1814, September 18 (The Refutation of French Claims): Within the Royal Manifesto, the King addressed the “vain and ridiculous” claims of the French governmen…

1814, September 18 (The Refutation of French Claims): Within the Royal Manifesto, the King addressed the “vain and ridiculous” claims of the French government that they still possessed sovereignty over Hayti. He argued that the right of arms, the right of conquest, and the “unanimous will” of the people had long since extinguished any French title to the land. The King noted that after twenty-five years of self-rule, the Haytians were no longer the same people who had once “groaned under the frightful yoke” of the colonial system. He asserted that any attempt by France to reclaim the colony would be a violation of the laws of nature and the rights of nations. This legal defense was designed to position Hayti as a de facto independent state that had earned its place in the global order.