Christophe, Henri 1767–1820

Henri Christophe 1767–1820

Former king of Haiti

At a Glance…

Commanded Le Cap

A Long Rivalry With Pétion

Established Himself as King

The End of the Reign

Sources

From above, Haiti appears as an emerald isle floating on a sea of aquamarine. The history of the land envisioned by this dazzling description, however, has been one filled with political strife. In the eighteenth century, the island of Saint Domingue (Santo Domingo) was the most economically important French colony, producing more sugar than all the other French colonies combined. The slaves that were forced to work in the sugarcane fields lived a more miserable existence than can be imagined. One person who heeded the call to break the bonds of slavery was a man named Henri Christophe.

Christophe was born on October 6, 1767, on the island of Grenada. It is unclear whether or not he was born into slavery, and not much is known of his youth up until the time he was ten years old. Legend has it that when Christophe was ten, his father sent him to sea as a cabin boy. This short adventure transported him to the island of Santo Domingo, where he became employed at a hotel in Le Cap.

In 1779 Christophe joined with Admiral d’Estaing’s fleet as a part of a black volunteer regiment recruited to aid the cause of U.S. independence. D’Estaing’s unsuccessful attack on Savannah, Georgia, provided Christophe with his first taste of military experience and, reportedly, a wounded leg. After his tour of duty in the United States, Christophe returned to Santo Domingo. Continuing to work his way up at the hotel, within ten years he was made manager. It was during this period that Christophe married Marie-Louise Coidavid.

In 1788 the French National Assembly gave universal franchise to all taxpayers over the age of 25. Mulattos demanded seats and votes in the provincial assembly of Santo Domingo, but the white colonists refused, interpreting the declaration to mean “all white taxpayers.” In 1790 a mulatto named Vincent Ogé raised a regiment of between 300 and 400 men to forcefully claim the rights given by the national assembly. The mulattos won the first struggle, largely because white leaders did not believe the mulattos were serious in their demands; and the whites certainly did not expect a fight.

After the surprise loss of the first skirmish, white leaders raised volunteer troops to put down the rebellion. Christophe is believed to have served as an artillery man and a dragoon in this volunteer force that quelled the rebels. Ogé was hunted down and tortured to death in a public execution.

In 1793, when France declared war on Britain, which was

At a Glance…

Born October 6, 1767, in Grenada; committed suicide, October 18, 1820; married Marie-Louise Coidavid, 1793; children: Three sons and two daughters.

Worked variously as a hotel cook, headwaiter, and manager, Le Cap, Santo Domingo. Joined fight for U.S. independence, 1779; fought in military campaign led by Toussaint L’Overture, 1797; appointed commandant of Le Cap, 1799; declared independence of State of Haiti, 1804; elected president of northern territories of Haiti, 1807; declared Haiti a kingdom and crowned King Henri I, 1811; opened military campaign against Alexandre Pétion, ruler of the south, 1812; instituted Royal Chamber of Public Instruction, 1818.

soon allied with Spain, there was threat to Santo Domingo from another quarter: the Spanish possessions in the Caribbean, especially Jamaica and, even closer, the Spanish colony on the eastern part of the island. During the fight against the Spanish, Christophe became a captain under Toussaint L’Overture. A slave who learned to read and write, L’Overture had risen to leadership because of his education. He recognized Christophe’s talent and quickly promoted him to the rank of major.

During the peacetime that followed the banishment of the British, Christophe was employed in L’Overture’s regime at various jobs. He helped restore plantations to production at far greater levels than before and rebuild the towns that were most important for commerce and protection of the island. Christophe’s most significant task, however, was the training of black troops for future service.

Commanded Le Cap

Christophe was L’Overture’s second in command and was in charge of the garrison at Le Cap when General Charles-Victor-Emmanuel LeClerc arrived with his forces from France in 1802. Christophe refused LeClerc permission to land on the island without L’Overture’s consent. Believing that LeClerc was sent by the French government to subdue the black population into their previous condition of servitude, Christophe and L’Overture refused LeClerc authorization to land. LeClerc nevertheless executed a landing a few miles up the coast from Le Cap. Christophe, knowing the French troops outnumbered and were better trained than his own, set fire to Le Cap and retreated from the town with 2,000 white hostages.

LeClerc began a propaganda campaign among the black insurgent troops, promising freedom to all who joined the French cause. The effort was effective, and soon Christophe and other black leaders were left with scant troops to put up a fight. Christophe worked out a deal with LeClerc that allowed black men freedom and for officers, including Christophe and L’Overture, to retain their titles and ranks. After a time, LeClerc accepted the terms, only to arrest L’Overture at the first opportunity. L’Overture was sent to prison in France, where he died in 1803.

Christophe’s answer to LeClerc’s breach of the agreement was to raise new troops to again fight the French. Christophe and Jean-Jacques Dessalines, who succeeded L’Overture as commander in chief, continued the battle for freedom and eventually vanquished the French. Christophe was the senior general in Dessalines’s army—second in command to Dessalines himself—a position Christophe retained in the new government established once the French were removed. But Christophe wanted to be the leader of the government, and he was the natural choice to succeed Dessalines.

After Dessalines’s death, mulatto leaders, including Alexandre Pétion, decreed a constitution for the “Republic” of Haiti. Government authority was given to 24 senate members; Christophe was appointed president for a four-year term. But Christophe was unhappy with this government and attempted a coup d’etat that failed. He seceded from the Republic, and on January 27, 1807, formed a “State” of Haiti, which included the area north of the Montrouis River. Christophe set himself up as dictator of the new state. The former French colony was now divided into a largely black northern territory, ruled by Christophe, and a largely mulatto southern territory under the control of Pétion.

A Long Rivalry With Pétion

Christophe had a powerful rival in Pétion, who had military skill equal to that of Christophe. In addition, Pétion had received an education, which gave him superiority over uneducated black generals. Both men were in pursuit of a common goal: to solidify control of all of Haiti with himself as ruler of the realm.

Pétion was able to raise a large force against Christophe. The battle between the two armies was brutal and bitterly fought and culminated in Pétion’s making a retreat to his capital of Port-au-Prince. Christophe’s troops were not strong enough to take control of the city and totally destroy Pétion’s power. After a siege was attempted, Christophe returned to Le Cap to solidify his control over the region and institute a stable government. He started by forming a constitution that made every person in the State of Haiti free, abolished slavery forever, and established a council of state with a chief magistrate serving as the head of the government and the military.

While Christophe was establishing his government, Pétion was busy rebuilding and preparing his troops for another attack. There were numerous battles over a period of several years. Sometimes Christophe emerged victorious, other times it was Pétion. The hostilities between Christophe and Pétion finally came to an end after a siege by Christophe on St. Nicholas, a large, important town under Pétion’s control. Though Christophe’s forces won the siege and ended thus ended the fight with Pétion, it was apparent that neither side would emerge totally victorious. Although no treaty or other agreement was made, each camp retained possession of the territories currently under its control, and each leader returned to his seat of government to work on the economy.

Established Himself as King

With the long period of battles with Pétion over, Christophe had time to consider his government and how to further his authority. He wanted Haiti to be counted among the great nations of the world—for his black nation to be on equal terms with white nations. His solution was to make himself king, thereby taking on all the power and prestige associated with such a title. He suggested the idea to councilmen and advisors, who, after much deliberation, agreed a Haitian royalty and nobility should be established. The decree, issued on March 25, 1811, established not only royalty and nobility, but a monarchy government to be selected by the king from the nobles. Henri I’s coronation took place on June 2, 1811, with all the pomp and pageantry of any European coronation.

Christophe believed in hard work for the people. By introducing a program of paid labor, he soon had his country exporting annually 15 million pounds of sugar, 20 million pounds of coffee, 5 million pounds of cacao, and 4 million pounds of cotton. He also established a stable currency: the valuable gourd. Declaring all growing gourds in the state government property, he had them gathered and then sold to the peasants for produce, which was in turn sold to the British for gold.

Christophe based an education system for his subjects on the British Lancastrian system, which was popular at the time. Christophe’s own education was laborious—he only learned to write his name after becoming an adult, and much of what he knew was mastered by having books read to him. Believing illiteracy to be a weakness, the king wanted better for his subjects. He established six schools throughout the state for traditional education and a trade school to aid citizens in their quest for employment.

Military defenses and royal residences were constructed under Christophe’s direction. The most magnificent of the palaces was in Sans-Souci. Modeled after a Renaissance villa, the structure featured ostentation intended to augment Christophe’s prestige as king. But Henri I’s priciest construction was of his defensive work, La Citadel. The fortress, a reminder of the king’s obsessive fear of French invasion, was constructed atop a mountain to be part of a system of fortification designed to protect the entire population against attack. La Citadel, which stands as a monument to Christophe’s reign, was never used for defense against an invader.

Even with all these seemingly positive accomplishments, Christophe became increasingly intolerable as time passed and soon failed as a leader. In the first years of his reign, he fashioned a temperate and diplomatic government, but his actions became more and more tyrannical. In addition, he had an increasing distrust of his officers and advisors.

Christophe was also faced with the ever-present hostility of the mulattos, who resented their equal status with black citizens and the leadership of a black man. Whether the mulattos were actively planning a revolt or just waiting for an opportune moment is unknown, but such was the state of animosity when Christophe suffered a stroke at a ball held by the queen in August of 1820.

The End of the Reign

It seemed at first that the king would be unable to recover from such a serious stroke, but after about a month, he was well enough to receive reports on the state of national affairs. He was apprised of a mutiny of troops at St. Marc’s on the western coast that resulted in the death of two officers. Christophe ordered the mutiny leaders to be immediately executed and other mutiny participants to be imprisoned. The troops and officers felt the punishment was unfair without the benefit of an investigation.

Incited to a frenzy, the troops made for the palace at Sans-Souci to assassinate Henri I. The king found out the plan and instructed his guards to hold off the insurgents at all costs. But when the troops arrived, Christophe’s men deserted him for the rebels. Fearing capture and a torturous death, the king ordered his few remaining loyals to leave for safety, then took his own life with a pistol.

Henri Christophe’s lasting contribution to Haiti was the establishment of independence from foreign control, to which the country would never again succumb. His government and economic programs—designed to advance the Haitian cause—were immediately discarded for a less rigorous regimen. Though Christophe succeeded in uniting the territories of Haiti, the country would remain into the late twentieth century a land of political upheaval.

Sources

Cole, Hubert, Christophe: King of Haiti, Viking Press, 1967.

Easton, William Edgar, Christophe: A Tragedy in Prose, Press Grafton, 1911.

Harvey, W. W., Sketches of Hayti, Frank Cass and Company, 1827.

Moran, Charles, Black Triumverate, Exposition Press, Inc., 1957.

Newcomb, Covelle, Black Fire, Longmans, Green and Company, 1940.

Vandercook, John W., Black Majesty, Harper & Brothers, 1928.

—Sara Faulkenberry