Henri Christophe and Haiti, first Black Republic in the "New World"

Painting of Henri Christophe, First King of the Republic of Haiti
(b. October 8, 1767 – d. October 8, 1820). 

Little is known about Henri Christophe's (English: Henry Christopher ) boyhood. A great number of commentators report that he was born on Grenada island, a small nation in the Caribbean’s Lesser Antilles, and was the son of a freeman. His father, also named Christophe, was reportedly transported from West African or Central West Africa to Saint Domingue, the former French colony now known as Haiti.

The Early Adult Life of Henri Christophe

In 1779, Christophe served with the French Forces as a drummer boy with a regiment described as gens de couleur (English: people of color or color people) in the American Revolution. The gens de couleur regiment fought at the Siege of Savannah at what is now the State of Georgia. Nine years later, in 1788, Georgia would become the fourth State admitted into the original thirteen colonies of the United States of America. France had lent troop assistance to the revolutionaries against England during the American Revolution.

After the American Revolution, Christophe returned to Saint Domingue where he is reported to have worked as a billiard-maker, mason, sailor, stable-hand and waiter. He also managed a hotel restaurant in Cap-Français, then the capital of Saint-Domingue, that served the wealthy French slave-holders from the surrounding plantations.

Enslaved Africans at Saint Domingue Defeat France’s Napoleon Bonaparte

Image of Brigadier General Henri Christophe of Haiti

On August 22, 1791, at Midnight, the Africans at Saint Domingue revolted against France's colonial regime of slavery. That night, approximately 1,400 coffee and sugar plantations were set on fire -- the first act that started the road to independence. The Haitian Revolution was rebellion against a century of French oppression. The name the Africans would later adopt for their new nation is "Haiti", a word translated from the language of the native inhabitants as "land of mountains".

Christophe distinguished himself in the Haitian Revolution. While not as widely known as François-Dominique Toussaint L'Ouverture -- the great military leader that maintained African control over Saint-Domingue from France into 1797 -- Henri Christophe had distinguished himself by 1802 to become L'Ouverture's brigadier general.

Christophe fought alongside L'Ouverture in the north against the French. This included fighting against Spanish, British and French troops, all of whom had a strong interest in suppressing an uprising on the vast slave plantations established by the European colonialists over the Americas and the Caribbean.

By June 1802, L'Ouverture was captured by agents of Napoleon Bonaparte for France. He was deported from the island to France. The revolution continued, however. After 13 years of military battle between the French colony, the Africans would win their independence in the year 1804. January 1, 1804 -- to be exact. The Haitians distinguished themselves in history as the first independent Black republic in the West.

The North-South Civil War in Haiti: Alexandre Pétion and Henri Christophe

In 1806, Christophe and the Haitian general Alexandre Pétion overthrew Jean Jacques Dessalines. Subsequently, a short civil war broke out between Christophe and Pétion. By February 1807, Haiti was divided between Christophe whom had clear charge over the North, and Alexander Pétion who led the South of the new country.

Christophe was elected president and served in that capacity from 1807 to 1811. On March 26, 1811, Henri proclaimed Haiti a republic nation and himself King, securing the title of Henri I -- first and only king of Haiti. He served as Haiti's king from 1811 to 1820, later becoming president in the last four years of his leadership.

Citadelle Laferrière: The Grand Fortress near Cap-Haïtien

Aerial Image of La Citadelle La Ferriere in Haiti. A legacy of King Henri Christophe I of Haiti was built between 1805 and 1820.

Henri Christophe is noted for his policy of construction and economic development in Haiti. Christophe was charged with transforming a slave-based economy into an effective and productive economy of a nation of newly freed people. While he improved the nations' infrastructure he is noted by some of the commentators for his labor policies which involved harsh work conditions and a transfer of a great amount of the wealth being controlled by the republic.

Photo of the Palace of Sans Souci in Haiti, commissioned by Henri Christophe in 1810 and completed in 1813. 

A trained mason, Christophe is noted for the construction of Sans Souci Palace and the fortress near Cap-Haïtien called Citadelle Laferrière. He also built six notable châteaux and eight palaces in the region. The Citadelle Laferrière is described as one of the great construction wonders of the era. In 1842, a major earthquake destroyed part of the fortress.

By 1820, an insurrection broke out in the northern region of Haiti, where Christophe has retired to during the last four years of his rule. While some commentators allege that Christophe committed suicide, we do know from historical accounts that he suffered an incapacitating stroke right before he shot himself. A military strategists to the end.

Statue of Christophe Henri, King Henri I of Haiti, at Champs de Mars in Port-au-Prince

Today, Christophe is revered as a hero among the Haitians and many within the African diaspora. Christophe's statue was raised at Champs de Mars in Port-au-Prince.

Jean Baptiste Point Du Sable: Father of Chicago

USPS Commemorative Postal Stamp of Jean Baptiste Point Du Sable (born c. 1745 - d. 8/28/1818)

According to Native American tradition, an African man born in Santa Domingo (Haiti) was the first non-native American to settle at the city that is now called Chicago. The native accounts were corroborated by the Europeans in 1779 when a British Commandant of Fort Michilimackinac reported the frontiersman as a "handsome Negro, well-educated, and settled in Eschikagou (Chicago)."

In 1783, Jean Baptiste Point Du Sable's U.S. citizenship was officially recorded in what is now known as the area of Peoria, Illinois. His farm was recorded at Peoria in the early 1770s. The farm encompassed more than 800 acres of land. Du Sable's settlement in this area was prior to the land becoming a part of U.S. territory. The French held territory along the Mississippi River such as Louisiana, with its main city post at New Orleans. The French also held the St. Louis area.

HAITIAN BORN JEAN BAPTIST POINT DU SABLE

Du Sable was born in St. Marc, Santa Domingo (eastern Haiti) in 1745. His mother was an African referred in historical records as Suzanna, an emancipated slave from a region in Africa now within the Congo nation. His father was a French merchant mariner on a ship called Black Sea Gull. This blogger has not been able to find a reliable source for the name of Du Sable's father or mother. The record does indicate that his father provided him an education in France. Du Sable also worked as a seaman on his father's ships.

By the 1760s, we find that Du Sable is living in the Louisiana Territory, then under French rule. He moved from New Orleans to St. Louis, both still within French colonial rule. Du Sable established a fur trading post at St. Louis before relocating to Chicago.

DU SABLE SETTLES AT CHICAGO

Commemorative bust of Jean-Baptiste Pointe Du Sable along Chicago River

Records indicate that by June 6, 1770, Jean Baptiste Pointe Du Sable had established his trading post at the mouth of what is now the Chicago River, near the Tribune Tower building. The natives called the area where Du Sable settled Eschikagou because of the wild onions that grew in the region. In this field of tears, Du Sable married Kittihawa (also called Katherine) of the Potawatomi tribe and settled into running a family trading post.

An explorer and entrepreneur, Du Sable was a well-known and highly respected businessman in the Northwest territory of the United States. He spoke fluent French, Spanish, English and several Native American languages. He traded heavily with neighboring tribes and established the main supply station for westward bound white men who were moving from the English colonies. In 1778, he was temporarily jailed by the British armed forces on charges of being a French spy. These allegations were never substantiated.

DU SABLE: A GENTLEMAN FRONTIERSMAN

Bust of Jean Baptiste Point Du Sable.

Du Sable was known as a man of fine tastes. Du Sable built his home on the north bank (North Michigan Avenue) of what is now known as the Chicago River, near the site of today's Wrigley Building (chewing gum) and the Tribune Towers. Monsignor Meshan wrote that Du Sable was the only man who thought of having a cabin built of imported French walnut wood. Meshan said his home contained "a feather bed, a couch, and a bureau, to say nothing of mirrors and pictures, in the midst of a wilderness." Du Sable's establishments along the Chicago River were reported to possess 23 Old World art treasures.

On May 14, 1800, records show that Du Sable sold his Chicago holdings to a European trader for $1,200 (2015/CPI=$17,000). He left the region that would become a great metropolis. He moved to live with his son on property they owned in Saint Charles, Missouri. Some commentators state that Du Sable's imprisonment during the Revolutionary War by the British may have precipitated his move from the region as the "westward expansion" of Europeans began to advance. Du Sable and his family were detained by the British for five years during the Revolutionary War.

As a Black man who was multilingual, free and self-employed, Du Sable may have been considered suspicious by the British and the French, as well as those Europeans who were identifying themselves as Americans. Whatever his reason, there is a Native American saying that may capture in part the magnitude of his historical legacy: "The first white man to settle in Chicago was a black man."

Du Sable died August 28, 1818 in St. Charles at the age of 73.

Du Sable's death was recorded at St. Charles Burromeo Catholic Church. Monsignor Meshan said the following of Du Sable:

"For more than twenty years his name was associated with Chicago. Here was a frontiersman who lived with an air of regality, and if the city which traces her permanency from him adopted, at a later date, the motto "I Will," she can be sure the first Chicagoan had all the qualities that this slogan implies."

Further Historical Material and References: 

• In addition to a number of historical documents, a portrait painting of the city's first non-native American settler is located at The Du Sable Museum of African American History in Chicago's South Side Washington Park.
• A miniature replica of Du Sable's living establishments and trading posts can be found at The Chicago Historical Society.