Deaths on October 17

Jean-Jacques Dessalines, Haitian commander and politician, Governor-General of Haiti (b. 1758)

Jean-Jacques Dessalines (Haitian Creole: Jan-Jak Desalin; French pronunciation: ​[ʒɑ̃ ʒak dɛsalin]; 20 September 1758 – 17 October 1806) was a leader of the Haitian Revolution and the first ruler of an independent Haiti under the 1805 constitution. Under Dessalines, Haiti became the first country to permanently abolish slavery. Initially regarded as governor-general, Dessalines was later named Emperor of Haiti as Jacques I (1804–1806) by generals of the Haitian Revolution Army and ruled in that capacity until being assassinated in 1806. He is regarded as one of the founding fathers of Haiti.Dessalines served as an officer in the French army when the colony was fending off Spanish and British incursions. Later he rose to become a commander in the revolt against France. As Toussaint Louverture's principal lieutenant, he led many successful engagements, including the Battle of Crête-à-Pierrot.

After the betrayal and capture of Toussaint Louverture in 1802, who died in prison in France, Dessalines became the leader of the revolution. He defeated a French army at the Battle of Vertières in 1803. Declaring Haiti an independent nation in 1804, Dessalines was chosen by a council of generals to assume the office of governor-general. In an act of genocide, he ordered the 1804 Haiti massacre of remaining white settlers in Haiti, resulting in the deaths of between 3,000 and 5,000 people. He excluded surviving Polish Legionnaires, who had defected from the French legion to become allied with the enslaved Africans. He granted them full citizenship under the constitution and classified them as Noir, the new ruling ethnicity. Tensions remained with the minority of mixed-race or free people of color, who had gained some education and property during the colonial period. In September 1804, Dessalines was proclaimed emperor by the Generals of the Haitian Revolution Army. He ruled in that capacity until being assassinated in 1806 by opponents who resisted his autocratic rule.