b57_0352 - 500 Gourdes HAÏTI 1988 P.252a

HAITI

Toussaint Louverture, in revolt against the Convention, seized Hispaniola, the Spanish part of the island. In 1802, Bonaparte sent General Leclerc, Pauline's husband, to restore order. 20,000 soldiers landed in Santo Domingo and Toussaint-Louverture was captured. He was to die in France in 1804. Hostilities, however, resumed under the leadership of Dessalines. Decimated by fevers, Leclerc himself died, the French abandoned the island. Haiti's independence was proclaimed on January 1, 1804, and Dessalines became emperor under the name of Jacques I (1804-1806). He was assassinated two years later. Henri Christophe, a black, seized power and had himself proclaimed king (1811-1820) while Pétion, a mulatto, created a Republic in part of the island (1807-1818).