The King of Haiti: Slavery and the French Colonies
Written in simple prose, this full-color, paperback edition of The King of Haiti has vivid illustrations meant to encourage young readers while teaching about the complex topics of slavery and colonialism in the Caribbean. It is a story never taught in American classrooms, the true story of Henry Christophe who was born into slavery and rose to become a king. It is also the story of the only successful slave revolt in human history.
In 1790, France’s Caribbean colony of Saint Domingue was the richest in the world. But it all depended on the brutal forced labor of 500,000 slaves working on 8,000 plantations to produce sugar, coffee, chocolate, cotton, and indigo dye for Europe.
On August 21, 1791, ten thousand slaves decided to fight for their liberty. They rose up against their masters and burned 180 sugar plantations and 900 coffee plantations. What followed was 13 years of the bloodiest warfare in human history. Led by military geniuses like Henry Christophe, the mostly illiterate slave armies of Saint Domingue defeated three of the most powerful armies on earth, those of the French, British, and Spanish empires.
In 1803, the black generals who led the revolution declared independence. They called their new country Haiti. Two years later, Henry Christophe became the supreme leader of the new country. In 1810 he was crowned king and then ruled for 14 years, making primary education universal, maintaining the third largest standing army in the world, and building palaces and fortresses the ruins of which can still be seen today in Haiti.
This is Volume 1 of a two-part series that tells his story, as well as the story of the real heroes of emancipation, the 500,000 slaves, more than half of whom were born in Africa, whose courage and struggle set the stage for the end of slavery. It is a story that every schoolboy and girl should know.
Originally published in 2024 under the pen name, Tuckerman Black, and under the title Black King: Slavery and the French Colonies.
