The State of Haiti (french: link=no, État d'Haïti; ht, Leta an Ayiti) was the name of the state in northern

Haiti Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and s ...

. It was created on 17 October 1806 following the assassination of Emperor Jacques I and the overthrow of the

First Empire of Haiti The First Empire of Haiti, officially known as the Empire of Haiti (french: link=no, Empire d'Haïti; ht, Anpi an Ayiti), was an elective monarchy in North America. Haiti was controlled by France before declaring independence on 1 January 180 ...

. The northern State of Haiti was ruled by

Henri Christophe Henri Christophe (; 6 October 1767 – 8 October 1820) was a key leader in the Haitian Revolution and the only monarch of the Kingdom of Haiti. Christophe was of Bambara ethnicity in West Africa, and perhaps of Igbo descent. Beginning wit ...

originally as ''Provisional Chief of the Haitian Government'' from 17 October 1806 until 17 February 1807 when he became ''President of the State of Haiti''. The 1807 constitution for the State of Haiti made the post of president a position for

life Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for growth, reaction to stimuli, metabolism, energy ...

with the president having the power to appoint his successor. On 28 March 1811 President Henri was proclaimed King Henri I, thereby dissolving the State of Haiti and creating the

Kingdom of Haiti The Kingdom of Haiti (french: Royaume d'Haïti; ht, Wayòm an Ayiti) was the state established by Henri Christophe on 28 March 1811 when he proclaimed himself King Henri I after having previously ruled as president of the State of Haiti, in th ...

. Following the assassination of Emperor Jacques I, the country was split. Parallel with the government of Christophe in the north,

Alexandre Pétion Alexandre Sabès Pétion (; April 2, 1770 – March 29, 1818) was the first president of the Republic of Haiti from 1807 until his death in 1818. He is acknowledged as one of Haiti's founding fathers; a member of the revolutionary quartet tha ...

, a

free person of color In the context of the history of slavery in the Americas, free people of color (French: ''gens de couleur libres''; Spanish: ''gente de color libre'') were primarily people of mixed African, European, and Native American descent who were not ...

, ruled over the south of the country as President of the

Republic of Haiti Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and so ...

until his death in 1818. He was succeeded by

Jean-Pierre Boyer Jean-Pierre Boyer (15 February 1776 – 9 July 1850) was one of the leaders of the Haitian Revolution, and President of Haiti from 1818 to 1843. He reunited the north and south of the country into the Republic of Haiti in 1820 and also annexed ...

, who reunited the two parts of the nation after the deaths of Henri I and Henri I's son, Jacques-Victor Henry, in 1820.

History

From 1791 to 1804, the Haitian revolution against the French colonists raged. After the failure of the French expedition of 1803, General Jean-Jacques Dessalines proclaimed Haiti's independence. On 8 October 1804, Dessalines is crowned emperor in Cap-Haitian under the name of Jacques I. But very quickly, some generals, ambitious to take power, set up a plot against the emperor who was finally killed by General Alexandre Pétion's men in an ambush on 17 October 1806, at the Pont-Rouge (at the entrance to

Port-au-Prince Port-au-Prince ( , ; ht, Pòtoprens ) is the capital and most populous city of Haiti. The city's population was estimated at 987,311 in 2015 with the metropolitan area estimated at a population of 2,618,894. The metropolitan area is define ...

), betrayed by one of his battalion leaders. After that, his generals marched on the capital, abolished the Empire and drove out the imperial family, which had to go into exile. Alexandre Pétion proclaims the Republic and becomes president. But another general, Henri Christophe, seceded and took control of northern Haiti where he established a separatist government, the Northern State. President of the Northern Republic, then president and

generalissimo ''Generalissimo'' ( ) is a military rank of the highest degree, superior to field marshal and other five-star ranks in the states where they are used. Usage The word (), an Italian term, is the absolute superlative of ('general') thus me ...

of the land and sea forces of the State of Northern Haiti from 1807, Henri Christophe wanted to legitimize his power as Dessalines had done by re-establishing the empire. In conflict with the southern republic of Pétion, he managed, after several battles, to secure the borders of his new state. During this period, the French who remained in the eastern part of the island were defeated by the Hispanic-Creole inhabitants, under the command of

Juan Sánchez Ramírez Juan Sánchez Ramírez (1762–1811) was a Dominican soldier who served as the Captain general of the modern Dominican Republic between 1808 and 1811. He also commanded the troops that fought against the French rule of Santo Domingo´s colony ...

, at the battle of Palo Hincado on 7 November 1808. The French surrender in the eastern part of the island took place in Santo Domingo on 9 July 1809. The authorities then re-established the

Spanish colony The Spanish Empire ( es, link=no, Imperio español), also known as the Hispanic Monarchy ( es, link=no, Monarquía Hispánica) or the Catholic Monarchy ( es, link=no, Monarquía Católica) was a colonial empire governed by Spain and its predece ...

. Having established a certain stability, Christophe established a constitutional monarchy with him as monarch. He became King of Haiti on 28 March 1811, under the name of Henry I. On 2 June 1811, he was crowned by the Grand Archbishop

Jean-Baptiste-Joseph Brelle Jean-Baptiste-Joseph Brelle (August 18, 1754 – July 1819) was the Grand Archbishop of Haiti. He also crowned the first two rulers of Haiti. Haiti being a Catholic country far from Rome, from the independence of the country in 1804, Brelle was ...

References

External links

Constitution of the State of Haiti
{{DEFAULTSORT:State of Haiti State of Haiti State of Haiti 1800s in Haiti 1810s in Haiti 1806 establishments in Haiti State of Haiti States and territories established in 1806 States and territories disestablished in 1811

History

See also

References

External links