Jean-Jacques Dessalines:  Born at the Cormiers Plantation north of Haiti in 1758, Dessalines was a slave on the plantation of Duclos who ran away to freedom at the age of 33. He was the principal lieutenant of Toussaint Louverture and became the General-in-Chief of the Revolution of St-Domingue after the deportation of Toussaint Louverture. He was a gifted soldier and distinguished himself during several combats, especially at the Battle of Crete-à-Pierrot. There he launched a splendid call to his soldiers and boosted their courage by leading them to blow up the fortress rather than give it up to the French. He led the indigenous army into victory over the French army of Napoleon Bonaparte in the Battle of Vertières on November 18, 1803.

On January 1, 1804, he proclaimed the independence of the colony, which he renamed Haiti. The same day he was acclaimed Governor-General-for-Life of Haiti, and on September 2, 1804 he was crowned Emperor under the name of Jacques I.

Dessalines was assassinated in a revolt on October 17, 1806 at Pont-Rouge. He is remembered as the Father of the Haitian Nation and the Founder of the Independence of Haiti.

Alexandre Petion:  The "Founder of the Republic," Alexandre Pétion was born in Port-au-Prince in 1770, of a French father and a black mother. At 18 years of age, he became a soldier and was sent to France to study at the Military Academy of Paris. Jointly with Dessalines, he played a very important role in unifying blacks and mulattoes to fight together at the Independence War against the French army.

Pétion was elected President of the Republic of Haiti on March 9, 1806, elected again in 1811, and then in 1816 he was re-elected President for Life. He became the first President of Haiti. He designed the official flag and coat of arms of the second independent nation of the American continent. He also supported other countries of South America in their struggle to gain independence from Spain. After years of many hardships and challenges he confronted as a soldier and as president, Alexandre Pétion ill and tired died in Port-au-Prince on March 29, 1818.

Henry Christophe:    Henri Christophe was born in 1757 on the island of Grenada. He was an adolescent when he arrived in Cap-Francais in St-Domingue. In 1778, he fought as a volunteer in Savannah, Georgia, for the independence of the United States of America. He was only 21 years old. Henri Christophe, a lieutenant of Toussaint, who fought the army of Napoleon during the War of Independence, is very well known for his influence in the nothern section of Haiti, where he built monuments, palaces and forts.

He proclaimed himself King of Haiti in 1811 and created an atmosphere of discipline, work, and education in that region. He was feared and regarded as a man of steel. He carried an extraordinary vision of grandeur for the Haitian people, which can be seen in his accomplishments. Among his magnificent works are the Citadel, that carries his name, and the Sans-Souci palace, which, even in ruins, draws admiration.

Paralyzed by a stroke and faced with the weakening of his army, Henri Christophe took his life on October 8, 1820. He remains the most admired of Haitians for his genius and advanced vision of Haiti as a civilized and prosperous nation.

Charlemagne Peralte:  Guerrilla leader - Born in 1886 in Hinche, Péralte was an officer in the Haitian Army. He resigned in 1915 and returned to his home in Hinche to become a farmer. When the US Marines, who had invaded Haiti in 1915, began forcing Haitians into labour gangs to carry out public works, antipathy to the US occupation grew. In 1917 Péralte was arrested for an attack on the home of a US officer, and sentenced to five years hard labour. He escaped from captivity, and mobilised several thousand peasant irregulars to fight against the US occupation. The success of the guerrilla resistance campaign led by Péralte, forced the US to deploy more Marines, but he was still able to declare a provisional government in the north of Haiti in 1919.

     In November 1919 Péralte was betrayed by one of his troops, Jean Baptiste Conzé, who led a small contingent of disguised marines including second lieutenant Herman Hanneker to Peralte's hard-to-find camp. Peralte was killed in the short fight that followed. The US Marines took his body to the town of Hinche and attached it to a door in a Christ-like fashion in order to discourage furhter rebellion. A famous photograph, and also a painting by renowned artist Philome Obin have immortalized that image which has taken its place as an icon of Haitian nationalism. Peralte's lieutenant, Batraville continued the fight, but it never regained the impetus it had under Charlemagne.