Jean-Jacques Dessalines

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Jean-Jacques Dessalines
Photo: Louis Rigaud, Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

Personality · Politics & public life

Politician

📍 Birthplace Grande-Rivière-du-Nord

September 20, 1758 – October 17, 1806

Haiti

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Jean-Jacques Dessalines was the first Haitian Emperor, leader of the Haitian Revolution, and the first ruler of an independent Haiti under the 1805 constitution. Initially regarded as governor-general, Dessalines was later named Emperor of Haiti as Jacques I (1804–1806) by generals of the Haitian Revolutionary army and ruled in that capacity until being assassinated in 1806. He spearheaded the resistance against French rule of Saint-Domingue, and eventually became the architect of the 1804 massacre of the remaining White French residents of newly independent Haiti. Alongside Toussaint Louverture, he has been referred to as one of the fathers of the nation of Haiti. Under the rule of Dessalines, Haiti became the first country in the Americas to permanently abolish slavery.

Wikipedia (en) · CC BY-SA 4.0

Offices held

  1. 1804 – 1806Emperor of Haiti

Career

  1. 1804Déclaration d'indépendance de Haïti, 1804Work
  2. 1805Constitution of HaytiWork

Places

Birthplace
Grande-Rivière-du-Nord
Languages
French

Official links and sources

Information from

  • Wikidata, Q212068 (CC0)
  • Photo: Louis Rigaud, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
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