Editing Henri Christophe (section)

==State and Kingdom of Haiti==
[[File:Crown, Henry I of Haiti (Henri Christophe), Haiti, 1820 - Bode-Museum - DSC02719.JPG|thumb|right|[[Haitian gourde#First gourde, 1813–1870|Haitian gourde]] coin with portrait of Henry I in the style of a [[Ancient Rome|Roman]] [[Solidus (coin)|solidus]], minted {{Circa|1820}}.{{efn|The coin is inscribed in [[Latin]] as ''"HENRICUS DEI GRATIA HAITI REX"'' ({{langx|en|Henry, by the Grace of God, King of Haiti}}).}}]]

Following a power struggle with Pétion and his supporters in the south, Christophe retreated with his followers to the [[Plaine-du-Nord]] of Haiti, the stronghold of former slaves, and created a separate government there. Christophe suspected he was also at risk of assassination in the south. In 1807, he declared himself "''président et généralissime des forces de terre et de mer de l'État d'Haïti''<nowiki/>'" (English: President and [[Generalissimo]] of the armies of land and sea of the State of Haïti).<ref name="ceac"/>  Pétion became President of the "Republic of Haïti" in the south, where he was backed by General [[Jean-Pierre Boyer]], a ''personne de couleur'' who controlled the southern armies.

In 1811, Christophe declared the northern state of Haïti a [[Kingdom of Haiti|kingdom]] and had himself crowned by [[Jean-Baptiste-Joseph Brelle]], the archbishop of [[Milot, Haiti|Milot]]. The 1 April 1811 edict gave his full title as

{{blockquote|''Henry, par la grâce de Dieu et la Loi constitutionelle de l'État Roi d'Haïti, Souverain des Îles de la Tortue, Gonâve, et autres îles adjacentes, Destructeur de la tyrannie, Régénérateur et bienfaiteur de la nation haïtienne, Créateur de ses institutions morales, politiques et guerrières, Premier monarque couronné du Nouveau-Monde, Défenseur de la foi, Fondateur de l'ordre royal et militaire de Saint-Henri.''}}

{{blockquote|Henry, by the grace of God and constitutional law of the state, King of Haiti, Sovereign of [[Tortuga (Haiti)|Tortuga]], [[Gonâve Island|Gonâve]], and other adjacent islands, Destroyer of tyranny, Regenerator and Benefactor of the Haitian nation, Creator of her moral, political, and martial institutions, First crowned monarch of the [[New World]], [[Defender of the Faith#Haiti|Defender of the faith]], Founder of the Royal Military Order of Saint Henry.<ref name=ceac>Cheesman, 2007.</ref>}}

He renamed Cap-Français as ''Cap-Henry'' (later renamed as [[Cap-Haïtien]]).<ref name="Cap-Haïtien">{{Cite web|url=http://www.lonelyplanet.com/haiti/northern-haiti/cap-haitien/history|title=History of Cap-Haïtien}}</ref>

Christophe named his legitimate son [[Jacques-Victor Henry]] heir apparent, giving him the title of Prince Royal of Haïti.<ref name="Monfried">Monfried, Walter, "[https://books.google.com/books?id=ZToDAAAAMBAJ&dq=%22Henri+Christophe%22&pg=PA41 The Slave Who Became King: Henri Christophe]", ''Negro Digest'', Volume XII, Number 12, October, 1963.</ref> His second son was a colonel in his army.{{citation needed|date=June 2020}}

Christophe built six châteaux, eight palaces and the massive Citadelle Laferrière, on a mountain near Milot. With the remains of the Sans-Souci Palace, it has been designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Nine years later, at the end of his monarchy, Henry increased the number of designated nobility from the original 87 to 134.<ref>Cheesman, 2007, p. 10.</ref>

The two parts of Haiti struggled to increase agricultural production to recover from the expensive and damaging wars. The United States had only recently ended its arms and goods embargo against Haiti, and began war with [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|United Kingdom]] in the [[War of 1812]]. Christophe had to choose whether to enforce a version of the slave plantation system to increase agricultural production, or to subdivide the land into parcels for peasants' subsistence farming. The latter was the policy of President Pétion in the south. King Henry chose to enforce ''[[corvée]]'' plantation work, a system of forced labor, in lieu of taxes, but also began his massive building projects. During his reign, Northern Haiti was [[Despotism|despotic]], but the sugar cane economy generated revenue for government and officials.

He made an agreement with Britain that Haiti would not threaten its Caribbean colonies; in return, the [[Royal Navy]] would warn Haiti of imminent attacks from French troops. In 1807, the [[Parliament of the United Kingdom]] passed the [[Slave Trade Act 1807]] to abolish the importation of slaves into the [[British Empire]]. Because of increased bilateral trade with Britain, Christophe's government earned an enormous sum of [[Pound sterling|British pound]]s for his treasury. By contrast, Petion's southern Haiti became much poorer because the land-share system reduced agricultural productivity, and exports fell.<ref>Griggs and Prator, James.</ref>