E-auction 390-302920 - 25 Gourdes HAITI 1985 P.243a

HAITI

(1804-1820)

Toussaint Louverture, rebelled against the Convention, seized Hispaniola, the Spanish part of the island. In 1802, Bonaparte sent General Leclerc, the husband of Pauline, to restore order. 20,000 soldiers landed in Santo Domingo and Toussaint L'Ouverture was captured. He died in France in 1804. Hostilities, however, resumed under the leadership of Dessalines. Decimated by fevers, Leclerc himself died, the French abandoned the island. The independence of Haiti was proclaimed on 1 January 1804 and Dessalines became emperor under the name of Jacques I (1804-1806). He was assassinated two years later. Henri Christophe, a black, seized power and proclaimed himself king (1811-1820) while Petion, a mulatto, created a republic in part of the island (1807-1818).