Haiti declaration of independence found in UK archives - CNN.com

INCREDIBLE Find!!! This line from the article gave me a rush: "Haiti's declaration is only the second of its kind in the world, the first being the U.S. Declaration of Independence"

Viv Ayiti (Long live Haiti)!!! Axé!


See also:

• How Ayiti (Haiti) Saved America
• Women Struggle for Economic Justice in Ayiti (Haiti)
• Haiti’s Founding Document Found in London-NYTimes (dap @ Ádìsá)

Haiti declaration of independence found in UK archives

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Student Julia Gaffield found document in Britain's National Archives
• Pamphlet, dated January 1, 1804, is only known record of Haitian independence declaration
• This declaration was sent to the British government by Haiti's first independent leader
• The first two pages are titled "Liberte ou La Mort," or "Freedom or Death."

London, England (CNN) -- A Canadian graduate student has found the only known printed copy of Haiti's Declaration of Independence, tucked away in Britain's National Archives, researchers said.

Duke University student Julia Gaffield found the eight-page pamphlet, dated January 1, 1804, while researching Haiti's early independence, Duke said in a statement Thursday.

The discovery sheds light on the early history of Haiti and the relations it had with its Caribbean neighbors at the time, Gaffield and Duke Professor Deborah Jenson said.

Gaffield is researching early 19th-century Haiti for her doctoral dissertation in history, Duke said. She did research in France, Haiti and Jamaica, where she saw a handwritten copy of the declaration in the papers of Jamaica's governor at the time, George Nugent.

It indicated there was a printed version somewhere, but it wasn't enclosed.

In late January, Gaffield went to London for research at the National Archives, where she found the printed declaration.

"I wasn't specifically looking for it, but I had an eye out for it because I knew it was missing," Gaffield said. "We figured there was an original somewhere, but didn't know if it still existed."

Read more @ Haiti declaration of independence found in UK archives - CNN.com


Watch video of grad student who discovered document here. (dap @ theo)


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tags: haiti, black history, black freedom movement