Mundane Horoscope of the Republic of Haiti

Source: Nicholas Campion, “The Book of World Horoscopes,” p. 193, citing Roland Perusse, Historical Dictionary of Haiti.

The independence of Saint-Domingue (a French colony from 1659 to 1804 on the Caribbean island of Hispaniola; the island that now hosts two countries, the Dominican Republic and Haiti) was proclaimed under the native name ‘Haiti’ by Jean-Jacques Dessalines on January 1, 1804, in Gonaïves who was proclaimed “Emperor for Life” as Emperor Jacques I by the generals of the Haitian Revolutionary Army. In declaring Haiti an independent country, Dessalines also abolished slavery in the new country. Haiti became the first country in the Americas to permanently abolish slavery. Dessalines tried to keep the sugar industry and plantations running and producing without slavery. Dessalines at first offered protection to the white planters and others. However, once in power, he ordered the massacre of nearly all the remaining white men, women, children; between January and April 1804. Over 3,000 to 5,000 whites were killed, including those who had been friendly and sympathetic to the black population. Only three categories of white people were selected out as exceptions and spared: Polish soldiers, the majority of whom had deserted from the French army and fought alongside the Haitian rebels; the small group of German colonists invited to the north-west region of the island; and a group of American medical doctors and professionals. Reportedly, people with connections to officers in the Haitian army were also spared, as well as the women who agreed to marry non-white men.

Fearful of the potential impact the slave rebellion could have in U.S. slave states, President Thomas Jefferson refused to recognize the new republic. The Southern politicians who were a powerful voting bloc in the American Congress prevented U.S. recognition for decades until they withdrew in 1861 to form the Confederacy.

The plantation system was reestablished in Haiti, albeit for wages, however, many Haitians were marginalized and resented the heavy-handed manner in which this was enforced in the new nation’s politics. The rebel movement splintered, and Dessalines was assassinated by rivals on October 17, 1806.

The Constitution of Haiti was modeled after the constitutions of the United States and France. The latest version of the document in force was approved by the Haitian Parliament in March 2011 and came into effect on June 20, 2012.