| Faustin I | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Illustration fromThe Illustrated London News, 1856 | |||||
| Emperor of Haiti | |||||
| Reign | 26 August 1849 – 15 January 1859[1] | ||||
| Coronation | 18 April 1852 | ||||
| Predecessor | Himself (as President of Haiti) | ||||
| Successor | Monarchy abolishedFabre Geffrard (as President of Haiti) | ||||
| 7thPresident of Haiti | |||||
| In office | 1 March 1847 – 26 August 1849 | ||||
| Predecessor | Jean-Baptiste Riché | ||||
| Successor | Himself (as Emperor of Haiti) | ||||
| Born | (1782-08-15)15 August 1782 Petit-Goâve, Saint-Domingue | ||||
| Died | 3 August 1867(1867-08-03) (aged 84) Anse-à-Veau, Haiti | ||||
| Spouse | |||||
| Issue | Princess Olive Princess Célita | ||||
| |||||
| House | Soulouque | ||||
| Father | Taneau Coichi | ||||
| Mother | Marie-Catherine Soulouque | ||||
| Coat of arms | .svg) | ||||
Faustin-Élie Soulouque (French pronunciation:[fostɛ̃elisuluk]; 15 August 1782 – 3 August 1867) was aHaitian politician and military commander who served asPresident of Haiti from 1847 to 1849 andEmperor of Haiti from 1849 to 1859.[2]
Soulouque was a general in theHaitian Army when he was appointed President of Haiti. He acquiredautocratic powers, purged the army of the ruling elite, installedblack loyalists in administrative positions and thenobility, and created asecret police andprivate army. Soulouque was an enthusiasticvodouisant, maintaining a staff ofbokors andmanbos, and gave the stigmatized vodou religion semi-official status which was openly practiced inPort-au-Prince. Soulouque declared theSecond Empire of Haiti in 1849 after being proclaimed Emperor under the name Faustin I, and formallycrowned in 1852. Several unsuccessful attempts to reconquer theDominican Republic eroded his support and heabdicated in 1859 under pressure from GeneralFabre Geffrard.[3][4] Soulouque was temporarily exiled toJamaica before returning to Haiti where he died in 1867.
Soulouque was the last Haitian head of state to have participated in theHaitian Revolution, the last to have been born prior to independence, the last ex-slave and the last to officially style himself as a king or emperor.
Faustin-Élie Soulouque was born on 15 August 1782 inPetit-Goâve, a small town in theFrench colony ofSaint-Domingue, to a Haitian mother. Soulouque's mother, Marie-Catherine Soulouque, was born inPort-au-Prince in 1744, and was acreole of ethnicMandinka descent. Soulouque was freed as a result of a 1793 emancipation decree issued byLéger-Félicité Sonthonax, the Civil Commissioner of Saint-Domingue during theFrench Revolution, that abolished slavery in response to theHaitian Revolution that started in 1791.
Soulouque enlisted in the black revolutionary army in 1803 as a free citizen, as his freedom was in serious jeopardy due to attempts of the French government to re-establish slavery. Soulouque fought as aprivate until 1804, when the conflict ended in revolutionary victory and Saint-Domingue achieved independence asHaïti. Soulouque became a respected soldier during the conflict, and as a consequence he was commissioned as alieutenant in theHaitian Army in 1806, and madeaide-de-camp to General Lamarre.
In 1810, Soulouque was appointed to the Horse Guards under PresidentAlexandre Pétion, and for the next four decades continued to serve in the Haitian military, rising to the rank ofcolonel under PresidentPhilippe Guerrier. Soulouque was finally promoted to the highest command in the Haitian Army, attaining the rank oflieutenant general and Supreme Commander of the Presidential Guards under then-PresidentJean-Baptiste Riché.
In 1847, President Riché died, and during his tenure he had acted as afigurehead for theBoyerist ruling class, who immediately began to look for a replacement. Their attention quickly focused on Soulouque, whom the majority of the Boyerists considered to be a somewhat dull and ignorant man who seemed to be a malleable candidate. Soulouque, aged sixty five years-old, was subsequently enticed to accept the role offered him as Haiti's 7th President, taking the Presidential Oath of Office on 2 March 1847.
At first Soulouque seemed to fill the role of puppet well, retaining the cabinet-level ministers of the former president and continued the programs of his predecessor. However, within a short time, Soulouque surprisingly rejected his backers and began to consolidate himself as theabsolute ruler of Haiti. According to the bookA Continent of Islands: Searching for the Caribbean Destiny byMark Kurlansky: "He organized a privatemilitia, the Zinglins, and proceeded to arrest, kill, and burn out anyone who opposed him, especiallymulattoes, thus consolidating his power over the government". Soulouque's power consolidation saw an increase in racial discrimination in favor of Haiti's black population, including a massacre of the mulattoes in Port-au-Prince on 16 April 1848.[5] Blacks fromLouisiana were invited by Soulouque to emigrate to Haiti at the country's expense and the Haitian-educatedEmile Desdunes, anAfro-Creole fromNew Orleans, acted as an agent for Soulouque to arrange free transportation to Haiti in 1859 for at least 350 desperate evacuees. A large number of these migrants later returned to Louisiana.[6] Soulouque placed heavy restrictions towards all opposition, and a wave of violence used against potential rivals led to numerous murders. His open adherence toVodou, a highly stigmatizedsyncretic religion, contributed to his violent reputation in the predominantly[dubious –discuss]Roman Catholic country.[7] Soulouque maintained a resident staff ofmanbos (high priestesses) andbokors (malewitches) at his residence in Port-au-Prince.
Soulouque's process of obtaining absolute power in Haiti culminated in the formation of theSecond Empire of Haiti after the Senate and Chamber of Deputies proclaimed himEmperor of Haiti on 26 August 1849, re-establishing the Haitianempire that had been abolished in 1806 following the assassination ofJean-Jacques Dessalines, who reigned as Emperor Jacques I of theFirst Empire of Haiti (another monarchy, theKingdom of Haiti ofHenri Christophe, existed in 1811–1820). Soulouque paid £2,000 forhis crown, and spent £30,000 for the rest of the accessories (according to SirSpenser St John, Britishcharge d'affaires in Haiti during the 1860s in his account:Hayti, or, The Black Republic, pp. 95–96).Gustave d’Alaux describes this event in his book,Soulouque and his Empire: "His Imperial Majesty had the principal merchant of Port-au-Prince called one morning and commanded him to order immediately fromParis a costume, in every particular like that he admired in representing the ceremonies of thecoronation ofNapoleon. Faustin I besides ordered for himself a crown, one for the Empress, a sceptre, globe, hand-of-justice, throne, and all other accessories, all to be like those used in the coronation of Napoleon.".
In December 1849, Faustin married his long-time companionAdélina Lévêque. On 18 April 1852 atPort-au-Prince, both Emperor and Empress were crowned in an immense and lavish ceremony in emulation of the coronation of Napoleon. The president of the Senate attached to the breast of the Emperor a large decoration, passed a chain about the neck of the Empress – and pronounced his address, to which His Majesty Faustin replied with spirit: "Vive la liberté, vive l'égalité!” (Gustave d’Alaux). The coronation is illustrated in theAlbum Impérial d'Haïti, engraved by Severyn, published New York, 1852 (available in theBritish Library).
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Soulouque attempted to create a strongcentralized government, which while retaining a profoundly Haitian character, borrowed heavily from European traditions, especially those of theFirst French Empire. One of his first acts after being declared emperor was to establish a Haitiannobility. The Constitution of 20 September 1849 granted the Emperor the right to createhereditary titles and confer other honours on his subjects. Volumes 5 and 6 of John Saunders and Westland Marston'sThe National magazine (published in 1859) stated the empire consisted of 4princes, 59dukes, 90earls, 30 ladyknights (but no male knights), 250barons, and 2marchionesses. The firstletters patents were issued by Soulouque on 21 December 1850. Other sources add "trent cent Chevaliers" and "quatre cents nobles" to this list. Subsequent creations extended the number of noble titles, including titles issued by KingHenri Christophe of theKingdom of Haiti were sometimes reissued by Soulouque. An example was the title ofComte du Terrier-Rouge was issued to Charles Pierre under Christophe (The Armorial of Haiti, College of Arms, London 2007, p. 78) and the same title was issued under Soulouque on behalf of General Guerrier de Prophete (Java-Bode 5 August 1857). In order that he might reward loyalty to his regime as well as add to the prestige of the Haitian monarchy, Soulouque established the Military Order of St. Faustin and the Civil Order of the Haitian Legion of Honor on 21 September 1849. Later, he created the Orders of St. Mary Magdalene and the Order of St. Anne in 1856. That same year he founded the Imperial Academy of Arts.
Soulouque'sforeign policy was centered on preventing foreign intrusion into Haitian politics andsovereignty. His main issue was theDominican Republic, whose independence from Haiti in 1844 after theDominican War of Independence ended 22-years ofHaitian occupation. The Dominican Republic'swhite andmulatto rulers were considered as his "natural" enemies and the country's independence was, in his view, a direct threat to Haiti's security.[8] In 1849, Soulouque launched his first invasion of the Dominican Republic, but his army fled after 400 Dominicans put up resistance atOcoa. A second invasion followed in 1850 which was checked by diplomatic opposition from theUnited Kingdom,France, and theUnited States. In the third and final invasion in 1855, Soulouque marched into the Dominican Republic at the head of a 30,000-man army which fled after suffering heavy losses inSantomé,Cambronal andSabana Larga.[9]
Soulouque also found himself in direct confrontation with the United States overNavassa Island, which had been seized from Haiti on the somewhat dubious grounds thatguano had been discovered there. Soulouque dispatched warships to the island in response to the incursion, but withdrew them after the United States guaranteed Haiti a portion of the revenues from the mining operations.
The question of who Soulouque really was is heavily disputed. Virtually no official government records of cabinet meetings exists. According to Latin American scholarMurdo J. MacLeod: "We are left with his policies as they are discernible, with an assessment of the men whom he used to govern, and with our evaluation of how correct his appreciation of the situation really was. In every case we must conclude that Faustin Soulouque was a man of high intelligence, a realist, a pragmatist, and a superb, if ruthless politician and diplomat. There is no denying his patriotism and his ability to impose domestic tranquility."[1]
Soulouque's marriage to EmpressAdélina produced two daughters,Olive andCélita. They were granted the title of Princess with the style Her Serene Highness. Célita married Jean Philippe Lubin, Count ofPétion-Ville,[10] and had issue. The emperor had one brother, PrinceJean-Joseph Soulouque, who in turn had eleven sons and daughters.
The Constitution of 20 September 1849 made the Imperial Dignity hereditary amongst the natural and legitimate direct descendants of Emperor Faustin I, by order of primogeniture and to the perpetual exclusion of females. The Emperor could adopt the children or grandchildren of his brothers, and become members of his family from the date of adoption. Sons so adopted enjoyed the right of succession to the throne, immediately after the Emperor's natural and legitimate sons.[citation needed]
Jean-Joseph's eldest son, PrinceMainville-Joseph Soulouque,[11] was created Prince Imperial of Haiti and heir apparent upon the succession of his uncle to the throne.[12] His marriage to Marie d'Albert produced a daughter, Marie Adelina Soulouque "princesse impériale d'Haiti".[13]
In 1858, a revolution against Soulouque was led by GeneralFabre Geffrard, Duc de Tabara, and in December of that year, Geffrard defeated Soulouque's army and seized control of most of Haiti. On the night of 20 December 1858, Soulouque left Port-au-Prince in a small boat, accompanied only by his son and two trusty followers, Ernest Roumain and Jean-Bart, and two days later arrived atGonaives, where the insurrection broke out. The Republic of Haiti was re-proclaimed and the Constitution of 1846 was adopted.
On 23 December, the Departmental Committee which had been organized, divested Faustin Soulouque of his office and appointed Fabre Geffrard President of Haiti.Cap-Haitien and the wholeDepartment of Artibonite joined in the restoration of the Republic. As a result, Soulouqueabdicated his throne on 15 January 1859. Refused aid by theFrench Legation, Soulouque was taken into exile aboard a British warship on 22 January 1859.
Soon afterwards, Soulouque and his family arrived inKingston,Jamaica, where they remained for several years. Some records claim that he died in Kingston, but according to Haitian historianJacques Nicolas Léger in his bookHaiti, her History and her Detractors, Soulouque actually died in Petit-Goave in August 1867, having returned to Haiti at some point.
Soulouque also invited black Louisianans to immigrate to Haiti.
| Political offices | ||
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| Preceded by | President of Haiti 1847–1849 | Vacant Title next held by Fabre Geffrard |
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| Vacant Title last held by Jacques I | Emperor of Haiti 1849–1859 | Vacant |
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