Jean-Jacques Dessalines

Jean-Jacques Dessalines was a revolutionary general who defeated the final French expedition and declared Haitian independence in 1804.

Dessalines rose from slavery to command under Toussaint Louverture and became the leading military figure after Louverture’s removal. His forces defeated the French at Vertières in 1803. He declared independence on 1 January 1804 and later ruled as Emperor Jacques I until his assassination in 1806.

Island Beneath the Sea places its fictional characters within the revolutionary conflict that culminated in Dessalines’s victory and the destruction of French colonial rule. His rise marks the point at which return to the old plantation order becomes impossible.