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1805, May 20

1805, May 20: (The Imperial Constitution): To codify the new regime, Dessalines promulgated the Constitution of 1805, which declared all Haitians to be “Blac…

Haitian

1805, May 20: (The Imperial Constitution): To codify the new regime, Dessalines promulgated the Constitution of 1805, which declared all Haitians to be “Black,” regardless of their skin tone, to emphasize national unity and legal equality. The constitution formally abolished the titles of nobility—except for the Emperor himself—and reasserted that the land of Haiti was the collective property of its people. It maintained the prohibition of white ownership of property, a direct response to the centuries of colonial exploitation. This document served to institutionalize the revolutionary gains while cementing the Emperor’s absolute control over the civil, military, and ecclesiastical functions of the state. Despite its radical egalitarian language, the constitution placed the lives and fortunes of every citizen directly under the “caprice and corruption” of the Imperial court.

Source HT-WIB-000100, 000101