The first and last king of Haiti - Marlene Daut

["Viv lib se pa senpman wete chenn pa w,

viv lib se viv yon jan ki respekte epi anrichi libète lòt moun." Nelson Mandela]

The royal couple of Haiti rode into their coronation to thunderous applause.

Gwo bravo te akeyi koup wayal Ayiti a lè yo te rive pou pran kouwòn.

After receiving his ornate crown and scepter,

Apre li fin resevwa kouwòn ak baton kouvri ak pyèr epi desen

Henry Christophe ascended his throne, towering 20 meters in the air.

Henry Christophe chita sou twòn li, ki te monte rive wo wo - 20 mèt wi.

But little did the cheering onlookers know that the first king of Haiti

Men, moun sa yo ki t ap bat bèl bravo yo pa te fouti konnen ke premye wa Ayiti a

would also be its last.

se li ki t ap dènye wa peyi a tou.

Enslaved at birth on the island of Grenada,

Se depi Christophe te fèt, yo te mete li nan esklavaj sou zile Grenad.

Christophe spent his childhood being moved between multiple Caribbean islands.

Pandan li te timoun yo te balote li pami plizyè zile nan Karayib la.

Just 12 years old in 1779,

Li te gen apèn 12 zan an 1779 lè li te akonpaye mèt li

he accompanied his master to aid the American revolutionaries

ki t al ede Revolisyonè Ameriken yo nan batay Savannah.

in the Battle of Savannah.

This prolonged siege would be Christophe’s first encounter with violent revolution.

Goumen manch long sa a se premye fwa Christophe te viv vyolans yon revolisyon.

There are few surviving written records

Apèn si gen kèk dokiman ki ekri sou lavi Christophe touswit apre lagè a.

about Christophe’s life immediately after the war.

Over the next decade,

Nan pwochen deseni ki pral vini an nou konnen li pral fè bòs mason

we know he worked as a mason and a waiter at a hotel

epi sèvè nan yon otèl nan ansyen koloni franse a Sen Domeng,

in the French colony of Saint-Domingue, as Haiti was then known.

peyi ki pral vin rele Ayiti a.

In 1791, when the colony’s slaves rose up in rebellion,

Nan lane 1791, lè esklav yo nan koloni a lanse revolisyon an,

Christophe got another opportunity to fight for freedom.

Christophe jwenn yon lòt chans batay pou libète.

Led by Toussaint Louverture, the rebels fought against plantation owners,

Avèk Toussaint Louverture kòm chèf, rebèl yo goumen kont plantè yo,

as well as British and Spanish forces seeking control of the island.

epitou kont lame Grann Bretay ak Espay ki t ap chèche pran kontwòl zile a.

Christophe quickly rose through the ranks,

Christophe pran grad byen vit,

proving himself the equal of more experienced generals.

li montre li menm nivo ak jeneral ki gen eksperyans pase li.

By 1793,

Rive 1793, Louverture reyisi libere tout moun ki rele "esklav" nan Sen Domeng.

Louverture had successfully liberated all of Saint-Domingue’s enslaved people,

and by 1801 he’d established the island as a semi-autonomous colony.

Rive 1801 menm li fè zile a tounen yon koloni semi-otonòm.

But during this time, Napoleon Bonaparte had assumed power in France,

Men, pandan tan sa a, Napoleon Bonaparte te pran pouvwa an Frans,

and made it his mission to restore slavery and French authority

e li bay tèt li misyon retabli esklavaj ak otorite Lafrans nan tout koloni yo.

throughout the empire.

French attempts to reinstate slavery met fierce resistance,

Lè Lafrans eseye remete esklavaj, sa kreye gwo rezistans.

with General Christophe even burning the capital city

Jeneral Christophe menm rive boule kapital la pou anpeche okipasyon.

to prevent military occupation.

Finally, the rebellion and an outbreak of yellow fever

Finalman, revolisyon mete ak fyèv jòn vin fòse sòlda franse yo kraze rak.

forced French soldiers to withdraw— but the fight was not without casualties.

Men, batay la te gentan fè viktim.

Louverture was captured, and left to die in a French prison;

Yo arete Louverture, epi yo fèmen li pou li mouri nan prizon Lafrans.

a fate that Christophe’s nine-year-old son would share only a few years later.

Kèk ane pita, se menm malè sa a ki pral tonbe sou

pwòp pitit gason Christophe ki te gen apèn 9 an.

Following the revolution,

Apre revolisyon an, Christophe ak jeneral

Christophe and generals Jean-Jacques Dessalines and Alexandre Pétion

Jean-Jacques Dessalines ansamn ak Alexandre Pétion

rose to prominent positions in the new government.

pral gwo chèf nan nouvo gouvènman an.

In 1804, Dessalines was proclaimed the emperor of independent Haiti.

An 1804, Desalin vin pwoklame tèt li anperè nan yon Ayiti ki endepandan.

But his desire to hold exclusive power alienated his supporters.

Men, nan vle kenbe pouvwa pou li menm sèl, li vin fache ak moun ki t ap kore li yo.

Eventually, Dessalines’ rule incited a political conspiracy

Se kon sa rejim Desalin nan te vin ankouraje yon konplo politik

that ended in his assassination in 1806.

ki fè yo asasine li an 1806.

The subsequent power struggle led to a Civil War, which split the country in two.

Batay pou pouvwa fè peyi a chavire nan yon gè sivil, ki fann peyi a an de.

By 1807, Christophe was governing as president of the north in Cap-Haïtien,

Rive 1807, Christophe te prezidan pou nò peyi a Okap,

and Pétion was ruling the south from Port-au-Prince.

epi Pétion te dirije sid la apati Pòtoprens.

Pétion tried to stay true to the revolution’s democratic roots

Pétion te eseye rete nan menm lespri demokratik revolisyon an.

by modeling his republic after the United States.

Se pou sa li te fè yon repiblik sou modèl Etazini.

He even supported anti-colonial revolutionaries in other nations.

Li te menm kore revolisyonè lòt bò dlo ki t ap goumen kont sistèm kolonyal la.

These policies endeared him to his people,

Demach sa yo te vin fè pèp li te renmen li anpil.

but they slowed trade and economic growth.

Men, sa te vin fè komès ak kwasans ekonomik te vin ralanti.

Christophe, conversely, had more aggressive plans for an independent Haiti.

Christophe, o kontrè, te gen pwogram ki pi agresif pou yon Ayiti ki endepandan.

He redistributed land to the people, while retaining state control of agriculture.

Li te distribye tè bay pèp la, pandan ke Leta rete kontwòle agrikilti.

He also established trade with many foreign nations,

Li te fè komès tou ak anpil peyi etranje,

including Great Britain and the United States,

pami yo Grann Bretay ak Etazini,

and pledged non-interference with their foreign policies.

epi li te pwomèt yo ke li pa t ap rantre nan koze yo ak lòt peyi.

He even built a massive Citadel in case the French tried to invade again.

Li te menm bati yon kokennchenn Sitadèl pou si Lafrans ta eseye anvayi ankò.

To accomplish all of this, Christophe instituted mandatory labor,

Pou rive fè tout bagay sa a yo, Christophe te etabli yon sistèm kòve.

and to strengthen his authority, he crowned himself king in 1811.

Epi tou pou ranfòse otorite li, li kouwone tèt li wa nan 1811.

During his reign, he lived in an elegant palace called Sans Souci

Pandan rejim li a, li te rete nan yon bèl palè yo rele Sans Souci

along with his wife and their three remaining children.

ansanm ak madanm li epi twa pitit yo ki te rete yo.

Christophe’s kingdom oversaw rapid development of trade, industry, culture,

Nan wayom Christophe la, komès, endistri, kilti, ak edikasyon te devlope vit.

and education.

He imported renowned European artists to Haiti’s cultural scene,

Li te fè rantre gwo atis Ewopeyen vin patisipe nan aktivite kiltirèl ann Ayiti.

as well as European teachers, in order to establish public education.

Pwofesè ewopeyen te vini tou pou tabli edikasyon piblik.

But while the king was initially popular among his subjects,

Men, alòs ke nan kòmansman sijè yo te kontan wa a anpil anpil,

his labor mandates were an uncomfortable reminder

kòve yo bay move souvni sistèm esklavaj la ke Ayisyen te goumen rèd pou yo aboli.

of the slavery Haitians fought to destroy.

Over time, his increasingly authoritarian policies lost support,

Rive yon tan, moun vin pa dakò ak politik li yo ki t ap pi otoritè chak jou,

and his opponents to the south gained strength.

epi opozisyon li yo nan sid la vin pran plis fòs.

In October 1820, his reign finally reached its tragic conclusion.

Nan mwa oktòb 1820, rejim Christophe la vin fini mal nèt.

Months after a debilitating stroke left him unable to govern,

Plizyè mwa apre yon konjesyon serebral te vin fè wa a twò fèb pou li gouvène,

key members of his military defected to southern forces.

ofisye wo nivo nan lame li vin abandone li al jwenn twoup sid yo.

Betrayed and despondent, the king committed suicide.

Devan trayizyon sa a epi dekourajman, wa a tiye tèt li.

Today, the traces of Christophe’s complicated history

Jodi a, ou ka wè tras istwa konplike Christophe la

can still be found in the crumbling remains of his palaces,

nan ruin palè li yo,

and in Haiti’s legacy as the first nation to permanently abolish slavery.

epi nan eritaj Ayiti kòm premye nasyon ki aboli esklavaj pou tout tan.