The first and last king of Haiti - Marlene Daut
-
0:07 - 0:12The royal couple of Haiti rode into their
coronation to thunderous applause. -
0:12 - 0:14After receiving his ornate
crown and scepter, -
0:14 - 0:19Henry Christophe ascended his throne,
towering 20 meters in the air. -
0:19 - 0:23But little did the cheering onlookers
know that the first king of Haiti -
0:23 - 0:26would also be its last.
-
0:26 - 0:29Enslaved at birth on the
island of Grenada, -
0:29 - 0:34Christophe spent his childhood being
moved between multiple Caribbean islands. -
0:34 - 0:36Just 12 years old in 1779,
-
0:36 - 0:40he accompanied his master to aid the
American revolutionaries -
0:40 - 0:42in the Battle of Savannah.
-
0:42 - 0:48This prolonged siege would be Christophe’s
first encounter with violent revolution. -
0:48 - 0:50There are few surviving written records
-
0:50 - 0:53about Christophe’s life immediately
after the war. -
0:53 - 0:54Over the next decade,
-
0:54 - 0:57we know he worked as a mason
and a waiter at a hotel -
0:57 - 1:01in the French colony of Saint-Domingue,
as Haiti was then known. -
1:01 - 1:05In 1791, when the colony’s
slaves rose up in rebellion, -
1:05 - 1:09Christophe got another opportunity
to fight for freedom. -
1:09 - 1:13Led by Toussaint Louverture, the rebels
fought against plantation owners, -
1:13 - 1:17as well as British and Spanish forces
seeking control of the island. -
1:17 - 1:20Christophe quickly rose
through the ranks, -
1:20 - 1:23proving himself the equal of more
experienced generals. -
1:23 - 1:25By 1793,
-
1:25 - 1:29Louverture had successfully liberated
all of Saint-Domingue’s enslaved people, -
1:29 - 1:34and by 1801 he’d established the
island as a semi-autonomous colony. -
1:34 - 1:39But during this time, Napoleon Bonaparte
had assumed power in France, -
1:39 - 1:42and made it his mission to restore
slavery and French authority -
1:42 - 1:44throughout the empire.
-
1:44 - 1:48French attempts to reinstate slavery
met fierce resistance, -
1:48 - 1:51with General Christophe even
burning the capital city -
1:51 - 1:53to prevent military occupation.
-
1:53 - 1:57Finally, the rebellion and an
outbreak of yellow fever -
1:57 - 2:02forced French soldiers to withdraw—
but the fight was not without casualties. -
2:02 - 2:06Louverture was captured,
and left to die in a French prison; -
2:06 - 2:11a fate that Christophe’s nine-year-old son
would share only a few years later. -
2:11 - 2:12Following the revolution,
-
2:12 - 2:17Christophe and generals Jean-Jacques
Dessalines and Alexandre Pétion -
2:17 - 2:20rose to prominent positions
in the new government. -
2:20 - 2:24In 1804, Dessalines was proclaimed
the emperor of independent Haiti. -
2:24 - 2:29But his desire to hold exclusive power
alienated his supporters. -
2:29 - 2:33Eventually, Dessalines’ rule incited
a political conspiracy -
2:33 - 2:37that ended in his assassination in 1806.
-
2:37 - 2:42The subsequent power struggle led to a
Civil War, which split the country in two. -
2:42 - 2:47By 1807, Christophe was governing as
president of the north in Cap-Haïtien, -
2:47 - 2:51and Pétion was ruling the south
from Port-au-Prince. -
2:51 - 2:54Pétion tried to stay true to the
revolution’s democratic roots -
2:54 - 2:57by modeling his republic after
the United States. -
2:57 - 3:01He even supported anti-colonial
revolutionaries in other nations. -
3:01 - 3:04These policies endeared
him to his people, -
3:04 - 3:07but they slowed trade and economic growth.
-
3:07 - 3:11Christophe, conversely, had more
aggressive plans for an independent Haiti. -
3:11 - 3:16He redistributed land to the people, while
retaining state control of agriculture. -
3:16 - 3:19He also established trade with
many foreign nations, -
3:19 - 3:21including Great Britain and
the United States, -
3:21 - 3:24and pledged non-interference
with their foreign policies. -
3:24 - 3:29He even built a massive Citadel in case
the French tried to invade again. -
3:29 - 3:32To accomplish all of this, Christophe
instituted mandatory labor, -
3:32 - 3:37and to strengthen his authority,
he crowned himself king in 1811. -
3:37 - 3:41During his reign, he lived in an
elegant palace called Sans Souci -
3:41 - 3:45along with his wife and their
three remaining children. -
3:45 - 3:49Christophe’s kingdom oversaw rapid
development of trade, industry, culture, -
3:49 - 3:51and education.
-
3:51 - 3:54He imported renowned European
artists to Haiti’s cultural scene, -
3:54 - 3:59as well as European teachers, in order
to establish public education. -
3:59 - 4:02But while the king was initially
popular among his subjects, -
4:02 - 4:05his labor mandates were an
uncomfortable reminder -
4:05 - 4:08of the slavery Haitians fought to destroy.
-
4:08 - 4:12Over time, his increasingly authoritarian
policies lost support, -
4:12 - 4:15and his opponents to the south
gained strength. -
4:15 - 4:20In October 1820, his reign finally
reached its tragic conclusion. -
4:20 - 4:24Months after a debilitating stroke
left him unable to govern, -
4:24 - 4:28key members of his military
defected to southern forces. -
4:28 - 4:32Betrayed and despondent,
the king committed suicide. -
4:32 - 4:36Today, the traces of Christophe’s
complicated history -
4:36 - 4:39can still be found in the crumbling
remains of his palaces, -
4:39 - 4:45and in Haiti’s legacy as the first nation
to permanently abolish slavery.
- Title:
- The first and last king of Haiti - Marlene Daut
- Speaker:
- Marlene Daut
- Description:
-
View full lesson: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/the-first-and-last-king-of-haiti-marlene-daut
The royal couple of Haiti rode into their coronation to thunderous applause. After receiving his ornate crown, Henry Christophe ascended his throne, towering 20 meters in the air. But little did the cheering onlookers know that the first king of Haiti would also be its last. Who was this revolutionary? Marlene Daut details how a man enslaved at birth rose through the ranks to become king.
Lesson by Marlene Daut, directed by Cabong Studios.
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TED-Ed
- Duration:
- 04:48
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