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Here is a picture as President Michel Martelly is Commemorating the death of Jean-Jacques Dessalines.

Jean-Jacques Dessalines defeated a French army at the 'Battle of Vertières' in 1803. On January 1, 1804, he named 'Saint-Domingue' as 'Haiti' and declared Haiti as an independent state proclaiming himself as the governor-general. The following September, he adopted the title of "Emperor Jacques I". Many historians consider him as the most ferocious leader in Haiti's history; he was cruel to the extreme. Between February and April 1804, he killed between 3,000 to 5,000 white minorities as an act of cleansing every French taint. He used to consider Europeans as cannibals and wanted them to tremble when they approach the Hispaniola coasts and his name horrifies all those who were slavers, and tyrants. However, there are some historians who believe that Dessalines became cruel because of the treatments he and other slaves received from their French masters. His message to the future generation of the country was: "I have performed my duty; I enjoy my own approbation. For me that is sufficient."

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