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Primary sourcePainting1805

Revenge taken by the Black Army for the cruelties practised on them by the French

1805

An 1805 engraving showing Black revolutionary soldiers executing captured French officers, made during Dessalines's rule as Haiti's first leader.

Depicts revolutionary violence during the year Dessalines ruled Haiti, showing the brutal context of his era, not him directly.

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Black-and-white engraving titled 'Revenge taken by the Black Army for the cruelties practised on them by the French.' Black soldiers haul a rope pulling a French officer upward by the neck from a gallows. Another French soldier is hanged on a ladder-reached gallows at left, and many small hanging figures and tents appear in the background landscape with palm trees.
Revenge taken by the Black Army for the cruelties practised on them by the French, engraving, 1805. Library of Congress.

About this source

What it is

This is an engraving made in 1805, titled 'Revenge taken by the Black Army for the cruelties practised on them by the French.' It shows Black soldiers hanging captured French officers, with many more hanging figures in the background. It is held in the Library of Congress collection.

Why it matters

This print was made during the year Jean-Jacques Dessalines ruled newly independent Haiti. It shows the brutal violence of the revolutionary war, presented from a European viewpoint of the time. It reveals how outsiders depicted the uprising of enslaved and formerly enslaved people against French colonial rule.

Look closer

  • Who do you think made this print, and for what audience?
  • How does the title try to explain or justify what is shown?
  • What does the image leave out about why this violence happened?

This painting is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Jean-Jacques Dessalines on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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Scan of a printed broadside headed 'Armée Indigène' with 'Liberté ou la Mort' above. It has three columns of French text, a signature block of names including Dessalines, and a footer reading 'Au Port-au-Prince, de l'imprimerie du gouvernement'.Document

Primary source

Haitian Declaration of Independence

Louis Boisrond-Tonnerre · 1 January 1804

Title page of the 1805 Constitution of Hayti, printed in French with the heading 'CONSTITUTION D'HAYTI' over a list of names and preamble text, with red library stamps in the upper area. Page is aged and tan-colored.Document

Primary source

Constitution of Hayti

Jean-Jacques Dessalines · 1805

Black-and-white engraving titled DESALINES. A man in a tricorn hat with feathers raises a curved sword in one hand and holds a severed head with curly hair in the other. A woman's body lies on rocks at right, with tents and figures in the background.Painting

Secondary source

Desalines

Manuel López López · 1806

Large painting of two uniformed men standing either side of a stone tablet inscribed with text, hands on it, under a radiant figure of an old bearded God with outstretched arms in clouds above, with the Hebrew letters of the divine name. Chains lie on the ground at their feet; a battle scene and crowd fill the background.Painting

Secondary source

The Oath of the Ancestors

Guillaume Guillon-Lethière · 1822

Front cover of a worn, dark red leather-bound book, shown against a pale background. The cover is scuffed and faded, with a small lighter mark near the center and a raised spine edge on the left side. No title or text is visible.Book

Secondary source

La vie de J.J. Dessalines, chef des noirs révoltés de Saint-Domingue

Louis Dubroca · 1804

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