Background
Born Christopher Henry was born on October 6, 1767, probably in Grenada; son of a slave mother and Christophe, a freeman, he was brought as a slave to the northern part of Saint-Domingue.
Born Christopher Henry was born on October 6, 1767, probably in Grenada; son of a slave mother and Christophe, a freeman, he was brought as a slave to the northern part of Saint-Domingue.
A slave who learned to read and write, L’Overture had risen to leadership because of his education.
Legend has it that when Christophe was ten, his father sent him to sea as a cabin boy.
The slaves that were forced to work in the sugarcane fields lived a more miserable existence than can be imagined.
It is unclear whether or not he was born into slavery, and not much is known of his youth up until the time he was ten years old.
After his tour of duty in the United States, Christophe returned to Santo Domingo.
In 1790 a mulatto named Vincent Ogé raised a regiment of between 300 and 400 men to forcefully claim the rights given by the national assembly.
The mulattos won the first struggle, largely because white leaders did not believe the mulattos were serious in their demands; and the whites certainly did not expect a fight. After the surprise loss of the first skirmish, white leaders raised volunteer troops to put down the rebellion.
Christophe was L’Overture’s second in command and was in charge of the garrison at Le Cap when General Charles-Victor-Emmanuel LeClerc arrived with his forces from France in 1802.
Christophe refused Le Clerc permission to land on the island without L’Overture’s consent.
Le Clerc nevertheless executed a landing a few miles up the coast from Le Cap.
The effort was effective, and soon Christophe and other black leaders were left with scant troops to put up a fight.
Christophe worked out a deal with LeClerc that allowed black men freedom and for officers, including Christophe and L’Overture, to retain their titles and ranks.
After a time, LeClerc accepted the terms, only to arrest L’Overture at the first opportunity.
L’Overture was sent to prison in France, where he died in 1803.
Christophe’s answer to LeClerc’s breach of the agreement was to raise new troops to again fight the French.
But Christophe was unhappy with this government and attempted a coup d’etat that failed.
He seceded from the Republic, and on January 27, 1807, formed a “State” of Haiti, which included the area north of the Montrouis River.
The former French colony was now divided into a largely black northern territory, ruled by Christophe, and a largely mulatto southern territory under the control of Pétion.
Christophe had a powerful rival in Pétion, who had military skill equal to that of Christophe.
Both men were in pursuit of a common goal: to solidify control of all of Haiti with himself as ruler of the realm. Pétion was able to raise a large force against Christophe.
The battle between the two armies was brutal and bitterly fought and culminated in Pétion’s making a retreat to his capital of Port-au-Prince.
After a siege was attempted, Christophe returned to Le Cap to solidify his control over the region and institute a stable government.
There were numerous battles over a period of several years.
Sometimes Christophe emerged victorious, other times it was Pétion.
The hostilities between Christophe and Pétion finally came to an end after a siege by Christophe on St. Nicholas, a large, important town under Pétion’s control.
Though Christophe’s forces won the siege and ended thus ended the fight with Pétion, it was apparent that neither side would emerge totally victorious.
With the long period of battles with Pétion over, Christophe had time to consider his government and how to further his authority.
He wanted Haiti to be counted among the great nations of the world—for his black nation to be on equal terms with white nations.
The decree, issued on March 25, 1811, established not only royalty and nobility, but a monarchy government to be selected by the king from the nobles.
Henri I’s coronation took place on June 2, 1811, with all the pomp and pageantry of any European coronation. Christophe believed in hard work for the people.
He also established a stable currency: the valuable gourd.
Christophe’s own education was laborious—he only learned to write his name after becoming an adult, and much of what he knew was mastered by having books read to him.
Believing illiteracy to be a weakness, the king wanted better for his subjects.
The most magnificent of the palaces was in Sans-Souci.
Modeled after a Renaissance villa, the structure featured ostentation intended to augment Christophe’s prestige as king.
The fortress, a reminder of the king’s obsessive fear of French invasion, was constructed atop a mountain to be part of a system of fortification designed to protect the entire population against attack.
In the first years of his reign, he fashioned a temperate and diplomatic government, but his actions became more and more tyrannical.
It seemed at first that the king would be unable to recover from such a serious stroke, but after about a month, he was well enough to receive reports on the state of national affairs.
He was apprised of a mutiny of troops at St. Marc’s on the western coast that resulted in the death of two officers.
Christophe ordered the mutiny leaders to be immediately executedo hold off the insurgents at all costs. But when the troops arrived, Christophe’s men deserted him for the rebels.
Though Christophe succeeded in uniting the territories of Haiti, the country would remain into the late twentieth century a land of political upheaval.
Christophe's demands for work, enforced with great cruelty, led his subjects to revolt.
On Oct. 8, 1820, as tradition has it, he loaded his pistol with a silver bullet (the only weapon which had power to kill him) and shot himself.
After Christophe's death, northern Haiti was united with southern Haiti, and the country then began its unified existence as an independent state.
Henri was married to Marie-Louise Coidavid in 1793. He had three sons and two daughters.