The Second Empire of Haiti, officially known as the Empire of Haiti (, ), was a state which existed from 1849 to 1859. It was established by the then-President, former Lieutenant General and Supreme Commander of the Presidential Guards under President Riché, Faustin Soulouque, who, inspired by Napoleon, declared himself Emperor Faustin I on 26 August 1849 at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption in Port-au-Prince.
Faustin's unsuccessful invasions (in part due to the diplomatic interference of the United States and Spain) in an attempt to reconquer the Dominican Republic (in 1849, 1850, 1855 and 1856), which had declared independence from Haiti in 1844, undermined his control over the country.
In 1858, a revolution began, led by General Fabre Geffrard, Duke of Tabara. In December of that year, Geffrard defeated the Imperial Army and seized control of most of the country. As a result, the Emperor abdicated his throne on 15 January 1859. Refused aid by the French Legation, Faustin was taken into exile aboard a British warship on 22 January 1859. General Geffrard succeeded him as President. Soon afterwards, the Emperor and his family arrived in Kingston, Jamaica, where they remained for several years. Allowed to return to Haiti, Faustin died at Petit-Goâve on 6 August 1867 and was buried at Fort Soulouque.
End of the republic
On 1 March 1847, General Faustin Soulouque was elected President of the Republic by the Senate and succeeded President Riché, who died in office. During his tenure, the latter had acted as a straw man for the boyerist ruling class, who immediately sought a replacement. His attention quickly turned to Faustin Soulouque, in whom most saw someone a little withdrawn and ignorant. The 65-year-old seemed like a malleable candidate and was therefore driven to accept the role that was being offered to him. He was sworn in on 2 March 1847.
At first, Faustin seemed to play the role of his puppet appropriately. He kept the former president's ministers in office and continued the program of his predecessor. However, it was not long before he got rid of his followers and became the absolute master of the Haitian state. According to Mark Kurlansky's book A Continent Of Islands: Searching For The Caribbean Destiny “he organized a private militia, the Zinglins, and had all those who opposed him arrested and massacred, especially the mulattoes, particularly the mulattoes, consolidating thus its power over the government ”. This process, which included a massacre of mulattoes in Port-au-Prince on 16 April 1848, culminated in the Senate and Chamber of Deputies where he was proclaimed Emperor of Haiti on 26 August 1849.
Soulouque also invited the black inhabitants of Louisiana to emigrate to Haiti. An Afro-Creole native of New Orleans who had grown up in Haiti, Emile Desdunes, worked as Soulouque's agent and, in 1859, arranged the free transportation to Haiti of at least 350 desperate people. Many of these refugees would return to Louisiana later.
Soulouque's reign was marked by violent repression against the opposition and numerous assassinations. The fact that Soulouque was openly a follower of the African religion of voodoo contributed to his reputation for being violent. During his reign, Soulouque was affected by prejudice, hatred and discrimination against the Creoles (the same sentiments obviously reflected).
Empire
Coronation
On 25 August 1849, Soulouque was proclaimed emperor by Parliament under the name of Faustin I. His coronation took place on 18 April 1852, in a ruinous splendor for the finances of this country, and the payment of the debt had to be interrupted. Soulouque paid £2,000 for his crown and £30,000 for the rest of the accessories (according to Sir Spenser St John, British chargé d'affaires in Haiti in the 1860s, on his account: "Hayti ou La République noire", pp. 95 –96).
Gustave d'Alaux describes this fact in his book Soulouque et son empire: “His imperial majesty summoned the principal merchant of Port-au-Prince one morning and ordered him to immediately order in Paris a costume, identical to that of Napoleon's coronation. Faustin I also commissioned a crown, one for the empress, a scepter, a globe, a hand of justice, a throne and all other accessories, such as those used during Napoleon's coronation. "
In December 1849, Faustin married his lifelong partner, Adélina Lévêque. On 18 April 1852, in the capital, Port-au-Prince, the emperor and empress were crowned in a huge and sumptuous ceremony, like the coronation of the emperor of the French.