Importance of King Henri Christophe

King Henri Christophe begins as a chef in Cap, a free black man. He joins the military. After the successful revolt that made Haiti the first free black country in the New World, Henri Christophe becomes king. He rules from an ornate and European-style palace called Sans Souci. Henri Christophe uses enslaves the peasants of northern Haiti for twelve years to build an immense fortress rising up atop a mountain peak, for his army to retreat to in case of invasion from Europe. When the people who have come to hate his tyranny revolt, King Henri Christophe shoots himself. His body is entombed in mortar in his fortress.