BWA KAY "IL-MENT": Dessalines wasn't muslim

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Author : Rodney Salnave
Function : Dougan (Scribe)
Date : April 9, 2017

(Updated : Dec. 31, 2020)

The universal violence against Emperor Jean-Jacques Dessalines, the Father of the Haitian nation, is fed by what I will roughly call the Hierarchy of Shed Blood. This so-called Hierarchy of shed blood obeys a logic which goes as follows :

The blood of the Amerindians - spilled on the Island of Hispaniola by the Spaniards, is worthless.
The blood of Blacks replacing the Amerindians, spilled by the Spaniards (in the Eastern part) and then by the French (in the Western part), is worth even less than that of the Amerindians.
And when white blood flows, it is accepted only when shed by Whites or, to a lesser extent, by Blacks in the service of Whites.

In this context, when the Blacks of Saint Domingue (Haiti) spilled white blood from 1791 to 1804 in the quest for their freedom, their action broke the established blood hierarchy order. Consequently, those who today object to Blacks' natural right to self-defense - mostly Haitians suffering from inferiority complex and / or alienated by enslaving christendom - are rewriting the Haitian revolution on three fronts : 1) Denial. 2) Slander. 3) Appropriation.

Denial : "An embarrassing event and willingly overlooked," (Transl.) (1) the Haitian revolution was ignored by historians everywhere for more than a century. Similarly, for a significant portion of Haitians, the denial of their revolutionary past represents a means of integration / assimilation to the Christian West. Unfortunately for them, you can only hide the sun for a short while.
Slander : unable to deny the Haitian revolution, some seek to denigrate it through the christian revision which tried : a) to demonize the action of the heroes of 1791 ; b) to marginalize Dessalines, Henry Christophe, and any leader valuing the interests of the Black population above that of any other ; c) to inflate the value of Toussaint Louverture, Alexandre Pétion, Jean-Pierre Boyer and any leader who values Western interests more than that of the Black Haitian population.
Appropriation : Implicitly judging Blacks unworthy of military glory, as do the denial and denigration approaches, some use the most daring techniques in order to appropriate the gains of this Haitian revolution via : a) the French revision that the Haitian revolution is indebted to the French revolution in spite of the uninterrupted anti-slavery struggle such as the period of Macandal and his poisoners in which more than 6000 colonists and their captives (slaves) were killed from 1740 to 1757 ; b) the Native American revision in which the traditional "African" presence in the history of Haiti is replaced by that of the Tainos, which were decimated nearly a century and a half before the arrival of Haitian ancestors ; c) the islamic revision through which the patronage of the Bois Caïman ceremony (1791) was claimed up to the final phase of the Haitian revolution (1803) led by Jean-Jacques Dessalines.

We have refuted, in another context, all these various forms of revisions, including the classic christian revision targeting Dessalines : namely that he was a bloodthirsty brute, that he owes his victory to yellow fever or that he was assassinated by Henry Christophe, etc.. Likewise, we have crushed the latest Haitian-French slanders claiming that Dessalines was Toussaint Breda's slave, (2, 3, 4) and that he caused the arrest of Toussaint. (5) Consequently, we shall limit ourselves in this article to the islamic revision of Dessalines and his revolution which the revisionists claim was a jihad or a muslim holy war.

1- Dessalines and Grann Aloumandja

LeGrace Benson argued in 1996 that Jean-Jacques Dessalines was either muslim or acted under muslim influence. As proof, the revisionist, supposedly holding a PhD, found nothing better than the vulgar deformation of the name Aloumandja, a warlike Lwa of the Nago (Yoruba) Nation that Jean-Jacques Dessalines would have served, into "Allah-Mandja", a term unknown to Haiti and never recorded in Saint Domingue's colonial texts :

"General Jean-Jacques Dessalines, under whose leadership the revolution finally succeeded, if not Muslim, nevertheless evidenced influence from Muslim mysticism and magic. These were present in Haitian slave life just as Muslim mysteries and magic pervaded every West African locality where Muslims traded or had political hegemony. Dessalines created the flag in February 1803, months before its dramatic apparition in Archahaie on the eighteenth of May, reportedly after a ceremony in the houmfo he frequented. Eighteen May is the day for honoring the African lwa (spirit), Aloumandia (or Allahmandia). The name is thought to be a form of "Allah."" (6)

We have already, in a previous article, refuted the flawed view that Western "Africa" was crowded with muslims. Such a vision is based on the present state of that part of the continent in which islam is very widespread. But this was not the case in Saint Domingue time. For islam only reached the West "African" masses during its 19th century Western colonization ; therefore well after Haiti's independence of 1804.
But, let's accept, for argument's sake, that the Goddess Aloumandja was a distortion of "Allah Mandja". In such a case, we must ask ourselves : what does "Allah Mandja" means in Arabic? It goes without saying that the revisionists, however academic they may be, have not asked themselves such a logical question. Or at least, if they did, it was not openly. Unless they did but did not get the desired answer. So let us do it ourselves. Let us question the Arabic language for the meaning of "Allah Mandja" which, according to the revisionists, was so essential that General Dessalines worshipped the entity it embodied.

The arabic translation gives this :

Allah,الله : God

Mandja, Manja, (Manija), مانجا : Mango

So,

Allah Manja or Allah Manija, الله مانجا : Allah Mango or Allah's Mango

In other words, "Allah Mandja" means absolutely nothing. It is but delirium, fools' divagation. Besides, Aloumandja is a woman, an old woman, more precisely. Are women so revered in the muslim cult that they can guide the victorious hand of one of the greatest warlords in history in Jean-Jacques Dessalines, the only commander to pull a people out of domination by its own means? The answer is obvious.

a) Aloumandja, Dessalines and the 99 names/forms of Allah

More ridiculous than Aloumandja being a distortion of Allahmandia, is LeGrace Benson's assertion that Allahmandia is a form of "Allah " :

"Aloumandia (or Allahmandia). The name is thought to be a form of "Allah."" (7)

Benson pushed her condescending delirium further, this time, in a Haitian publication, writing that Allah, the Supreme God of the muslims, would have 99 names or forms corresponding to the Lwa or Jany in the Haitian Tradition. With the difference that Allah is abstract, therefore inaccessible to Blacks, these limited beings who fall back on the Lwa representing the visible and immediate world within their reach :

"A chart of the ninety-nine names of Allah reveals the operation in Islam. (...) Allah is remote, the 99 names are abstractions rather than sensible forces or visibilities. Al-hallim, the Forbearing One, only enters everyday life through disciplined acts of imagination and will, but Damballah is visible right away in the rainbow. (...) The captives to whom they preached knew the names of forces and conditions: rain, smallpox, love, birth, death. Bringing together miraculous human heroes with personifications of natural powers and states of being engendered the double consciousness of lwa and saint. (...) The abstract names of Allah could not be used in such a fashion. Nor could the mystical and sometimes magical use of the sacred spelling out of the names of Allah function where literacy was forbidden. (...) But in Haiti the names of Allah were both anathematized and insufficiently personalized..." (8)

This is the level of childish and insulting argument we get, when the vulgar pretends to be a scientist.* And, of course, such a contemptuous argument appeals to the Haitian intellectuals who approve of it and preserve it for posterity in Journal of Haitian Studies, a third-worldist rag with scientific pretention. The fact is, if Allah has 99 names, there aren't only 99 Lwa but 101 (official)** Nations or Nanchon of Lwa. And each of these 101 Nations contains an incalculable number of Lwa. The most conservative estimates speak of 401 Lwa. But in reality, this symbolic number can easily be multiplied by 10. Thus, 4001 Lwa or Jany is more reasonable.
And these Lwa, being of both sexes : feminine and masculine, does this mean that Allah has a feminine form, given that Aloumandja or Grann Aloumandja (Grandmother Alumandja) is female? Moreover, some of these same Lwa or Jany, including Danmbala Wedo, the Snake Lwa, are animal formed. Is it written somewhere that Allah is of animal form?
Also, some of these Lwa or Jany consume animal blood. We will mention, in particular, Lenglesou, Moundong, and more precisely Dantò who prefers pork. Is this to say that Allah would consume blood and pig flesh, so clearly forbidden in the koran? If these questions are in agreement with the Muslim doctrine, then let me know.
Let us stop here this analysis unworthy of our time. For following LeGrace Benson's revisionist argument that the Lwa from a pre-islamic ancestral religion is a form of Allah, we will fall not only into absurdity but into blasphemy from the point of view of both religions being compared.

b) Dessalines and Grann Alouba

It seems to me that LeGrace Benson neglected to highlight the fact that besides Grann Aloumandja, Dessalines also worshiped the Grann Alouba Divinity :

"... les mystères de Dessalines, particulièrement Grande Alouba et Grande Aloumandia, lui dictaient des avis de l'invisible..." (9)

Trranslation :

"... the mysteries of Dessalines, especially Grande Alouba and Grande Aloumandia, dictated to him the opinions of the invisible..."

This sacred song lamenting the assassination of Dessalines at Pont-Rouge clearly specifies the privileged relationship between the mutilated leader and Grann Alouba whose warning he neglected :

"Défilée (la folle qui ramassa ses restes) ouè ;
Défilée pé !
Nan Pont-Rouge ci-là à,
Loman fait Dessalines douçouman.
(Grande) Alouba Ouganman, complot ci-là la,
Li fô passé ouanga.
Général Dessalines oh ! gadez misè moin,
Gadez tracas pays-là,
Pays-là chaviré." (10)

Translation :

"Défilée (the madwoman who picked up his remains) sees ;
Défilée keeps quiet !
At this Pont-Rouge here,
Loman rendered Dessalines tamed.
(Granny) Alouba Ouganman, this conspiracy,
It is stronger than ouanga (witchcraft).
General Dessalines oh ! look at my misery,
Look at the country's hassle,
The country has capsized."

Although Grann (Grande) Alouba and Grann Aloumandja are often confused by many, the origin of Grann Alouba leaves no doubt. She comes from the former Kingdom of Dahomey (present-day Benin) where Alouba was one of the names given to girls whose parent officially committed to Fa, the sacred divination :

"Rien d'étonnant que les Dahoméens aient cherché à en consacrer le souvenir jusque dans leur progéniture, en donnant enfants, qui leur naissent après l'accomplissement de cet acte, des noms caractéristiques qu'on appelle Favi gniko, « noms des enfants de Fa » et qui sont, par ordre de date de naissance pour les garçons, Amousou, Kapo, Mot-cho, Boko, Dan-ouën ; pour les filles, Alouba, Kidan, Aloubahouè, Fakamè." (11)

Translation :

"It is not surprising that the Dahomeans have sought to consecrate that memory to their offspring, giving children, who are born to them after the fulfillment of this act, of the characteristic names called Favi gniko, "names of children of Fa" and which are, in order of date of birth for the boys, Amousou, Kapo, Mot-cho, Boko, Dan-ouën ; for the girls, Alouba, Kidan, Aloubahouè, Fakamè."

In addition, in Dahomey, a tale tells the fictional story of Alouba, a King's old wife who unsuccessfully rivaled a younger co-wife. (12) Without asserting that this tale refers to the Haitian Divinity Grann Alouba, our certainty remains that the Dahomeans were traditionalists at the time of the Saint Domingue colony. Islam had not yet entered Dahomey at that time, so Alouba was not a muslim reference.

2- Dessalines and the fake jihad

As early as January 1996, relying on her deformation of Aloumandja's name and on a bunch of assumptions, the revisionist LeGrace Benson affirmed that the Haitian revolution resulted from jihad :

"A thoughtful reading of reports on the style and their actions of Haiti's liberation leaders suggests that their conception of the conflict into which they entered was not necessarily or simply a following of the notions of the rights of man articulated in the French Revolution and spread to Haiti : more personally and deeply it was a holy war—a jihad." (13)

6 years later, in 2002, still without any tangible proof, this same revisionist carries on with her pitiful mission :

"Tamerlan committed the sacred act of writing prayer in June, 1791. It was not a time when there moments and places for silence and reflection necessary for recognizing the right hand of Allah in all things. Rather, the governing factors were those that had motivated the Muslims Makandal and his companions to initiate a jihad decades before. Two months after Tamerlan wrote, another Muslim, Boukman would bring the latent jihad into terrifying and efficacious visibility."(14)

And four years later, in 2006, 10 years after LeGrace Benson initial publication, there is still no shred of evidence of any form of jihad in the Haitian revolution. But that did not deter the indefatigable revisionist, who persisted on her hallucinatory statements :

"The imams had already been in Africa for centuries. They arrived on the first and last slave ships and put their great knowledge to the needs of survival first, then of revolution—a jihad, one might claim." (15)

In 2009, it was revisionist Susan Buck-Morss' turn to insinuate jihad, this time, by placing Dessalines in the midst of her fanciful delusions in which the Haitian revolution would be a dishonest jihad that didn't have a religious purpose :

"Dessalines for setling out "to give as good as he got." then there is no honest reason for excluding from the story of Liberty the eye-for-an-eye, tooth-for-a-tooth logic of political jihad—only the dishonest one of rejecting, not the means of jihad, not the policy of violent retribution against one's enemy, but the religious goal, as if to say that in the broadly inclusive panoply, the multiversality of global culture, there is one (with which over a billion human beings happen to identify) that is simply, irredeemably, wrong. The political question emerging from this historical encounter, that urgently needs to be addressed, is this: how is it that the revered Euro-American revolutionary slogan, "Liberty or Death," came to be cordoned off in Western thought and practice from the allegedly infamous tradition of Islamic jihad?
Is the name of universal humanity, the vanguard justifies its own violence as higher truth. At this crossroad Osama bin Laden meets Jean-Jacques Dessalines, and Vladimir Lenin meets George W. Bush." (16)

However, as we pointed out in a previous article, the Haitian revolution (1791-1803) cannot be considered a jihad, since it predates the implementation of the jihad concept in Africa. Indeed, the final battle of the Haitian revolution was fought on November 18, 1803, which is several months prior to the first "African" jihad, undertaken by Dan Fodio, that occurred only in 1804 :

"Islam went its way peacefully, except when traditional leaders sought to block it; then it went to war. Such were the circumstances that led the Fulani Muslim leader Shehu Usuman Dan Fodio (of Sheik Dan Fodio) to begin a jihad, or holy war, in 1804 against the hostile government of King Yunfa of Gobir, considered by jihadists to be a wayward Muslim." (17)

In other words, Haiti was already independent, officially on January 1, 1804, shortly before the Islamic "Africans", hitherto relatively peaceful, were experimenting with their first jihad.

3- Compared to Dessalines, Ben Laden was a choirboy

The worst part of all this is that the revisionists are perfectly aware of the post Haitian revolutionary status of Dan Fodio's West "African" jihad. (18) Yet, for want of arguments, they persevere in imagining jihadism as the most radical form of militarism ; and that the Haitian revolution must derive from it. But what do they really know about the Haitian revolution? Bin Laden, the vulgar criminal, whom they believe to be master in the production of horror, was but a choirboy in comparison to Jean-Jacques Dessalines' war methods. For, for this genius Haitian General, everything was allowed. He was ready to set fire to 7/8 of the globe to maintain the freedom he provide to his people :

"Nous avons juré de punir quiconque oserait nous parler d'esclavage. Nous serons inexorables, peut-être même cruels, envers tous les militaires qui viendraient nous apporter la mort et la servitude. Rien ne coûte et tout est permis à des hommes à qui l'on veut ravir le premier de tous les biens. Qu'ils fassent couler des flots de sang, qu'ils incendient, pour défendre leur liberté, les sept huitième du globe, ils sont innocents devant Dieu qui n'a pas créé les hommes pour les voir gémir sous un joug honteux." (19)

Translation :

"We have sworn to punish anyone who dares to speak of slavery. We shall be inexorable, perhaps even cruel, towards all the soldiers who would bring death and servitude to us. No cost is too high and everything is allowed to men from whom one wants to snatch the prime of all goods. Let them shed waves of blood, that they burn, to defend their freedom, the seven eighth of the globe, they are innocent before God who did not create men to see them moan under a shameful yoke."

Thus jihadism, this pathetic semblance of armed religious resistance, having done nothing worthwhile since its invention, is mere child's play, when compared to the noble traditionalist Haitian revolution. For in this traditional resistance, the West, believing itself master of intimidation and horror, had to bow to traditional fathers or mothers who went so far as to poison one by one all their family members, solely for the pleasure of watching the slave-master suffer from the loss of manpower caused by the successive deaths :

"Quand ils veulent se venger de leurs maîtres, ils empoisonnent ses autres esclaves, les bœufs, les chevaux et les mulets nécessaires à l'exploitation de l'habitation. Ces malheureux, afin de n'être pas soupçonnés, commencent leur crime sur leur propre famille ; ils font périr leur femme, leurs enfants, et leur maîtresse. Ils ne sont pas même excités à toutes ces horreurs par la vengeance seule ; souvent celui qui en forme le projet et qui les commet, est précisément le nègre le mieux traité de l'habitation, celui pour qui le maître a le plus de bontés. Alors sa cruauté ne peut être conduite que par le plaisir barbare d'abuser de la faiblesse de son maître, et de l'humilier en le ruinant, afin de le rapprocher autant qu'il le peut, de la misère de son état." (20)

Translation :

"When they wish to take revenge on their masters, they poison his other slaves, the oxen, the horses, and the mules necessary for the exploitation of the dwelling. These unfortunates, in order not to be suspected, begin their crime on their own family; They destroy their wife, their children, and their mistress. They are not even excited to all these horrors by vengeance alone; Often he who designs and commits them is the most well-treated negro of the habitation, the one for whom the master has the most bounty. Then his cruelty can only be induced by the barbarous pleasure of abusing his master's weakness, and humiliating him by ruining him, in order to bring him as close as he can to the misery of his condition."

It must be pointed out that it is unjust and insulting to compare the bullying actions of Bin Laden and the jihadists spreading terror through proselytism, to those of Dessalines who acted in an extreme fashion solely for the protection of his people's rights :

"Les crimes les plus atroces, jusqu'alors inconnus, et qui feraient frémir la nature, ont été commis par les Français. Enfin l'heure de la vengeance est arrivée, et les implacables ennemis des droits des hommes ont reçu la punition due à leurs crimes. (...) Victimes mutilées de la cupidité des Français, après avoir enrichi de nos travaux ces oppresseurs insatiables, avec une patience et une résignation sans exemple, nous aurions vu cette horde sacrilège attenter de nouveau à notre destruction sans distinction de sexe ni d'âge ; et nous, qu'ils appelaient hommes sans énergie et sans courage, nous n'aurions pas plongé dans leur sein le poignard du désespoir? (...) Oui, nous avons rendu à ces anthropophages guerre pour guerre, crime pour crime, outrage pour outrage. Oui, j'ai sauvé mon pays, j'ai vengé l'Amérique ! (...) Il est nécessaire, pour raffermir cette union, de vous rappeler les atrocités commises contre notre espèce. Le massacre prémédité de l'entière population de cette île, résolu dans le silence et le sang-froid du cabinet? L'exécution de cet abominable projet me fut effrontément proposée lorsqu'elle était déjà commencée par les Français, avec le calme et la sérénité d'une contenance accoutumée à de semblable crimes." (21)

Translation :

"The most atrocious crimes, hitherto unknown, which would make nature tremble, were committed by the French. Finally the hour of vengeance has arrived, and the implacable enemies of the rights of men have received the punishment due to their crimes. (...) Victims mutilated by the cupidity of the French, having enriched our insatiable oppressors with our patience and resignation without example, we would have seen this sacrilegious horde again attempt our destruction without distinction of sex or age; And we, whom they called men without energy or courage, would not have plunged into their bosom the dagger of despair? (...) Yes, we have returned to these cannibals war for war, crime for crime, outrage for outrage. Yes, I saved my country, I avenged America! (...) It is necessary, in order to strengthen this union, to remind you of the atrocities committed against our species. The premeditated massacre of the whole population of this island, resolved in the silence and coolness of the cabinet? The execution of this abominable project was boldly proposed to me when it was already begun by the French, with the calm and serenity of a countenance accustomed to such crimes."

Indeed, as early as 1791, the French, carried out genocidal acts such as injecting the Blacks with smallpox :

"In Jérémie, in the Grande Anse, whites imprisoned local free men of color on a ship in the harbor and deliberately infected them with smallpox ; only a third of them survived." (22)

Charles Leclerc, commander of the French expedition bearing his name, wrote to the First Consul Napoleon Bonaparte, his brother-in-law, on October 7, 1802, explaining his plan to exterminate the Black population :

"Voici mon opinion sur ce pays. Il faut détruire tous les Nègres des montagnes, hommes et femmes, ne garder que les enfants au-dessous de 12 ans, détruire moitié de ceux de la plaine et ne pas laisser dans la colonie un seul homme de couleur qui ait porté l'épaulette. Sans cela jamais la colonie ne sera tranquille et au commencement de chaque année, surtout après les saisons meurtrières comme celle-ci, vous aurez une guerre civile qui compromettra la possession du pays." (23)

Translation :

"Here is my opinion on this country. All the Negroes of the mountains, men and women, must be destroyed, sparing only children under 12 years of age, must be destroyed, half of those of the plains, and no colored man should be left in the colony who has worn epaulettes. Otherwise the colony will never be quiet, and at the beginning of each year, especially after murderous seasons like this one, you will have a civil war which will compromise the possession of the country."

Following French general Leclerc's death, Rochambeau applied his genocidal plan by the most deplorable means : drowning, hanging, shooting, asphyxia by lime, murder by man-eating dogs, and even the pre-Nazi practice of throwing one's enemies in furnaces :

"A Jérémie, Darbois secondait trop puissamment les vues du gouvernement pour qu'on songeât à le relever. (...) Darbois est le premier qui ait jeté dans un fourneau quinze noirs ou mulâtres. Ce fait est trop connu pour être révoqué en doute. Un individu échappé à ce cruel supplice existe encore à Jérémie." (24)

Translation :

"In Jérémie, Darbois was too powerfully seconding the government's views for anyone to think of replacing him. (...) Darbois was the first to throw fifteen blacks or mulattos into a furnace. This fact is too well known to be revoked in doubt. An individual who escaped this cruel torture still lives in Jérémie."

4- Dessalines, Lavalas and Dechoukaj

It should also be remembered that Dessalines has described the nature of his own military enterprises. And the description he made of them show nothing of a jihad or any muslim doctrinal element linked to jihad. On the contrary, his description was as follows :

"Comme un torrent débordé qui brise tout ce qui se trouve sur son passage, votre fureur vengeresse a renversé tout ce qui s'opposait à sa course impétueuse." (25)

Translation :

"Like an overflowing torrent that breaks everything in its path, your vengeful fury has overthrown all that was opposed to its impetuous course."

Anyone who is a bit familiar with Haitian culture will easily summarize this Dessalines phrase in a word, not by the arabic word jihad, but by "Lavalas", a creole term still used in weather as well as in politics :

"Lavalas : 1. torrent, déluge. 2. Fanmi Lavalas. Organisation politique." (26)

Translation :

"Lavalas: 1. torrent, deluge. 2. Fanmi Lavalas. Political organization."

Likewise, in that Dessalines' phrase, when we translate the French verb "Renverser" ("overthrow") in Haitian Creole, we get "Dechouke" :

"Renverser : dechouke, ranvèse, kapote." (27)

The Creole verb "Dechouke", meaning "uprooting", has "Dechoukaj" or "Dechoukay" for word. And same as "Lavalas", "Dechoukaj" or "Dechoukay" is still used in Haiti to designate either the action of uprooting a tree, or a violent outburst of a political and revolutionary movement.
Moreover, another demarcation line between Dessalines' actions and islamic barbarism and intolerance resides in the fact that the leader of the Haitians, as soon as the French signed their surrender, and their evacuation became effective, solemnly declared, on November 29, 1803, having deplored the loss of innocent lives :

"Si, dans les divers soulèvements qui ont eu lieu, des Blancs, dont nous n'avions pas à nous plaindre, ont péri victimes de la cruauté de quelques soldats ou cultivateurs, trop aveuglés par le souvenir de leurs maux passés pour distinguer les propriétaires humains de ceux qui ne l'étaient pas, nous déplorons sincèrement leur malheureux sort, et déclarons à la face de l'univers que ces meurtres ont été commis malgré nous. Il était impossible, dans une crise semblable à celle où se trouvait alors la colonie, d'arrêter ou prévenir ces désordres. Ceux qui ont la moindre connaissance de l'histoire savent qu'un peuple, qu'il fût le plus policé de la terre, se porte à tous les excès lorsqu'il est agité par les discordes civiles, et que les chefs n'étant pas puissamment secondés, ne peuvent pas punir tous les coupables sans rencontrer sans cesse de nouveaux obstacles. Mais aujourd'hui que l'aurore de la paix nous présage un temps moins orageux et que le calme de la victoire succédé aux désordres d'une guerre affreuse, Saint Domingue doit prendre un nouvel aspect, et son gouvernement doit être désormais celui de la justice." (28)

Translation :

"If, in the various uprisings which took place, Whites, of whom we had no cause to complain, have perished victims of the cruelty of some soldiers or cultivators, too blinded by the recollection of their past sufferings to distinguish the human proprietors from those who were not, we sincerely deplore their unhappy fate, and declare to the face of the universe that these murders were committed in spite of ourselves. It was impossible, in a crisis similar to that in which the colony was at that time, to stop or prevent these disorders. Those who have the slightest knowledge of history know that a people, the most polished of the earth, is carried to all excesses when it is agitated by civil discord, and that the chiefs, not powerfully seconded, cannot punish all the guilty without constantly encountering new obstacles. But now that the dawn of peace has predicted a less stormy weather, and the calm of victory succeeded the disorders of a terrible war, Saint Domingue must take on a new aspect, and its government must henceforth be one of justice."

Dessalines' ability to divest himself of the horrors of war to the benefit of justice, good neighborliness and peace was embodied in the asylum he granted to Germans and Poles of goodwill :

"Comme il est dérogatoire à ma dignité et à ma mémoire de punir l'innocent pour les crimes du coupable, une poignée de blancs, recommandables par les sentiments qu'ils ont toujours professés, et qui ont en outre fait le serment de vivre avec nous dans les bois, ont éprouvé ma clémence. J'ordonne qu'on les laisse vivre et qu'ils ne soient point mal traités.
Je recommande de nouveau, et j'ordonne à tous les généraux des départements, de garantir se cours, encouragement et protection à toutes les nations neutres ou alliées qui désireraient établir des relations commerciales dans cette île." (29)

Translation :

"As it is derogatory to my dignity and my memory to punish the innocent for the crimes of the guilty, a handful of whites, commendable by the sentiments they have always professed, and who have also taken the oath to live with us In the woods, have experienced my clemency. I order that they be allowed to live, and not be treated badly.
I again recommend, and I command all the departments generals, to guarantee the encouragement and protection of all the neutral or allied nations who wish to establish commercial relations in that island."

Other points remain to be raised to dissociate Jean-Jacques Dessalines from any muslim movement. But before we do so, we will analyze in more detail the few revisionist arguments, especially those relating to Dessalines.

5- Religion and Dessalines' constitution

If Dessalines were actually of muslim faith, and involved in a holy war, jihad, which he won, the law articles he layed down would have reflected his beliefs. So what was the situation in the May 20, 1805 Imperial Constitution? (30)

The religious references : From the outset, Dessalines' Constitution' preamble refers to the Supreme Being and also to Nature : "In the presence of the Supreme Being, before whom mortals are equal, and who has spread so many species of different creatures on the globe's surface, that for the purpose of manifesting His glory and power by the diversity of His works, In face of the whole nature of which we have been so unjustly and since So long considered as reprobate children."
The Supreme Being remains neutral in the text. He is not identified as Allah or Mohammed (Muslim), nor as Jehovah (Christian). However, the reference to Nature refers to ancestral beliefs. For omnipotent Nature frequently returns to Dessalines' texts, as we shall later see.
The name of God : God as such is stated only twice in the 1805 constitution ; that is in Article 37 which clarifies that "Any public act will be done in these terms : "The Emperor of Haiti and the Supreme Leader of the Army, by the grace of God and the constitutional law of the State."" Then, at the end of the document, where the Emperor validates the said document : "We, Jacques Dessalines, 1st Emperor of Haiti and supreme head of the army, by the grace of God and the constitutional law of the State." In both cases, God is invoked, not in a muslim context, but via the christian formula of "by the grace of God".
The name of the inhabitants : No reference to Islam, Allah or Muhammad was made in the Imperial Constitution. And there is no reference to citizens as muslims. This reinforces the non-islamic argument of the document. Moreover, other than the term "Haitian", the only requirement was racial. Article 14 states that : "Haitians will be known only under the generic denomination of blacks." Why then didn't Dessalines declare all citizens muslims, if indeed he was of muslim faith, and freshly emerged from a jihad?
Reference to worship : A muslim constitution would have highlighted religious concerns. But it was not the case in Dessalines' constitution which delegates a "Of Worship" section to the bottom 2 spots of the document. That is, behind the following sections : "Preliminary Declaration", "Of the Empire", "Of the Government", "Of the Council of State", "Of the Ministers", "Of the Minister of Finance and the Interior", "Of the Minister of War and the Navy", "Of the Secretary of State", and then "Of the Courts". This "Of Worship" section tells us clearly that Dessalines was not a muslim. For, under Article 50, he declares that : "The law does not admit a dominant religion." This is contrary to the pro-dominance religion of islam. Article 51, on the other hand, advocates freedom of worship : "Freedom of worship is tolerated," while Article 52 affirms the secularity or neutrality of the State in religious affairs : "The State does not provide for the Maintenance of any worship or minister.".
Managing morals : Articles 14 and 15 of the "General Provisions" propose very liberal matrimonial measures for its time, that are diametrically opposed to islamic shari'ah law : "Marriage is a purely civil act and authorized by the government.", "The law shall authorize divorce in such cases as it has prescribed and determined.".
National holidays : Article 27 of the "General Provisions" summarizes the festivals in these terms : "There will be national festivals to celebrate Independence, the feast of the Emperor and his august Wife, that of agriculture and of the Constitution." Not surprisingly, there was no muslim holiday in the Empire that the revisionists claim to have been born of an imaginary "jihad".

Thus, according to the May 20, 1805 constitution, the Empire of Jacques I, aka Dessalines, was secular. But what about Dessalines' way of life?

6- Dessalines and alcohol

According to eyewitness Descourtilz, Dessalines and his officers drank tafia (strong alcohol), a practice not only prohibited by islam, but unworthy of a leader, they claim, was involved in a muslim holy war :

"Après avoir ainsi long-tems combattu la fatigue et respiré une poussière désagréable, nous arrivâmes au haut d'un morne couvert de lataniers auxquels on venait de mettre le feu, pour prévenir les embuscades. N'ayant bu ni mangé depuis deux jours, et rencontrant un cabrouet chargé de provisions pour Dessalines, je tendis la main à une femme de couleur qui, après m'avoir reconnu, me plaignit beaucoup, et m'ayant fait désaltérer, me donna quelques aliments que je dévorai sans discontinuer notre marche. Enfin, Honorine (c'était le nom de cette jeune mulâtresse) ranima mes forces avec un coup du tafia qu'elle portait dans un coco aux officiers ; elle me fit aussi le cadeau d'une morue salée, en m'assurant qu'elle ne pouvait faire mieux pour moi jusqu'au lendemain." (31)

Translation :

"After having thus long fought fatigue and inhaled a disagreeable dust, we arrived at the top of a hillock covered with lataniers, to whom they had just set fire to prevent ambushes. Having neither drunk nor eaten for two days, and meeting a wheelbarrow loaded with provisions for Dessalines, I stretched out my hand to a woman of color who, after having recognized me, pitied me very much, and having made me drink, gave me A few foods which I devoured without stopping our march. Finally, Honorine (this was the name of this young mulatto) revived my strength with a blow from the tafia she carried in a coco [coconut shell] to the officers ; she also gave me the gift of a salted cod, assuring me she couldn't do better for me until the next day."

Descourtilz served tafia to Dessalines' soldiers that were guarding him :

"Mes succès dans les cures des blessés, que je traitais par les plantes du pays d'après la combustion des pharmacies, me donnèrent auprès des autorités noires un relief qui me rendit bientôt un important personnage, non point du côté de la puissance, puisque sans cesse et par-tout accompagné de quatre dragons, je ne pouvais seul faire un pas, car on était persuadé qu'il me tardait de rejoindre la colonne française. Aussi ces quatre cavaliers, considérés comme mes protecteurs et nommés pour ma garde d'honneur, avait par dessous main l'ordre de me fusiller au moindre projet de désertion. Comme j'avais soin d'eux, et que je n'épargnais ni le tabac ni le tafia, je captai leur confiance, au point qu'ils me dévoilèrent sans artifice la consigne qui leur était donnée." (32)

Translation :

"My success in treating the wounded, whom I treated with local plants after the burning of the pharmacies, gave me stature to the Black authorities, which soon rendered me an important figure, not on the side of power ; since I was continually escorted by four dragons everywhere, I could not take a step alone, for they were convinced that I was longing to join the French column. So these four cavaliers, considered as my protectors and appointed for my guard of honor, were under orders to shoot me at the slightest project of desertion. As I took care of them, and spared neither the tobacco nor tafia, I gained their confidence, to the point that they disclosed to me unwittingly the instructions given to them."

The four dragons sent by Commander Léandre (of Dessalines' troop) to seek Descourtilz, were won over with tafia :

"Léandre m'envoya quatre dragons et un cheval de monture sellé et bien harnaché, avec invitation de venir au secours de sa femme qui venait d'accoucher d'un enfant mort, et était dans le plus grand danger.

Mon heure sûrement n'était point encore venue ! Je me sentis de la répugnance à faire cette démarche; de son côté Pompée, saisissant le tafia, offre la goutte aux quatre dragons, les fait jaser, puis de suite monte la tête des malades, afin qu'ils ne me laissent pas partir, en disant que je leur suis spécialement destiné, et que le général Dessalines serait offensé de la moindre absence." (33)

Translation :

"Léandre sent me four dragons and a saddle horse, saddled and well harnessed, with an invitation to come to the assistance of his wife, who had just given birth to a dead child, and was in the greatest danger.
My hour surely had not yet come! I felt reluctant to do so ; on his side Pompée, seizing the tafia, offering a sip to the four dragons, causing them to talk, and then manipulated the sick, so that they will not let me go, saying that I am specially destined for them, and General Dessalines would be offended by the slightest absence."

Diaquoi, Dessalines' aide-de-camp, planned to serve opium-tainted tafia to Descourtilz' guards in order to facilitate his escape :

"Diaquoi, en se promenant, toussant, ruminant, enfin tout en jasânt avec les sentinelles qui ne le savaient point disgracié, leur ferait désirer un coup de tafia dont ils étaient frustrés depuis si long tems, qu'il ferait valoir son artifice, et vanterait sa générosité, que la bouteille serait ouverte, puis rebouchée, qu'enfin il en serait donné une rasade à la dérobée, et sous condition expresse d'une exacte surveillance. Belle promesse!... le tafia contenant de l'opium devait les mettre hors d'état de service." (34)

Translation :

"Diaquoi, while walking, coughing, ruminating, well, as he conversed with the guards, who did not know him to be disgraced, would make them desire a shot of tafia, of which they had been so long frustrated, that he would make use of his artifice, and booster his generosity, that the bottle should be opened, and then closed, that at last an overflowing round would be given, and under the express condition of an exact surveillance. A fine promise! The opium-containing tafia must have put them out of service."

Descourtilz drank wine and tafia in Dessalines' camp during the Battle of La Crête-à-Pierrot, and knew that Dessalines' troops would have loved to have some :

"Les troupes privées d'eau et de nourriture avec cette chaleur accablante, obligées de mâcher des balles de plomb dans l'espoir d'étancher leur soif insupportable, provoquaient par cette trituration une salive bourbeuse qu'ils trouvaient encore délicieuse à avaler. Ils souffraient sans se plaindre, par l'espérance de se venger. Languissant de faim, agités par la peur, ces soldats promenaient ces deux sensations opposées sur leur figure moribonde.

Pendant cette affreuse calamité, travaillant sans salaire, privé, ainsi que l'agneau que l'on va égorger, d'une nourriture qui me devenait inutile, un Dieu veillait néanmoins à mes besoins, et sans le secours des chefs qui m'avaient établi, j'avais de l'eau, du pain, du vin, du tafia, et autres provisions qu'eux-mêmes eussent bien désiré de posséder, quoiqu'il ne fut guères possible de manger de sang-froid, ayant par-tout autour de soi la mort présente !" (35)

Translation :

"The troops deprived of water and food, with this oppressive heat, obliged to chew lead bullets in the hope of quenching their intolerable thirst, caused by this trituration a muddy saliva which they found still delicious to swallow. They suffered without complaint, by the hope of avenging themselves. The soldiers, languid of hunger, agitated by fear, were walking these two opposing sensations on their moribund face.
During this awful calamity, working without salary, deprived, as the lamb that is to be slaughtered, of a food that was useless to me, a God nevertheless kept watch over my needs, and without the help of the chiefs who put me there, I had water, bread, wine, tafia, and other provisions which they themselves would have desired to possess, although it was scarcely possible to eat in cold blood, having death all around us !"

What's more, Dessalines personally drank wine, according to the ocular account from Jacques de Norvins, Secretary-General of the Government of Saint Domingue. It was during a reconciliation dinner of May 6, 1802, organized by General Leclerc for Toussaint Louverture and the black military leaders. Toussaint Louverture, fearing poisoning, refused to eat and to drink wine ; but Dessalines drank :

"It was a solemn feast ; I was sitting almost opposite Toussaint, who had arrived, followed by his aides-de-camp, and his madras on his head. He said he was sick, and did not even eat soup ; he did not want to drink wine either. But only for dessert I've made them offer him Gruyere cheese ; he took the dish, cut a square piece from it, and cut out the four sides to a considerable thickness. He took with his fingers, what remained of this singular operation, he ate it without bread, and drank a glass of water from a carafe that was begun since dinner ; and it was thus that he honored the table of the general-in-chief. Evidently he showed us the suspicion of being poisoned at this meal, and I understood then much less how he had neglected against us this means of destruction. Christophe, his brother, and Dessalines, for it must be said, this executioner of the whites dined with us, behaved with greater trust, and repaired, as far as it was in them, the insult which their former chief made at the feast of the Captain-General." (Transl.) (36)

So Dessalines, like Christophe, ate and drank wine profusely, in order to "repair" the insult caused by the mistrust of his chief Toussaint Louverture. So, if Dessalines was of muslim faith, he would not have shared this meal that breaks islamic prohibition. And that would have been understood by the dinner host, and underlined by Jacques de Norvins, the narrator.
In addition, having become master of the island, Dessalines never thought of banning the free sale of alcohol on his territory. Quite naturally, the price of tafia (strong alcohol) was listed, among other commodities, in the Empire's official gazette ; and this, from October 31, 1805 :

Source : Gazettte Politique et Commerciale d'Haïti. No.46, du Jeudi 31 octobre 1805. p.184.

And similarly, from the second issue of the official gazette, on November 22, 1804, the sale of catholic religious materials such as catechism for communion, prayer and novena was posted :

Source : Gazettte Politique et Commerciale d'Haïti. No.2, du Jeudi 22 novembre 1804. p.8.

But never have we ever seen announcements of the sale of korans and other materials relating to muslim worship. The reason being that the islamic religion was not part of the reality of Haiti.

7- Dessalines and pork meat

The revisionists are wrong for awkwardly trying to link Haiti's Liberator to islam. How could one claim that the Haitian revolution was islamic, when the generous Claire-Heureuse, the first lady, and wife of Dessalines, possessed supplies of salted pork, to the point that she shared some from her personal reserve, with Descourtilz, a French colonist who cared for the troops? :

"Honorine tint parole, et ayant parlé de moi à Mme Dessalines, je reçus un peu d'argent et du porc salé, ainsi que des légumes secs, avec recommandation expresse de garder le silence à l'égard d'un bienfait qui ne devait point être connu." (37)

Translation :

"Honorine kept her word, and having spoken of me to Mme. Dessalines, I received a little bit of money and salted pork, as well as dried vegetables, with an express recommendation to remain silent with regard to a benefit which ought not to be known."

Based on this quote, we can say that Dessalines and his troop were eating pork formally proscribed by islam.

a) Dessalines authorized pork meat imports

Settler Pierre Chazotte's testimony gives us an infallible proof of Dessalines' non-islamic nature. On the morning of March 13, 1804, Pierre Étienne Chazotte, a French settler in Jérémie had his life saved because Dessalines' soldiers took him for an American. He was therefore summoned by Dessalines, then Governor-General, who asked him to write to his American fellow-citizens in order to strengthen the commercial exchanges between the island and the United States. Exchanges which would include the new imports of weapons and the maintenance of food imports, including pork, which Dessalines says he's "happy to exchange for coffee" :

""You Americans bring to this country nothing but fish, pork, beef, flour, rice and some dry goods ; we are glad to exchange those things for coffee ; but we also want gunpowder, shot, muskets, swords and all kinds of ammunition ; and above all some strongly built and fast sailing vessels, pierced for cannon, to guard our coasts and protect them against the French privateers. Write, write to your friends—let them send all those things whatever may be the cost, I will pay them well and make their fortunes, &c.”" (38)

b) Pork selling, a common good, in post-independence Haiti

After Emperor Dessalines' death, as during and before his reign, the sale and consumption of pork continuously took place, without any form of interdict or special attention paid to it. This would inevitably have been the case, if Saint Domingue or Haiti had the slightest muslim tendency. This chart, published in 1819 by Hérard-Dumesle (the one who will, shortly after, publish the Morne Rouge "oath"), indicates that pork was sold freely in the country (at least in the Western and Southern parts where Hérard-Dumesle resided, since Haiti was split in 2 until 1820), as an ordinary commodity :

Source : Hérard-Dumesle. "L’observateur", vol. XI, Cayes, 1819. p.15.

c) Saint Domingue's islamized Blacks didn't eat pork and didn't combat

Revisionist Aisha Khan did everything she can to demonstrate that islam practiced in Saint Domingue was creoled or syncretized to the point of integrating the prohibited pork consumption :

"As the demographic majority in the region, Afro-Caribbeans are differentiated according to Old World ethno-linguistic group history (e.g., Hausa, Yoruba) and culturally authenticated by scholars according to the “creolized” or “syncretic” religions that they brought to, and elaborated in, the New World (e.g., Vodou, Candomblé). Islam among these populations was also “creolized” (and, indeed, was never “pure” to begin with) and in some cases was folded into other religious traditions." (39)

This bold revisionist, finding no factual support in the Saint Domingue colony, left that particular framework and wandered into the multicultural Anglophone Caribbean world in order to prove her point which remains empty, childish and insipid. For Descourtilz, eye-witness, has long taught us that the Saint Domingue islamic captives (Beurnon - from Tchad's Kanem Bornou Kingdom - and Phylanis or Fulani) maintained their faith's rigor and did not consume pork, nor did they make war*** :

"La religion dominante des nègres de Beurnon a beaucoup de rapport avec celle des Phylanis. L'ambition est un monstre à leurs yeux : ils ne cherchent qu'à protéger leurs semblables; c'est pourquoi ils ne font jamais la guerre. Sévères observateurs de l'hospitalité, si un étranger arrive au pays de Beurnon, le chef de cette peuplade unie, pour capter les bonnes graces de l'inconnu et le retenir dans ses étals, lui donne des terres et une de ses filles en mariage.
Il lui est de plus fourni des vivres jusqu'à la première récolte qu'il aura pu faire. Voilà, ce me semble, les premiers fondements de la religion naturelle : « Faites aux autres ce que vous voudriez qu'on vous faît ».
Ils ne mangent de viande que celle sacrifice et bénie par leur grand-prêtre, appelé alpha [Viande halal]. L'usage de la viande de porc leur est interdit. Un homme qui fait pénitence. Beurnon, se tient sur les grands chemins, avec des canaris pleins d'eau, dont il offre, par charité, à tous les passants ou voyageurs fatigués." (40)

Translation :

"The dominant religion of Beurnon Negroes has much to do with that of the Phylanis. Ambition is a monster in their eyes ; they seek only to protect their fellows ; therefore they never make war. Severe observers of hospitality, if a stranger comes to the country of Beurnon, the leader of this united people, to capture the good graces of the stranger and to retain him in his stalls, gives him land and one of his daughters in marriage.
He is also supplied with food until the first harvest he's able to make. This, it seems to me, is the first foundation of natural religion : "Do to others what you would have them do to you."
They only eat meat that is sacrificed and blessed by their high-priest, called alpha [Halal meat]. The use of pork is prohibited. A man who does penance. Beurnon, stands on the highways, with jugs full of water, which he offers, by charity, to all passers-by or weary travelers."

In light of the orthodoxy of the Saint Domingue islamic captives, Dessalines and the leaders of the Haitian revolution who didn't refrain from consuming porcine meat, were not muslim.

8- Dessalines' beliefs

We've analyzed the laws promulgated by Dessalines. Now, let us look at his beliefs captured through the study of his texts and his actions as described by witnesses.

a) Dessalines avenged America, not Allah

Eight days after punishing Frenchmen in Le Cape, Dessalines, in his speech of April 28, 1804, declared to his people: "I saved my country, I avenged America!" He thus signified that he had saved his country from the genocide which the French had set in motion ; and at the same time he avenged the American continent (notably Martinique and Guadeloupe of the heroic Louis Delgrès) of the crimes they suffered from the Europeans :

"Où est l'Haytien assez vil, assez indigne de sa régénération, pour penser qu'il n'ait pas rempli les décrets du ciel, en exterminant ces tigres sanguinaires. S'il en est un, laissez-le fuir ; que la nature indignée l'éloigne de notre sein. (...) Oui, nous avons rendu à ces anthropophages guerre pour guerre, crime pour crime, outrage pour outrage. Oui, j'ai sauvé mon pays, j'ai vengé l'Amérique ! L'aveu que je fais à la face du ciel et de la terre, fait mon orgueil et ma gloire : quelle est pour moi la conséquence de l'opinion qu'auront de ma conduite mes contemporains et les générations futures ? J'ai fait mon devoir, je m'approuve, cela me suffit." (41)

Translation :

"Where is the Haytian vile enough, unworthy of his regeneration, to think that he did not fulfill the decrees of heaven, by exterminating these bloodthirsty tigers. If he is one, let him flee ; let indignant nature remove him from our bosom. (...) Yes, we have returned to these cannibals war for war, crime for crime, outrage for outrage. Yes, I saved my country, I avenged America! The confession which I make in the face of heaven and earth, is my pride and my glory. What is the consequence of the opinion which my contemporaries and future generations will have of my conduct ? I have done my duty, I approve myself, it is enough for me."

In this speech, Dessalines took Heaven, Earth and Nature as witnesses, a rather traditionalist approach. However, He did not declare "Allah u akhbar!" (God is great!), the omnipresent formula among muslim warriors. Neither did he say that he "avenged Allah" or "the muslim faith," as a jihadist would have done. His motto was as follows :

"Toujours guerre à mort aux tyrans ! c'est ma devise, liberté, indépendance, c'est notre cri de ralliement." (42)

Translation :

"Always war to the tyrants! It is my motto, freedom, independence, it is our rallying cry."

From the analysis of the bellicose language in use, we can say that Dessalines was not a muslim. And he did not lead any jihad. He operated according to the ancestral principle of : Kou pou kou. Bondje ri. (Literally : blow for blow. The Good God laughs.) This principle of "Kou pou kou. Bondje ri" is the equivalent of an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. To the distinction that "Kou pou kou. Bondje ri" receives the approval of the Good God who laughs, from seeing an act of legitimate vengeance accomplished. So no need for Dessalines to justify his avenging act to anyone, his vengeance being automatically divine.

b) Dessalines in La Crête-à-Pierrot and Guadeloupe

Extremely widespread, is the March 12, 1802, feat of arms, when Dessalines announced to his soldiers his intention to blow up the gunpowder magazine of the fort La Crête-à-Pierrot that they occupied, if the French ever entered :

"Le lendemain, aux premiers rayons du soleil, Dessalines vit plusieurs colonnes françaises se déployer dans la plaine. Il s'assit sur un tas de boulets, au centre du fort, près de la poudrière. Il se prit à réfléchir pendant quelques minutes. Sortant tout-à-coup de sa rêverie, il se saisit d'une torche enflammée, et dit en créole, en allongeant le bras sur un caisson : « Je ne veux garder avec moi que des braves ; nous serons attaqués ce matin; que ceux qui veulent redevenir esclaves des français sortent du fort, et qu'ils se rangent autour de moi, ceux qui veulent mourir en hommes libres, » La garnison s'écria par acclamations : « Nous mourrons tous pour la liberté! » — «Si les français, continua-t-il, pénètrent dans cette enceinte, je vous ferai tous sauter. » L'on attendit l'ennemi avec impatience." (43)

Translation :

"The next day, at the first rays of the sun, Dessalines saw several French columns unfurl in the plain. He sat down on a heap of bullets in the center of the fort near the gunpowder magazine. He began to think for a few minutes. Suddenly emerging from his reverie, he seized a flaming torch, and said in Creole, stretching out his arm on a caisson: "I only want to keep with me brave men ; we shall be attacked this morning ; That those who wish to become slaves of the French will come out of the fort, and that those who wish to die as free men should be grouped round me." The garrison exclaimed with acclamations : "We shall all die for liberty!" — If the French," he continued, "penetrate into this enclosure, I will make you all explode." They awaited the enemy with impatience."

Some could easily see an islamic link in such an attitude. But they would be wrong. For, to blow up a fort's gunpowder magazine is a practice widely spread in the West as in the West Indies. In Saint Domingue, as early as February 19, 1794, at L'Acul, a Black man lit the gunpowder magazine of an English held position, killing 60 Englishmen. (44) Similarly, at Ravine-à-Couleuvre in early 1802, Toussaint forces blew up the gunpowder magazine to prevent the French from seizing it. (45) Finally, on the eve of the events at La Crête-à-Pierrot, the French, had blown up ammunition at the Plassac estate, North-East of Labadie, South of the Chemin des Grand Cahos. (Transl.) (46) Dessalines, however, increased the audacity of this tactic by proposing to blow himself up, and not merely the enemy.
Moreover, Dessalines' bravery was not nourished by jihadist doctrine that was unknown to him. Instead, this general took inspiration in the common suffering of the Blacks of America and Europe. In his April 28, 1804 proclamation, he indicated that he followed the example of Delgrès (Delgresse) who blew himself up in Matouba, Guadeloupe, under identical circumstances, despite the fact that his action of March 12, 1802, at La Crête-à-Pierrot,**** preceded by two months Louis Delgrès' majestic gesture on the 28th of May of that same year :

"La Guadeloupe pillée et détruite, ses ruines encore fumantes du sang de ses enfants, les femmes et les vieillards passés au fil de l'épée ! Pèlage lui-même, victime de leur perfidie, après avoir bassement trahi son pays et ses frères! Le brave et immortel Delgresse, qui sauta avec le fort qu'il défendait, plutôt que d'accepter leurs fers ! Magnanime guerrier ! cette noble mort, loin d'affaiblir notre courage, ne servira qu'à augmenter en nous la résolution de te venger ou de te suivre. Le déplorable destin de nos frères répandus en Europe? et (affreux avant-coureur de la mort) ce terrible despotisme exercé à la Martinique ! Malheureux peuple, puissé-je voler à votre secours et briser vos fers ! Hélas ! une barrière insurmontable nous sépare ; mais peut-être une étincelle du feu qui nous enflamme s'allumera dans vos cœurs, peut-être, au bruit de cette révolution, soudainement éveillés de votre léthargie, les armes à la main, vous réclamerez vos droits sacrés et inviolables.
Après le terrible exemple que j'ai justement donné, que tôt ou tard la justice divine envoie sur la terre des esprits forts, au-dessus de la faiblesse du vulgaire, pour la destruction et la terreur des méchants, tremblez ! tyrans usurpateurs, fléaux du Nouveau-Monde, nos poignards sont aiguisés, votre punition est prête ! " (47)

Translation :

"Guadeloupe plundered and destroyed, its ruins still smoldering with the blood of its children, women and old men passed by the edge of the sword ! Pélage himself, victim of their perfidy, having basely betrayed his country and his brothers ! The brave and immortal Delgresse, who exploded with the fort he defended, rather than accept their irons ! Magnanimous warrior ! This noble death, far from weakening our courage, will serve only to increase in us the resolution to avenge or follow you. The deplorable fate of our brethren spread in Europe? And (the awful forerunner of death) that terrible despotism exercised in Martinique ! Unhappy people, may I fly to your aid and break your chains ! Alas ! An insurmountable barrier separates us ; but perhaps a spark of fire, which will inflame us, will kindle in your hearts, perhaps, at the sound of this revolution, suddenly awakened from your lethargy, arms in hand, you will claim your sacred and inviolable rights. After the terrible example which I have justly given, that sooner or later divine justice sends strong spirits on earth, above the weakness of the vulgar, for the destruction and terror of the wicked, tremble ! Tyrants usurpers, scourges of the New World, our daggers are sharpened, your punishment is ready!"

Besides, it must be remembered that like Dessalines, Louis Delgrès, was not a muslim. He was "a free person of color in the service of the egalitarian and liberating revolution". (48) In all likelihood, he wasn't a traditionalist either. But this did not prevent him from blowing himself up with his brothers and sisters in arms, driven by the thirst for "Live Free or Die", a slogan that recalls "Liberty or Death" belonging to Dessalines and Haitian revolutionaries.

"La Crête-à-Pierrot fort"

Drawing : H. Clerget. In : Edgar La Selve. "La république d'Haïti, ancienne partie française de Saint-Domingue" In : Le tour du monde, Paris, 1871. p.190.

c) Dessalines, the genie of the Ocean (Agwe) and nature

The muslim doctrine reserves all glory to Allah (and Muhammad), and rejects what it regards as idolatry ; namely the attribution of divine powers to natural phenomena. Now, Dessalines, who granted an enormous amount of credit to nature, seeing in her an invisible force behind him, was in clear contradiction with islam. Through various statements, the Haitian General, in accordance with the traditional global or holistic view of the world, celebrated the elements and the "Genie" that commands them, who clearly played in his favor :

"Laissez venir cette nation, si elle est assez insensée ou assez téméraire pour m'attaquer. Déjà, à son approche, le génie irrité d'Hayti, sortant du fond de l'Océan, se lève menaçant ; il soulève les vagues, excite les tempêtes, et, de sa main puissante, disperse et détruit les flottes. Les lois de la nature obéissent à sa formidable voix ; les maux, la peste, la famine, le feu, le poison sont toujours à ses ordres. (...) Où est l'Haytien assez vil, assez indigne de sa régénération, pour penser qu'il n'ait pas rempli les décrets du ciel, en exterminant ces tigres sanguinaires. S'il en est un, laissez-le fuir ; que la nature indignée l'éloigne de notre sein." (49)

Translation :

"Let this nation come, if it is foolish enough or rash enough to attack me. Already, at his approach, the irritated genie of Hayti, rising from the depths of the Ocean, rises threateningly ; It raises the waves, excites the storms, and with its powerful hand scatters and destroys the fleets. The laws of nature obey his formidable voice ; sickness, plague, famine, fire, poison are always at his orders. (...) Where is the Haytian vile enough, unworthy of his regeneration, to think that he did not fulfill the decrees of heaven, by exterminating these bloodthirsty tigers. If he is one, let him flee ; let indignant nature remove him from our bosom."

In this example, he alludes to Agwe, the ancestral "Genie", Jany or Lwa of the Ocean. Agwe makes rain, good weather, and especially storms.

9- Saint Domingue's real holly war : Nan Ginen vs jihad

Dessalines was not engaged in a jihad. It is absurd to think otherwise, given that he is documented for using Nan Ginen, a belief derived from the "African" ancestral religion, for tactical motivations during his revolution. Nan Ginen is a source of great military bravery fueled by the Blacks' belief system that when they die in combat, they will return to the land of Guinea ("Africa") :

"Tous les nègres, tant les Guinéens que les créoles, croient à la prédestination. Nous avions pour pêcheur un excellent plongeur qui poursuivait les tortues au milieu des caïmans qui en sont très-friands, et s'exposait ainsi à la nage, les narguant, les combattant même quelquefois pour enlever leur proie, bien persuadé qu'il ne périrait point, si ce n'était point son heure.
Pendant la guerre du sud, qui inspirait aux nègres, même aux plus pusillanimes, la bravoure et l'audace? la prédestination. Il leur était dit que tous ceux qui étaient tués au combat, se trouvaient à l'instant transportés en Guinée." (50)

Translation :

"All negroes, both Guineans and creoles, believe in predestination. We had for our fisherman an excellent diver, who pursued the turtles among the caimans who are very fond of them, and thus exposed himself to swimming, taunting them, sometimes even fighting to remove their prey, convinced that he would not perish if it was not his time.
During the war of the south, what inspired the negroes, even the most pusillanimous, with bravery and audacity? Predestination. They were told that all those who were killed in battle were immediately transported to Guinea."

The use of Nan Ginen as a military ideology was repeatedly observed in the Saint Domingue colony and in the beginnings of the hostilities. (51) It remained throughout the war of independence up to the eve of the final victory of 1803. For, according to the testimony of colonist Descourtilz who listened to the complaints of pro-French Black farmers in Saint-Marc, Dessalines combined praising the return to Nan Ginen with his ingenious strategies :

"Pendant la convalescence de cet empoisonnement, étant retournés par mer à Saint-Marc, le chemin de terre n'étant plus praticable pour les blancs, nous avions fréquemment des nègres fidèles de l'habitation qui venaient clandestinement nous porter leurs plaintes, et nous demander quand les Français auraient le dessus, nous anonçant que tous les cultivateurs voudraient bien nous revoir, que les soldats de Dessalines les pillent et les désolent, ravagent en un mot leurs jardins; enfin, pour mieux nous prouver leur bonne foi, ils nous dévoilèrent les secrets de la position alors inconnue, du camp Marchand, dernière retraite de Dessalines, où il devait s'ensevelir, lui et les siens, sous les décombres de souterrains minés qui eussent entraîné également la perte de tous les assiégeans français. Ils nous avouèrent aussi que les nègres Congos et autres Guinéens étaient tellement frappés de superstition par les discours de leur général, que Dessalines était parvenu à leur faire croire que mourir, tués par les Français, devenait un bonheur pour eux, puisqu'aussitôt ils étaient transportés en Guinée, où ils reverraient papa Toussaint qui les y attendait pour compléter son armée qu'il destine à reconquérir St.-Domingue. Ce systême absurde lui a tellement réussi, disaient-ils, que tous vont au feu avec intrépidité surnaturelle, en chantant des airs guinéens, comme déjà épris de l'espoir de bientôt revoir leurs anciennes connaissances." (52)

Translation :

"During the convalescence from this poisoning, having returned by sea to Saint-Marc, the dirt road being no longer practicable for the whites, we frequently had loyal negroes of the estate who clandestinely brought us their complaints, and asking us when the French would have the upper hand, announcing to us that all the farmers would like to see us again, that Dessalines' soldiers plundered and desolated them, ravaged, in a word, their gardens ; finally, in order to prove their good faith, they revealed to us the secrets of the then unknown position of Camp Marchand, Dessalines' last retreat, where he and his family were to be buried beneath the underground rubble that would also lead to the loss of all the French besiegers. They also confessed to us that the Congo negroes and other Guineans, were so struck with superstition by the speeches of their general that Dessalines had succeeded in making them believe that to die, killed by the French, was a happiness for them, since they were immediately transported to Guinea, where they would see papa Toussaint, who was waiting there to complete his army, which he intended to reconquer St.-Domingue. This absurd system has been so successful, they said, that they all go to war with supernatural intrepidity, singing Guinean tunes, as if they were already enamored with the hope of soon seeing their old acquaintances."

Thus, the Saint Domingue revolutionaries did not make jihad in the hope of finding themselves among the Arabs in Mecca, where would be awaiting them 72 virgins or young boys with pale skin of the color of virgin pearls, as indicated in the Qur'an (Surah 52.24, 56.17, 76.19).+ They wished, through death, to return to their Black Ancestors in Nan Ginen. For they took them out of Nan Ginen, but they could not strip Nan Ginen from them, since Nan Ginen is not a passive heaven. It is omnipresent in the present as well as in the future, in life, as in death, as demonstrates this traditional sacred song :

Nan Ginen tande

Soti isit, vin lòtbò, Nan Ginen tande

Pawòl ou t ap pale a, Nan Ginen tande

Koze ou t ap koze a, Nan Ginen tande.

Translation :

Nan Ginen hears

Whether here or there, Nan Ginen hears

The words you were speaking, Nan Ginen hears

The conversation you were having, Nan Ginen hears it.

Furthermore, Nan Ginen is escaping death. As a person can travel to Nan Ginen to save her or his life :

Tròp paròl nan tèt mwen
Ogoun Balize, tròp paròl nan tèt mwen
pa pito m kite peyi a

pa pito m kite peyi a

m prale Nan Ginen, pou m sove lavi mwen.

Translation :

Too much trouble on my mind

Ogoun Balize, too much trouble in on my mind

I'm better off leaving this country

I' m going to Nan Ginen, to save my life.

Thus, consideraring how unbearable life was for a Black person in slavery time, Nan Ginen offered freedom on all levels.

10- Dessalines and the sacrifice to the spirits (manes) of killed soldiers

Certainly islam recognizes its martyrs. However, it would not accept the idea of their spirits being worshiped and need to be appeased. The attention Dessalines pays to the dead leans on worshipping, in the true sense of the word, as can be seen in his most prominent proclamations, notably Haiti's Act of Independence of January 1, 1804 :

"Citoyens indigènes, hommes, femmes, filles et enfants, portez vos regards sur toutes les parties de cette île; cherchez-y, vous, vos épouses, vous, vos maris, vous, vos frères, vous, vos sœurs; que dis-je, cherchez-y vos enfants, vos enfants à la mamelle? Que sont-ils devenus... Je frémis de le dire... La proie de ces vautours. Au lieu de ces victimes intéressantes, votre œil consterné n'aperçoit que leurs assassins; que les tigres dégoutants encore de leur sang, et dont l'affreuse présence vous reproche votre insensibilité et votre coupable lenteur à les venger. Qu'attendez-vous pour apaiser leurs mânes ; songez que vous avez voulu que vos restes reposassent auprès de ceux de vos pères, quand vous avez chassé la tyrannie; descendrez-vous dans leurs tombes sans les avoir vengés? Non, leurs ossements repousseraient les vôtres." (53)

Translation :

"Indigenous citizens, men, women, girls and children, look at all parts of this island ; seek in it, your wives, you, your husbands, you, your brothers, you, your sisters ; what do I say, look for your children, your still breastfeeding children? What have they become? I shudder to say... The prey of these vultures. Instead of these interesting victims, your dismayed eye sees only their assassins; these tigers with their blood still dripping, and whose frightful presence reproaches you with your insensibility and your guilty slowness in avenging them. What do you await to appease their manes? Remember that you wished that your remains should rest with those of your fathers, when you have driven out tyranny ; will you descend into their graves without having avenged them? No, their bones would repel yours."

Dessalines' proclamation of April 28, 1804, in which he proclaimed that he had avenged America, also mentioned the manes (spirits) for which it would be necessary to sacrifice :

"Tyrans, usurpateurs, fléaux du Nouveau-Monde, nos poignards sont aiguisés, votre punition est prête ! Soixante mille hommes équipés, endurcis à la guerre, obéissant à mes ordres, brûlent d'offrir un nouveau sacrifice aux mânes de leurs frères assassinés. (54)

Translation :

"Usurping tyrants, plagues of the New World, our daggers are sharpened, your punishment is ready! Sixty thousand equipped men, hardened in war, obeying my orders, are eager to offer a new sacrifice to the manes of their murdered brothers."

This type of language does not belong at all to the muslim world ; and even less to a muslim leader engaged in a jihad.

a) Dessalines and funeral calenda

Islam does not recognize the practice of funeral dancing. Yet, Dessalines' soldiers indulged in calenda funeral dancing in honor of their brothers of arms who had died in battle :

"Si Dessalines aimait ses troupes, c'était comme soutiens de son pouvoir, et exécuteurs de sa volonté. Employant contre les crimes politiques la baïonnette, le poison, les noyades, il ne punissait ses soldats que par le fusil ou les verges : ce dernier supplice était effrayant par ses préparatifs funèbres et inhumains. Les soldats faisaient de ce jour un jour de réjouissance : il y avait calenda (i) en l'honneur du défunt. Tout en préparant les banzas et le bamboula (l), on acérait les épines des branches d'acacia qui servent à cet affreux supplice.

(i) Le calenda est une danse nègre consacrée à célébrer les funérailles : elle est extravagante et fort indécente.

(1) Les banzas et bamboulas sont deux instruments; le premier à cinq cordes, se pince comme la guitare; le second est un tambour élevé qu'on fait rouler avec les doigts." (55)

Translation :

"If Dessalines loved his troops, it was as supporters of his power, and executors of his will. Using bayonets, poisoning, and drowning against political crimes, he punished his soldiers only by guns or rods. This last torture was frightening by its funeral and inhuman preparations. The soldiers made a day of rejoicing : there was calenda (i) in honor of the deceased. While preparing banzas and the bamboula, (l) they sharpened the thorns of the acacia branches to be used for this terrible torture.

(i) Calenda is a negro dance devoted to funeral celebration : it is extravagant and strongly indecent.

(1) Banzas and bamboulas are two instruments ; the first possesses five strings, pinches like the guitar ; the second is a high drum, that is rolled with the fingers."

According to the settler Moreau de Saint-Méry, Chica, Vaudou, and Calenda, are dances imported from "Africa" :

"La danse nègre est venue avec ceux d'Afrique à Saint-Domingue, & pour cette raison même elle est commune à ceux qui sont nés dans La Colonie & qui la pratiquent presque en naissant : on l'y appelle Calenda.
Pour danser le Calenda, les nègres ont deux tambours faits, quand ils le peuvent, avec des morceaux de bois creux d'une seule pièce. L'un des bouts est ouvert, & l'on étend fur l'autre une peau de mouton ou de chèvre. Le plus court de ces tambours est nommé Bamboula, attendu qu'il est formé quelquefois d'un très-gros bambou. Sur chaque tambour est un nègre à califourchon qui le frappe du poignet & des doigts, mais avec lenteur fur l'un & rapidement fur l'autre. A ce son monotone & sourd se marie celui d'un nombre, plus ou moins grand, de petites calebasses à demi remplies de cailloux ou de graines de maïs & que L'on secoue en les frappant même sur l'une des mains au moyen d'un long manche qui les traverse. Quand on veut rendre l'orchestre plus complet on y associe le Banza, espèce de violon grossier à quatre cordes que l'on pince. Les négresses disposées en rond règlent la mesure avec leurs battements de mains & elles répondent en chœur à une ou deux chanteuses dont la voix perçante répète ou improvise des chansons : car les nègres possèdent le talent d'improviser & c'est lui surtout qui sert à montrer tout leur penchant pour la raillerie." (56)

Translation :

"The negro dance came to Saint Domingue with those from Africa, and for this very reason it is common to those who were born in the Colony, and who practice it almost at birth: it is called Calenda.
To dance Calenda, the negroes have two drums made, when they can, with parts of hollow wood in one piece. One of the ends is open, and the skin of a sheep or a goat is spread on the other. The shortest of these drums is called Bamboula, as it is sometimes formed of a very large bamboo. A negro astrides each drum, striking him with his wrist and his fingers, but with slowness on one and quickly on the other. To this monotonous and deaf sound is married that of a number, more or less large, small calabashes half filled with pebbles or corn seeds, and which are shaken by striking them even on one of the hands by means of a long handle which crosses them. When we want to make the orchestra more complete, we associate the Banza, a kind of coarse fiddle with four strings that are plucked. The negresses arranged in circles regulate the measure with their clapping of hands, and they respond in chorus to one or two singers whose piercing voice repeats or improvises songs : for the negroes possess the talent of improvising, and it is above all that serves to show all their penchant for mockery."

So this form of celebration organized by Dessalines' troops, was not in conformity with islam. Moreover, the word calenda remains active in Haiti where it designates, in the literal and figurative sense, a popular lassive dance - clearly non-islamic :

"Kalinda : Dans rara kote moun yo vire ren yo pandan yo ap sakaje vant yo ak pasyon. Vin ban mwen yon ti kalinda la a non, mwen ap bat tanbou a, ou ap danse." (57)

Translation :

"Kalinda : Rara dance where people turn their hips while they are shaking the belly with passion. Come and give me a little kalinda, I will play drums, you will dance."

11- Dessalines' religious and magical practices

11.1- Dessalines and the magical snuff-box of the makendals

According to Descourtilz, who knew Dessalines personally, (58) this leader excelled, not only in military discourses appealing to ancestral "Africa", he also excelled in the practice of defensive magic on a daily basis :

"Moins politique que Toussaint-Louverture, mais plus ouvert et plus prononcé dans sa tyrannie, Dessalines était cruel, irrascible et farouche; il n'écoutait aucune réclamation. Que de fois une seule observation coûta la vie à l'homme qui eut l'audace de lui parler sans son ordre ! Semblable au farouche Assuérus, malheur à celui qui le trouva hors de sa rare clémence : malheur aussi à celui pour qui la fatale tabatière était ouverte (i) !

(i) Le conseil des makendals (magiciens du pays) qu'il consultait, lui avait indiqué le signe certain de reconnaitre la perfidie et le ressentiment concentrés contre lui dans le coeur de l'individu qu'il avait interpellé. Il cherchait à lire dans l'électre ou miroir interne de sa tabatière, que le tabac humide annonçait des principes de résignation de la part du dénoncé, et que le sec demandait du sang ! Ainsi sa superstition lui faisait au hasard décider du sort d'un innoçent ! ainsi' le paisible habitant obligé de lui rendre visite, était souvent condamné sans être entendu, sous la simple dénonciation d'un soldat à qui peut-être on avait refusé des générosités que les circonstances malheureuses ne permettaient plus de faire.
« Grenadier layo, disait-il, vous voir n'homme cilalà... Conduis li pisser », ! Le mot pisser indiquait l'effusion du sang par la mort à la baïonnette. A ce signal affreux, les grenadiers d'antichambre avaient ordre de se saisir de celui contre lequel la fatale tabatière avait été roulée dans les mains." (59)

Translation :

"Less political than Toussaint-Louverture, but more open and more pronounced in his tyranny, Dessalines was cruel, irrescible, and fierce ; he did not listen to any complaint. How often did a single observation cost the life of the man who had the audacity to speak to him without his order! Like the fierce Ahasuerus, woe to him who found him out of his rare clemency : woe to him also, for whom the fatal snuff-box was open (i) !

(i) The council of the makendals (magicians of the country) whom he consulted, had indicated to him the sure sign of recognizing perfidy and resentment concentrated against him in the heart of the individual whom he had summoned. He endeavored to read in the elector or internal mirror of his snuff-box, that the damp tobacco announced the principles of resignation on the part of the denouncer, and that the dry sought blood ! Thus his superstition made him, at random, decide the fate of an innocent man! So that the peaceable inhabitant, who was obliged to pay him a visit, was often condemned without being heard, under the simple denunciation of a soldier, who had perhaps been refused generosities which the unhappy circumstances no longer permitted.
"Grenadier layo, disait-il, vous voir n'homme cilalà... Conduis li pisser",! [Grenadiers, said he, you see this man… Take him to pee.] The word pee indicated the effusion of blood by death by bayonet. At this frightful signal the grenadiers of the antechamber were ordered to seize the one against whom the fatal snuff-box had been rolled in his hands."

What makes Dessalines' magical snuff-box more than mere gossip, was that Descourtilz, as Dessalines' French physician and captive, personally had to deal with this snuff-box at La Crête-à-Pierrot :

"Le pont-levis fut baissé, et la première personne que nous y aperçûmes, fut Dessalines, roulant dans ses mains la fatale tabatière : il s'avance vers nous, gronde, mais se possède assez pour concentrer sa vengeance." (60)

Translation :

"The drawbridge was lowered, and the first person we saw there was Dessalines, rolling in his hands the fatal snuff-box : he advances towards us, growls, but has enough self-control to concentrate his vengeance."

But Dessalines' practices extended beyond magic. They were also religious.

11.2- Dessalines' religious practice

More than decrees, speeches, proclamations, military actions, and anecdotes reported by history, Dessalines left a physical proof of his religious practice. This practice, we repeat, was neither muslim nor christian, since there are still two huts (Kay) in Dessalines-Ville that the Emperor and his wife dedicated to their ancestral Divinities (Lwa/Jany).

(Mystical huts (Kay Lwa) of Dessalines and Empress Claire-Heureuse, profile view)

Source : ISPAN ; http://ispan.gouv.ht/?p=34

Historic remains protected by the Haitian state, these two mystical huts or Kay Lwa were built by Emperor Dessalines on the very court of his house, now gone. (61) Some residents of Dessalines-Ville (formerly Marchand or Marchand-Dessalines) name these huts of the same size "Kay Marasa", or "Marasa Huts", in connection with the twin Divinities called Marasa in Creole.

(Mystical huts (Kay Lwa) of Dessalines and Empress Claire-Heureuse, front view)

Source : Vincent Joos. Urban dwellings, Haitian citizenships : housing, daily life and memory in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Chapel Hill, 2015. p.263. Fig.53.

However, other residents said that the hut on the left was reserved for Empress Claire-Heureuse who took care of her Divinities (Lwa/Jany) there, while the hut on the right was where Emperor Dessalines made altar for the Divinities (Lwa/Jany) that he honored. (62)

Faced with such evidence, no one can deny that Jean-Jacques Dessalines was traditionalist, as well as his illustrious wife Marie-Claire Heureuse.

11.3- Dessalines' wedding and coronation

In his daily life, Dessalines was a traditionalist. And in line with Haitian traditionalist custom, that is dipped in religious syncretism, he also made use of christian places of worship. We will point out the case of his wedding and that of his coronation.

a) Dessalines' wedding
During Toussaint Louverture's administration concubinage was repressed and the generals were encouraged to formalize their unions. Dessalines, then a General, hastened to find his baptismal certificate in order to present it to the priest in charge of his wedding :

"The custom of the country, among the negro slaves, was not to marry at church, they only adopted each other, and it was very rare that they parted, but after their enfranchisement, General Toussaint, who affected to have religion, demanded from all his Generals that they should marry sacramentally, and Dessalines found himself a little embarrassed on this occasion, he had to produce to the priest an extract of baptism ; he found his old master Dessalines, and proposed to him, in a manner that could not be refused, to sell him his baptismal extract, the master was very reluctant to do so, but someone made him understand that he would be no less christian, and one of us got this anecdote from this free negro Dessalines." (Transl.) (63)

Dessalines' wedding was celebrated on April 2, 1800,++ in Léogane, the birthplace of his wife Marie-Claire Heureuse. And it was, not in a place of islamic worship, but at the church of Sainte Rose de Lima (Saint Rose of Lima) :

"Leogane's most famous landmark was the Church of St. Rose of Lima, where another famous daughter of the town, Claire Heureuse, married Dessalines." (64)

Presumably, father Menetrier, head of the Sainte-Rose de Lima church, sealed the union of General Jean-Jacques Dessalines and Marie-Claire Heureuse Félicité Bonheur, possibly history's first war nurse. Unless this wedding was entrusted to father Jean-Baptiste-Joseph, known as Corneille Brelle, of greater renown.

b) Dessalines' coronation
The coronation of Dessalines took place, not in a mosque, but in the Cap-Haitien cathedral, on October 8, 1804. Catholic priest Corneille Brelle officiated it :
"On the 8th of October, the day fixed for the ceremony of his accession to the Empire, father Corneille Brelle, parish priest of Le Cap, celebrated the divine service with the greatest magnificence." (Transl.) (65)
And at the sound of the drums, the armed corps marched and attended the Te Deum for the imperial coronation, according to the instructions written by General Pétion on September 8, 1804 :

"The ceremony will be announced by a triple discharge of artillery and musketry. Then, the troops will parade on the side of the church, and will be ranged in battle. The procession, in the order indicated above, will go to the church, where will be sung a Te Deum in thanksgiving for this memorable day." (Transl.) (66)

Unlike leaders such as Toussaint Louverture, Henry Christophe and Alexandre Pétion who can be described as christians, Dessalines, as a true syncretic traditionalist, went to church only by protocol. And even that... On July 25, 1805, for the feast of St. James (St Jacques in French), which was associated with his crown, Dessalines (Jacques I) pretended to be sick to avoid going to church. (67)
He was, however, healthy enough to receive, at the Imperial Palace, dignitaries returning from the Te Deum in his honor. And during the feast, in the evening, he amused the crowd by dancing Carabinier, much to the displeasure of General Henry Christophe who was openly indignant at such a spectacle. (68)

12- Dessalines' ethnic origin

Contacts or non-contacts with islam varied greatly according to the "African" origin of a captive (slave). It is undeniable that Dessalines was a Creole, and a native of the Saint Domingue colony. Historians agree on that fact. And as a General, Dessalines soliciting his baptismal certificate from his former master is further evidence of that. So, being born out of "Africa", this considerably reduces the possibility that Dessalines had a significant contact with islam.

However, some do not share our analysis concerning Dessalines' origin. Let's study their statements, starting with the least significant ones.

a) Dessalines the Senegalese?

A simplistic text presented Dessalines as a light-skinned Senegalese :

"Dessalines also had six children from other relationships. He was described as a handsome, red-skinned Black from Senegal, fearless in the field and unscrupulous off it." (69)

Although a portion of Senegalese had converted to islam during the time of the Saint Domingue colony, the author has provided no reference. And no historical document echoes his assertion. We are therefore obliged to reject it.

b) Dessalines the Nago or the Ibo?
This other text raised 2 other potential ethnicities for Dessalines :

"Jean-Jacques Dessalines according to some is of Nago race, others say Ibo, his origins are uncertain, he is claimed to come from Africa while still breast-feeding..." (Transl.) (70)

Odette Mennenson-Rigaud, this text's author, as she did with Halaou, was content to spread rumors, without broadening the research. But the fact remains that Dessalines, although a Creole, inherited his parents' "African" ethnicity in a secondary fashion, as did Toussaint Louverture, a Creole as well, who also identified with his parents' Arada ethnicity.
This situation leads us to also consider Dessalines' biological ethnicity, and not just the one related to his place of birth.

c) Dessalines the Fulani?
In recent decades, some Haitians have floated the idea that Dessalines was a "Peul", meaning a Fulani:

"The former slave who joined Louverture discovered a world where his personal worth on the battlefield could erase everything: his tribe (Dessalines was Peulh? Maybe? Who cares?)..." (Transl.) (71)

This other text by the falsifier Bayyinah Bello brings back Dessalines' "Peul", Fulani (or Toucouleur) origin, and light skin :

"What do we know about his biological parents?
In the greater North, collective memory describes his mother as Peule or Toucouleur, thin and tall.
(...)
Jean-Jacques Dessalines, what was he like?
The national memory answers: "This freckled young man with cinnamon skin to compliment his red hair, quickly became a spiritually, psychologically and physically powerful man."" (Transl.) (72)

This "Peule" hypothesis that they claim belonging to orality, or to the Haitian collective memory, is nothing of the sort. It originates from a 1970 speculative text from Haitian intellectual René Saint-Louis :

"Dessalines (Jean-Jacques): Slave probably born in Africa, of peuldy origin (Gold Coast)."(Transl.) (73)

The so-called "Peul" tribe of Western "Africa" certainly maintained contacts with islam, and is somewhat mixed-race, that some attribute to Dessalines' "light" skin color (that no historical text validates). However, Dessalines' "Peule" hypothesis is wrong for 2 very simple reasons. 1) No contempory document mentioned it. 2) The word "Peul" doesn't appear in the lexicon of Saint Domingue, nor in the Haitian oral vocabulary. Its use is bookish, speculative and recent.
Moreover, in Saint Domingue, the "Peuls" were called : Poulard, Poullard, Paulard, Poular, Poula, Poule, Foulany, Phylani, Foula. And in the traditional Haitian religion, it is this last denomination, Foula, which is maintained. It refers to the sacred Foula Nation, called Nanchon Foula.

d) Dessalines the Congo?
Dessalines' Congo heritage is based on reliable data. For starters, Goman, a renowned General of the Haitian Revolution, declared Dessalines to be a Congo while he was still under Dessalines' command:

"It is understood that Goman made this statement after Dessalines' departure : he was a Congo." (Transl.) (74)

Although Goman mentioned the ethnicity of Dessalines in a moment of anger. His choice of Congo as descriptive was not generic. It reflects a genuine knowledge of Dessalines' ethnic heritage. Because, in Saint Domingue, the ethnic groups denigrated each other equally. The ethnic references, often unflattering in Haitian Creole, reflect such reality. So Goman used the Congo descriptive corresponding to Dessalines' real heritage, in the same way that he would have used another appropriate ethnic reference, if Dessalines was not a Congo.
A text, dated 1859, this time, evokes Dessalines' Congo ethnicity :

"It is then the Emperor Dessalines, a negro of the Congo, whose government was only the exaggeration of that of Toussaint..." (Transl.) (75)

However, the author erroneously credits this information to the Memoirs of General Pamphile Lacroix. But that doesn't matter, since the Congo route is supported by the writing of Gaspard Théodore Mollien, who had questioned Haitians on the field shortly after the independence :

"Like all the Congos from whom he [Dessalines] originated, he was cheerful, loved pleasure, and above all, dance, and was always trying to improve himself : one even owes to this taste several bambocha (fandangillo) he composed for the balls of his court. In general, he had less the habits of a Creole black than that of an African : the table, the way of life of the Europeans was repugnant to him, he was insensitive to their music. although he often had a concert during his meals ; their songs seemed monotonous : he liked to feed himself on the country's dishes, bananas, and cassage ; he took pleasure in calling the African drums and in having them repeat the songs which had amused his childhood." (Transl.) (76)

Mollien is reliable in his analysis of a Congo Dessalines. However, his informants were mistaken in regards to Dessalines' place of captivity (slavery). We will clarify this point in the appendix. In short, Dessalines was truly of Congo stock. And consequently, he was far removed from islam. Besides, Dessalines was not born in "Africa" where he could have been exposed to islam. This is noticeable in his 1804 Independence Day speech in Gonaïves :

"We must, by a last act of national authority, ensure forever the empire of freedom in the country where we were born." (Transl.) (77)

By declaring "the country where we were born", and not "the country where you were born", Dessalines expressed that he is one of those who were born on the island.

13- Dessalines' wife and the squash soup tradition

Haiti's independence was celebrated on January 1, 1804, in Gonaïves, in Artibonite. The Haitian tradition says that Claire-Heureuse, Dessalines' wife and future Empress, offered to the gathered crowd giraumon squash soup (soup joumou). And so began a tradition of consuming, and especially of sharing this nourishing soup every January 1st. Several Haitians dispute the origin of the soup joumou tradition. Some see it as a challenge to French settlers who would have forbidden the use of giraumon squash to the captives. But it's false. For, there isn't any reference of this. And squash, being a climbing plant that grows effortlessly and abundantly on Haitian soil, the French would hardly have thought of outlawing it, nor would they have this ability.
Moreover, historical data reveal that the captives (slaves) cultivated giraumon freely for their personal consumption :

"ARTICLE IX.

Nourriture des nègres dans les Colonies.
Il y a, sur chaque habitation, un terrain désigné pour les vivres des nègres, et cet emplacement se nomme place à nègres : il est divisé d'après la quantité de nègres qu'on peut avoir, et chaque individu, ou chaque ménage, en a une portion qu'il cultive pour ses besoins. C'est dans ce petit espace de terrain qu'il plante et récolte les choses nécessaires à la vie, comme patates, gombo, giraumont, maïs, calalou, hoholy, pois de toutes espèces, et mille autres douceurs." (78)

Translation :

"ARTICLE IX.

Negro food in the Colonies.
There is, on each dwelling, a land designated for the provisions of the negroes, and this place is called place à nègres [negroes place] : it is divided according to the quantity of Negroes that one can have, and each individual, or each household, has a portion that he grows for his needs. It is in this small piece of land that he plants and harvests things necessary for life, such as potatoes, okra, giraumont, corn, calalou, hoholy [sesame seeds], peas of all kinds, and a thousand other sweets."

For some, this soup is to be proscribed, because resulting from a diabolical pact. This is also false, as Haitian ancestral religion does not believe in the existence of Satan or the "Devil" in the Christian sense of the term. So, what is the origin of this giraumon squash soup, and its connection with islam?
This soup, like Dessalines and the Haitian revolution, has no link with islam. It comes from one of the drought periods affecting Saint Domingue (Haiti). This time, it was in 1803, at the end of the War of Independence. The Artibonite region, where the Dessalines family resided, was in drought, with the exception of places close to the rivers and water points. Towards the end of 1803, the Manbo and Houngan (the great officiants of the ancestral religion) continued the leadership role they played through out the revolution, by banning the local population from consuming available commodities, on pain of displeasing the ancestral Great God who fought the war for them. The population obeyed and entrusted the various food supplies to the ancestral officiants. The settler Descourtilz, of the Desdunes family, Artibonite colonists reputed cruel with their slaves,+++ falsely believed that the Manbo and Houngan were abusing the population's credulity. But he was mistaken, for these vegetables and roots specifically selected for this purpose (giraumon, calalou, leaves, etc.) were collected, preserved, and then sent to Madame Dessalines, who, probably helped by several Hounsi (Assistants of traditional temples), made the soup joumou or giraumon soup that was served free of charge to the Haitian population coming from far to take part in the festivities :

"Une sécheresse générale désolant le quartier de l'Artibonite, surtout les cotonneries qu'on ne peut submerger à volonté par cause de l'éloignement de canaux ou rivières, il y eut en 1803 une disette complète de vivres de toute espèce, ressource journalière pour le cultivateur.
A cette disette était nécessairement attachée une hausse considérable aux marchés des villes voisines, dans le prix des légumes ou racines alimentaires. Les prêtres des idolâtres de notre habitation entourée d'eau, et toujours féconde en ces denrées comestibles, imaginèrent de se servir de leur caractère, et de profiter de leur influence pour en imposer aux idolâtres de leur secte, et exiger d'eux une partie de leur récolte, bien décidés à en tirer parti en leur faveur : ils annoncèrent aux trop crédules superstitieux, que leur grand dieu, qui combattait pour leur prospérité et leur liberté, était allé à la guerre, et que, par un excès de sa valeur intrépide, il y avait été blessé ; qu'il leur interdisait donc jusqu'à nouvel ordre, l'usage du calalou, dans toute espèce de feuilles et fruits du giràumon, etc., destinant toutes ces plantes vulnéraires, résolutives et maturatives au pansement de ses larges et profondes blessures! Les pauvres croyants d'apporter à l'envi tous les fruits de leurs jardins, et de se regarder bienheureux de pouvoir faire quelque chose en faveur de leur divinité ; et les prêtres trompeurs, de se réjouir et de vendre furtivement, ou de manger tous les topiques, et autres remèdes consacrés à leur dieu imaginaire." (79)

Translation :

"A general drought desolating the Artibonite district, especially the cotton plantations, which cannot be submerged at will by reason of the distance of canals or rivers, there was in 1803 a complete scarcity of provisions of every kind, a daily resource for The farmer.
To this dearth was necessarily attached a considerable increase to the markets of the neighboring towns, in the price of vegetables or roots. The priests of the idolaters of our estate, surrounded by water, and always fertile in these edible foodstuffs, endeavored to make use of their character, and to avail themselves of their influence to impose upon the idolaters of their sect, of their harvest, determined to take advantage of them in their favor. They announced to the superstitious too credulous that their great god, fighting for their prosperity and liberty, had gone to war, and that by an excess of its value Intrepid, he had been wounded ; that he forbade them, until further notice, the use of calalou, in all kinds of leaves and fruits of the giraumon, etc., destined all these plants to be curative, resolute and maturative to the bandage of his deep and deep wounds ! The unfortunates thinking that they were willingly bringing forth all the fruits of their gardens, and look upon themselves blessed to be able to do something in favor of their divinity; and the deceiving priests, to rejoice and sell furtively, or eat all the topical, and other remedies consecrated to their imaginary god."

Thus, the very existence of giraumon squash soup consumed to celebrate the independence of Haiti testifies a) that the concept of holy war was firmly anchored in the Haitian population's conscience, that is to say, a war made with the support of the Creator of the Universe (Granmèt la, Oloroun) and its intermediate forces (Lwa, Jany) acting on events, on beings and elements ; b) that the leaders of the ancestral religion played a decisive leadership role from the beginning (Bois Caïman - Bwa Kayiman) to the end of this revolution (soup joumou) ; c) that Jean-Jacques Dessalines, his wife Claire-Heureuse, and the Haitian revolution, had nothing islamic about them.

(Squash soup / Soup joumou)

Source : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soup_joumou#/media/File:Joumou01.jpg

* Of course, the charlatan LeGrace Benson and her Haitian intellectuals underlings, declaring the Haitians incapable of apprehending the invisible world, do not know that at the beginning of each prayer the Manbo and Houngan (Haitian traditionalist officials) pay homage to : Sa m wè, ak Sa m pa wè yo ; that is to say, to the visible and invisible worlds. Moreover, the Haitian traditional Divinities are also called "Envizib", meaning the Invisibles :

"Envizib la : n. Invisible spirits, ancestors, the spiritual world." (80)

So, for the Haitian traditionalist, his Divinity or Lwa is synonymous with Invisibles and Mysteries :

"Lwa. n. : Mistè, espri zansèt, fòs envizib siperyè, nan relijyon vodou." (81)

Translation :

"Lwa n. : Mystery, ancestral spirit, superior invisible force, in vodou religion."

Futhermore, the traditional "African" religion and its derivatives, is the one in which the Creator is the most removed from daily affairs (in many cases), thus the most invisible, the most abstract, among all the world's religions.
** So far, I have found 495 Nations or Nanchon or ethnic groups in the Saint Domingue publications. But my research is far from over.
*** In an upcoming article, we will deal with the fact that the islamized captives, contrary to propaganda, "did not make war". They were most docile in Saint Domingue.
**** Dessalines' heroism at Crête-à-Pierrot inspired, almost a hundred years later, on September 6, 1902, Killick, the legendary Haitian Vice-Admiral who, commanding a ship named "La Crête-à-Pierrot" fired a shot in the gunpowder magazine, blowing himself and his ship up rather than surrender to the German fleet.
+ Koran - surah 52.24 : There will circulate among them [servant] boys [especially] for them, as if they were pearls well-protected. 56.17 : There will circulate among them young boys made eternal. 76.19 : There will circulate among them young boys made eternal. When you see them, you would think them [as beautiful as] scattered pearls.
++ Some uninformed, mainly Jasmine Claude-Narcisse, Mirlande Hippolyte-Manigat and Guy Poitry, (82) advocate October 21, 1801 as Dessalines and Marie Claire Heureuse's wedding date. But instead, history retains October 21, 1801 as the start of General Moïse Louverture's uprising in Le Cap, and that of his supporters throughout the North. On this date, Dessalines, married a year and a half prior, was on his way, along with Governor General Toussaint Louverture, to the East of the island. (83) Dessalines was at Verrettes, when he received a letter from Gonaives informing him of the troubles in the North. Toussaint Louverture therefore ordered him, with his 4th brigade, to go urgently to St Marc, then to Gonaïves, and then to Plaisance.
As for April 2, 1800, 3 civil acts of February 1806 confirm it as the date of the marriage contract between Dessalines and Marie Claire Heureuse. These are acts by which the Emperor legitimized his natural children. And that the Empress, according to the law in place, recognized as hers, her husband's children : Marie Françoise Célimène, Jacques-Bien-Aimé, and here Célestine Dessalines, aged 9 years and 10 months :

"In front of Nicolas Saget, civil Status public officer of the Commune of Dessalines.
Appeared Jean-Jacques Dessalines, Emperor of Hayti, whom in the presence of Major General Vernet, Minister of Finance; Louis Bazelais and Pierre Cangé, Brigadier Generals; Laroze, colonel commanding the 8th regiment; Jean-Louis Longueval, of the 4th Regiment; Jacques Phillipe Guerrier, colonel commanding the 7th; Charles Marcadié, colonel, commanding the first cavalry regiment;
DECLARED and today, considering article thirteen of title three of the Law of June 3, 1805 that Célesine Dessalines, resulting from his works with Her Majesty the Empress of Hayti, even before their conjugal union, and since legitimized by their marriage contract passed on April second eighteen hundred, was born in Saint-Marc on the second of April one thousand seven hundred and ninety-three, at about four o'clock in the morning, the said child aged about nine years and ten months and residing in this city.
Also appeared Marie Claire Heureuse, Empress of Hayti, whom in the presence of the aforementioned witnesses, similarly declared that..." (Transl.) (84)

Thomas Madiou wrongly suggested that Dessalines' wedding was held after the civil war between Toussaint Louverture and André Rigaud. (85) But this civil war known as the "Wars of Knives" started in June 1799 and ended in July 1800, thus 3 months after Dessalines and Marie Claire Heureuse's wedding.
+++ It is insulting that Haiti, calling itself free, ignoring the Dessalines' constitution, preserves out of laziness on its territory the names of the torturing colonists such as Desdunes : "Desdunes senior, inhabitant of Artibonite, had burnt alive, successively Forty-five black men, women, and children ; Desdunes Lachicote, Poincy, and Rossignol, and all this execrable family committed cruelties of all kinds ; they would march nightly, armed with harpoons, and all black strangers they met in the huts were harpooned without mercy and drowned.
Remoussin, Desdunes' son-in-law, committed the same cruelties, he had the unfortunate Nicole, his children's nanny, burnt alive ; Boisbel, also Desdunes' son-in-law, had whipped to death, his children's nanny.
Well, I have had difficulty in believing the number of cruelties which this family has exercised in Artibonite, if all these facts, which I have collected on the spot, had not yet been confirmed by M. Jean-Baptiste Judge, former inhabitant of Artibonite, presently Earl of Terre-Neuve, Minister of Justice ; he had the goodness to communicate to me an infinite number of notes concerning the crimes of the colonists, particularly those of that beautiful and rich Artibonite plain." (Transl.) (86)

14- Appendix : Jean-Jacques Dessalines was not Toussaint Louverture's slave

This appendix concerns a Western revisionist attempt to impose a domination of Toussaint Louverture, considered a Western sympathizer, over Jean-Jacques Dessalines, considered an autonomist and sympathizer of the traditional civilization called African civilization. In 1831, guided by local informants, Gaspard Théodore Mollien, former French consul in Haiti, described Jean-Jacques Dessalines in these terms :

"The most extraordinary man of this period, either by his fortune or by his military talents, was without a doubt Dessalines. This man, born in irons, formerly belonging to Philippe Jasmin, free black of Grande-Rivière : after his master's death, he fell to his daughter, who was the wife of Dessalines, concierge of the palace of Le Cap." (Transl.) (87)

This description by Mollien contains a bit of truth. However, it also exhibits the false conclusions inherent to incomplete oral accounts. It did not feed the initial revisionist push, because it remained unpublished until 2006.
The said revisionist movement began in 1977, when a trio composed of French citizens Gabriel Debien, Marie Antoinette Menier and their negro, Haitian Jean Fouchard approached this question via the archives. This trio revealed, rightly, that Philippe Jasmin Désir died on November 15, 1784, and that he was the first husband of Marie Marthe Toussaint (aka Martine). This free Negress and legitimate daughter of Toussaint and Cécile (Louverture), married Janvier Dessalines in her second wedding, on October 4, 1787.
If the archives, notwithstanding some innocuous errors, are proven to be more precise than oral accounts, they lead the pedantic historians as much towards false conclusions. And the trio of researchers, venerating Toussaint Louverture and disdainful of Jean-Jacques Dessalines, has not escaped this fate.
It turns out that on August 17, 1779, Toussaint Bréda (Louverture) rented a coffee plantation from his first son-in-law, Philippe Jasmin Désir. And this plantation located at Petit-Cormier in the Grande-Rivière-du-Nord region was worked by a single family of 13 captives (slaves), that includes one called Jean-Jacques. The revisionist trio took advantage of this opportunity to insinuate that the Jean-Jacques listed in Cormier was Jean-Jacques Dessalines, the future Emperor of Haiti. (88)

Decades later, Frenchman Jacques de Cauna (89) took over from the trio of 1977, followed by the Jean-Louis Donnadieu, Philippe R. Girard tandem. Like the 1977 trio, they have stated categorically that Jean-Jacques Dessalines was the slave of Toussaint Louverture, during the 2 years lease of that plantation in Cormier. (90)

We will, by this, send all these Western revisionists back to do their homework.
1-Jean-Jacques Dessalines, born in 1758, was 21 years old in 1779, year of the plantation rental by Toussaint Bréda. However, the labour evaluation for the Jean-Jacques listed in Cormier (1500 pounds) does not reflect that of a young man of 21 years of age.

Étienne                                   2 400 pounds
Marie-Rose, his sister    1 800 pounds
Marie-Françoise, their sister    1 800 pounds
Marie-Marthe, their sister         1 800 pounds
Marinette, another sister           1 500 pounds
Marie-Louise, niece                 1 200 pounds
Anne, another niece                     900 pounds
Modeste, another niece    600 pounds
Jean-Jacques, nephew             1 500 pounds
Moïse, nephew    1 200 pounds
François, another nephew 1 200 pounds
Joachim, another nephew             300 pounds
Josepth, another nephew              300 pounds

One can compare the labour of his uncle Étienne - at least in his forties - which was worth 2400 pounds, 900 pounds more. Moreover, it is inconceivable that a healthy 21-year-old man would have had a labour estimate inferior or equal to that of his mother and aunts estimated at 1800 pounds (3 times) and 1500 pounds (1 time).
In other words, the Jean-Jacques on Philippe Jasmin Désir's estate in Cormier possessed the labor power of a male adolescent heading towards adulthood. It could not have been Jean-Jacques Dessalines who was 21 years old at this time and was considered a "good workman" by his second owner Janvier Dessalines. (91)
2- This family working on the plantation at Petit-Cormier differs from that of Jean-Jacques Dessalines. In the inventory presented, we do not find the names of officially recognized Dessalines sisters such as :
- Polyphème Dessalines, the mother of Nicolas Saget, the grandmother of Jean-Nicolas Nissage Saget, President of Haiti from 1870 to 1874. (92)
- Marie Noële Dessalines, married to Jean Baptiste Louis Chevallier, (the Marquis de Puilboreau) with whom she had among others, Bernard Chevalier, ancestor of Dominican dictator Raphaël Trujillo. (93)
But Dessalines also had 2 officially attested brothers, Joseph and Louis, who were members of the Royal Chamber of Public Instruction of the Kingdom of Henry Christophe, and made Barons. (94) One would be tempted to associate the "Josepth" on the Cormier's list, with Jean-Jacques Dessalines' brother, Baron Joseph Dessalines. But it's not the same person, since the other attested brother, Baron Louis Dessalines, is not on this list. Sacred Baron on April 8, 1811, Louis Dessalines was assassinated in October 1820, by opponents of Christophe's reign.
3- The revisionists unanimously retain the version of Thomas Madiou stating that Jean-Jacques Dessalines was born in Cormier of Grande-Rivière-du-Nord, neglecting that this same author, in 1848, declared that Jean-Jacques Dessalines belonged to only 2 masters : a White man named Duclos who sold him still young to a Black man named Dessalines :

"Dessalines, at a young age, was called Duclos, and when he was sold by his first master, who was a white man, to a black proprietor named Dessalines, he took his name, but many officers of the 4th. who had been the companions of his young age continued to call him Duclos." (Transl.) (95)

The presence of Duclos as the White owner of Dessalines that sold him to the Black Dessalines clearly contradicts the revisionists' assertion. According to them, Jean-Jacques Dessalines belonged first to Philippe Jasmin Désir, then to his widow Marie Marthe Toussaint, and finally to Janvier Dessalines via his marriage to Marie Marthe. That makes 3 owners instead of 2, and a passing of good (captive) by alliance rather than by sale.
4- The revisionists also overshadowed the correct version by Edgar Le Selve disclosing that Jean-Jacques Dessalines was born in Cormier, a locality of Bande du Nord, because this version does not align with their assertion :

"Born in 1758 in Cormier, estate of the Bande-du-Nord, near Cap-Français, he had been raised by Duclos, a white colonist whose name he had kept, in the custom of slaves, who took the name of their master, until the moment when he was bought, still young, by Dessalines, free black in the service of which he remained until the age of thirty-three, and whom he made his butler, when he became governor-general." (Transl.) (96)

Indeed, there are not 1 but 2 Cormiers in the Northern Province, one near Grande-Rivière-du-Nord, and the other at Bande du Nord, near Cap-Français (currently Cap Haïtien). And the Cormier of Bande du Nord was the place where Jean-Jacques Dessalines was born. According to Haitian geographer Sémexan Rouzier, a contemporary of Le Selve, a site is named Duclos in the communal section of Bande du Nord :

"Duclos : Estate located in the military post of Bande du Nord, Commune of Cap Haïtien. The State has 4 tiles of land occupied by farmers." (Transl.) (97)

This is the former plantation of François Amidieu Duclos, Captain of the Dragons-Militia of Port-Margot, then of the company of Volunteers of Le Cap. He was the first to cultivate this land designated "King's Fifty Paces", indicating that it is located in a coastal area operated under government permission. From 1745 or 1747, François Amidieu Duclos leased from the government this hitherto unexploited land. And he made 50 captives (slaves) work there. On May 18, 1762, François Amidieu Duclos officially received the land concession. (98) A legal decision of December 23, 1765 consolidated his right on this recently disputed land. (99)
5-This land near Cormier, coastal town of Bande du Nord, being François Amidieu Duclos' sole plantation, (100) Jean-Jacques Duclos (Dessalines) was born on this then rented Duclos plantation, on September 20, 1758. And he initially bore the name of this plantation in the same way Toussaint initially bore the name of the Bréda plantation.
François Amidieu Duclos died on March 1, 1777, (101) when Jean-Jacques Duclos (Dessalines) was 19 years old. And since Jean-Jacques Dessalines was sold very young to Janvier Dessalines, and he had only 2 owners, it implies that he was sold in François Amidieu Duclos' lifetime. Thus Jean-Jacques Duclos (Dessalines) was already in the hands of Janvier Dessalines at least 2 years prior to Toussaint's 1779 Cormier lease, and at least 10 years before Janvier Dessalines' marriage to Toussaint's daughter in 1787 .
Moreover, the sale of Jean-Jacques was carried out without intermediary, because François Amidieu Duclos, Captain of the Chasseurs-Volontaires of Le Cap, necessarily knew Sergeant Janvier Dessalines quite well. The latter was, for 11 years, a member of the colonial militia from 1767 to 1778. (102) So, he was still there 1 year after the death of Amidieu Duclos, before joining the Chasseurs-Volontaires of Saint Domingue.
6- The ads show that Janvier Dessalines owned captives (slaves) before marrying Marie Marthe in 1787. This ad of December 15, 1784, signaled a captive (slave) named Marie belonging to Janvier, Free Black of Le Cap :

"In Le Cap (...) On the 12th, Marie, Creole, without readable stamps, aged about 40, thin and sick, [belonging] to the named Janvier, N.L. [Free Black] from Le Cap, arrested at Camp de Louise." (Transl.) (103)

Was it Janvier Dessalines, the Sergeant Major? Highly possible. The following ad is much more revealing. It comes from the Saint Marc prison and presents a young Congo named Augustin belonging to "Deseline", Free Mulatto living in Cahos :

"In Saint-Marc, (...) on the 13th, Augustin, Congo, stamped illegibly, aged 9, claiming to belong to the named Deseline, M.L. [Free Mulatto] residing in Cahos." (Transl.) (104)

The young 9-year-old Congo, mispronouncing the name Dessalines, described him as a Mulatto. But, Janvier Dessalines who was classified Black in the archives (signing several acts of civil status : marriage, baptism, burial), was simply light-skinned, without being a Mulatto. The point is that he possessed captives (slaves) long before 1787 ; and especially in the Cahos Mountains, where Jean-Jacques Dessalines is known to have been captive (slave) most of his life.
7- According to the revisionist logic, Jean-Jacques Dessalines lived in Cahos only from 1787, when he was 29 years old. And he stayed only four years at this place, since in 1791 he left this plantation to join the revolutionary ranks. But nevertheless, the analysis of the historical writings reveals that Dessalines' accomplice relationship with the people of Cahos is several decades old. The then unpublished text of Gaspard Théodore Mollien mentions that before the revolution, the children of the region inhabited by Jean-Jacques Dessalines called him "Papa Jacques" :

"Jean-Jacques, [since named Dessalines], was a bad slave, inclined to all vices, and especially to drunkenness ; nothing could correct him, not even the most cruel treatment. They've never seen, they say, a negro more often laid on the fatal ladder. [Whipped.] His master employed him to sell fruits, and as his quick and lively look made him very remarkable, all the children knew him and usually shouted to him when he passed through the streets : "Papa Jacques, ba nous oranges." [Papa Jacques give us oranges] Dessalines gladly distributed to them the property of his master.
When the insurrection broke out, ambition seized the young fruit merchant; he suddenly gave up all intoxicating drink, escaped one day into the plain and ran to join Jean-Francois's troop." (Transl.) (105)

For his part, Thomas Madiou made it known that the Cahos inhabitants, whom Jean-Jacques knew each by their names, called him, then General, "Papa Jacques" :

"But he [Jean-Jacques Dessalines] loved the Artibonite neighborhood (...) He knew them most by name, they called him Papa Jacques and when he came out of his palace, he received the blessings of all families from the neighborhood." (Transl.) (106)

This distinct and intertwined information confirms that Jean-Jacques Dessalines' complicity with the Cahos residents goes back to his youth ; at least, this complicity was fueled by more than four years of relationship. And that for a long time he placed the needs of his people above his own, risking the whip in distributing fruit to the children. The inhabitants of Cahos never stopped admiring him since that time.
8- An additional point validates the argument that Jean-Jacques Dessalines resided in Cahos well before Janvier Dessalines marriage to Marie Marthe. This point lies in Jean-Jacques Dessalines' special relationship with his adopted aunt Victoria Montou. According to the words of Jean-Jacques Dessalines collected by Jean-Baptiste Mirambeau, his personal physician, he (Jean-Jacques Dessalines) was once captive (slave) in the Cahos Mountains alongside Victoria Montou. This woman, nicknamed Toya, was a mother figure for him. When he became an emperor, he exhorted Mirambeau to look after his old aunt Toya who fell ill :

"This woman is my aunt, cure her as you would have cured me, she had to suffer like me all the pain, all the emotions during the time we were condemned side by side to the work fields." (Transl.) (107)

And when Victoria Montou died on June 12, 1805, her coffin was carried by brigadiers of the Imperial Guard. His Majesty Jacques I thus assessed the duration of his relationship with this great lady :

"Upon arrival under the gallery, we found the Emperor who tells us crying :" My aunt died, my companion for a long time, from our days of suffering is dead."" (Transl.) (108)

Thus, Jean-Jacques Dessalines, in his own words, refutes the absurd thesis by establishing the extent of his long and painful stay in Cahos, as property of Janvier Dessalines. And on this Cahos estate, Jean-Jacques Dessalines, from 1787, would have most likely come across Marie Marthe Toussaint, his master's new wife. And maybe well before that date, when she was betrothed to Janvier Dessalines.
Known for his bad temperament, Jean-Jacques Dessalines, whom Janvier Dessalines described as a "bad dog", (109) most probably had altercations with Marie Marthe Toussaint. And that could well have justified his aversion, when later his daughter Célestine became pregnant for Bernard Chancy, the cousin of Marie Marthe and the nephew of Toussaint Louverture, 2 individuals whose subordinate he was, and with whom he undoubtedly had many disagreements.
9- It is obvious that Jean-Jacques Dessalines, as a simple field worker, - not even a workshop commander - a carpenter, at a pinch, did not have the prerequisites to become the talented General that he was. However, his early captivity at François Amidieu Duclos estate at Bande du Nord, that ended at Janvier Dessalines estate in Cahos, certainly fueled his military genius. For Jean-Jacques was exposed early to the art of war. Very young, he watched his first owner, Captain François Amidieu Duclos build his own gun battery to fortify his coastal property with the approval of the authorities. (110)
Then Jean-Jacques followed the illustrious military career of his second owner, Sergeant-Major Janvier Dessalines, a 13-month veteran of the American Revolutionary War alongside Jean Baptiste Belley, the young Henry Christophe, and Lieutenant Jean Baptiste Felix Amidieu Duclos, nephew of François Amidieu Duclos.
Jean-Jacques Dessalines respected the career of Janvier Dessalines, whom upon retirement received from Civilian Commissioner Sonthonax the distinguished post of Concierge of the Government House. On April 21, 1804, Jean-Jacques Dessalines prolonged the function of the one whose name he bears, entrusting to Janvier Dessalines the prestigious post of Chief Butler of his Government. (111)
Jean-Louis Donnadieu and Philippe R. Girard arbitrarily added Philippe Jasmin Désir among the laureate lot of the Volontaires de Saint Domingue, (Volunteers of Saint Domingue), claiming that Philippe Jasmin Désir briefly rented his plantation to Toussaint in order to go to war in the United States. (112)

These audacious Louverturians neglected the fact that the Volontaires de Saint Domingue left for Savannah from Cap Français on August 15, 1779, while Philippe Jasmin Désir was still in the colony, signing the lease to Toussaint Bréda said Louverture on August 17, 1779. And then, the lease in question was initially for a period of 9 years. Moreover, no document informs that Philippe Jasmin Désir has ever donned a military suit.
10- We must also emphasize, as contributing to Jean-Jacques Dessalines' military genius, his continued contact with Victoria Montou, on the Cahos estate. This adoptive aunt, sharing his "refractory" character, was later transferred to the plantation of colonist Déluger, not far away, in Montrouis. During the revolution, Victoria Montou who commanded the captives (slaves) at work, briefly ordered a group of men to revolt. Their intention was to join the forces of her Jean-Jacques. Pursued by 2 soldiers, she wounded 1 seriously before being apprehended by reinforcements. (113)
In spite of the fact that Jean-Baptiste Mirambeau, Dessalines' physician, entitled his article "Victoria surnommée Toya par ses congénères" ("Victoria nicknamed Toya by her peers"), Haitian pseudo-historian Bayyinah Bello claimed that Victoria Montou's real name was Toya. According to the propagandist Bello, Dessalines' adoptive aunt was named Agbaraya Tòya, (114) in reference to her "Amazon" fighter rank from Dahomey (Benin).
Although Agbaraya refers to one of the five specialties of the Dahomean lady fighters known as Amazons, (115) nowhere in the historical notes is there any reference to the "Agbaraya" rank of Victoria, nor to her supposed Dahomean origin. Moreover, the Emperor Jean-Jacques Dessalines himself called her by her first name Victoria :

"We were going to retire when the Emperor arrived, he put his hand on Madame Dessalines' shoulder and said, bowing his head to that of his good wife : " Victoria is dead ! I have now only you, you alone close to me, my dear Claire."" (Transl.) (116)

And on his aunt's tombstone was written : "Ci-git Victoria, née Montou" ("Here lies Victoria, born Montou"), which suggests that she was a Creole, therefore born on the island. (117) Moreover, Jean-Baptiste Mirambeau, having visited her while a captive (slave) in Montrouis, observed her working as a workshop "Commandeur" (overseer). This reinforces the idea that Victoria Montou was a Creole and not an "African". Because : a) Her case is the only example cited of a woman playing this essential role of plantation overseer. b) If male captives (slaves) born in "Africa" very rarely obtained this responsibility ; so what are the odds of such post being granted to a woman born in "Africa"?

11- Gaétan Mentor, another pseudo Haitian historian, evoked, without proof, that Victoria's name was not Montou, but Mouton (sheep) ; meaning she was a shepherd :

"Legend claims that he [Dessalines] would have been a carpenter, that is to say, a negro with talents, with a specialty. If this assertion is not certain about Dessalines, it is highly likely for Victoria Montou actually Victoria "Mouton", ie a shepherd, job of trust usually given to handicapped or elderly slaves." (Transl.) (118)

Gaétan Mentor, in introducing his thesis of a shepherd Victoria, neglected Dessalines' affirmation of having long been condemned, not to sheep herding, but to harsh field work alongside his Aunt Victoria. Affirmation from Dessalines that Mentor had just quoted :

"He [Dessalines] will affirm that this [Victoria] not only was his aunt but that he had to endure with her" all the pains, all the emotions "during all the time they were" condemned to field works." (Transl.) (119)

Gaétan Mentor made a biography of Jean-Jacques Dessalines without even knowing that the confidences of the Emperor he relayed was revealed by his doctor, Jean-Baptiste Mirambeau. Contented in using secondary sources, Gaétan Mentor did not know that Dr. Mirambeau (whom he did not mention) had observed Victoria Montou, in old age, commanding field work, and not herding sheep. Dr. Mirambeau, having attended the funeral of Victoria whom he had consulted on her deathbed, affirmed that "Montou" was inscribed on this lady warrior's tombstone :

"Burial took place at the city Cemetery, June 13, 1805. On a carved stone, which is on the triangular pediment of the tomb is written :
Here lies :
Victoria, born Montou,
passed away on June 12 1805.
pray for her." (Transl.) (120)

Gaétan Mentor also did not take the time to verify that Montou was a French surname quite common in the time of the Saint Domingue colony. (121) This 16 August 1787 ad from Port-au-Prince Prison reveals that captives (slaves) were with stamped this family name :

"At Port-au-Prince, on the 29th of last month, entered the jail, Antoine, Congo, stamped MONTOU, underneath ROY, claiming to belong to M. Guillemin." (Transl.) (122)

It seems that the audacity of Haitian intellectuals is matched only by their complacency.
12- As for Dessalines' mother's identity, it remains unknown. Some people wrongly say that the mother of Jean-Jacques Dessalines (of Polyphème, and Marie Noelle) was called Marie Élisabeth. Their false impression comes from an indexing error in Thomas Madiou's Histoire d'Haïti, where we read : "Marie Elisabeth (Mother of Dessalines): 3; 311". (Transl.) (123). However, in Volume 3, the referred extract unambiguously announces that Marie Elisabeth was rather the mother of the Empress Marie-Claire Heureuse Félicité Bonheur, the wife of Dessalines :

"Madame Marie Elisabeth, mother of Her Majesty the Empress, died in Artibonite, at the age of 56, on November 2, 1805. Her funeral took place in Dessalinesville, the next day, with the greatest solemnity." (Transl.) (124)

Others falsely believed that Marie Elisabeth was the mother of Dessalines, while Marie Saint-Lobelot was that of the Empress. (125) But it was, to the contrary, one and the same person: Marie Sainte Elisabeth Saint Lonnelot, the Empress' mother. And the father of the Empress bore the name of Guillaume Bonheur. (126)
13- Let us note, in closing, that Weber Tiecoura Dorleans Jean-Baptiste, a descendant of Dessalines, propagates, like Bayyinah Bello, that Victoria Montou was named Agbaraya Toya (that he writes Agbawaya). (127) Weber Tiecoura also mentions, with no historical proof, that Jean-Jacques Dessalines was born in Cahos, in Artibonite. (128) He argues that the people of the region (Marchand) claim this verbally. But what does such a claim worth when the inhabitants of Cormier, at Grande Rivière du Nord, also claim the birth of Dessalines? The impartial and verifiable data unequivocally illustrate that Jean-Jacques Dessalines was born on the Duclos estate, in Cormier at Bande du Nord.
Finally, doesn't Weber Tiecoura claim to be an imperial prince? He therefore disregards that Dessalines, then Governor-General, declared solemnly and of his own accord :

"I give up, yes, I give up the unjust use of passing my power into my family." (Transl.) (129)

This was in the February 15, 1804, Act of acceptance of his appointment to the imperial dignity. Then, through Article 23 of his imperial constitution of May 20, 1805, Emperor Dessalines (Jacques I) proclaimed to the universe that :

"Art. 23. — The crown is elective and non-hereditary." (Transl.) (130)

Therefore, there are no princes nor princesses from Dessalines' bloodline.

Notes

(1) "Un prélude hors-série : l'indépendance d'Haïti. Le premier état américain, après les États-Unis, à prendre son indépendance a été la République d'Haïti (1er janvier 1804). Événement gênant et volontiers passé sous silence : il résultait en effet d'une révolte des esclaves noirs contre le régime esclavagiste, et d'une défaite majeure essuyée par la France sous le Consulat jamais mentionnée comme telle." (Translation) : "An exceptional prelude : the independence of Haiti. The first American state, after the United States, to take its independence was the Republic of Haiti (1 January 1804). This was an embarrassing event, and willingly overlooked : it was the result of a revolt of the black slaves against the slave regime and of a major defeat suffered by France under the Consulate never mentioned as such." In : Jean Suret-Canale. ‪Panorama de l'histoire mondiale. De la conquête du feu à la révolution informatique‬. Paris, 1996. pp.421-422.

(2) Marie-Antoinette Menier, Jean Fouchard et Gabriel Debien. "Toussaint Louverture avant 1789, légendes et réalité". In : Conjonction : Revue franco-haïtienne, n° 134 (1988). Quoted in : "Toussaint Louverture et l'indépendance d'Haïti : témoignages pour un bicentenaire" edited by Jacques de Cauna. Paris, 2004. pp.61-67.

(3) Jacques de Cauna. Toussaint Louverture : Le Grand précurseur. Paris, 2012. pp.107-114.
(4) Philippe Girard, Jean-Louis Donnadieu. "Nouveaux documents sur la vie de Toussaint Louverture." In : Bulletin de la Société d'Histoire de la Guadeloupe. 166-167 (2013). pp.117–139.

(5) Philippe R. Girard. "Jean-Jacques Dessalines et l'arrestation de Toussaint Louverture", In : Journal of Haitian Studies. Vol. 17, No.1 (Spring 2011), pp.123-138.
(6) LeGrace Benson. "Some Breton and Muslim Antecedents of Voudou Drapo". In : Textile Society of America. January, 1996.
(7) Ibid.
(8) LeGrace Benson. "Qismat of the Names of Allah in Haitian Vodou". In: Journal of Haitian Studies, Vol 8 No. 2, 2002. pp.160-164.
(9-10) Milo Rigaud. La Tradition Voudoo et le Voudoo haïtien. Paris, 1953. pp.62-63.
(11-12) A. Le Hérissé. L'ancien royaume du Dahomey, moeurs, religion, histoire. pp.239, 266-270.
(13) LeGrace Benson. "Some Breton and Muslim Antecedents of Voudou Drapo". In : Textile Society of America. January, 1996.
(14) LeGrace Benson. "Qismat of the Names of Allah in Haitian Vodou". In: Journal of Haitian Studies, Vol 8 No. 2, 2002. pp.160-164.
(15) LeGrace Benson "How Houngans Use the Light from Distant Stars". In : Vodou in Haitian Life and Culture~Invisible Powers. New York, 2006. pp.155-179.
(16) Susan Buck-Morss. Hegel, Haiti, and Universal History, Pittsburgh, 2009. p.143.
(17) João José Reis, Slave Rebellion in Brazil: The Muslim Uprising of 1835 in Bahia. London 1993. p. 94.
(18) Sylviane Anna Diouf, Sylviane Kamara. Servants of Allah: African Muslims Enslaved in the Americas. New York, 1998. pp.154, 161.
(19) Haiti's first Independence Act at Fort Dauphin, on November 29, 1803. In : Luc Rémy. Réflexions Stratégiques Sur Haïti. 2013. pp.413-414.
(20) S.J. Ducoeurjoly "Manuel des habitans de Saint-Domingue. Tome 1. Paris, 1802. pp.29-30.
(21) Dessalines' proclamation of April 28, 1804. In : Placide Justin, James Barskett (Sir.). Histoire politique et statistique de l'île d'Hayti: Saint-Domingue... Paris, 1826. pp. 421-422.
(22) Jeremy D. Popkin. A Concise History of the Haitian Revolution. Wiley-Blackwell, 2012. p.46.
(23) Leclerc's letter to Bonaparte on October 7, 1802 : In : Luc Rémy. Op. Cit. p.132.
(24) Louis Boisrond-Tonnerre. Mémoires pour servir a l'histoire d'Haïti. Paris, 1851. p.71.
(25) Dessalines' proclamation of April 28, 1804. In : Placide Justin, James Barskett (Sir.). Op. Cit. p. 421.
(26) Prophète Joseph. Dictionnaire Haïtien-Français. Montréal, 2003. p.70.
(27) Prophète Joseph. Ibid. p.356.
(28) Haiti's first Independence Act at Fort Dauphin, on November 29, 1803. In : Luc Rémy. Op. Cit. p.414.
(29) Dessalines' proclamation of April 28, 1804. In : Placide Justin, James Barskett (Sir.). Op. Cit. p. 425.
(30) Louis-Joseph Janvier. Les Constitutions d'Haïti (1801-1885). Paris, 1886. pp.29-41.
(31) M. E. Descourtilz. Voyages d'un naturaliste, et ses observations... Volume 3. Paris, 1809. p.325.
(32) M. E. Descourtilz. Ibid. pp.330-331.
(33) M. E. Descourtilz. Ibid. p.341.
(34) M. E. Descourtilz. Ibid. pp.350-351.
(35) M. E. Descourtilz. Ibid. pp.364-365.
(36) Jacques de Norvins. "Variétés. Toussaint Louverture". In : La Presse du dimanche 13 novembre 1836, no.124. p.3.
(37) M. E. Descourtilz. Op. Cit. p.326.
(38) Peter S. Chazotte. Historical Sketches of the Revolutions, and the Foreign and Civil Wars in the Island of St Domingo. New York, 1840. p.53.
(39) Aisha Khan. "Islam, Vodou, and the Making of the Afro-Atlantic". In : New West Indian Guide,Vol. 86, no. 1-2 (2012), pp. 29-54. URL: http://www.kitlv-journals.nl/index.php/nwig/index
(40) M. E. Descourtilz. Op. Cit. pp.142-143.
(41) Dessalines' proclamation of April 28, 1804. In : Placide Justin, James Barskett (Sir.). Op. Cit. p. 421.
(42) Dessalines' proclamation of April 28, 1804. In : Placide Justin, James Barskett (Sir.). Ibid. p.424.
(43) Thomas Madiou. Histoire d'Haiti. Tome 2. Port-au-Prince. 1847. p.210.
(44) Thomas Madiou. Histoire d'Haiti. Tome 1. Port-au-Prince, 1847. p.180.
(45) Thomas Madiou. Op. Cit. Tome 2. p.190.
(46) Thomas Madiou. Ibid. p.210.
(47) Dessalines' proclamation of April 28, 1804. In : Placide Justin, James Barskett (Sir.). Op. Cit. pp.422-423.
(48) Jacques Adélaïde-Merlande. Delgrès ou la Guadeloupe en 1802. Paris, 1986. p.10.
(49) Dessalines' proclamation of April 28, 1804. In : Placide Justin, James Barskett (Sir.). Ibid. pp.421, 423-424.

(50) M. E. Descourtilz. Op. Cit. pp.208-209.
(51) Biassou's 1791 motivational speeches go as follows: "Quand l'exaltation était parvenue à son comble, Biassou suivi de ses sorciers, se présentait à la foule et s'écriait que l'esprit de Dieu l'inspirait ; il annonçait aux africains que s'ils succombaient dans les combats, ils iraient revivre dans leurs anciennes tribus en Afrique." (Transl.) : "When the exaltation had reached its height, Biassou, followed by his sorcerers, presented himself to the crowd and exclaimed that the spirit of God inspired him ; he announced to the Africans that if they succumbed in battle, they would revive in their ancient tribes in Africa." Thomas Madiou. Histoire d’Haiti, Tome 1. Port-au-Prince, 1847. pp.72-73.
(52) M. E. Descourtilz. Op. Cit. pp.383-384.
(53) Haiti's Independence Act of January 1, 1804. In : Louis Boisrond-Tonnerre. Op. Cit. p.4.
(54) Dessalines' proclamation of April 28, 1804. In : Placide Justin, James Barskett (Sir.). Op. Cit. p.424.
(55) M. E. Descourtilz. Op. Cit. pp.275-276.
(56) Moreau de St Méry. Description topographique physique... Tome 1. Philadelphie, 1797. p.44.
(57) Féquière Vilsaint, Maude Heurtelou. Diksyonè Kreyòl Vilsen, 3zyèm edisyon. Coconut Creek, 2009. p.233.
(58) "Je mêle à mon récit des anecdotes secrètes de la vie privée de Toussaint-Louverture et de Dessalines, qui me sont ou personnelles, ou dont j'ai connu les principaux acteurs." (Transl.) : "I mix with my story some secret anecdotes of the private lives of Toussaint-Louverture and Dessalines, which are personaly linked to me, or whose principal actors I have known." In : M. E. Descourtilz. Voyages d'un naturaliste et ses observations... Volume 1, Paris. 1809. p. Lviij.
(59) M. E. Descourtilz. Voyages d'un naturaliste, et ses observations... Volume 3. Paris, 1809. p.254.
(60) M. E. Descourtilz. Ibid. p.352.
(61) ISPAN. "Département de l'Artibonite : liste de monuments". [online] URL : http://ispan.gouv.ht/?p=34 ; Retrieved November 30, 2019.
(62) Vincent Joos. Urban dwellings, Haitian citizenships : housing, daily life and memory in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. (Thesis) Chapel Hill, 2015. p. 262.
(63) F. R. de Tussac . Cri des colons: Contre un ouvrage de M. l’evêque et senateur Grégoire, ayant pour titre de la littérature des nègres. Paris, 1810. p.231.
(64) Paul Clammer. Haiti : The Bradt travel guide. 2nd edition, 2016.
(65) Thomas Madiou. Histoire d'Haïti. Tome 3. Port-au-Prince, 1848. p.179.
(66) See "Note 2 : Ordre des cérémonies du couronnement de Jean-Jacques, premier empereur d'Haïty". In appendix in Charles Malo. Histoire de l'Ile de Saint-Domingue, depuis sa découverte jusqu'à ce jour. (2e édition) Paris, 1819. pp.353-354.
(67-68) Thomas Madiou. Op. Cit. Tome 3. pp.232, 234-235.
(69) Yussuf J. Simmonds. "Legends : Jean Jacques Dessalines". In : Los Angeles Sentinel, February 11, 2010. [online] URL : http://lasentinel.net/Jean-Jacques-Dessalines.html ; retrieved October 6, 2015.
(70) Odette Mennesson-Rigaud. "Le rôle du Vaudou dans l'indépendance d'Haïti." In : Présence Africaine. Nouvelle série. No.18/19 (février-mai 1958). pp.43-67 (p.65)
(71) A.J. Victor. "Le Vaudou est-il un problème social pour Haïti ? (2 de 3)". In : Le Nouvelliste du 22 octobre 2014. [online] URL : https://lenouvelliste.com/article/136751/le-vaudou-est-il-un-probleme-social-pour-haiti-2-de-3 ; retrieved April 27, 2019.
(72) Fondation Marie Claire Heureuse Félicité Bonheur Dessalines (FF) Fondasyon Felicitée. Sous la direction de Bayyinah Bello. Limyè 1 : Jean-Jacques Dessalines : 21 Pwenkonnen sou lavi li. Port-au-Prince, 2015. p.12.
(73) René-A. Saint-Louis, La présociologie haïtienne ou Haïti et sa vocation nationale. Montréal, 1970. p. 9.
(74) Beaubrun Ardouin. Études sur l'histoire d'Haïti..., Tome 5. Paris, 1854. p.418.
(75) Ausone de Chancel. "Cham et Japhet". In : Revue Britannique ou choix d'articles périodiques de la Grande-Bretagne et de l'Amérique. Tome 1. Septembre 1859. Paris, 1859. pp.87-141.(p.96).
(76) Gaspard Théodore Mollien. Histoire ou Saint Domingue. Tome 2. Paris, 2006. p. 54.
(77) Dessalines' proclamation of January 1st, 1804. in : Beaubrun Ardouin. Études sur l'histoire d'Haïti. Tome 6. Paris, 1856. p.26.
(78) S.J. Ducoeurjoly. Op. Cit. p.34.
(79) M. E. Descourtilz. Op. Cit. pp.209-210.
(80) Jean Targète, Raphael G. Urciolo. Haitian Creole-English Dictionary. Kensington, 1993. p.61.
(81) Féquière Vilsaint, Maude Heurtelou. Op. Cit. p.306.
(82) See Jasmine Claude-Narcisse (en collaboration avec Pierre-Richard Narcisse). "Marie-Claire Heureuse Dessalines 1758-1858". In : Mémoire de femmes. Port-au-Prince, 1997, p.192. [online] URL : http://www.jasminenarcisse.com/memoire/02_independance/03_clairheureuse.html ; Mirlande Hippolyte-Manigat. ‪Être femme en Haïti hier et aujourd'hui‬: ‪le regard des constitutions, des lois et de la société‬. Port-au-Prince, 2002. p.346. ; Guy Poitry. Dessalines. Montréal, 2007. p.250.
(83) Thomas Madiou. Op. Cit. Tome 2. pp.118-119.
(84) Timoléon C. Brutus. L'homme d'Airain, vol.2 : du sang sur le trône. Port-au-Prince, 1947. p.49.
(85) Thomas Madiou. Op. Cit. Tome 3. p.187.
(86) Baron de Vastey. Le Système Colonial Dévoilé. Cap-Henry, 1814. pp.48-49.
(87) Gaspard Théodore Mollien. Histoire ou Saint Domingue. Tome 2. Paris, 2006. p.53.
(88) Gabriel Debien, Marie Antoinette Menier, Jean Fouchard. "Toussaint Louverture avant 1789, légendes et réalité ". In : Conjonction : Revue franco-haïtienne, n° 134 (1988). Quoted in "Toussaint Louverture et l'indépendance d'Haïti : témoignages pour un bicentenaire", edited by Jacques de Cauna. Paris, 2004. pp.61-67.
(89) Jacques de Cauna. Toussaint Louverture : Le Grand précurseur. Paris, 2012. pp.107-114.
(90) Jean-Louis Donnadieu et Philippe Girard. "Nouveaux documents sur la vie de Toussaint Louverture" in : Bulletin de la Société d'Histoire de la Guadeloupe. Numéro 166–167, Septembre, 2013, Décembre, Janvier, Avril, 2014, p. 117–139. ; Charles Malo. Histoire d'Haïti (île de Saint-Domingue), depuis sa découverte jusqu'en 1824. Paris, 1825. p.302.
(91) "C'est un bon ouvrier, mais un mauvais chien", (He's a good workman, but a bad dog) had often declared Janvier Dessalines about Jean-Jacques Dessalines. Quoted by : Dubroca. Mémoires du Général Toussaint L'Ouverture écrits par lui-même. Paris, 1853. p.31 ; Charles Malo. Histoire d'Haïti (île de Saint-Domingue), depuis sa découverte jusqu'en 1824. Paris, 1825. p.302.
(92) Pierre Josué Agénor Cadet. "1810-2010 : Bicentenaire de naissance du Président Jean Nicolas Nissage SAGET". In : Le Nouvelliste du 28 décembre 2010. [online] URL : https://lenouvelliste.com/article/86908/1810-2010-bicentenaire-de-naissance-du-president-jean-nicolas-nissage-saget ; retrieved on 28 juin 2019.
(93) Robert R. Price. "Dessalines et Marie Noelle, Aïeuls des Trujillo et des Saladin?" Revue de la Société haïtienne d'histoire et de géographie, No. 210. Port-au-Prince, 2002. pp.58-60.
(94) Buon. Almanach royal d'Hayti, pour l'Année Bissextile 1820. Sans Souci, 1820. p.138.
(95) Thomas Madiou. Op. Cit. Tome 3. p.153.
(96) Edgar La Selve. Le pays des nègres : voyage à Haïti, ancienne partie française de Saint-Domingue. Paris, 1881. pp.166-167.
(97) Sémexan Rouzier. Dictionnaire géographique et administratif universel d'Haïti Vol. 1. Paris, 1892. p.331.
(98) "Mémoire pour servir à l'instruction à l'affaire du Sieur Amidieu Duclos ancien Capitaine de dragons actuellement Capitaine Commandant la compagnie des Volontaires du Cap." In : "Amidieu-Duclos, François, capitaine de dragons-milices, commandant de la paroisse du Port-Margot, à Saint-Domingue (1767/1771)" ; FR ANOM COL E 4, ; URL : http://anom.archivesnationales.culture.gouv.fr/ark:/61561/up424rmktx
(99) M.L.E. Moreau de Saint Méry. Loix et constitutions des colonies françoises de l'Amérique sous le vent... Tome 4. Paris, p.877.
(100) ANOM. "Mémoire pour servir à l'instruction à l'affaire du Sieur Amidieu Duclos..." Op. Cit.
(101) ANOM : Archives Nationales d'Outre-Mer, État Civil, Le Cap 1777. Acte de décès du 2 mars 1777.
(102) "Dessalines, Janvier, sergent-major dans la milice coloniale, concierge de la maison du Gouvernement, à Saint-Domingue (1796) ; "FR ANOM COL E 129. URL : http://anom.archivesnationales.culture.gouv.fr/ark:/61561/up424ommpny
(103) Les Affiches Américaines du mercredi 15 décembre 1784. Parution no.50. p.809.
(104) Les Affiches Américaines du jeudi 26 juillet 1787. Parution no.59. pp.375-376.
(105) Gaspard Théodore Mollien. Op. Cit. p.53.
(106) Thomas Madiou. Op. Cit. Tome 3. p.152.
(107-108) Jean-Baptiste Mirambeau. "Victoria surnommée Toya par ses congénères". In : Femmes haïtiennes. Port-au-Prince, 1953. pp.20, 21.
(109) Janvier Dessalines. Quoted by Dubroca. Op. Cit. p.31 ; Charles Malo. Op. Cit. p.302.
(110) ANOM. "Mémoire pour servir à l'instruction à l'affaire du Sieur Amidieu Duclos..." Op. Cit.
(111) Thomas Madiou. Op. Cit. Tome 3. p.136.
(112) Jean-Louis Donnadieu et Philippe Girard. "Nouveaux documents..." Op. Cit.
(113) Jean-Baptiste Mirambeau. "Victoria surnommée Toya..." Op. Cit. p.19.
(114) Fondation Marie Claire Heureuse Félicité Bonheur Dessalines (FF) Fondasyon Félicitée. Sous la direction de Bayyinah Bello. Op. Cit. pp.9-11, 17.
(115) Victor Nicolas. L'Expédition du Dahomey, en 1890. Paris, 1892. p.26.
(116-117) Jean-Baptiste Mirambeau. "Victoria surnommée Toya..." Op. Cit. p.21.
(118-119) Gaétan Mentor. Dessalines: l'esclave devenu empereur. Pétionville, 2003. pp.8, 7.
(120) Jean-Baptiste Mirambeau. "Victoria surnommée Toya…" Op. Cit. p.21.
(110) https://en.geneanet.org/genealogy/montou/MONTOU
(122) Les Affiches Américaines du jeudi 16 août 1787. Parution no.65. p.411.
(123) Thomas Madiou. Histoire d'Haïti. Tome 8 (2e éd.) Port-au-Prince, 1989. p.411.
(124) Thomas Madiou. Op. Cit. Tome 3. p.311.
(125) Généalogie d'Haïti et de Saint-Domingue. http://sites.rootsweb.com/~htiwgw/familles/fiches/073429.htm ; http://sites.rootsweb.com/~htiwgw/familles/fiches/004036.htm
(126) Robert Price. "Descendance de Dessalines à travers Célimène et Bernard Chancy", Mars, 2000. In : ‪Revue de la Société haïtienne d'histoire et de géographie‬, Issue 210. p.62.
(127-128) Weber Tiecoura Dorléans Jean-Baptiste. "20 septembre 1758 : naissance du messie Jean-Jacques Dessalines plus que grand et la critique des opposants ; La grande fête de septembre et l’inquiétude…". Posted on October 16, 2015. [online] URL : http://hrhprincetiecourajbdessalinesdorleans.blogspot.com/2015/10/20-septembre-1758-naissance-du-messie.html ; Retrieved on December 3, 2019.
(129) Louis Boisrond-Tonnerre. Mémoires pour servir à l'histoire d'Haïti. Paris, 1851. p.11.
(130) Louis Joseph Janvier. Les constitutions d'Haïti, 1801-1885, Volume 1. Paris, 1886. p.33.

How to cite this article:
Rodney Salnave. "Dessalines wasn't muslim". April 9, 2017 ; updated : Dec. 31, 2020. [online] URL : http://bwakayiman.blogspot.com/2017/04/dessalines-wasnt-muslim.html ; Retrieved on [enter date]

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Dessalines wasn't muslim

1- Dessalines and Grann Aloumandja

a) Aloumandja, Dessalines and the 99 names/forms of Allah

b) Dessalines and Grann Alouba

2- Dessalines and the fake jihad

3- Compared to Dessalines, Ben Laden was a choirboy

4- Dessalines, Lavalas and Dechoukaj

5- Religion and Dessalines' constitution

6- Dessalines and alcohol

7- Dessalines and pork meat

a) Dessalines authorized pork meat imports

b) Pork selling, a common good, in post-independence Haiti

c) Saint Domingue's islamized Blacks didn't eat pork and didn't combat

8- Dessalines' beliefs

a) Dessalines avenged America, not Allah

b) Dessalines in La Crête-à-Pierrot and Guadeloupe

c) Dessalines, the genie of the Ocean (Agwe) and nature

9- Saint Domingue's real holly war : Nan Ginen vs jihad

10- Dessalines and the sacrifice to the spirits (manes) of killed soldiers

a) Dessalines and funeral calenda

11- Dessalines' religious and magical practices

11.1- Dessalines and the magical snuff-box of the makendals

11.2- Dessalines' religious practice

11.3- Dessalines' wedding and coronation

12- Dessalines' ethnic origin

13- Dessalines' wife and the squash soup tradition

14- Appendix : Jean-Jacques Dessalines was not Toussaint Louverture's slave

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