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Henri Christophe ((:ɑ̃ʁi kʁistɔf); 6 October 1767 – 8 October 1820; used the anglicized version of Henry Christopher) was a former slave of Bambara ethnicity, and key leader in the Haitian Revolution, which succeeded in gaining independence from France in 1804. In 1805 he took part under Jean-Jacques Dessalines in the capturing of Santo Domingo (now Dominican Republic), against French forces who acquired the colony from Spain in the Treaty of Basel. After Dessalines was assassinated, Christophe retreated to the Plaine-du-Nord and created a separate government. On 17 February 1807, he was elected President of the State of Haiti, as he named that area. Alexandre Pétion was elected president in the South. On 26 March 1811, Christophe created a kingdom in the North and was later proclaimed Henry I, King of Haïti. He also created a nobility and named his legitimate son Jacques-Victor Henry as prince and heir. He is known for constructing Citadel Henry, now known as Citadelle Laferrière, the Sans-Souci Palace, and numerous other palaces. Under his policies of ''corvée,'' or forced labor, the Kingdom earned revenues from agricultural production, primarily the commodity sugar, but the people resented the system. He reached agreement with Great Britain to respect its Caribbean colonies in exchange for their warning his government of any French navy activity threatening Haiti. Unpopular, ill and fearing a coup, he committed suicide. His son and heir was assassinated 10 days later. The general Jean-Pierre Boyer came to power and reunited the two parts of Haiti. ==Early life== Born Christopher Henry, probably in Grenada,〔John Vandercook's biography states: "No one knows where King Christophe was born. (. . . ) A Royal Almanac prepared by a courtier and published at the presses at the King's Palace of Sans Souci gives the date of his birth as 6 October 1767, and his birthplace as Grenada (. . ). But old men who still live in Haiti (. . ) say he came from Kitts." Vandercook, 1928, p. 6.〕 the son of a slave mother and Christophe, a freeman, he was brought as a slave to the northern part of Saint-Domingue. In 1779 he may have served with the French forces as a drummer boy in the Chasseurs-Volontaires de Saint-Domingue, a regiment composed of gens de couleur (mixed-race residents of Saint-Domingue). They fought at the Siege of Savannah, a battle during the American Revolutionary War.〔(HAITIAN MONUMENT OUTLINE ), Haitian History〕 As an adult, Christophe worked as a mason, sailor, stable hand, waiter, and billiard maker; most of his pay went to his master.〔 He worked in and managed a hotel restaurant in Cap-Français, the first capital of the French colony of Saint-Domingue and a major colonial city. There he became skilled at dealing with the ''grand blancs,'' as the wealthy white French planters were called. He was said to have gained his freedom from slavery as a young man, before the Slave Uprising of 1791. Sometime after he had settled in Haiti, he brought his sister Marie there; she married and had children. The political skills he learned as a hotelier also served him well when he later became an officer in the military and leader in the country.〔 Beginning with the slave uprising of 1791, Christophe distinguished himself as a soldier in the Haitian Revolution and quickly rose to be an officer. He fought for years with Toussaint Louverture in the North, helping to defeat the French colonists, the Spanish, British, and finally French national troops. By 1802 Louverture had promoted him to general. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Henri Christophe」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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