigneur.
Mais déjà le clairon avait sonné et le canon avait grondé dans l’espace. Venait-on de
recommencer la lutte entre les anciens maitres et les anciens esclaves? Etaient-ils revenus, les
vaincus,la vengeance dans le coeur, nous apporter des fers? Non, ces sons, ces bruits
retentissants, applaudissaient alors à l’inauguration d’un grand jour, à la consecration d’une
grande epoque; celle de notre émancipation politique. C’était important a voir! Entoure de toutes
les sommités militaires réunies aux Gonaives le ler janvier 1804, Dessalines, empruntant les
caractères du hiérophante, prêtait le serment fameux et prononçait avec le peuple les paroles
sacramentelles de renoncer pour toujours à la France et à toute domination étrangère, de vivre
libre et de s’ensevelir s’il le faut sous les ruines de la Patrie pour le maintien de son
indépendance. De ce jour mémorable date notre ére politique.
Honneur, hommage, gloire à Dessalines! Avant comme après lui nul ne fit tant pour les
descendants des Africains. En faisant d’Haiti un Etat libre souverain, indépendant, il assura aux
hommes noirs et jaunes de toutes contrées un point de la terre où ils pourront concevoir la dignité
de leur être. Mais le passé était un puissant enseignement pour le présent. On craignait que le
contact des partis que l’influence des souvenirs encore vivaces n’amenassent quelques
transactions entre les vainqueurs et les vaincus; il fallait tarir cette source d’inquiétude et de
méfiance; il fallait rendre la conciliation impossible; il fallait enfin donner une garantie au nouvel
ordre des choses. L’Empereur le comprit et le 28 avril 1804 il lança cette foudroyante
proclamation qui fit de nouveau couler le sang français sur cette terre. Mesure terrible sans
doute, mais necessaire, elle consolida la révolution. Ainsi, et presqu’à la même époque,
Napoleon aux fosses de Vincennes cimentait par le sang du dernier des Condé les bases du
nouvel édifice élevé sur les débris de la monarchie française. Presque toujours séduit par l’éclat
et les prérogatives du pouvoir suprême, l’homme rarement en calcule les soucis, les peines et les
difficultés.
Toujours il veut trouver de l’infaillibilité dans ceux qui gouvement alors même que les
gouvernés s’opposent au libre jeu de la machine politique. On semble ignorer combien il est
difficile de commander aux hommes, de diriger les peuples surtout aux époques de grandes
transactions comme celles où Haiti se trouvait placée, après la conquête de sa liberté et de son
indépendance.
En effet quelle tâche immense n’avait pas à remplir celui qui tenait alors le sceptre!
L’Empereur, en ceignant le diadème, trouvait des passions à calmer, des cris à faire taire, des
pretentions injustes à écarter, des tendances dangereuses à détoumer; il avait à faire comprendre
au peuple que pour avoir conquis la liberté et son independance, il ne devait pas pourtant
confondre l’exercice et la jouissance de ses actes avec la licence; i1 avait à faire revivre les
travaux des champs abandonnés par l’effet de Ia guerre; il avait à maintenir la discipline dans
une armée enivrée par la victoire et il avait des récompenses à décerner à sa valeur, il avait les
pouvoirs à etablir, les droits et les devoirs à définir, les opinions à harmoniser, enfin la société à
créer; tout, en un mot, était à faire, mission sainte et grande pour la tâche gigantesque. Dessalines
l’eût pourtant accomplie sans l’ambition qui germait dans le coeur de ceux-là qui, deux ans plus
tôt, bivouaquaient avec lui en frères aux champs des combats. Mais les jours de danger étaient
pasé et il fallait un autre que lui pour recueillir la moisson qu’il avait préparée. Ou plutôt disons
avec le prophète: «Ils ne se sont plus souvenus de sa main ni du jour qu’il les avait delivrés de
celui qui les opprimait».
****La trahison créa des embarras au pouvoir, l’ambition les exploita, l’intrigue ne voulut point
faire de part à la difficulté des circonstances, comme s’il était en la puissance de l’homme
d’enchainer le destin, de diriger les événements!
Elle ne voulut point voir dans Dessalines un homme nouvellement arrivé au pouvoir, un
souverain improvisé et qui, la veille encore esclave, obeissait passivement aux ordres des colons
blancs. La perfidie ne lui tint aucun compte des éminents services qu’il avait rendus et elle
impliqua à despotisme, à trahison, les moindres actes du Gouvemement imperial.
Le 8 octobre 1806 Ia révolte éclata dans Ia plaine de Torbeck. Parjures à leur serment, trahissant
la confiance, on vit des lieutenants de l’Empereur conduire le mouvement… Parti de son palais
de Marchand, l’Empereur charge la marche vers le Sud pour y aller éteindre l’insurrection. Le 17
à neuf (9) heures du matin il est aux portes de Port-au-Prince, un infâme guet-apens l’y attendait
et il expire sous le feu d’une embuscade.
Oh! laissons subsister dans les pages de notre histoire le souvenir de ce jour trop néfaste où se
consomma un si grand crime politique; laissons-le subsister comme un grand enseignement,
comme un monument de l’ingratitude des hommes et de la fragilité des choses de la terre.
Gardons la mémoire de ce jour qui nous apporta des fruits si amers, qui divisa le pays en deux
camps ennemis et fit répandre tant de flots de sang.
Artisan de la catastrophe du 17 octobre, votre·succès livra le pays aux divisions intestines et,
pendant 14 ans, la guerre civile en vautour affamé lui dechira les entrailles. La posterité qui s’en
souvient vous absout, car vous en avez eu assez sans doute du cri de votre conscience, de vos
cauchemars pesants; le dolman vert, robe ensanglantée de votre victime, a dû plus d’une fois
troubler votre sommeil!
Oui Messieurs, le 17 octobre fut un jour de calamité pour le pays; Ah! qu’ils s’en souviennent
ceux-là qui dans la fièvre d’une ambition effrenée, ne rêvent qu’au renversement des pouvoirs
etablis …
Vengeur de la race noire, liberateur d’Haiti, fondateur de l’Indépendance nationale, Dessalines
Empereur! c’est aujourd’hui ta gloire, le soleil d’aujourd’hui brille pour toi aussi radieux que
celui de 1804, Empereur Martyr, c’est aujourd’hui ta gloire, le canon, cette grande voix des
batailles, annonce au pays, à l’univers, que le jour de la réparation a lui pour toi. Grande ombre
du Géant, tressaille de gloire; aujourd’hui ton tombeau devient la Basilique populaire dans
laquelle les descendants de l’ Afrique pourront, faisant un saint pélérinage, déposer leur offrande
et puiser les nobles aspirations, la gloire et le patriotisme. Ombres des defenseurs de la Patrie,
ralliez-vous, serrez les rangs, formez-vous en ligne et Dessalines à votre tête, venez recevoir du
Ministre de Jesus-Christ la sainte benediction.
Vous vivez à jamais dans les coeurs et dans Ia mémoire.

DISCOURS Prononcé en I’Eglise Paroissiale des Cayes par le citoyen Salomon Jeune,
Administrateur des Finances, à Ia cérémonie funèbre célébrée le 17 Octobre 1845, en
mémoire de Jn-Jacques Dessalines, Empereur d’Haiti.

Ordre de Jean Jacques Dessalines pour Mérite Militaire

 «Ils ne se sont point souvenus de sa main ni du jour qu’il les avait delivrés de celui qui les opprimait.
Ceux qui sèment avec larmes moissonneront avec chants de triomphe».

Source: Le Cahier du Patrimoine des Cayes (pages 137 à 143), Sous Ia direction de
DENNERY

Louis Etienne Lysius Salomon

*********
Messieurs,

He whose reign is a reign of all ages and whose domination is of all ages, the Lord, the God of
armies, mark with his providential finger the time, the place where his high works must be
accomplished. It is this supreme motor of the worlds that have reserved to one of our military
figures, to the valiant leader who holds in his hands the reins of government, to Jean Louis
Pierrot the glory of carrying out a great duty of national reparation, a noble wish, a great thought
to finally render a public and solemn tribute to the memory of the avenger of the race, the
liberator of Hayti, the hero of Independence, the famous:
JEAN-JACQUES DESSALINES
DESSALINES!!!… Ah! allow me, gentlemen, that before pursuing my subject, allow me to bow
before the power and the majesty of such a great day, before the memories that awaken one of
the most glorious lives and the greatest misfortunes that the century has witnessed.
It was the epoch when new ideas troubled the most interesting part of the globe and especially
threatened the existence of one of the most illustrious thrones on earth. The cry of Liberty uttered
by revolutionary France crossed the seas and the echo repeated it in the richest colony of the
New World; in Santo Domingo they also spoke of rights and of freedom. But, God constantly
refused his smile to the sons of Africa who were the first to claim the rights of man. Because
those dominated by a pure feeling of vanity and selfishness showed themselves insensitive to the
sufferings, to the humiliation of their brothers groaning in irons: indeed the Ogé, the Chavannes
misunderstood their mission, betraying their mandate when they demanded of the metropolis
rights which were to belong only to a very small number. France in turn caressed or excited the
passions of the colony of Santo Domingo; and every day new facts came to reveal the fallacy of
the promises of the mother country.
But an extraordinary man, TOUSSAINT LOUVERTURE, appeared among us as predestined;
once a slave lost in the crowd that no one had guessed would become a a legendary leader. He
seemed like an instrument sometimes used by Providence to send warnings to people and
potentates. A new Spartacus, he overthrew his oppressors and humiliated pride: animator of all
parties, all powers were summed up in him; and it became the flag of the revolution in Santo
Domingo.
But to punish the audacity of this rebellious slave and to reestablish his authority over the
colony, the Consulate threw onto our beaches an army already famous for its exploits.
Victorious, the fires of their bivouacs had recently lit up the banks of the Nile and the Rhine and
the steep paths of the Alps.
Defeated by trickery and not by force, Toussaint Louverture fell into the traps set for him by
Captain General Leclerc, he was kidnapped from his native soil and taken to the European
continent where his life was extinguished.
In the footsteps of this powerful genius, but with more energy and resolution, a fierce republican,
a Spartan, a vigorous athlete of the holy cause, the terrible Dessalines marched to the realization
of the designs of Providence on the African track. His name was already famous in our
revolutionary drama and his tested courage had won him a positive influence on the masses. Heir
to the power of Toussaint, Dessalines was the avenging arm, the exterminating arm that had to
save his brothers from shame and humiliation. The bloody war broke out again. O you whom
time has not yet harvested, valiant soldiers of freedom and independence, noble remnants of an
era forever memorable! Ah! Deign to tell us all that you have done and all that you have seen
done. Tell us about your value, your glory; talk to us above all about the greatest of you all,
about JEAN-JACQUES DESSALINES. Paint for us this hero marching at your head, guiding
your steps in the impregnable retreats of the great Cahos; paint him bearing the terror of his
name and his armies in the torn sides of the mountains of the Grande-Riviere; show us the
disconcerting French bravery at Crete-a-Pierrot and sowing-the-flame at St-Marc; at Léogâne,
Port-au-Prince and especially at Haut-du-Cap, at the post famous of Vertières where one saw
expire on the efforts of the African the value of these old legions whose glory had already had so
much repercussion in the world.
Finally the sacred rights of justice have triumphed. Escaped from a major shipwreck, the debris
of. the expeditionary army of Santo Domingo embarked; they will have to announce to the rulers
of Europe their fine feats of arms, their successes and their reverses.
The land of Haiti was no longer trodden by masters or by slaves and peace had just settled in the
shade of the symbolic palm tree. Popular enthusiasm hailed such a great event and voted the
tribute of his holy enterprise.
JEAN-JACQUES DESSALINES was already Governor General for life of Haiti when reasons of
State awarded him the imperial crown and on October 8, 1804, a minister of religion poured holy
oil on his forehead and consecrated him anointed by the Lord.
But already the bugle had sounded and the cannon had rumbled in space. Had the struggle
between the former masters and the former slaves just been recommenced? Had they returned,
the vanquished, revenge in their hearts, to bring us irons? No, these sounds, these resounding
noises, then applauded the inauguration of a great day, the consecration of a great epoch; that of
our political emancipation. It was important to see! Surrounded by all the military luminaries
gathered in Gonaives on January 1, 1804, Dessalines, borrowing the characters of the hierophant,
took the famous oath and pronounced with the people the sacramental words to renounce forever
France and all foreign domination, to live free and to bury itself if necessary under the ruins of
the New Country for the maintenance of its independence. From this memorable day dates our
political era.
Honor, homage, glory to Dessalines! Before as after him no one did so much for the descendants
of Africans. By making Haiti a sovereign, independent free state, he assured black and yellow
men of all countries a point on earth where they could conceive the dignity of their being. But
the past was a powerful lesson for the present. It was feared that the contact of parties and the
influence of still vivid memories would bring about some transactions between the victors and
the vanquished; it was necessary to dry up this source of anxiety and distrust; conciliation had to
be made impossible; finally, a guarantee had to be given to the new order of things. The Emperor
understood this and on April 28, 1804 he issued this thundering proclamation which once again
caused French blood to flow on this land. A terrible measure, no doubt, but a necessary one, it
consolidated the revolution. Thus, and almost at the same time, Napoleon at the pits of
Vincennes cemented with the blood of the last of the Condés the foundations of the new building
erected on the debris of the French monarchy. Almost always seduced by the brilliance and
prerogatives of supreme power, man rarely calculates its worries, pains and difficulties.
He always wants to find infallibility in those who govern even when the governed oppose the
free play of the political machine. We seem to ignore how difficult it is to command men, to
direct people, especially at times of great transactions such as those in which Haiti found itself,
after the conquest of its freedom and independence.
Indeed, what an immense task the one who then held the scepter had to fulfill!
The Emperor, in girding the diadem, found passions to calm, cries to silence, unjust claims to
ward off, dangerous tendencies to deflect; he had to make the people understand that to have
conquered freedom and its independence, it should not however confuse the exercise and the
enjoyment of its acts with the license; he had to revive the works of the fields abandoned by the
effect of the war; he had to maintain discipline in an army intoxicated by victory and he had
rewards to award according to his valor, he had the powers to establish, the rights and duties to
define, the opinions to harmonize, finally the society to create; in a word, everything had to be
done, a holy and great mission for the gigantic task. Dessalines would have accomplished it,
however, had it not been for the ambition that germinated in the hearts of those who, two years
earlier, bivouacked with him as brothers on the battlefields. But the days of danger were past,
and someone else was needed to reap the harvest he had prepared. Or rather let us say with the
prophet: "They no longer remembered his hand nor the day when he delivered them from them
who oppressed them".
**
**** Treason created embarrassments in power, ambition exploited them, intrigue did not want
to take part in the difficulty of circumstances, as if it were in the power of man to chain fate , to
direct the events!
She did not want to see in Dessalines a man who had just come to power, an improvised
sovereign who, the day before still a slave, had passively obeyed the orders of the white
colonists. Perfidy took him no account of the eminent services he had rendered, and implicated
in despotism, treason, the least acts of the Imperial Government.
On October 8, 1806, the revolt broke out in the plain of Torbeck. Perjuring their oath, betraying
their trust, the Emperor's lieutenants were seen leading the movement... Leaving his palace in
Marchand, the Emperor charged with marching south to extinguish the insurrection there. On the
17th at nine (9) o'clock in the morning he was at the gates of Port-au-Prince, an infamous
ambush was waiting for him there and he died under the fire of an ambush.
Oh! let subsist in the pages of our history the memory of this not too fatal day when such a great
political crime was consummated; let it remain as a great lesson, as a monument to the
ingratitude of men and the fragility of earthly things.
Let us keep the memory of that day which brought us such bitter fruits, which divided the
country into two enemy camps and caused so much blood to be shed.
Artisan of the disaster of October 17, your success delivered the country to internal divisions
and, for 14 years, the civil war like a hungry vulture tore its entrails. Posterity who remembers it
absolves you, for you have no doubt had enough of the cry of your conscience, of your heavy
nightmares; the green dolman, the bloody robe of your victim, must have disturbed your sleep
more than once!
Yes Gentlemen, October 17 was a day of calamity for the country; Ah! May they remember
those who, in the fever of unbridled ambition, dream only of the overthrow of established
powers...
Avenger of the black race, liberator of Haiti, founder of national independence, Dessalines
Emperor! today is your glory, today's sun shines for you as radiant as that of 1804, Martyr
Emperor, today is your glory, the cannon, that great voice of the battles, announces to the
country , to the universe, that the day of reparation has it for you. Great shadow of the Giant,
quiver of glory; today your tomb becomes the popular Basilica in which the descendants of
Africa will be able, making a holy pilgrimage, to deposit their offering and to draw the noble
aspirations, the glory and the patriotism. Shadows of the defenders of the *Fatherland, rally,
close ranks, form yourselves in line and Dessalines at your head, come and receive from the
Minister of Jesus Christ the holy blessing.

You live forever in hearts and in memory.

SPEECH Delivered in the Parish Church of Les Cayes by the citizen Salomon Jeune,
Administrator of Finances, at the funeral ceremony celebrated on October 17, 1845, in memory
of Jn-Jacques Dessalines, Emperor of Haiti.

Order of Jean Jacques Dessalines for Military Merit

“They did not remember his hand nor the day when he delivered them from him who oppressed
them. Those who sow with tears will reap with songs of triumph.
Source: Le Cahier du Patrimoine des Cayes (pages 137 to 143), Under the direction of
DENNERY

Louis Etienne Lysius Solomon

Louis Etienne Lysius Solomon governed the country from 1879 to 1888. On August 10, 1888, he
went to exile again. He will never have the opportunity to see Haiti again. Solomon was
considered the chiefs of the African descendants in Hayti during epoch, especially after his
famous speech of October 17, 1845, at the Cathedral of Le Cayes. On that day, he rehabilitated
the Emperor Jacques the First, the Founder of the nation Jean Jacques Dessalines. October 17,
1806 was a day calamity for the Hayti.
****
AGNOTOLOGY
Before we delve into the origins of Dessalines, we must visit and explore the concept of
Agnatology to help us understand the subtle points and details that we must consider when
researching the truth or some writings close to it pertaining to certain eras of history.
Agnotology is defined as the study of deliberate, culturally induced ignorance or doubt
disseminated and marketed via the media, particularly the publication and dissemination of
inaccurate and misleading scientific data, and the creation of institutions to promote
disinformation.
There are many books written about the miseducation of the black people. Agnotology
constitutes another word for miseducation, which is the intentional marketing of ignorance to
move people in a specific direction. We fail to realize that schools, churches, religion, the media,
especially social media constitute the most powerful form of mental manipulation ever created in
the history of the world.
However, most people do not know where the information is coming from, and they propagated
it without verifying its authenticity. It is sad that people usually love information that moves
them to emote instead of moving them to think and ponder. It is particularly important at this
point in history to understand how we are being manipulated through misinformative
information, and that there is most likely a hand behind everything that is happening in
cyberspace. Sisters and brothers, let us stop making decisions that are detrimental to our
wellbeing, that of our community, and that of society. Let us assure that we learn the facts and
use them in our discourses, which are grounded on those irrefutable facts, not on mythology,
ideology, fantasy, anger, prejudice, discrimination, and even racism. We should avoid being part
of those who state that “my mind is made up, don’t confuse me with facts”.
As a serious student of history, I am writing this book knowing that I do not know everything
and new discoveries about black history, and history in general, which have been hidden for
years, happened on a daily basis. However, the following pages that you are about to peruse are
grounded on solid documented facts that can be substantiated. To better understand the “Why” of
the existence of Agnotology, we have to refer to Joan of Arc, “All battles are won or lost in the
mind”. We can also use the statement of an American general that “the first battle of any war is
always in the minds. Therefore, we can conclude that Agnotology is a weapon of mass
destruction used to destroy values and self-esteem of the peoples*/masses.

Was Jean-Jacques Dessalines a Creole or an African?

In this work we believe that emphasizing the proximity of the sources to Jean Jacques Dessalines
and the war of independence will establish the *trustworthiness of the information. Hence,
before visiting the declaration of each source pertaining to the origins of Dessalines, we will
briefly explore the background of the source to prove whether at some point or another, that
source has some proximity to Dessalines. Let us begin with Thomas Madiou:
Thomas Madiou was born in Port au Prince on April 30, 1815, and he died on May 25, 1884.
He was a Haitian historian. His work Histoire d'Haïti (English: History of Haiti) is the first
complete history of Haiti from 1492 to 1846 (Madiou's present) written by a Haitian author. It is
considered one of the most valuable documents of Haitian history and literature.
Madiou came from "fairly affluent parents", he left Haiti at the age of ten to study in France at
the Royal College of Angers (Collège Royal d'Angers). He later studied in Rennes, France and
received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Letters there. He then attended the Law School of Paris for
two years before returning to Haiti. During his time in France, Madiou met Isaac Louverture, the
son of Haiti's revolutionary hero Toussaint Louverture. This encounter supposedly sparked
Madiou's interest in his country's past, and he returned to Haiti with the intention to write its
history. Over a decade later, Madiou published three volumes covering Haiti's history from 1492
to 1807 with the Port-au-Prince publisher J. Courtois. A fourth volume (1843–46) appeared as
part of Haiti's centennial in 1904. 150 years after the text's initial printing, the Haitian publishing
house, Henri Deschamps, published the complete history, eight volumes spanning 1492 to 1846.
In Histoire d'Haïti, Madiou continued the work of earlier Haitian authors to combat racialized
portrayals of Haiti's past, in particular the country's founding. He saw himself filling a crucial
void by writing the first complete national history by a Haitian author. The history was valuable
not only for Haitians but all members of the African Diaspora.[3] To construct, his multi-volume
history, Madiou relied heavily upon French written sources; however, he also recognized the
importance of oral histories as a supplement to the written archive. He interviewed aging
revolutionary veterans during his travels across the country with General Joseph Balthazar
Inginac, the secretary-general for Haiti's longest serving nineteenth-century president, Jean-
Pierre Boyer. His history tried to repair the reputation of the black leaders of the Haitian
Revolution, especially Toussaint Louverture, portraying the struggle as a justified rebellion
against the terrible oppression of slavery.
In addition to his writing, Madiou served in various government positions, including director of
the national high school and minister plenipotentiary to Spain. He also worked as Director of Le
Moniteur, the official government publication, and was a contributor to Haiti's small but vibrant
press.
Madiou was born on April 30, 1815, eleven years after independence, which eliminates him a
posteriori from being a primary source meaning his accounts rely mainly on other sources,
mainly French sources, and tales from people who live before him. How farcical to base such an
important work on the tales recounted by the loser whose hatred for the victors was so blatant.
****

******
The origins of Dessalines, the founder of the nation, has always been a source of debate. There
are many historians who have followed the historiography of Madiou of the mid to late
nineteenth century, which describes Dessalines as a Creole born in the colony. However, this
creole had the capacity to act and think just like an African or a bossal. According to those
historians, Dessalines was born in 1758 in Cormiers, in the parish called today “Grande rivière
du Nord”. The Cormiers plantation owner, a very wicked white man named Duclos also owned
Dessalines. He later sold Dessalines to a black master. The Hellenistic writer Thomas Madiou, a
leading authority on Haitian history is the author who spewed that version of Dessalines, which
many other historians national or foreign embraced since they were in quest for an answer about
the origins of Dessalines. Thanks to Madiou, who perpetrated the misnomer of Dessalines, by the
end of the nineteenth century, Dessalines has even become a mulatto.
Considering that the plantation owner and Dessalines master, Duclos, and many of his friends
and acquaintances have written books and memoirs about the Colony of Saint Domingue, it is
really baffling that none of them has ever mentioned Dessalines in their writings. We then had to
ask the question:
Why do we choose to ignore the contemporaneous writings about Dessalines?
It is paramount to understand that Dessalines being a Creole or an African will shape differently
our understanding of the Revolution of Saint Domingue. This vexing conundrum mandated
further inquiries, which prompted us to delve further down to the beginning of the nineteenth
century.
There, we find that all his contemporaries describe him as an African. None of them had the
narratives of Dessalines being a Creole meaning a slave born in the colony.
Let us look at the background of those primary sources and their description and other details
that they wrote about Dessalines
Pompée Valentin, Baron de Vastey1 (1781 - 1820), however, he preferred to be called Jean
Louis Vastey, was a Haitian writer, educator, and politician. Vastey was what people at the time
called a mulatto," because he was born to a white French father and a black Haitian mother.
He served as secretary to King Henri the First, and tutor to Christophe's son, Victor Henri.
Vastey also claimed to have fought in Toussaint’s army and is said to have been the second
cousin of the French novelist and playwright Alexandre Dumas (Daut 56; see also, Griggs 181).
Vastey is best known for his essays on the history and contemporary circumstances of Haiti.
Jean-Louis Vastey was born in 1781 in Ennery in the French colony of Saint Domingue. In 1777,
his father, Jean-Valentin Vastey, had married Élisabeth Dumas. Some historians give her as the
sister of Marie Cessette Dumas, mother of General Thomas Alexandre Dumas and grandmother
of the writer Alexandre Dumas, a hypothesis refuted by her biographer who, moreover,
demonstrates that Vastey never bore the first name of Pompey-Valentin but that of Jean-Louis.
In 1804, the year of Haiti's Self-Proclaimed Independence, Jean-Louis Vastey was head of office
for the Minister of Finance, André Vernet, under the government of Jean Jacques Dessalines.
Therefore, Jean Louis Vastey had a very close relationship with Dessalines,
In 1806, Dessalines was assassinated. Vastey remained André Vernet's secretary in the
Department of Finance and the Interior.
In 1807, Henri Christophe founded a republic in the north of the island. In the wake of Minister
Vernet, Vastey went into the service of Christophe.
In March 26, 1811, Henri Christophe proclaims himself king of Haiti (Henri I). Vastey is
appointed secretary of the Legislative Commission responsible for preparing the Henry Code
while his mentor, André Vernet will be made Prince of Gonaives.
In 1814, on the death of the Prince of Gonaïves, Vastey was promoted to private secretary to the
king. He is raised to the rank of Baron . It was from this time that Vastey worked to defend the
Haitian monarchy in writing against the dreaded return of the French. That year, he
published Notes à M le baron de VP Malouet and especially “Le système Colonial Dévoilé (The
Colonial System unveiled), which lists the abuses committed by the former colonists and the list
of the names of the torturers. This book is considered his major work.
Baron de Vastey will also exercise his talents against the Haitian Republic of the South presided
over by General Pétion (Le Cri de la conscience, and Le Cri de la patrie, 1815).
In 1816 and 1817, Baron de Vastey continued his war of the pen with France by
publishing Reflections on a Letter from Mazères then Political Reflections on Some French
Books and Journals Concerning Haiti.
On August 20, 1819, he was made a knight of the Royal and Military Order of Saint-Henri and
was appointed Field Marshal and Chancellor. He published his last work that year: Essay on the
causes of the revolution and civil wars in Haiti.
On October 8, 1820, there was a popular insurrection against the king. The insurgents attacked
the Sans Souci Palace and King Henri Christophe committed suicide. The next day, the crowd
arrested Vastey, the two royal princes and other notables, all of whom were executed a few days
later. The heroic attitude of the baron in the face of death has been reported by witnesses.
Most of his works were republished by Nabu Press in 2010, some of which were translated into
English.

1. Vastey stated that he was born in 1781 in Ennery, Haiti in a letter that he wrote to the
celebrated British abolitionist Thomas Clarkson dated from Sans Souci, November 29, 1819.
See Griggs 179.
Captain Marcus Rainsford (c. 1758 – 4 November 1817) was an officer in the British Army,
serving in the Battle of Camden in 1780, during the United States of America Revolutionary
War. On August 16, 1780, British forces under Lieutenant General Charles, Lord
Cornwallis routed the numerically superior American forces led by Major General Horatio
Gates about four miles north of Camden, South Carolina, thus strengthening the British hold on
the Carolinas following the capture of Charleston. He published An Historical Account of the
Black Empire of Hayti, London, in 1805.
Rainsford was the younger son of Edward Rainsford of Sallins, Kildare, born in 1750s. He was
educated at Trinity College Dublin and obtained an MA in 1773. He joined the Irish
Volunteers in 1779.
He obtained a commission and saw service in the 105th regiment, commanded by Francis, Lord
Rawdon (afterwards second) Earl Moira, during the United States of America War of
Independence. He took part in the Siege of Charleston and the Battle of Camden in 1780. He
then went to Jamaica with the Duke of Cumberland’s Squadron.
In 1794 he served under the Duke of York in the Netherlands, during the Flanders Campaign and
was afterwards employed in raising black troops in the West Indies.
In 1799 Rainsford visited Santo Domingo and had an interview with Toussaint Louverture. He
was subsequently arrested and condemned to death as a spy, but was reprieved and eventually set
free.
In both an Historical account of the Black Empire of Hayti (1805), and an Historical, Political,
and Military Sketch of the Black Republic (1802), Rainsford who had extensive proximity to
Dessalines, Christophe, Toussaint, Clerveaux, etc. describe each one accurately, Toussaint and
Christophe as Creoles, Clerveaux as a mulatto, and Dessalines as a Bossal with an astute
intelligence, a keen mind who could read people’s mind. He continued to say that Dessalines was
a brilliant, creative, and inventive strategist when it comes to the Art of War.
Rainsford died in November 1817 and is buried in St Gilles in the Fields, London, England.
Below is the list of Rainsford works:

 Rainsford. A Memoir of Transactions that took place in St. Domingo in the Spring of
1799 (London, 1802; 2nd edit. as St. Domingo; or an Historical, Political, and
Military Sketch of the Black Republic, 1802).
 Rainsford. An Historical Account of the Black Empire of Hayti, London, 1805
 Rainsford. A poem in heroic couplets, The Revolution; or Britain Delivered, London,
1801 (2nd edit.).
Marcus Rainsford talking to a soldier of the Indigenous Army during his time in Saint Domingue
 Marcus Rainsford on trial in front of Toussaint, Dessalines, Clerveaux, Christophe, and Gabbart

ARMAND LEVASSEUR
In 1803, Armand Levasseur, a lieutenant aide-de-camp serving in the French army stationed in
Saint Domingue, took on the role of an observer within Dessalines’s military encampment. He,
along with Adjutant Commander, Urbain Devaux, served as two hostages provided by General
Donatien-Marie-Joseph de Vimeur, Vicomte de Rochambeau. Their purpose was to ensure the
French commitment to the ongoing negotiations for their withdrawal from the region and to
facilitate communication with Dessalines. Levasseur spent a minimum of two years in Saint
Domingue, becoming proficient enough in Creole to transcribe and translate an extensive
quotation by Dessalines.

During his time with Dessalines, Levasseur dedicated himself to “the task of studying
Dessalines’s character and physical attributes.” In an unsympathetic account he published upon
returning to France in 1804, Levasseur described Dessalines as a “former Bossale slave” who,
prior to the initial insurrection, was the property of a man belonging to the petits blancs class. He
noted that Dessalines was of modest stature, estimated to be between 50 and 55 years, and was
illiterate. Despite this, Dessalines was extraordinarily active and could move swiftly from one
place to another.

Levasseur, in addition to highlighting Dessalines as a former bossal slave, made note of his role
as the “Inspector-general of the black troops,” a position that would have placed him in charge of
the predominantly African troops. Dessalines also served as the inspector of agriculture.
Levasseur recounted an incident where, just ten days before the departure of the French, he heard
Dessalines express his intentions: “I devastated everything during the war, but now that the white
French army is leaving my country, we will have peace… I will make the black population work,
and the while population will have to abandon their properties. But I will not discriminate based
on color, and I will ensure their protection and that of their belongings.” Levasseur’s translation
of the second sentence in the quotation simplifies it to “I am going to reestablish agriculture,”
overlooking the early announcement by Dessalines that he did indeed plan to displace all whites
from their properties.

Dessalines’s statement to Levasseur reveals the delicate balance he aimed to strike in the era of
independence. He envisioned a state of peace where white individuals would be safeguarded, but
they would not retain ownership of properties. This account aligns significantly with the
contemporaneous proclamation of independence made by Dessalines, Christophe, and Philippe
Clerveaux on November 29, wherein they reassured the French that those who had “renounced
their past mistakes and renounced the injustices of their excessive claims” would find protection
in Saint Domingue during “the Dawn of Peace.”

However, this statement was contradictory to the January 1st , 1804 Declaration of Independence
where Dessalines reminded the people of the atrocities of the French barbarians. He pointed out
to the people that we still abide by French laws, we still practice French customs, and our cities
still bear the imprint of sanguinary people, and even questioned the fact that there is still French
people on the island.

Levasseur displayed a meticulous approach in documenting the intricate social divisions within
Saint Domingue. These divisions included tensions between the “anciens libres” (individuals
who had already achieved freedom before the general emancipation, such as Toussaint
Louverture), the “nouveaux libres” (newly emancipated individuals whose freedom was
uncertain due to the ongoing Haitian Revolution), and the “city slaves and slaves from large
estates.” Levasseur asserted that Dessalines encountered challenges with certain African groups,
which sometimes operated independently. In Dessalines’s camp, other “black leaders” had
recounted to Levasseur the difficulties Dessalines faced in uniting the various groups that had
surrounded the French in different locations.

One of these groups had chosen to live as maroons instead of accepting Dessalines’s leadership:
“A specific group, possibly of Congos, opposed Dessalines, and following the French army’s
departure, they fled to the hills that separated the French from the Spanish part of the island.
However, the peaceful nature of these individuals, combined with the fear that Dessalines
instilled in them and their lack of a clear leader, did not leave any hope for cooperation with
them. They certainly did not consider themselves allies of the Europeans.” While the term
“Congo” may have been used broadly in this context, the exact ethnicity of this peaceable group
remained unclear, and they were evidently not the sole separatists in a newly formed Afro-
diasporic state that had also spawned its own communities of maroons. A London news report
from that period identified another maroon group as the “Coromantians,” noting that Dessalines
had been declared Captain-General of St. Domingo and that a body of Coromantian Negroes had
previously separated themselves from the rest and established an independent settlement. The
Coromantian Negroes were recognized as the most robust and warlike of Africa’s native
populations.

Louis Dubroca
Jean-Louis Dubroca (1757-1835) was a propagandist of Napoleon, best known for his biased
works Toussaint Louverture-biography, and The Life of Jean Jacques Dessalines. He was sent to
Saint Domingue to wage a mental war against the revolution by disseminating misinformation
through bias and disparaging articles.
Dubroca’s perspective was that although Dessalines was of African origin, he had recently
arrived in Saint Domingue and was owned by a free black individual. Dubroca’s account
described Dessalines as a “ferocious African” who had been freshly brought in from the Guinea
Coast. When the uprising began, he was the property of a free black man named Dessalines. At
that time, Dessalines went by the name Jean-Jacques, and he was entirely unfamiliar with
European customs, civilization, and language. His knowledge of these aspects was virtually
nonexistent, and he retained only the inherent fierceness and barbarity associated with his
African homeland. The first act of brutality he committed was the murder of his owner, whom he
then assumed the name of, as though it had always been his own.
However, Dubroca remained one of the few French historians that took the time to study the
differences of the African nations. Many African groups existed in the Indigenous army, and
they each adorned their color, had their own customs, and spoke their own language. They only
gather together when summoned by their chiefs to go to battle. Once they accomplished their
mission, each group goes back to their respective area. Maybe that is the origin of the lack of
unity of the Haitian people. Even today, there is the guy from North, South, and West, and they
each thin that they are better than one another.
Another great find of Dubroca was Dessalines’s order to General Louis Ferrand wo was still
living on the Eastern side of the island. It was published in a U.S. newspaper, and it read as
follows, “It is contrary to the laws of Independence of the Haitian Empire to permit a portion of
the French army to remain on the island.”
This discovery put the Haitian Independence in a whole different context. It confirms and
certifies that the Proclamation and the Declaration of Independence pertained not only to the
Western part, but also to the Eastern part of the island. On July 22, 1795, France and Spain
signed the treaty of Basel, François de Barthélemy signed for France, and Domingo d’Yriarte
signed for Spain. It restored to Spain the peninsula territory lost during the Franco-Spanish war
and gave the entire island of Santo Domingo to France.
Therefore, there was never a conquest of the Spanish side by Toussaint Louverture in 1997 like
many historians want us to believe, since the Eastern part had become a French possession in
July 1795. In addition, this also implies that when Dessalines attacked the capital of Santo
Domingo, he wanted to remove General Louis Ferrand from the island. This is not the subject of
the day, let us leave it for another study.
As we can see, both Levasseur and Dubroca had let their racism overtake their reasoning when
talking about Dessalines, they assume that his African origins automatically rendered him a
savage who cannot speak and write French and does not know anything about French customs
and culture. Those allegations have been refuted by many other writers with substantial
arguments.
Michel Etienne Descourtilz
Michel Etienne Descourtilz (November 25, 1775, Boise – 1835, Paris) was a French physician,
botanist, taxonomist, and historian of the Haitian Revolution. In 1799, after his medical studies,
he traveled to Charleston, South Carolina, Santiago, Cuba, before arriving in Haiti on April 2. He
served as a physician while being a prisoner of Dessalines’s camp. While living in Saint
Domingue, he developed excellent rapports with the slaves, especially house slaves. He
mentioned that those house slaves usually come to him to complain that Dessalines’ troops were
pillaging gardens and plantations. These slaves to lessen Dessalines’ chances of achieving
victory would reveal his secrets, i.e. where he kept his hideaways, what we would call today
“safe houses”. These enslaved informants additionally claimed that Congos and Guineans were
so captivated and motivated by the Dessalines’ discourses that would develop otherworldly
courage and go to battles singing their folk songs knowing that death would only bring them
back to their homeland and their families. This information also gives a clue about the region
where Dessalines might be from since we know that reincarnation is a belief from the Gold Coast
of Africa.
Dessalines’ African origins were unanimously accepted after 1806, and all print sources from
writers to dictionaries described him as African born. Levasseur’s assertion that Dessalines was
the slave of a “petit blanc” faded. François Richard de Tussac in his works “Le cri des Colons”
described Dessalines as the slave of a free negro that one of us knew. On of the colonist even
claimed that the free black Dessalines himself had told him that the General had come back to
him in quest of his birth certificate at the time of his marriage.
The Genesis of the Name
The name Dessalines has remained an enigma since the advent of the General on the political
scene. Many historians have tried to solve this mystery, and so far a true and just account of its
origin has not emerged. Some people attributed the name to Dessalines’ black owner, yet others
consider the fact that the Assemblée Nationale, at the time, has mentioned that there was a camp
of insurgents on the plantation of Chabanon Dessalines in 1791, that Dessalines could have taken
the name of the place to distinguish himself as the leader of the camp. However, there is an order
of movement published by the French authorities that we will display further down that will give
us a more plausible origin of the name Dessalines.
The Impact of Agnotology in Haitian History.
The core questions that agnotology asks are: How has ignorance been historically constituted?
And how (and why) have we allowed ignorance to be perpetuated?
In the paragraphs below, we will see the answers to those two questions in the model of what has
become the standard of the history of the Haitian Revolution. We have accepted the work of one
man that we can classify as borderline fictional as an historical account of one of the greatest
achievements of modern times. The institutions have conditioned us not only to never question
the words of the master, but also to consider it as the gospel. Hence, in the case of the Haitian
Revolution to help them fulfil their agenda of creating a fake union among mulattoes and black
elites. However, the latter’s mission constitutes the furtherance of the former’s privileges
acquired through treacheries. (Marcus Rainsford, An historical Account of The Black Empire of
Hayti).
As we have mentioned above, Madiou is the catalyst of Dessalines becoming a creole. However,
Madiou’s account did not really elaborate profoundly on Dessalines’ Creoleness. He mentioned
in his volume 2, Histoire d’Haiti that Dessalines was a “Creole from Grande Rivière du Nord”.
Although a footnote of the 1985 reedition Has elaborated on the Creole narrative, it seems
strange that any other historians of the same era such as Ardouin and others did not use it in their
own Histoire d’Haiti. Although Madiou is the first one to mention Dessalines as a Creole, his
statement did not really spread throughout the historian community, and most historians of his
era did not embrace the discourse of Dessalines being Creole. Now let us see who the author of
the full Dessalines Creole narrative is.
Edgar La Selve
Edgar La Selve was born on December 11, 1849 in Lalinde and died on April 26, 1892 in Paris.
He arrived in Haiti at the end of 1871, driven by a desire to travel. He was hired as a teacher of
rhetoric at Lycée National Pétion de Port-au-Prince, where he worked for about 9 years.
Therefore, we can see that he had lived in Haiti, and his books is mostly tales of places that he
had visited and people that he had spoken to.
Edgar La Selve in his 1881 book, “Le Pays des Nègres, Voyage à Haiti”, he wrote
“Born in 1758 at Cormier, a plantation in the Bande-du-Nord, near Cap-Français, he was raised
by Duclos, a white colonist whose name he took, as was the custom among slaves who took their
masters’ last names, until he was bought, still at a young age, by Dessalines, a free black for
whom he worked for thirty-three years, and whom he made his butler, after he became governor-
general.”
La Selve is considered a racist by many due to his ties to King Leopold II, one of the worst
criminals in world history. King Leopold II based on some reports has killed more than ten
million people in the Congos.
La Selve’s tale about the origins of Dessalines became an accepted account, after François
Dalencour quoted it in his book “La Fondation de La République d’Haiti” in 1944. Most of La
Selve account about Dessalines are figment of his imagination. He had Dessalines creating his
own swear word “Moutie” when he was upset. La Selve even created a scene where Dessalines
offered his daughter Celimène as a bride to Alexandre Pétion, whom Dessalines called “Papa
bon coeur” Good hearted daddy.
La Selve’s work, which has been embraced by most historians at the end of the nineteenth
century, is also the source that has promoted the existence of Dessalines’ two brothers named
Duclos, who later changed their names to Dessalines.
Maybe unbeknown to La Selve was the existence of a prominent colonist and plantation owner
named Cormiers, who presided over the club Massiac in 1791, during the time of the revolution.
This colonist even wrote his own account of the events called “Mémoire sur la situation de Saint
Domingue”. In his book, Cormiers did not mention any knowledge of Dessalines.
The Duclos family held a prominent status in Saint Domingue, with a previous Duclos having
held the position of governor earlier in the century. Notably, no member of the Duclos family
publicly acknowledged any ties to Dessalines. Nevertheless, in 1883, Henri Duclos authored an
account detailing the Haitian Revolution based on the experiences of the general Bertrand
Clauzel. Duclos affirmed that Clauzel had forged an alliance with Congolese slaves, who sought
to safeguard themselves from potential attacks by Dessalines, presumably because they may not
have been fully committed to the revolutionary cause. This could explain the evolution of the
term “congo” in Haitian vernacular, which has come to signify a disloyal unrefined traitor. A
title that really fits, since they were willing to collaborate with the white slave owners.
Intriguingly, despite this noteworthy aspect of the early revolutionary era’s history, Duclos as a
historian, refrains from mentioning any connection between the Duclos family and Dessalines. It
is worth noting that no direct parent or siblings of Dessalines has been definitively identified in
the early nineteenth century.
Unfortunately, our national historians have never taken the time to question the veracity of some
of the stories reported especially by French historians, who most likely would misinform the
burgeoning Haitian minds in order to reach an established objective.
The Myth of Dessalines Illiteracy
For centuries Dessalines has been the victim of racism and prejudice. His Africanness is the main
reason of all the disparaging comments and statements. We have often heard that Dessalines was
a sanguinary, a brute, a savage, an illiterate who did not know anything about the refine ways of
the French.
For almost 200 years, Dessalines has been the victim of a negative campaign, where they even
taught our young minds that it would have been better for us, if we did not free ourselves from
slavery and proclaimed our independence. This well-organized campaign has tainted the image
of the founder and the father of the nation to the point where calling someone Dessalines has
become a curse word meaning ugly, ignorant, etc.
Most national and foreign historians just follow the established fantasist and racist narrative
instituted by enemies and haters of Dessalines notably bias mulattoes (Madiou), and French
writers. These writers have purported that Dessalines was an illiterate savage without couth. The
obscurantism of Dessalines remained so profound that still today we have historians writing
illogical stories about him and giving credit of his achievements to other leaders of the period.
However, there exist many historians who have rejected the myth that Dessalines was illiterate.
Of those, we can name Baron de Vastey, and Toussaint Louverture, who stated in his memoir
that he chose Dessalines as his first adjunct, because Dessalines was the one who could
communicate his decision in writings to the rest of the army.
In our research, we have discovered this order of movement pertaining to slaves of Saint
Domingue. It is an official archive, and I will put the original text in French and the English
translation.
 « Ordonnance concernant les salines de la colonie de St-Domingue. Du 26 mai 1788 (Port-au-
Prince : Imprimerie De Mozard, 1788). Par Vincent, Alexandre De Maréchal et François Barbé
De Marbois, conseiller du Roi. Ce prospectus unique, indique le départ de l’esclave Jean-
Jacques Dessalines, charpentier et lettré pour les plantations à l’intérieur des terres, un agitateur
rebelle qu’il faut surveiller. »
 « Extrait des registres du Conseil Supérieur de Saint-Domingue, Du 30 janvier 1789, Port-au-
Prince : Chez Bourdon, Imp. Du Roy, 1789. p.15 Note : Concerne l’obligation de l’inventaire et
vérification de chaque année des relevées des registres. Donné au Port-au-Prince. Signé par De
Marbois et Fougeron

 “Ordinance concerning the area called Les Salines of the colony of St-Domingue. From May 26,
1788 (Port-au-Prince: Imprimerie De Mozard, 1788). By Vincent, Alexandre De Maréchal and
François Barbé De Marbois, advisor to the King. This unique prospectus indicates the departure of
the slave Jean-Jacques Dessalines, carpenter, and literate for plantations inland, a rebel agitator
who must be watched. »
 “Extract from the registers of the Superior Council of Santo Domingo, January 30, 1789, Port-au-
Prince: Chez Bourdon, Imp. Du Roy, 1789. p.15 Note: Concerns the obligation of the inventory
and verification each year of the register statements. Given in Port-au-Prince. Signed by De
Marbois and Fougeron

The above ordinance compels us to query the following:

1. Was Dessalines a free black?
From the ordinance we might infer tentatively that Dessalines might have been a free black
since he was moving from Les Salines to the plantations inland. We must see that neither the
name of the plantation that he was leaving, nor that of the receiving inland plantations have
been mentioned.
2. Was Dessalines a slave with talents?
The answer is clear from the ordinance that he was a carpenter. Some historians have stated
that he was a master roofer, we refrain from going that far. However, it is well documented
that slaves with talents usually benefit certain advantages, sometimes their master sent them
out for jobs and they earn a percentage of the pay; other times they obtained a sort of
conditional freedom, where they allowed them to move around town and ply their craft.
3. Could the region play a role in the name?
He whose name nobody knows has been baptized Jean Jacques. However, the origin of his
surname has remained an enigma. The explanation of the black master named Dessalines is
quite plausible, but not readily proven. We might dare explore the possibility that the area
Les Salines could be where he got the surname. We have many such examples in the colony,
Toussaint was born on Breda habitation and he was Toussaint Breda before becoming
Toussaint Louverture. Hence, it is also plausible that Jean Jacques, who has lived, and plied
his craft in Les Salines region, who is also know for being a rebel, and an agitator has gotten
this surname to identify with the place where he originally came from.

Part II
The Conqueror
On the night of August 21-22, 1791 exactly one week after the meeting of Bwa Kayiman. A
slave revolt took place in the North of the Western side of the island. The area with the
largest agricultural plantations on the island. The insurgents massacred their masters and
burnt down plantations and buildings alike. Strangely, the free colored of the West started a
rebellion at the same time. It would be extremely naive and ignorant to attribute this to
coincidence since the meeting of Bwa Kayiman that is also called Ceremony of Bwa
Kayiman was open to everyone who yearned for freedom and equality. Even Ogé knew
about the meeting that was supposed to take place.
The uprising lasted about a couple of weeks before being completely subdued. A couple of
months later, the leader of the movement, Bookman, was captured and killed. The colonists
cut off his head and exhibited it throughout the colony. This atrocious act’s sole objective
was to show to other aspirant leaders the fate that was awaiting them.
Many other leaders who participated in the movement such as Jean François (Pete kou),
Georges Biassou, and Jeannot Bullet joined the Spanish side on the Eastern side of the island
in May 1793. Toussaint Breda, who was a lieutenant in Jean François’ army, also became a
member of the Spanish army in June 1793, after he had made some covert overtures for an
alliance to General Lavaud who had rebuffed them. The Spaniards had offered land,
privileges, and the abolition of slavery.
On February 4. 1794, the revolutionary government of France proclaimed the abolition of
slavery. Toussaint abandoned the Spanish and joined the French army after an agreement
with General Lavaud. On April 29, 1794, the Spanish garrison in Gonaives was attacked by
black troops fighting in the name of the king. At first, Toussaint claimed his innocence in
front of the Spanish, who believed him, because his name was not on the list of the black
leaders who signed the ultimatum. However, on May 18, he claimed responsibility for the
attack after he joined the French army.
Historians differ over the reasons that caused Toussaint’s change of heart. For C.L.R. James,
it was the emancipation act of May 1974 that prompted Toussaint’s decision. Beaubrun
Ardouin viewed Toussaint as a man who did not care about black plight, but instead was
searching for his own safety, and wealth. Thomas Ott sees Toussaint as a power seeker.
Although Louverture claimed that he had switched sides after the proclamation of the
emancipation in June 1794, a letter from Toussaint to General Lavaud confirms that he was
officially fighting on behalf of the French since May 17, 1794.

Toussaint under the French banner

During the initial weeks, Louverture successfully eliminated all individuals who supported
the Spanish presence within the Western Side, which he had previously controlled on behalf
of the Spaniards. He encountered threats from various directions: his former allies in the
slave rebellion had switched sides to support the Spanish, and as a French commander, he
had to contend with British forces that had landed in Saint-Domingue in September. The
British had set their sights on exploiting the prevailing turmoil to seize the affluent island.
Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville, who held the office of Secretary of State for War under
the leadership of British Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger, issued directives to Sir
Adam Williamson, the lieutenant-governor of Jamaica. These instructions pertained to the
negotiation and subsequent signing of an accord with envoys representing the French
colonists. This accord pledged the reinstatement of the former regime, the re-establishment of
slavery, and the reassertion of discriminatory practices against mixed-race colonists. This
policy decision elicited strong censure from prominent abolitionists, including William
Wilberforce and Thomas Clarkson.
Conversely, Louverture demonstrated the capability to unite his contingent of four thousand
soldiers with the forces commanded by Lavaud in collaborative military endeavors. At this
juncture, his roster of officers featured individuals who were destined to wield significant
influence throughout the course of the revolution. Notable among them were his brother,
Paul, his nephew Moise Hyacinthe, Jean-Jacques Dessalines, and Henri Christophe. It did not
take long for Louverture to effectively neutralize the Spanish peril directed at French Saint-
Domingue.

The Treaty of Basel

Nevertheless, the Treaty of Basel in July 1795 signified a formal cessation of hostilities
between the two nations. The black leaders Jean-Francois, and Biassou persisted in their
opposition against Louverture until November, at which juncture they departed for Spain and
Florida, respectively. Subsequently, the majority of their troops aligned with Louverture’s
ranks. Louverture, in parallel, commenced actions against the British occupation, although he
encountered difficulties in dislodging them from Saint-Marc, he basically freed the island of
all British presence. He adopted a strategy of containment, employing guerrilla tactics to
keep the garrison of Saint Marc from progressing.
Throughout the years 1795 and 1796, Louverture was preoccupied with re-establishment of
agriculture and the facilitation of exports while maintaining stability in the regions under his
jurisdiction. His speeches and policy pronouncements underscored his conviction that the
enduring liberty of the populace in Saint-Domingue hinged upon the economic soundness of
the colony. He was widely regarded with respect and employed a combination of diplomatic
and salaried workers to achieve these objectives. These laborers frequently mounted minor
uprisings, voicing discontent over unfavorable working conditions, a perceived absence of
genuine freedom, or apprehensions of a return to servitude. Their aspirations centered on the
establishment of independent small holdings and self-employment, rather than laboring on
large plantations.
Another concern of Louverture was the adept management of potential contenders for
authority within the French segment of the colony. Principal among these rivals was the
mulatto commander Jean-Louis Villatte, who held a base of operations in Cap-Français.
Louverture and Villate had been in competition for the command of specific units and
territorial control since 1794. Villatte was suspected of harboring prejudiced sentiments
against black soldiers like Louverture and harbored intentions to form an alliance with André
Rigaud, a free man of color, following the ousting of French General Étienne Lavaud. In
1796, Villate garnered public support by accusing the French authorities of plotting a
reinstatement of slavery.
On the 20th of March 1796 he succeeded in capturing the French Governor Lavaud,
subsequently assuming the position of Governor himself. Louverture’s forces swiftly arrived
in Cap-Français to rescue the captured governor and to dislodge Villatte from the city.
Notably, Louverture took it upon himself to open the warehouses to public scrutiny, thereby
dispelling concerns that they contained the chains that residents feared had been procured in
preparation for a resurgence of enslavement. Two months later, he received a promotion to
the post of commander of the West Province, ultimately ascending to the position of Saint-
Domingue’s highest-ranking officer in 1797. Lavaud declared Louverture as the Lieutenant
Governor, proclaiming concurrently that he would not undertake any actions without
Louverture’s consent.
Treaties with Britain and the United States: 1798
Louverture proceeded with an eye toward fostering more stable relations with other European
powers, Louverture sought to reinforce the political equilibrium in the Caribbean. When
Isaac Yeshurun Sasportas, a member of a prominent Sephardic Jewish family hailing from
Saint-Domingue, endeavored to incite a new slave uprising in neighboring British Jamaica,
Louverture discreetly disclosed the conspiracy to the British authorities. Consequently,
Sasportas was apprehended and met his end at the hands of colonial authorities on December
23, 1799. This action solidified the relation between Louverture and the English General.
For an extended period, Toussaint Louverture held sole command over the territory of French
Saint-Domingue, save for a semi-autonomous region in the South, where General André
Rigaud had repudiated the authority of the third commission. Both generals persisted in
mounting hostilities against the waning British presence on Saint-Domingue. Louverture was
in the midst of negotiations for their withdrawal when France’s most recent commissioner,
Gabriel Hédouville, made his arrival in March 1798, armed with orders to undermine
Louverture’s leadership. As the revolution approached its conclusion, Louverture
accumulated substantial wealth, including the ownership of numerous enslaved individuals in
Ennery, possession of thirty-one estates, and an annual income of nearly 300, 000 colonial
livre from these holdings. In his role as the leader of the revolution, this amassed affluence
rendered Toussaint Louverture the most affluent figure on the island of Saint-Domingue. His
actions, however, raised collective concerns among the European powers and the United
States, who apprehended that the success of the revolution might instigate slave uprisings
throughout the Caribbean, the South American colonies, and the Southern United States.
On the 30th of April 1798, Toussaint Louverture entered into a treaty with British General
Thomas Maitland, stipulating the withdrawal of British forces from western Saint-Domingue
in exchange for a general amnesty granted to the French counter-revolutionary elements in
those areas. In May, Port-au-Prince was restored to French governance amid an atmosphere
of order and festivity.
In July, Louverture and Rigaud, in concert with Commissioner Hédouville, convened a
meeting. Hédouville, aspiring to foster a rivalry that would diminish Louverture’s influence,
exhibited a strong preference for Rigaud while displaying aversion to Louverture.
Concurrently, General Maitland manipulated French factionalism, evading Hédouville’s
authority to engage Louverture directly. In August, Louverture and Maitland executed
treaties for the evacuation of the remaining British troops. On the 31st of August, they
clandestinely sealed an agreement that lifted the British blockade on Saint-Domingue, in
exchange for a commitment from Louverture that he would abstain from fomenting unrest in
the British colonies situated in the West indies.
As Louverture’s relationship with Hédouville deteriorated, a rebellion erupted among the
troops under his adopted nephew, Hyacinthe Moise. Hédouville’s attempts to manage the
situation exacerbated matters, and Louverture opted not to lend his assistance. With the
rebellion escalating into a full-scale insurrection, Hédouville prepared to depart the island,
while Louverture and Dessalines issued threats of apprehending him as a troublemaker. In
October 1798, Hédouville sailed for France, ostensibly transferring his authority to Rigaud.
However, Louverture elected to collaborate with Phillipe Roume, a member of the third
commission assigned to the Spanish-administered potions of the colony. Despite his
continued assertions of loyalty to the French government, Louverture had expelled a second
government representative from the territory and was on the verge of negotiating yet another
autonomous accord with one of France’s adversaries.
In 1798, the United States suspended trade with France due to escalating tensions between
the American and French governments concerning the matter of privateering. These two
nations entered into the so-called “Quasi-War.” Nevertheless, trade between Saint-Domingue
and the United States remained mutually beneficial to Louverture and the United States. With
Hédouville’s departure, Louverture dispatched diplomat Joseph Brunel, a grand blanc who
had once been a plantation owner and was married to a Black Haitian spouse, to engage in
negotiations with the administration of John Adams. Adams, as a New Englander openly
opposed to slavery, exhibited a much greater degree of sympathy for the Haitian cause
compared to the Washington administration before him and the Jefferson administration after
him, both of which hailed from Southern backgrounds characterized by slave ownership. The
terms of the treaty mirrored those previously established with the British; nonetheless,
Louverture consistently rebuffed overtures from either power that called for the declaration
of independence. He would rather remain a French colony. Why?
The War of Knives: 1799 – 1801
In the year 1799, the intensifying discord between Toussaint Louverture and André Rigaud
reached a climactic juncture. Louverture accused Rigaud of a plot to assassinate him,
ostensibly in a bid to assume dominion over Saint-Domingue. In response, Rigaud alleged
that Louverture was conspiring with the British to reestablish the institution of slavery. This
conflict was further exacerbated by the racial dimensions that accentuated the existing
tensions between individuals of full African descent and those of mixed-race heritage.
Additionally, Louverture harbored political motivations for the elimination of Rigaud; he
recognized that only through the control of every coastal outpost could he aspire to prevent
the potential landing of French forces, if such a contingency became necessary.
Subsequently following Rigaud’s dispatch of troops to capture the border towns of Petit-
Goave and Grand-Goave in June 1799, Louverture succeeded in persuading Phillipe Roume
to declare Rigaud a traitor. Consequently, he launched an offensive against the southern
province. The ensuing internal conflict, renowned as the War of Knives, persisted for over a
year, culminating in Rigaud’s retreat to Guadeloupe, and subsequently to France, in August
1800. Throughout the course of this campaign, Louverture delegated the majority of military
operations to his lieutenant, Jean-Jacques Dessalines.
This decision has catapulted Dessalines to a new notoriety among the mulatto population of
the South. He became infamous in the eyes of those who said that he killed thousands of
mulatto prisoners and civilians, both during and following the conflict. He also became
famous for those that attested that he spared thousands of mulatto prisoners upon arriving on
the location where the carnage was about to take place. He told them to go back home to
their family. The number of casualties also varies depending on the historian. Of course,
French general Francois Joseph Pamphile de Lacroix, a contemporary, suggested a death toll
of at least 10, 000, while the 20th-century Trinidadian historian C.L.R. James asserted that the
number was only a few hundred.
*****
Reasons Of the War of Knives.
In the examination of this conflict, historians frequently underscore the ethnocultural schism
existing within Saint-Domingue between its black and mulatto communities. André Rigaud,
a free individual of mixed racial descent, is often perceived as enjoying the favor of the white
population and fellow mulattoes who belonged to the ranks of the gens de couleur. Historian
Marcus Rainsford called them a disgrace, a group of people with all the flows that a human
being can have.
Conversely, Toussaint Louverture held a distinguished position in the esteem of the colony’s
black populace. During Rigaud’s administration, individuals of mixed-race background had
assumed numerous officer positions within his military and come into possession of many
abandoned plantation holdings in the southern region. In contrast, the majority of officers in
Toussaint’s armed forces predominantly comprised former slaves of African origin.
However, the notable degree of diversity that existed within both camps compels us to also
consider other reasons behind the discord. There were a significant number of formerly
enslaved individuals who threw their support behind Rigaud’s faction, a case in point being
the former maroon Lamour Desrances. There were mulattoes fighting in Toussaint’s Camp as
well.
According to a U.S. agent who was established in the colony, most leaders during the
revolution had the same purposes power, privileges, and riches.
Bonaparte against Toussaint the Governor
In the year 1801, Toussaint Louverture promulgated a constitution for Saint-Domingue,
wherein he declared himself governor for life and advocated for the autonomy of the black
population and the establishment of a sovereign black state, paradoxically while remaining a
French Colony. In response, Napoleon Bonaparte dispatched a formidable expeditionary
force consisting of French soldiers and warships to the island, under the command of
Bonaparte’s brother-in-law, Charles Leclerc, with the primary objective of reinstating French
dominion. These forces were clandestinely tasked with the restoration of slavery, at least in
the previously Spanish-administered portion of the island. Bonaparte’s directive stipulated
that Toussaint was to be treated with respect until the French military presence was firmly
established; following this., Toussaint was to be summoned to Le Cap and subsequently
apprehended. If he failed to comply, Leclerc was authorized to wage an unrelenting and
ruthless campaign against him and to execute all of Toussaint’s adherents upon their capture.
Once these objectives were accomplished, the re-establishment of slavery was to be pursued
in earnest. The extensive French military contingent was accompanied by mulatto troops,
under the command of Alexandre Pétion and André Rigaud, both of whom had previously
been defeated by Toussaint three years earlier.
Upon their arrival on February 2, 1802, the French forces, under the orders of Leclerc,
requested the Haitian commander Henri Christophe to relinquish control of Le Cap to the
French. Christophe’s refusal prompted the French to initiate an assault on Le Cap, which led
to the Haitians setting the city ablaze rather than surrendering it. Subsequently, Leclerc
dispatched letters to Toussaint, assuring him: “Have no worries about your personal fortune.
It will be safeguarded for you since it has been only too well earned by your own efforts. Do
not worry about the liberty of your fellow citizens.” When Toussaint failed to appear in Le
Cap, Leclerc issued a proclamation on February 17, 1802, declaring: “General Toussaint and
General Christophe are outlawed; all citizens are ordered to hunt them down, and treat them
as rebels against the French Republic.”
During this period, Captain Marcus Rainsford, a British Army officer who sided in Saint-
Domingue, as an American civilian, observed the training of the Haitian Army, remarking on
their remarkable military drills and proficiency, designed to impede cavalry charges
effectively in the dense, hilly terrain.
In a letter to Jean-Jacques Dessalines, Toussaint outlined his strategy for thwarting the
French by employing scorched-earth tactics: “Do not forget, while waiting for the rainy
season which will rid us of our foes, that we have no other resource than destruction and fire.
Bear in mind that the soil bathed with our sweat must not furnish our enemies with the
smallest substance. Tear up the roads with shot; throw corpses and horses into all the
 foundations, burn, and annihilate everything in order that those who have come to reduce us
to slavery may have before their eyes the image of the hell, which they deserve.” However,
Dessalines never received this letter, as he had already taken to the field, eluded a French
column dispatched to capture him, and laid siege to Léogâne. The Haitians set Léogâne
ablaze and massacred all the French inhabitants. The French, having anticipated that the
Haitians would willingly return to a state of enslavement, were taken aback by the Haitians’
profound aversion to this prospect.
Ravine à Couleuvres and Crête à Pierrot
Following these developments, General Pamphile de Lacroix, a French military officer, was
visibly stunned upon encountering the ruins of Léogâne, bearing witness to the multitude of
lifeless bodies. This led him to remark, “They heaped up bodies” that “still had their
attitudes; they were bent over, their hands outstretched and beseeching; the ice of death had
not effaced the look on their faces.’ Leclerc subsequently ordered four French columns to
advance on Gonaives, the principal Haitian stronghold. One of these columns was under the
command of General Donatien de Rochambeau, a staunch white supremacist and advocate of
slavery who held a deep animosity towards the Haitians for their aspiration to freedom.
Toussaint attempted to impede Rochambeau at Ravine-à-Couleuvres, a narrow and steep
defile within the mountains, obstructed by felled trees that the Haitians had placed there.
During the ensuing Battle of Ravine-à-Couleuvres, a protracted and relentless hand-to-hand
combat unfolded, characterized by unyielding confrontation on both sides. Following six
hours of arduous combat, without any quarter extended to either side, the French forces
ultimately prevailed, albeit suffering substantial losses. Throughout the battle, Toussaint
personally engaged in combat, leading his troops in charges against the French. After
sustaining the loss of 800 men, Toussaint issued a retreat.
Subsequently, the Haitians endeavored to halt the French at Crête-à-Pierrot, a British-
constructed fort nestled within the mountains, an encounter now commemorated as a national
epic in Haiti. While Toussaint commanded the field, he entrusted the defense of Crête-à-
Pierrot to Dessalines, who, perched atop a barrel of gunpowder with a lit torch, solemnly
declared to his troops: “We are going to be attacked, and if the French put their feet in here, I
shall blow everything up,” eliciting the response of his men: “We shall die for liberty!” The
initial French column to reach the fort was led by General Jean Boudet, whose troops were
continually harassed by Haitian skirmishers until they reached a deep trench that the Haitians
had excavated. As the French attempted to traverse the trench, Dessalines ordered his
concealed forces to emerge and open fire, inflicting heavy casualties upon the French.
General Boudet himself was wounded, and as French casualties, both killed and wounded,
began to accumulate in the trench, the French forces were compelled to retreat.

Subsequently, General Charles Dugua made an attempt to assault the trench, and was soon joined
by the column under the command of Leclerc. Every endeavor by the French to breach the
defenses ended in utter fiasco. Following the final unsuccessful assault, the Haitians launched a
counteroffensive, exacting casualties upon the French forces. General Dugua met his demise, and
Leclerc suffered wounds, with the French incurring approximately 800 fatalities. The last French
column to arrive was led by Rochambeau, who brought substantial artillery that succeeded in
silencing the Haitian artillery. Nonetheless, his attempt to overrun the trench also culminated in
defeat, resulting in the demise of around 300 of his troops.
In the subsequent days, the French persistently subjected the fort to bombardment and the
assaults, all of which were met with resolute Haitian resistance. Throughout this period, the
Haitians defiantly sand anthems of the French Revolution, exalting the principle of universal
equality and freedom for all this psychological warfare by the Haitians proved effective,
prompting many French soldiers to question the purpose of their engagement in subjugating the
Haitians, who were simply asserting the rights advocated by the Revolution to secure the
freedom of all individuals. Notwithstanding Bonaparte’s efforts to conceal his intentions
regarding the reinstatement of slavery, it was widely perceived by both sides that this was the
underlying motive for the French expedition, as the profitability of sugar plantations relied on
forced labor. To fully understand the importance of Saint Domingue to France, I recommend that
one reads, “A Voyage in Sainty Domingo in the years 1788, 1789, 1790,” Wimpffen, Alexandre
Stanilas. Baron de Wimpffen.
Finally, after a protracted 20-day siege, marked by dwindling supplies of food and ammunition,
Dessalines issued orders for his men to vacate the fort during the night of March 24, 1802. The
Haitians stealthily departed the fort, ready to persist in their struggle on another day. Even
Rochambeau, who harbored strong antipathy towards individuals of African descent, was
compelled to acknowledge in an official report that the Haitian retreat represented an astounding
feat of military maneuvering. Although the French forces emerged victorious, they suffered
substantial losses, approximately 2,000 fatalities, in a confrontation with a foe whom they held in
disdain on racial grounds, deeming all black individuals as lacking in intellect and valor. The
prevailing perception among the French was that shortages of sustenance and ammunition had
compelled the Haitians to withdraw, rather than their military prowess.
Moreover, following the Battle of Crête-à-Pierrot, the Haitians adopted unconventional guerrilla
tactics, thereby rendering the French occupation of the countryside from Le Cap down to the
Artibonite valley exceedingly precarious. The arrival of March brought the onset of the rainy
season in Saint-Domingue, during which stagnant water fostered the proliferation of mosquitoes
and the concomitant outbreak of yellow fever. By the close of March, approximately 5,000
Frenchh soldiers had succumbed to yellow fever, with an additional 5,000 under medical care for
the same ailment. These adversities prompted a concerned Leclerc to pen an entry in his diary,
lamenting the onset of the rainy season and the enfeeblement of his troops due to fatigue and
illness.
The Capture of Toussaint
The dynamics underwent an abrupt transformation on the 25th of April in the year 1802 when
Henri Christophe defected to the French side, an action joined by a significant portion of the
Haitian Army. A pivotal moment arose when a proposition was extended to Toussaint
Louverture, whereby he would regain his liberty if he assented to the integration of his remaining
forces into the ranks of the French army. In accord with this offer, Toussaint Louverture
concurred on the 6th of May in the year 1802.
The motives compelling Toussaint to relinquish the struggle have since spurred extensive debate,
although the most plausible explanation tends to center on sheer exhaustion after enduring the
rigors of warfare for an eleven-year span. In accordance with the terms of his surrender, General
Leclerc solemnly pledged that the institution of slavery would not be reinstated within Saint-
Domingue. Furthermore, his assurance encompassed the elevation of individuals of African
descent to the status of officers within the French Army, as well as the permission for the Haitian
Army to assimilate into the French ranks. As an additional conciliatory measure, Leclerc granted
Toussaint Louverture proprietorship of a plantation located in Ennery.
Notwithstanding these developments, Toussaint Louverture was subsequently subjected to
treacherous tactics, leading to his apprehension by the French. He was subsequently transported
to France, where he ultimately succumbed in the confines of Fort-de-Joux, situated within the
Jura Mountains, several months following his capture. In the aftermath of these events, the
formidable Dessalines ventured into Le Cap with his army to pledge allegiance to France, a
gesture that earned him the appointment as the governor of Saint-Marc, a position that he
administered with his characteristic severity. During his entry in Le Cap, Dessalines realized tha
mental, and psychological advantage that he held over the French from the lower soldier to the
highest general. It was obvious that they were all in awe of him.
It is essential to note, however, that the surrender of Christophe, Toussaint, and Dessalines did
not signify the cessation of Haitian resistance. Across the countryside, guerrilla warfare
persisted, and the French authorities orchestrated large-scale executions through means such as
firing squads, hangings, and the drowning of Haitians within sacks. Rochambeau devised an
innovative method of mass execution, denominated “fumigational-sulphurous baths.” Entailing
the examination of hundreds of Haitians within the holds of ships by igniting sulfur to generate
sulfur dioxide gas.
 Commanding
Regiment Commune Division Corps Troop Fort
officer

Fort-Liberté/
1st Toussaint Brave Eastern Infantry 1500 St-Joseph
Lavaxon

Picolet/ Citadelle-
2nd Christophe Henry Cap-Hayti Northern Infantry 1500
Henry/ Bréda

Port-au-Prince/ C
3rd Gilles Drouet Western Infantry 1500 Drouet
ap-Hayti

Jean-Jacques Innocent/ Fin-du-

4th Dessalines Western Infantry 1500
Dessalines Monde/ Doco

5th Paul Romain Limbé Northen Infantry 1500

Augustin
6th Dondon Northern Infantry 1500
Clerveaux

7th Louis-Gabart St-Marc Western Infantry 1500 Diamant/ Béké

8th Larose Arcahaie Northern Infantry 1500

Francois Lamort
9th Port-de-Paix Northern Infantry 1500 Trois-Rivière
Cappois

Jean-Philippe
10th Mirebalais Eastern Infantry 1500
Daut

Jacques/
11th Frontiste Port-au-Prince Western Infantry 1500
Alexandre

12th Germain Frère Port-au-Prince Western Infantry 1500 National/ Touron

 Forteresse des
13th Coco JJ Herne Cayes Southern Infantry 1500
Platons

14th André Vernet Gonaives Western Infantry 1500 Bayonnais

Jean-Louis
15th Aquin Southern Infantry 1500 Bonnet-Carré
Francois

Miragoane/ Anse
16th Étienne E. Gérin Southern Infantry 1500 Réfléchit/ Débois
-à-Veau

17th Vancol Port-Salut Southern Infantry 1500

18th Laurent Férrou Jérémie Southern Infantry 1500 Marfranc

19th Gilles Béneche Tiburon Southern Infantry 1500

20th (Polonais
Noir/ Black Joseph Jérome Verettes Western Infantry 1500 Crête-à-Pierrot
Polish)

21th Cangé Léogane Western Infantry 1500 Campan

Magloire
22th Jacmel Southern Infantry 1500 Ogé
Ambroise

24th Lamarre Petit-Goave Western Infantry 1500 Garry

Dragoon of the
Cap-Hayti Northern Cavalry 1000
North

Dragoon of Charlotin
St-Marc Western Cavalry 1000
Artibonite Marcadieu
 Dragoon of the
Guillaume Lafleur Cayes Western Cavalry 1000
South

Artillery of the
Cap-Hayti Northern Artillery 1000
North

Artillery of
St-Marc Western Artillery 1000
Artibonite

Artillery of the
Cayes Western Artillery 1000
South

Sansousi/ Petit- Massif du Nord/ Mountain

Maroon Northern
Noel Prieur Dondon troop

Massif la Mountain
Maroon Lamour Dérance Southern
Selle/ Kenscoff troop

Massif de la Mountain
Maroon Gilles Bambara Southern
Hotte / Goavi troop

5. Return to revolution
6. Camp Gerard**
7. Strategic planning
8. Campaign to conquer
9. Vertieres: Dessalines /Capois, Gabbart, and Daut
Part 3 Dessalines the author
Dessalines speeches***
10. Proclamation
 11. Declaration
Part 4 Legacy
epilogue

********************
In 1802, he was invited to a parley by French Divisional General Jean-Baptiste Brunet, but was arrested upon his arrival. He was
deported to France and jailed at the Fort de Joux. He died in 1803. Although Louverture died before the final and most violent stage
of the Haitian Revolution, h

**In January 1801, Louverture and his nephew, General Hyacinthe Moïse invaded the Spanish
territory, taking possession of it from the governor, Don Garcia, with few difficulties. The area had
been less developed and populated than the French section. Louverture brought it under French
law, abolishing slavery and embarking on a program of modernization. He now controlled the entire
island.[114]

Toussaint was the Governor General of Saint-Domingue from April 1, 1797 to May 5, 1802. In
1802, Napoleon Bonaparte sent his brother-in-law General Leclerc with an expedition of 20,000
soldiers and secret orders to retake control of the colony and to reinstitute slavery.

After the eventful week of August 21, 1791

Georges Biassou lived in the Salcedo House in St. Augustine. He bought a plantation, farmed by slaves of his own.[17] Biassou
continued to serve Spain in his final years, defending Florida against attacks of the Seminole Indians. He had achieved 10 years of
freedom before he died at age 60 on 14 July 1801,[4] during a drunk brawl.[11] He was honoured with a Catholic mass and was buried
at the Tolomato Cemetery. The exact location of his gravesite is unknown, as most grave markers were made of wood and have
long since disappeared.[18]

Legacy
*
Haitian researcher Rodney Salnave (Bwa Kay Il-Ment) has researched Fatiman's origins. His
research has indicated that her father was likely a Corsican prince and a grandson of Theodore
Von Neuhoff or Theodore of Corsica, sole king of Corsica. He also believes that her last name,
Fatiman, may actually have been a middle name, Attiman, which would have been given after
Gregorio Attiman, of Leghorn or Livorno, Italy, who was one of Theodore Neuhoff's pages[2]
[3]
during his conquest of the Corsican throne in April 1736. This prompted him to state that her
full name was most likely Cécile Attiman Coidavid, as she was the daughter of Célestina
Coidavid, and the sister of Marie-Louise Coidavid, Queen of Haiti from 1811 to 1820.[4] She was
the mother-in-law of Pierre Nord Alexis.

Early life[edit]
Marie-Louise was born into a free black family; her father was the owner of Hotel de la Couronne, Cap-Haïtien.[3] Henri Christophe
was a slave purchased by her father. Supposedly, he earned enough money in tips from his duties at the hotel that he was able to
purchase his freedom before the Haitian Revolution.[4] They married in Cap-Haïtien in 1793, having had a relationship with him from
the year prior. They had four children: François Ferdinand (born 1794), Françoise-Améthyste (d. 1831), Athénaïs (d. 1839)
and Victor-Henri.
At her spouse's new position in 1798, she moved to the Sans-Souci Palace. During the French invasion, she and her children lived
underground until 1803.

1. LeGrace, Benson (2014-10-01). "A Queen in Diaspora: The Sorrowful Exile of Queen
Marie-Louise Christophe (1778, Ouanaminth, Haiti-March 11, 1851, Pisa,
Italy)". Journal of Haitian Studies. 20 (2): 90–101. ISSN 1090-
3488. JSTOR 24340368.
2. ^ Louis Marceau, Marie - Louise d'Haiti, Publié à Buenos Aires, Se, 1953
3. ^ Willis, Stuart. "Queen Marie-Louise (pages 153, 161)". The Kingdom of this World.
Michigan State University. Archived from the original on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2022-
03-09.
4. ^ Waterman, Charles (1935). "Marie-Louise Christophe". Carib Queens. Bruce
Humphries, Inc. pp. 101–106. Archived from the original on 2009-09-08.
5. ^ Jump up to:a b Louis Marceau, Marie - Louise d'Haiti, Publié à Buenos Aires, Se, 1953,
pages 2–18.
**
The Haitian revolution began on August 14, 1971 the night of that famous meeting on
Habitation Le Normand, in Morne Rouge in a space

*****************
why do we ignore the contemporaneous accounts that describe him as African-born? Is it
possible that Dessalines’s case is not so much one of “becoming African” as one of “becoming
Creole” in later historiography? How have narratives of Dessalines’s Creole or African sta-tus
shaped our understanding of the Haitian Revolution as what Laurent Dubois calls “an African
revolution”?2 The existing sources referring to Dessalines’s background, and the interpretations
that have been placed upon them, demand more scrutiny.

The ambiguity of Dessalines’s case is not unique; on the contrary, it calls to mind the
contradictory evidence surrounding the origins of the author of the most famous “African”
exemplar of the slave narrative genre, the 1789 Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah
Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African. Vassa’s trajectory has similarly challenged historians
to define the ways that African and Creole taxonomies arbitrated social and cultural experience
and ultimately shaped print or verbal representations of historical trajectories.3 Although of
course empirically a person is born in one place and at one time, in a certain sense, to echo
Simone de Beauvoir concerning gender, one “was not born but became” Creole or African in
Saint Domingue.4 Especially for children or young people who may have