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The royal couple of Haiti rode into their 
coronation to thunderous applause.

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After receiving his ornate 
crown and scepter,

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Henry Christophe ascended his throne, 
towering 20 meters in the air.

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But little did the cheering onlookers 
know that the first king of Haiti

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would also be its last.

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Enslaved at birth on the 
island of Grenada,

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Christophe spent his childhood being 
moved between multiple Caribbean islands.

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Just 12 years old in 1779,

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he accompanied his master to aid the 
American revolutionaries

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in the Battle of Savannah.

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This prolonged siege would be Christophe’s
first encounter with violent revolution.

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There are few surviving written records

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about Christophe’s life immediately 
after the war.

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Over the next decade,

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we know he worked as a mason 
and a waiter at a hotel

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in the French colony of Saint-Domingue, 
as Haiti was then known.

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In 1791, when the colony’s 
slaves rose up in rebellion,

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Christophe got another opportunity 
to fight for freedom.

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Led by Toussaint Louverture, the rebels 
fought against plantation owners,

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as well as British and Spanish forces 
seeking control of the island.

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Christophe quickly rose 
through the ranks,

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proving himself the equal of more 
experienced generals.

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By 1793,

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Louverture had successfully liberated 
all of Saint-Domingue’s enslaved people,

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and by 1801 he’d established the 
island as a semi-autonomous colony.

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But during this time, Napoleon Bonaparte 
had assumed power in France,

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and made it his mission to restore 
slavery and French authority

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throughout the empire.

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French attempts to reinstate slavery 
met fierce resistance,

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with General Christophe even 
burning the capital city

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to prevent military occupation.

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Finally, the rebellion and an 
outbreak of yellow fever

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forced French soldiers to withdraw— 
but the fight was not without casualties.

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Louverture was captured, 
and left to die in a French prison;

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a fate that Christophe’s nine-year-old son
would share only a few years later.

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Following the revolution,

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Christophe and generals Jean-Jacques 
Dessalines and Alexandre Pétion

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rose to prominent positions 
in the new government.

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In 1804, Dessalines was proclaimed 
the emperor of independent Haiti.

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But his desire to hold exclusive power 
alienated his supporters.

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Eventually, Dessalines’ rule incited 
a political conspiracy

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that ended in his assassination in 1806.

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The subsequent power struggle led to a 
Civil War, which split the country in two.

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By 1807, Christophe was governing as 
president of the north in Cap-Haïtien,

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and Pétion was ruling the south 
from Port-au-Prince.

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Pétion tried to stay true to the 
revolution’s democratic roots

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by modeling his republic after 
the United States.

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He even supported anti-colonial 
revolutionaries in other nations.

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These policies endeared 
him to his people,

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but they slowed trade and economic growth.

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Christophe, conversely, had more 
aggressive plans for an independent Haiti.

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He redistributed land to the people, while
retaining state control of agriculture.

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He also established trade with 
many foreign nations,

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including Great Britain and 
the United States,

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and pledged non-interference 
with their foreign policies.

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He even built a massive Citadel in case 
the French tried to invade again.

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To accomplish all of this, Christophe 
instituted mandatory labor,

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and to strengthen his authority, 
he crowned himself king in 1811.

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During his reign, he lived in an 
elegant palace called Sans Souci

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along with his wife and their 
three remaining children.

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Christophe’s kingdom oversaw rapid 
development of trade, industry, culture,

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and education.

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He imported renowned European 
artists to Haiti’s cultural scene,

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as well as European teachers, in order 
to establish public education.

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But while the king was initially 
popular among his subjects,

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his labor mandates were an 
uncomfortable reminder

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of the slavery Haitians fought to destroy.

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Over time, his increasingly authoritarian 
policies lost support,

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and his opponents to the south 
gained strength.

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In October 1820, his reign finally 
reached its tragic conclusion.

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Months after a debilitating stroke 
left him unable to govern,

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key members of his military 
defected to southern forces.

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Betrayed and despondent, 
the king committed suicide.

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Today, the traces of Christophe’s 
complicated history

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can still be found in the crumbling 
remains of his palaces,

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and in Haiti’s legacy as the first nation 
to permanently abolish slavery.