Jean-Jacques Dessalines

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Jacques I
Portrait of Dessalines, c. 1840–1880
Emperor of Haiti
Reign	2 September 1804 – 17 October 1806
Coronation	8 October 1804
Predecessor	Himself (as Governor General)
Successor	Henri Christophe (as Provisional Chief of the Haitian Government) Alexandre Pétion (as President of Haiti)
Governor-General of Haiti
In office	1 January 1804 – 2 September 1804
Predecessor	Toussaint Louverture (in 1802)
Successor	Himself (as Emperor of Haiti)
Born	(1758-09-20)20 September 1758 Cormier, Grande-Rivière-du-Nord, Saint-Domingue
Died	17 October 1806(1806-10-17) (aged 48) Pont Larnage (now Pont Rouge), near Port-au-Prince, Haiti
Burial	17 October 1806 by Dédée Bazile
Spouse	Marie-Claire Heureuse Félicité
Names Jean-Jacques Dessalines
Coat of arms

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Jean-Jacques Dessalines (Haitian Creole: Jan-Jak Desalin; French pronunciation: [ʒɑ̃ ʒak dɛsalin]; 20 September 1758 – 17 October 1806) 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.^[1] He spearheaded the resistance against French rule of Saint-Domingue, and eventually became the architect of the 1804 massacre of the remaining French residents of newly independent Haiti, including some supporters of the revolution.^[2] Alongside Toussaint Louverture, he has been referred to as one of the fathers of the nation of Haiti.^[3][4] Dessalines was directly responsible for the country, and, under his rule, Haiti became the first country in the Americas to permanently abolish slavery.

Dessalines served as an officer in the French army when Saint-Domingue was fending off Spanish and British incursions. Later he rose to become a commander in the revolt against France. As Toussaint Louverture's principal lieutenant, he led many successful engagements, including the Battle of Crête-à-Pierrot.

In 1802, Louverture was betrayed and captured, and sent to prison in France, where he died. Thereafter, Dessalines became the leader of the revolution and Général-Chef de l'Armée Indigène on 18 May 1803. His forces defeated the French army at the Battle of Vertières on 18 November 1803. Saint-Domingue was declared independent on 29 November and then as the independent Republic of Haiti on 1 January 1804, under the leadership of Dessalines, chosen by a council of generals to assume the office of governor-general.

He ordered the 1804 Haitian massacre of the remaining French population in Haiti, resulting in the deaths of between 3,000 and 5,000 people, including women and children, and an exodus of thousands of refugees.^[5] Some modern historians classify the massacre as a genocide due to its systemic nature.^[6][7] Notably, he excluded surviving Polish Legionnaires, who had defected from the French legion to become allied with the enslaved Africans, as well as the Germans who did not take part in the slave trade.^[8] He granted them full citizenship under the constitution and classified them as black, along with all other Haitian citizens.^[8] Tensions remained with the minority of mixed-race or free people of color, who had gained some education and property during the colonial period.^[5]

As Emperor, Dessalines enforced plantation labor to promote the economy and began a dictatorship.^[9] In 1806, he was assassinated by members of his own administration and dismembered by a violent mob shortly thereafter.^[10][11]

For much of the 19th century, Dessalines was generally reviled by Haitians for his autocratic ways. But by the beginning of the 20th century, Dessalines began to be reassessed as an icon of Haitian nationalism. The national anthem of Haiti, "La Dessalinienne", written in 1903, is named in his honor.^[12][13]