Duke University unveils original Haitian Act of Independence

 

Roberson Alphonse of Le Nouvelliste described the event,

At the end of the bloody uprising of the slaves of the island of St. Domingue against their French masters, on January 1, 1804 General Dessalines, leader of the uprising after the arrest of Toussaint L’Ouverture, read this Act of Independence on the Place d’Armes of Gonaïves. The actual author of the text was Dessalines’ secretary, Boisrond Tonerre.

In 2010, a Duke University graduate student has discovered what was believed to be the only known printed copy of Haiti’s Declaration of Independence.

While researching the early independence of Haiti in February, Julia Gaffield found the document, an eight-page pamphlet dated Jan. 1, 1804, in the British National Archives in London. It is only the second declaration of its kind in the world, the first being the U.S. Declaration of Independence written by Thomas Jefferson and others.

Gaffield, who was researching early 19th century Haiti for her doctoral dissertation in history, said the document had been overlooked in the British archives, even as researchers spent decades searching for it in Haiti.

“I wasn’t specifically looking for it, but I had an eye out for it because I knew it was missing,” Gaffield said. “We figured there was an original somewhere, but didn’t know if it still existed.”

“I suspect there will be immense interest in this discovery,” said Ian E. Wilson, Librarian & Archivist of Canada Emeritus and president of the International Council on Archives. “To bring this document to light in Haiti’s darkest hour may be seen as a symbol of renewal and rejuvenation, helping Haiti rebuild its national spirit following the recent earthquake. Julia’s achievement in recognizing the significance of this printed document deserves high recognition.”

“It’s incredible that the long search for this important document should finally end at The National Archives,” said Oliver Morley, acting chief executive at The National Archives. “This declaration sent to the British Government by Haiti’s first independent leader is of great historical importance to both Haiti and the British people, and provides unique insight into the first successful slave rebellion of modern times. We’re grateful to Duke University in bringing this fascinating document to our attention and pleased to be able to make more people aware of its existence.”

(Duke University has established a special website about the discovery, with additional information about Gaffield, the document and early Haitian history. The site is at http://news.duke.edu/haitideclaration. The National Archives has posted a copy of the document at http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documentsonline/haiti.asp.)

For her doctoral project, Gaffield did research in France, Haiti and then Jamaica, where she saw a handwritten copy of the declaration in the papers of then-Governor of Jamaica George Nugent.

“There was a letter saying the Declaration of Independence was enclosed, not more than one hour off the press,” Gaffield said, noting the only document she saw at that time was handwritten, not printed on a press.

In late January of 2010, Gaffield went to London to look at “the British side of things.” That’s where she found the printed version of what she had seen in Jamaica.

“It was not misplaced; it had been there for a long time. This period has not been studied in as much detail, so these are documents few people have looked through, and if they saw it, they didn’t realize the significance,” said Gaffield, who was thrilled by the discovery but continued her research until the end of the day.

“The archives are not the place to make a big scene,” Gaffield said. Instead, she dutifully returned the documents to the archives and then rushed to notify her advisers at Duke.

Among them was Deborah Jenson, a professor of French Studies at Duke who has researched the U.S. publication of Haiti’s independence documents. Jenson said Gaffield’s discovery “is extremely important as it clarifies that the Haitian government’s printing apparatus was fully functional at every moment of the new nation’s independence. Although it is possible that the document had not been printed as of the Jan. 1 Independence ceremony, it is now clear that an authentic government-issued full version had been printed by the third week of January 1804, at which point it was brought to Jamaica.”

In 1804, when Haiti announced its independence from France, Jamaica was a British colony. Its governor was in regular contact with the British government, which helps explains how this copy of the declaration ended up in a London archive.