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1804, January 1

1804, January 1: (The Declaration of Independence and the Birth of Haiti): On the first day of 1804, at Gonaïves, the generals of the revolution gathered to …

Haitian

1804, January 1: (The Declaration of Independence and the Birth of Haiti): On the first day of 1804, at Gonaïves, the generals of the revolution gathered to formally proclaim the independence of the world’s first Black republic. Boisrond-Tonnerre, the young secretary to Dessalines, famously drafted the declaration, allegedly stating that to write the act of independence, they needed the skin of a white man for parchment, his skull for an inkwell, and his blood for ink. The name “Saint-Domingue” was officially discarded in favor of “Haiti,” the original Arawak name for the island, symbolizing a total rejection of European colonial nomenclature. Jean-Jacques Dessalines was invested with the title of Governor-General for life, a position that granted him absolute executive and military authority. This historic moment marked the conclusion of fourteen years of battering by the French Revolution and the only successful slave revolt in human history.

Source HT-WIB-000124