Also known as: 1805 Imperial Constitution, Constitution of 1805, Haitian Constitution of 1805, Constitution Impériale d'Haïti
Last updated: April 26, 2026
Promulgated on May 20, 1805, Haiti's first constitution established an empire under Emperor Jacques Dessalines and contained the most radical racial provisions of any founding document of the era. Article 2 declared slavery abolished forever; Article 14 declared all Haitians 'Black' regardless of skin color, abolishing the colonial hierarchy of racial grades; and Article 12 prohibited whites from owning property in Haiti. Lasting less than two years before Dessalines's assassination, the document nonetheless set foundational principles of Haitian identity, sovereignty, and antislavery that persisted through subsequent constitutions.
constitution — Post-independence constitutional codification of national symbols.
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Served as secretary-general during the drafting of the 1805 imperial constitution.
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constitution — signatory context
Signed Dessalines's imperial constitution of 1805 as one of the founding military officers.
Signed the 1805 Haitian Constitution as 'general of the South'; named in the signatory list alongside Christophe, Pétion, Capois, Gérin, Férou, Bazelais, and Yayou.
The assassination followed from the political tensions created by Dessalines's imperial and centralized rule under the 1805 constitution
The massacres of French colonists preceded and directly informed the white exclusion clause (Art. 12)
The 1816 Constitution followed and modified the constitutional tradition begun by the 1805 Constitution
The 1805 Constitution followed Haiti's January 1, 1804 declaration of independence by sixteen months
The 1805 Imperial Constitution followed the declaration as Haiti's first constitutional framework
The 1805 Imperial Constitution codified national colors and the state emblem that grew from the flag tradition
The 1805 Imperial Constitution was the first constitutional framework following independence
1805 Constitution
Promulgated at the Imperial Palace, Port-au-Prince
Article 2 is the constitutional anchor of permanent abolition: 'L'esclavage est à jamais aboli'
Article 14 abolishes the colonial color hierarchy by declaring all Haitians 'Black'
1805 Constitution - First constitutional codification of the calendar
1805 Constitution
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"1805 Constitution." 1805. Rasin.ai, 2026. https://rasin.ai/connections/events/1805-constitution. Accessed 2026-05-05.