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Secondary sourcePainting1822

The Oath of the Ancestors

Guillaume Guillon-Lethière · 1822

An 1822 painting showing Dessalines and Pétion swearing an oath of unity before God during the fight for Haitian independence.

Depicts Dessalines as co-founder of Haiti, allied with Pétion, in an idealized image of revolutionary unity.

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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.
Guillaume Guillon-Lethière, The Oath of the Ancestors, 1822. National Pantheon Museum of Haiti.

About this source

What it is

This 1822 oil painting by Guillaume Guillon-Lethière depicts Jean-Jacques Dessalines, a formerly enslaved general, and Alexandre Pétion, a mixed-race officer, forming an alliance against French forces. They stand over broken chains beneath a divine figure in the clouds. Lethière gave the painting to the Haitian government in 1823; it was later found damaged after the 2010 earthquake and restored by the Louvre. It is now held by the National Pantheon Museum of Haiti.

Why it matters

Lethière, himself a mixed-race man from Guadeloupe, painted this to celebrate Black and mulatto unity in the fight against slavery and French rule. However, Haiti's own president at the time refused to display it prominently, since many Haitians saw Dessalines as a ruthless ruler rather than a heroic 'ancestor.' The painting shows how Dessalines's image was contested even among Haitians.

Look closer

  • Why might the artist place a large white, god-like figure above the two Haitian generals?
  • What might the broken chains at their feet symbolize?
  • Why did Haiti's president choose not to display this painting in a government building?

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

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

Engraving of a crowned man seated on a throne under draped curtains, wearing an ermine-trimmed robe and surrounded by rows of men in dark European-style coats. A checkered floor and columns frame the scene. Spanish caption below reads Coronacion de Juan Santiago Desalines primer Emperador de Hayti.Painting

Secondary source

Coronacion de Juan Santiago Desalines primer Emperador de Hayti

Francisco Moscard Yedra · 1806

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