Pourquoi tant de haine envers Chirstophe?

It is one of the most remarkable attractions in the Western Hemisphere, but the Palace of Sans-Souci in northern Haiti is seldom visited by foreigners.

Decades of political instability and lawlessness mean much of Haiti is avoided by tourists.

But the story of the sprawling palace complex, whose name means "Without Worry", had fascinated me for more than 40 years.

It was the home of independent Haiti's first monarch, Henri I, also known as Henri Christophe.

Continue reading the main story
Slave who crowned himself king


1767: Henri Christophe born, probably in Grenada. Taken to Saint Domingue as a slave
1791: Slave rebellion breaks out in Saint Domingue
1804: Haiti wins independence, abolishes slavery
1807 - Haiti divided in two; Henri Christophe leads northern Haiti, his rival Gen Alexandre Petion heads the southern Republic of Haiti
1810 - Henri Christophe starts building Sans-Souci Palace
1811 - Crowned King Henri I
1813 - Sans-Souci completed
1820 - Henri Christophe commits suicide
1842 - Earthquake damages Sans-Souci
1982 - Unesco designates Sans-Souci as World Heritage Site
Henri Christophe was one of the most prominent figures of the Haitian slave revolution of 1791-1804.

The end of French rule meant the colony of Saint Domingue, renamed Haiti after its original Taino Indian name, became the first black-led independent nation in the world.

But after independence Haiti split into two. Henri Christophe embarked on construction of his palace in 1810 and a year later declared himself king in northern Haiti. His sweetheart became Queen Marie-Louise.

Sans-Souci was completed in 1813, at the cost of hundreds, maybe even thousands of labourers' lives.

A recent holiday in the neighbouring Dominican Republic, which shares the island of Hispaniola with Haiti, seemed too good an opportunity to miss to see the ruins.

I wondered if my 12-year-old daughter, Isabel, would share my fascination with this story.

I had first encountered it when I was roughly her age, enthralled by a play about King Henri I performed by a French modern theatre troupe.

As there are no organised tours to Haiti from the Dominican Republic, and very few taxi drivers willing to take the risk, finding a well-disposed man-with-a-van in Santo Domingo was like pulling teeth.

But eventually the man, Jose, materialised.

He turned up with a roomy, air-conditioned people carrier outside the Jaragua Hotel on Santo Domingo's seaside drive.

"Yes, let's go," Jose said, adding: ''But remember, this is not a good time to visit there.''

"So when would be a good time?" I asked.

"Never, really," he replied with a crooked smile.

Bitter memories
Like many of his countrymen, Jose takes a dim view of Haitians and their country, an attitude rooted in Haiti's post-independence invasions of the Dominican Republic.

The sentiment is reciprocated by Haitians, who particularly resent a massacre of up to 30,000 Haitian migrant sugar-cane cutters by the regime of Rafael Trujillo in 1937.


Sans-Souci overlooks the Milot chapel, where Henri I was crowned
We set out long before dawn, meandering through banana, coffee and tobacco plantations at the foothills of the Cordillera Central and arrived at the dusty border crossing of Dajabon, where many civilians carry guns and jumpy border police make life easier for you for a fistful of pesos.

Over the bridge on the Haitian side, the town of Ouanaminthe is a picture of chaos, misery and despair, with hundreds of Haitians trying to cross over into the Dominican Republic.

Heaps of rotting uncollected garbage are everywhere. Uruguayan and Chilean soldiers, part of the UN stabilisation force, try to maintain some kind of order.


The ruins still hint at bygone glories
We hired a Haitian man, Jouan, to show us the way to the palace, as it is not signposted in any meaningful way.

"This is a derelict non-country," Jose the driver hissed under his breath. "I don't trust anyone here. The Mickey Mouse banknotes they use don't even have serial numbers!"

Jouan pulled out a grubby 50 gourde note and poked his finger into it time and again.

"Look, it has a serial number," he said, adding proudly: "And it says senkantgoud - we're the only country in the world to have Creole on our banknotes."

"No you're not," I interceded sheepishly.

"Who else?" he asked, visibly crestfallen.

"Seychelles," I replied, dampening his mood.

After passing through towns with colourful names such as Limonade and Carrefour La Mort on a highway built by the Dominican Republic after the 2010 earthquake, we finally made it to Milot.

Echoes of the past
Sans-Souci Palace rises majestically above the town like a broken crown.

The grand edifice is now a ruin, having been severely damaged by an earthquake in 1842.

At that time Haiti was reunited, Henri Christophe long gone, and no-one could be bothered to rebuild it.


Homes in the town of Milot are modest compared with the original splendour of the palace
Nevertheless, climbing its broad staircases, wandering through its spacious rooms and terraces, you can see why it is considered to be the Versailles of the Caribbean.

Some historians, however, believe it was modelled after Frederick the Great's palace of the same name in Potsdam.

But Frederick's palace symbolised the Enlightenment of the day, whereas its Haitian counterpart symbolised tyranny and megalomania.

Henri Christophe was a brutal kleptocrat, pretty much like most of Haiti's rulers that came after him.

They say he blew his brains out with a silver bullet after suffering a stroke in 1820.

His widow, Queen Marie-Louise, emigrated to Europe and died in faraway Pisa in Italy, dreaming about the lavish balls on the terrace of her beloved Sans-Souci.

More on This Story

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-17567230

T-NÈG;

Ou wè nèg sa a vini ak tout prejije l ,lè li ekri atik sa a .Se yon moun ki ekri sa l tande.Mwen pa t janm tande ke konstriksyon PALÈ SANSOUSI an te kòz de santèn ou de milye moun mouri.
Mwen te konn tande ke se te lan konstriksyon SITADÈL lan ke te gen de santèn de moun ki mouri
E mwen te leve lan yon kilti ANTI-KRISTÒF.Mwen te gen yon granpapa m ki te fèt an 1873 ;misye te gen mil istwa pou montre jan KRISTÒF te kriminèl.
Pa gen dout ke l te leve lan kilti sa a tou ;paske depatman LWÈS ak SID lan te an gè ak NÒ an e lè w an gè se pou w montre ke ènmi an pa moun.
Kòm si moun tankou NAPOLEYON ki te kontanporen KRISTÒF pa t touye moun pa santèn de milye;men tou si w atake NAPOLEYON ,FRANSE yo pre pou yo manje w.

Joel a écrit:T-NÈG;

Ou wè nèg sa a vini ak tout prejije l ,lè li ekri atik sa a .Se yon moun ki ekri sa l tande.Mwen pa t janm tande ke konstriksyon PALÈ SANSOUSI an te kòz de santèn ou de milye moun mouri.
Mwen te konn tande ke se te lan konstriksyon SITADÈL lan ke te gen de santèn de moun ki mouri
E mwen te leve lan yon kilti ANTI-KRISTÒF.Mwen te gen yon granpapa m ki te fèt an 1873 ;misye te gen mil istwa pou montre jan KRISTÒF te kriminèl.
Pa gen dout ke l te leve lan kilti sa a tou ;paske depatman LWÈS ak SID lan te an gè ak NÒ an e lè w an gè se pou w montre ke ènmi an pa moun.
Kòm si moun tankou NAPOLEYON ki te kontanporen KRISTÒF pa t touye moun pa santèn de milye;men tou si w atake NAPOLEYON ,FRANSE yo pre pou yo manje w.

Mka parye avè'w si sete Napoleon ou yon Rwa Anglè ki te fè bati sa Ayiti li tap di se yon MONUMAN EKSTRAORDINÈ. Li mete toutt pwoblem Ayiti sou eritaj KRISTOF tandis ke nou konnen trè byen ke (malerezman) se pat WOYÒM lan ki te surviv men REPIBLIK e nou konnen kiyes ki tap dirije. Byen ke mka di ke fanmim nan 2 kote'm yo fèt nan REPIBLIK LAN mwen rete kwè ke Si Kristòf te genyen jwèt la nou patap nan eta sa. Rele'l tyran, Rele'l sanguinè, Rele'l neg sot men li te koumanse inplante sak tap fè Ewop lan EDIKASYON!! E sim pa trompem sete presk an menm tan ke ANGLÈ e menm avan FRANSE YO! Misye pat nan chache rekonsilye ak fransè; ZYE POU JE, Dan pou Dan la'l wè ANGLE YO e li menm permèt edikasyon an Anglè. Li plenn kof leta ak LIV sterling... Imajine'w jounen jodya.. Populasyon an tap petet TRILENG san fose e petet nou pat tap genyen toutt demagoji kou deta sa yo si nou fye a vwazen angle nou yo. Malerezman nou chwazi la Frans au depan de l'Angletè e malerezman se Frans vin an Deklin, angletè vin yon pwisans...

Viv Kristòf!
'

HENRY CHRISTOPHE (1767 – 1820) King of Haiti
In Biography, Black Leaders, French History, History, People Who Committed Suicide on January 28, 2011 at 9:46 AM

Henry Christophe (from the New York Public Library)
Henry Christophe learned everything he knew from experience. A Negro born into a slave family on the island of Grenada, he never went to school and was illiterate his whole life. His life’s purpose was to eradicate slavery and build Haiti into a strong country, and the slave boy who would be king took seriously the power and perks that came with the job.

Christophe was a rambunctious kid. At age seven the plantation owner turned his unchanneled energy into profit when he sold the boy to a Negro mason as an apprentice. Christophe ran away from his master and stowed away on a boat bound for the island of Saint Domingue (now Haiti). At age twelve, Christophe ended up the servant of a French naval officer, hired to oil his boots and serve his meals. This job took him north to America where Christophe fought with the French in the Siege of Savannah before returning to Haiti where he was again sold to a free Negro who owned a hotel. The ambitious young man moved up from stable boy to cook, waiter and billiard marker. He saved enough money to buy his freedom.

When Christophe was 26 years old he married the boss’s daughter, Marie Louise, who was only 15. They had two sons and two daughters.

FIGHTING FOR FREEDOM The Spanish, French and English all had interests in the island, and the slaves were rebelling for their freedom. Black General Toussaint Louverture led the army to claim their emancipation. Christophe volunteered to fight with Toussaint and showed early leadership skills. Seven years later, Toussaint, had driven the Spanish back to their side of the island and defeated the British. He designated himself the Governor-General and appointed a trio of successors: Christophe as general and military governor, Jean-Jacques Dessalines as a provincial governor, and Alexandre Sabès Pétion (a mulatto), who ended up in the south. Toussaint, seeing an opportunity for independence, set up a government without asking permission of Napoleon Bonaparte, which prompted Napoleon to send an expedition to the island to reestablish French dominion.

The captain of the French expedition was Charles LeClerc, and he insisted on negotiating directly with Toussaint. While LeClerc waited on the ship, his emissary went ashore and was insulted when he was met by the second in command, Christophe. Thinking a black, former slave could be easily persuaded, LeClerc offered Christophe many honors if he would turn over the town of Cap François before Toussaint arrived. Christophe was insulted by the insinuation that he would betray his commander. And, there was the underlying fear that one objective of the French mission was to reinstate slavery.

The messenger delivered Christophe’s message to his boss, and Christophe vowed to his commander and his countrymen that if LeClerc came ashore, there would not be any town for him to claim because Christophe would personally see to it that it would be burned. LeClerc sent Christophe a letter warning that 15,000 soldiers would disembark at dawn if Christophe did not capitulate. Christophe’s response reiterated his loyalty to the chain of command. Since he was illiterate, the content of his letter was dictated, but Christophe was able to sign his name.

After one more written attempt to resolve the situation, LeClerc made good on his threat, and Christophe made good on his promise. Despite the pleas of the townspeople of Cap François not to destroy their homes, while the French soldiers stormed the shore, Christophe torched the city, starting with his own house.

Now Haiti was at war with France, and eventually the Haitians were overwhelmed by the French. Christophe, on behalf of Toussaint, was willing to negotiate. The sticking point was slavery, and LeClerc, speaking for Napoleon, agreed to let every person be free. Finally an agreement was reached with the stipulation that Toussaint retire to his plantation. He did so, but LeClerc had reason to believe that he was planning another uprising, so Toussaint was arrested and exiled to France with his family.

When LeClerc died of yellow fever, the black and mulatto leaders agreed to submit to the command of Jean-Jacques Dessalines who led them to freedom. On January 1, 1804 they declared independence and Saint Domingue officially became Haiti.

The mulattos in the south did not accept being ruled by blacks. They rebelled and assassinated Dessalines. A national assembly was quickly organized to elect the next leader, and it was between Christophe and Pétion. In a gesture of reconciliation, Christophe, age 40, was elected, if somewhat grudgingly, as President of Haiti for four years, residing in the north.

A RULER WITH LOTS OF RULES Christophe took his authority seriously and declared Catholicism as the official religion, although other beliefs would be tolerated. He made divorce illegal, and parents were not allowed to disinherit their children. He understood the importance of trade, and he courted the United States and Britain as trading partners, giving foreign businesses absolute protection.

Haiti had no currency, so Christophe created one. Gourds were used for bowls, utensils and bottles, making them indispensible to daily life, but they wore out. The new president confiscated all the gourd plants. When the farmers brought dried coffee berries to the capital, Christophe would buy them, paying in gourds. Then he sold the coffee to other countries for gold, giving Haiti a growing, stable currency. Even today, the term for Haiti’s money is the gourde.

Pétion didn’t accept Christophe as President, and he set up his own government in Port-au-Prince, instigating a civil war. Both men stubbornly held on to their respective territories, and it seemed inevitable to tacitly accept that unifying Haiti would not be possible. In February 1807, Christophe was elected the President of the State of Haiti, giving him jurisdiction over the north and making him the generalissimo of the forces on land and sea for life. His capital was Cap François. One month later, Pétion was elected the President of the Republic of Haiti for four years with his capital at Port-au-Prince in the south. He was later elected to a second four-year term.

Christophe was more ambitious than Pétion, and his efforts built up his infrastructure and defense, and his reputation overseas. He accumulated a fleet of ships and started a navy which controlled the local waters. For all his success, the threat of a French invasion never diminished. Christophe’s advisors thought that having a ruler of equal rank to the emperor Napoleon would be more effective in staving off any aggression. They respectfully suggested that Christophe be declared king, and it didn’t take much convincing to get him to go along with the idea. He became Henry I, preferring the English spelling, and changed the name of the capital to Cap Henry. The coronation was on June 2, 1811 in a cathedral that was built for the occasion in about two months. He was officially crowned “Henry, by the Grace of God and the Constitutional Law of the State, King of Haiti, Sovereign of Tortuga, Gonave and other adjacent Islands, Destroyer of Tyranny, Regenerator and Benefactor of the Haitian Nation, Creator of her Moral, Political and Martial Institutions, First Crowned Monarch of the New World, Defender of the Faith, Founder of the Royal and Military Order of Saint-Henry,” just in case there was any doubt about his authority.

The new king created a hereditary nobility and spiritual hierarchy with a Catholic archbishop in the capital and bishops in other cities. He instituted a strict dress code for the nobility and an Order of Chivalry whose members wore a large cross embedded with jewels.

Under Christophe’s leadership, his colony began to thrive. He introduced Code Henry mandating that every adult was obligated to work in the fields. Monday through Friday they were required to work from daylight until 8:00am when they took a break for breakfast. Then they worked from 9:00 until 12:00 when they got a two hour rest. They resumed working at 2:00 until dusk. Saturday was a day off from the fields to allow the workers to tend to their own land and take their goods to market. Sunday was reserved for rest and going to church. The plantation owners had to give one quarter of their gross profits to their workers and provide room and board and medical treatment. An owner could not transfer a worker from one activity to another without the worker’s permission. The military police oversaw the plantation owners to insure compliance.

The king availed himself every Thursday for a public audience when he would listen to petitions. In the morning he received the commoners, and in the evening he received the aristocracy, who were required to wear their military uniform or formal court dress. An answer was always given the following Thursday.

Christophe had his hands in everything. He monopolized the meat supply and all the cattle crazed on state land. He built seven palaces and 15 chateaux, all surrounded by fertile land which produced, among other things, two-thirds of the kingdom’s sugar export. He sold everything for gold, incresing his personal wealth and the national treasury.

Even though he hated the French, he knew the country needed the expertise and knowledge of white men. He offered full citizenship to any white man who married a Haitian woman and lived in Haiti for one year. Any white man who married a black woman anywhere in the world would be welcomed to settle in Haiti, and the government would set them up.

The future of the kingdom was very important to the king, and Christophe created five national schools for boys modeled after Joseph Lancaster’s British and Foreign School Society. Teachers were quickly trained for two thousand students. English was required, and advanced students could learn Spanish. The curriculum also included French, reading, writing, arithmetic and grammar. During the summer, classes met from 6:00am to 11:00am and then again from 2:00 to 6:00. The winter hours were shorter, from 7:00 in the morning until 5:00. Thursday and Sunday were days off with the exception of attending morning prayers and a lecture. In addition, every boy at least ten years old had to learn a trade.

Upon the recommendation of the monarch’s personal physician, Dr. Duncan Stewart, a Scottish surgeon who visited many of the commoners working on the king’s farms, it was necessary to educate girls in order to prevent voodoo from creeping back into public practice. In 1818 Christophe issued an edict opening up education for girls but stipulating that they must be taught in schools separate from boys. Christophe also founded a royal college for secondary education where students studied English, French, Latin, history, geography and math.

Public health was also an issue the king focused on. He appointed Dr. Stewart as director of the hospital with responsibility for the accommodations for the sick. In addition to food and clothing, this included a pair of stocks installed at the foot of each bed for the legs of the patient if he was disobedient or didn’t take his medication.

The British didn’t fully recognize Christophe’s authority, but that did not inhibit him from imposing it absolutely on his citizens. Every marriage had to be a civil contract, and as the king moved around the kingdom, if he even suspected that a couple was living in sin, he forced them to marry on the spot. The penalty for stealing was death, and those guilty of a misdemeanor were punished by flogging. Christophe carried a silver-topped cane and used it to beat people he saw on his daily walks who he deemed were being lazy. No one was immune from the king’s judgment. One time he went to mass and the priest was not immediately there. Christophe ordered soldiers to arrest him and take him directly to jail.

THE FALL FROM POWER Being a dictatorial monarch took its toll on Christophe. On August 15, 1820 during the mid-day break he went to mass, which was not a part of his normal routine. Just before he was given communion, Christophe suffered a stroke which left him permanently paralyzed. His mind was still clear and he tried to carry on business as usual, but his government was threatened by factions who hated his tyrannical ways. In October the king tried to stand up to the rebels, but he realized he did not have the support he needed.

One Sunday evening, Christophe called his wife and children into his room to discuss the state of the state and sthen ent them off to bed. After they left he raised a pistol to his chest and shot himself. As word of the king’s death got out, looters started ransacking the palace. Two men were able to get the body out of the residence, but they couldn’t find tools to dig a grave, so they buried Christophe in a pile of lime. In 1847, 27 years after his death, the monarch who did great things for his country, if perhaps not in great ways, was given a proper burial in a concrete tomb at the place d’Armes at the Citadel on the peak of La Ferrière.

QUESTION: What makes someone a good leader?

©2011 Debbie Foulkes All Rights Reserved

Sources:

Cole, Hubert, Christophe King of Haiti. New York: Viking Press, 1967.

Vandercook, John W., Black Majesty, The Life of Christophe King of Haiti. New York: Blue Ribbon Books, 1928.


http://forgottennewsmakers.com/2011/01/28/henry-christophe-1767-%E2%80%93-1820-king-of-haiti/

great TNEGRO
i love your story

T-NÈG;
Se pou nou konnen sa kontanporen KRISTÒF yo te panse de li.Men sa GRAN PANAFRIKANIS BREZILYEN an ABDIAS DO NASCIMENTO di de kouman NWA BREZILYEN yo te panse de ANRI KRISTOF:
Misye di:


[/b]In RECIFE in 1824,a military unit of mulattoes revolted and groups of insurgent slaves adhered to their cause.The leader of the revolt,EMILIANO MANDACARU,issued a manifesto,in verse where he said
Qual eu imito Cristovao As I imitate Cristophe
Esse imortal haitiano The immortal Haitian
Eja!Imitar o seu povo Hey! Imitate his people
O meu povo soberano O my sovereign people
(BRAZIL MIXTURE OR MASSACRE,PAJ 36;ABDIAS DO NASCIMENTO)

Alòs T-NÈG ,peryòd kote se EWOPEYEN ki ap ekri istwa a ,ap rive lan fen.

Pou moun ki pa konnen ABDIAS DA NASCIMENTO ;misye mouri lane dènyè an a laj de 97 an ;misye se te yon PANAFRIKANIS ki pa t lan tete lang.Gouvènman militè BREZILYEN yo te egzile misye ;li te tounen apre retou ""demokrasi"" lan BREZIL.
Pou misye DEMOKRASI ap ekziste lan BREZIL lè moun dorijin AFRIKEN yo sou pouvwa a lan BREZIL paske se yo ki majorite.