L'Ouverture's Constitution
The first constitution of Haiti was written by the Constitutional Assembly tasked and directed by the rising general, Toussaint L’Ouverture, who signed it in July 1801. It was the seventh anniversary of the abolition of slavery by the National Assembly when Toussaint brought representatives from all of Saint-Domingue’s departments together and charged them to create a constitution. Toussaint L’Ouverture had a respectable vocabulary and his skills as a communicator were sharpened by his military career, but his loose grasp on grammar, as evident in his various writings, may have kept him from physically writing the constitution that was, in all other respects, an undiluted expression of his thoughts and values.
The constitution made it clear that no one would ever be put in servitude again, ordaining that all Men were born free and equal and that those two characteristics were shared throughout the colony and may never be infringed upon. Freedom, at its most rudimentary, is established in the second title of the constitution [1]. This constitution solidified the changes in freedom since the Code Noir dictated the framework of society in Haiti.
Foremost, there was no longer any racial discrimination, thus any person of any color could work and no employer could refuse someone because of their race [2]. Colored men who before were slaves could be paid for their labor and, more importantly, had a right to the compensation for their work, especially those who worked agriculture [3]. The workers were the backbone of the colony, as Toussaint knew, and thus the constitution charged the government with administrating regulations that would be in the interest of the workers and cultivators. This was a deep value of Toussaint--that all should be working and none should be without a task.
"As soon as a child can a child walk he should be employed on the habitations according to his strength in some useful work, instead of being sent into the cities where, under the pretext of an education that he doesn’t receive, he goes to learn vice, to add to the horde of vagabonds and women of evil lives, to trouble by his existence the repose of good citizens, and to terminate it with the final punishment," from a letter written on September 25, 1801.
Aside from occupational freedoms granted to people and the government’s obligation to safeguard those liberties, there were also protections against the government violating an individual's judiciary freedom. As is decreed in Title V, Article 12, no person may be arrested without specific legal order given by a designated authority in a designated place. Additionally, citizens arrested had the freedom to choose which arbitrators would judge them in a tribunal [4]. The tribunal system established by the constitution emulated the legal system of the United States in that there is a lower court and a higher court that interact, named “tribunaux de première instance” and “tribunal de cassation” respectively. This provided for a more balanced administration of justice which was quite different from the military ordinances that Toussaint was familiar with. His devotion to the liberty and peace of the people is evident throughout the document and his stated in many of his letters.
Freedom changed from the Code Noir period to a more broad-reaching understanding that everyone is autonomous and should have their interests aligned with his or her community and nation. Positive Freedom was to be cherished and granted innately to all citizens, but there had to be a system of government that could keep the peace of the nation and enforce the boundaries of Negative Freedom to keep criminals from ruining Haiti’s tranquility which Toussaint so adored. Agency was given to all citizens and subjects to behave following the glorious example of France that was newly rid of all royalty in 1789.
While there were many changes to the liberties of the Haitian population from the Code Noir to the L’Ouverture Constitution, one significant aspect of life remained the same: religion. As seen in the Code Noir, the official religion is Roman Catholicism, which is perpetuated as the only publicly professed religion of the colony in the Constitution of 1801. Citizens who so desired to believe in any other faith were to do so quietly and privately, that it could not disrupt the practice of the predominant religion, which is an example of Negative Freedom. Furthermore, religion became so exalted that it was decreed that the ministers and holy leaders would have their lodgings provided for them by their particular parish [5]. In regards to religion, life remained largely unaltered for the people of that French colony.
Nonetheless, the L’Ouverture Constitution was crucial in bestowing property rights to people who were once declared property and organizing a government with municipal and legislative capabilities would support the rebound the economy needed after the Haitian Revolution and preserve peace without shackling the citizens. In accordance with the standard procedure of a colony, a copy of the document was sent with one of the Constitutional Assembly members to France where it would be revised and accepted so that it may take effect lawfully. However, as stated in Article 77, L’Ouverture (who had been named leader for the rest of his life) hastily applied the constitution to the entire colony, for he felt pressured to urgently escape from the “state of peril” that Haiti was in immediately after the Revolution.
[1] Article 3: There can be no slaves on this territory; servitude has been forever abolished. All men are born, live and die there free and French.
[2] Article 4: All men can work at all forms of employment, whatever their color.
[3] Article 16: Every cultivator and worker is a member of the family and a shareholder in its revenues.
[4] Article 42: The right of citizens to be amicably judged by arbitrators of their choice cannot be infringed.
[5] Article 7: Every parish provides for the maintenance of the religious cult and its ministers. Manufactured goods are especially destined for this expense and for presbyteries and the lodging of ministers.
Haiti. “Constitution of 1801.” Modern History of the Arab Countries by Vladimir Borisovich Lutsky 1969, 2004, www.marxists.org/history/haiti/1801/constitution.htm.
L'Ouverture, Toussaint. “Dictatorial Proclamation.” Marxists Internet Archive, 25 Nov. 2004, www.marxists.org/reference/archive/toussaint-louverture/1801/dictatorial.htm.
By Tristian de la Navarre