The Monarchs of Haiti

Haiti, the small Caribbean country, has had three monarchs in it's history since it's independence from France. All three were self-procaimed monarchs. They were His Imperial Majesty, Emperor Jacques I of the Empire of Haiti, His Royal Majesty, Henri I of the Kingdom of Haiti, and His Imperial Majesty, Faustin I of the Empire of Haiti.

Jean-Jacques Dessalines was the lieutenant to Toussaint L'Ouverture, the man who drove out the French colonialists who had enslaved the black people of the island. Jean-Jacques was elected the Governor-General-for-Life of the Island and on the 22nd of September 1804, he proclaimed himself Emperor of Haiti. He was crowned on the 6th of October. He worked hard to keep the plantations and sugar industry going without using slavery and he banned white people from owning land or property on the island, decalring Haiti an all-black nation. He enforced a harsh regime of plantation labour and demanded all blacks either be employed as soldiers to defend the country or as labourers on the plantations to keep the country going. He was assassinated by rebels on the 17th of October 1806, just north of the Capital City, Port-au-Prince.

Henri Christophe was the President of the State of Haiti, which was the country that existed on the north of the island after the country split after the death of Jacques I. He declared himself the King of Haiti and his official title was: Henry, by the grace of God and constitutional law of the state, King of Haiti, Sovereign of Tortuga, Gonâve, and other adjacent islands, Destroyer of tyranny, Regenerator and Benefactor of the Haïtian nation, Creator of her moral, political, and martial institutions, First crowned monarch of the New World, Defender of the faith, Founder of the Royal Military Order of Saint Henry. He built six chateaux, eight palaces and the massive Citadelle Laferrière fortress for his own use and created a noble class for the Kingdom creating 4 princes, 8 dukes, 22 counts, 37 barons and 14 chevaliers.

Faustin Soulouque was the President of Haiti and became the absolute ruler of the state. He crowned himself Emperor in an incredibly lavish coronation ceremony based on that of Napoleon I of the French Empire and attempted to create a strong centralized government, which, while remaining Haitian in character, also borrowed from the traditions of the European monarchies, including the First French Empire. He launched three unsuccessful invasions into the Dominican Republic in an attempt to prevent the Republic interfering in Haitian affairs, but all were unsuccessful.