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Date of Birth
Dessalines was born in a sugarcane plantation in the Grande-Riviere-du-Nord, which is now known as the French colony of Saint-Domingue. Due to his African parents' enslavement, he was consequently born as a slave. His parents also had two other children, Louis and Joseph. Jean-Jacques and his family had been given the surname 'Duclos', for their French master was named Henry Duclos. -
Sold to Another Owner
After spending many years working endlessly for Henry Duclos, he was sold to a free African landowner, who treated him with more consideration. His new master was known as Dessalines, and thus he was re-dubbed this name. -
His Escape from Slavery
When he was around 30 years old and still working as a field-hand for his master, Dessalines managed to escape from slavery in order to join the slave revolution, which had broken out in his colony as a result of the French Revolution. He joined Francois Papillon and Georges Biassou who were leading the slave revolution at that time. -
Lieutenant of Toussaint L'Ouverture
With the mentoring from Francois Papillon and Georges Biassou,and his quick learning abilities, Dessalines soon became adept at fighting and developed into a good soldier. Thus, his mentors ordered him to travel to Santo Domingo, to fight against the frech alongside Spain. Here, he met Toussaint L'Ouverture, who promoted him to the rank of lieutenant, due to his fighting capabilities. -
Rise to Position of Commander in Chief
L'Ouverture contuned serving as the governor-general of Saint-Domingue until he was captured by Napoleon Bonaparte's forces. Thus, Dessalines was appointed as the Commander in Chief of the Haitian army. -
Napoleon Surrenders to Dessalines
After L'Ouverture's capture, Napoleon had announced he was planning to reinstate or re-introduce slavery in France. Outraged, Dessalines and other abolitionist leaders rebelled. Along with Britain's help, they were able to expel the French from Saint-Domingue, which caused Napoleon to surrender. -
He Declares Haiti to be Independent
After their victory over the French, Dessalines officially declared the island of Saint-Domingue to be an independent country and also renamed it Haiti, which was the country's orginal name given by the indigenous Arawaks. -
Becomes the New Governor-General
In addition to Haiti's independence, an Act of Independence (Acte de L'Independance) was introduced, which announced Dessalines as the Governor-General of Haiti for life. -
Adoption of the Title of Emperor
Dessalines delared himself to be the Emperor of Haiti for life on the 22nd of September, 1804. It was only after his coronation on the 8th of October however, that he occupied this role as Jacques I. He also crowned his wife, Claire-Heureuse, as empress of Haiti. -
Death
During his reign, Dessalines had exacted discrimination on 'mulattos' - people of mixed African and European background. This led to their revolt, in which a scheme to assasinate Dessalines was devised by joint leaders Alexandre Pétion and Henry Christophe. On his way to Port-au-Prince, at Pont-Rouge, Dessalines was ambushed by his own troops, who shot him many times, thus mutilating his body.
