Jean Jacques Dessalines

Dessalines, Jean Jacques (1758–1806), first black ruler of Haiti. Brought to Haiti as a slave, he took part in the rebellion against the French in the 1790s. After the final expulsion of the French in 1803 he became governor-general. In 1804 he proclaimed an independent country and took the title of Emperor Jacques I. His rule, characterized by extreme hostility to whites, ended when he was killed in a mulatto revolt.

See also: Haiti, Republic of.