4 Juin 1807

June 4, 1807 By In La Gazette Officielle d’Hayti No Comments

This issue contains an address from Henry Christophe to the Haitian people. Christophe acknowledges the civil war with the southern republic of Haiti, and importantly, he discusses the assassination of Dessalines. In Christophe’s account, Bonnet, Blanchet (jeune), Lys, and Domaicq massacred the Emperor and more than 30 officers.

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9 Novembre 1815

November 9, 1815 By In La Gazette Royale d’Hayti No Comments
About This Publication Elements of this issue that immediately stand out are the switch to pages with three columns and yet another change of epigraph. Although it appears without attribution, the new quote at the top of the page is actually adapted from a line in the French playwright Racine's tragedy, Athalie, and reads in my [...]
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4 Janvier 1816

January 4, 1816 By In La Gazette Royale d’Hayti No Comments
About This Publication As far as can be discerned from the extant numbers of the Gazette Royale, the January 4, 1816 issue is the first time that the epigraph "L'Union fait la Force" appears, which is also the national motto of Haiti. The bulk of the articles are given over to celebrating the thirteenth anniversary [...]
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25 Janvier 1816

January 25, 1816 By In La Gazette Royale d’Hayti No Comments
About This Publication Citing a French publication called, L'Aristarque Français, itself having reprinted a newspaper article from Boston dated 16 October 1815, we learn that an alleged attempt had been made on the life of President Alexandre Pétion. Evidently, the identity of the leader of the "plot had been discovered" on the very day on which [...]
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8 Février 1816

February 8, 1816 By In La Gazette Royale d’Hayti No Comments
About This Publication This issue opens with a reference to Baron de Vastey's Le Cri de la Conscience, which had been published in June 1815 as a response to a collectively authored publication from the southern republic of Haiti, which was itself a response to some of Vastey and Limonade's earlier writings: Le Peuple de la [...]
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6 Juin 1816

June 6, 1816 By In La Gazette Royale d’Hayti No Comments
About This Publication This issue opens with a complaint about a new law passed in the Republic of Haiti by President Alexandre Pétion. According to the author of the piece, the new ordonnance, printed in full below, will "overwhelm" the poor inhabitants of the countryside with new taxes. There is also a reprinted article from [...]
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12 Juin 1816

June 12, 1816 By In La Gazette Royale d’Hayti No Comments
About This Publication A fascinating letter from Baron to Vastey to General Jérôme-Maximilien Borgella dated December 1815 is reprinted in this issue of the Gazette. The letter begins by reminding Borgella, who was a general in the Haitian army and fought in the war of independence, about the parties that he and Vastey evidently attended together [...]
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17 Juillet 1816

July 17, 1816 By In La Gazette Royale d’Hayti No Comments
About This Publication King Henry Christophe's July 16th birthday celebration at the Citadel is described in great detail in this issue of the Gazette. The full text of laudatory speeches given by the Comte d'Ennery and Baron de Vastey are included. In his speech, the count praises Christophe for his "indefatigable zeal" in having erected [...]
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23 Juillet 1816

July 23, 1816 By In La Gazette Royale d’Hayti No Comments
About This Publication Two elements of this issue of the Gazette immediately stand out.  One is an article detailing a shipment arriving from the United States containing horses for the army and wood for the construction of schools and other buildings. The article reads, "We have received from the United States of America several shipments of horses to [...]
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1 Août 1816

August 1, 1816 By In La Gazette Royale d’Hayti No Comments
About This Publication This issue contains one of the only examples of a letter to the editor. The letter, which is addressed to the "Printer of the Gazette Royale," purports to provide definitive information proving that President Pétion is "the declared enemy of the English." Unfortunately, pages two and three are missing from this issue [...]
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21 Août 1816

August 21, 1816 By In La Gazette Royale d’Hayti No Comments
About This Publication This issue is the first in a series of four numbers that describe in great detail the fête of Queen Marie Louise, being celebrated in the city of Cap-Henry on the 14th of August. The procession, consisting of all the members of the nobility, as well as their families, is described in [...]
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22 Août 1816

August 22, 1816 By In La Gazette Royale d’Hayti 1 Comment
About This Publication Continuing to describe the fête of the Queen, this issue provides a list of the names of the foreign "négocians" whose participation in the procession was first noted in the August 21st issue of the Gazette. Among the surnames listed for these foreigners is that of "Stafford," which is actually one, Thomas [...]
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24 Août 1816

August 24, 1816 By In La Gazette Royale d’Hayti No Comments
About This Publication If you've ever wondered what the King of Hayti donned to all these lavish celebrations held in honor of various members of the royal family, or about the kinds of fabric used to make the uniforms of the the royal guard, or perhaps what color the Haitian military wore, this issue has [...]
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26 Août 1816

August 26, 1816 By In La Gazette Royale d’Hayti No Comments
About This Publication The opening article of this issue describes an August 24th dinner at the Café des des Etrangers hosted by General Jean-Pierre Richard, the Duke of Marmelade, and given in continued honor of the queen's fête. All of the foreigners living in Cap-Henry were in attendance, and after copious amounts of wine were [...]
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20 Août 1817

August 20, 1817 By In La Gazette Royale d’Hayti No Comments
About This Publication This issue begins with a description of Queen Marie-Louise's annual fête, and even contains a brief speech given by the queen in which she tells her subjects that she is "extremely touched" by the celebration. As usual, the article describes the official party with its dinners, songs, and dances. The description of [...]
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30 Août 1819

August 30, 1819 By In La Gazette Royale d’Hayti No Comments
About This Publication This first article in this issue, only one of three numbers in our collection from 1819, unveils King Christophe's elaborate land re-distribution plan, which primarily seems to have involved the military. The second article discusses vacancies in the nobility and in Henry I's administration. A long list of dignitaries follows, who, by [...]
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4 Novembre 1819

November 4, 1819 By In La Gazette Royale d’Hayti No Comments
About This Publication Issue number eleven from the year 1819 describes in elaborate detail the re-organization of the financial system in northern Haiti. In essence, the restructuring primarily appears to have involved separating the finances of the state from that of the royal family. The edict printed here and signed by Henry I on the [...]
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