Jean-Jacques Dessalines

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Jean-Jacques Dessalines was a Haitian revolutionary leader and the first ruler of independent Haiti, renowned for leading the final phase of the Haitian Revolution and declaring the country’s independence from France in 1804.


Statements (58)
Predicate Object
instanceOf Haitian military leader
head of state
person
revolutionary
causeOfDeath gunshot wound
commemoratedBy Haiti’s national holiday Dessalines Day
continentOfBirth North America
country Haiti
countryOfBirth French colony of Saint-Domingue
countryOfCitizenship Haiti
dateOfBirth circa 1758
dateOfDeath 1806-10-17
dateOfIndependenceDeclaration 1804-01-01
declaredIndependenceOf Haiti
ethnicGroup Afro-Haitian
familyName Dessalines
givenName Jean-Jacques
hasMonument statue at Pont Rouge
statue in Port-au-Prince
headOfGovernmentOf Haiti
honorificTitle Father of the Nation of Haiti
knownFor abolishing slavery in Haiti
being the first ruler of independent Haiti
founding the first Black republic in the Americas
languageSpoken French
Haitian Creole
mannerOfDeath assassination
militaryBranch Haitian revolutionary army
militaryRank general
monarchOf Haiti
movement Haitian independence movement
anti-slavery movement
nobleTitle Emperor
notableFor declaring Haiti’s independence from France
leading the final phase of the Haitian Revolution
notableWork Haitian Declaration of Independence
opponent France
French colonial forces
Napoleonic France
participantIn Haitian Revolution
War of Haitian Independence
placeOfBirth Cotonou plantation
Saint-Domingue
near Grande-Rivière-du-Nord
placeOfDeath Pont Rouge
near Port-au-Prince
positionHeld Emperor of Haiti
Head of State of Haiti
precededBy French colonial administration in Saint-Domingue
reignEnd 1806-10-17
reignStart 1804-10-06
religion Roman Catholicism
royalTitle Emperor Jacques I
sexOrGender male
significantEvent Haitian Revolution
succeededBy Alexandre Pétion
Henri Christophe
title Jacques I


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