| 1 | House Resolution |
| 2 | A resolution recognizing the 200th anniversary of Haitian |
| 3 | Independence and declaring January 1, 2004, "Republic of |
| 4 | Haiti Day" in Florida. |
| 5 |
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| 6 | WHEREAS, a self-educated man of African ancestry and a |
| 7 | former slave, Toussaint L'Ouverture joined the Haitian slave |
| 8 | revolt, a 1791 black slave uprising against the French colonial |
| 9 | regime, and became its organizational genius, and |
| 10 | WHEREAS, although promoted to the post of general by the |
| 11 | French in 1795 for his role in effecting the withdrawal of |
| 12 | British militia from the island, in 1801 Brigadier General |
| 13 | Toussaint L'Ouverture was challenged by the forces of Napoleon |
| 14 | Bonaparte in a move that soon led to a truce but that resulted |
| 15 | in Toussaint L'Ouverture's being duplicitously apprehended and |
| 16 | ferried to France, where he died in a dungeon on April 7, 1803, |
| 17 | and |
| 18 | WHEREAS, on November 18, 1803, in a decisive battle at |
| 19 | Vertieres, Cap Haitian, the slaves, though ill-equipped and |
| 20 | untrained, defeated the French Army, then reputed to be the best |
| 21 | in the world, and that incontrovertible victory led to the |
| 22 | abolition of slavery and to the declaration of independence of |
| 23 | the Republic of Haiti; and on January 1, 1804, the island nation |
| 24 | of Haiti became the first black Republic in the world and the |
| 25 | second nation in the Western Hemisphere, after the United |
| 26 | States, to win complete independence, and |
| 27 | WHEREAS, because of the success of the Haitian Revolution, |
| 28 | Napoleon had no choice but to abandon his plan to secure a |
| 29 | stronghold in Louisiana from which to invade the Thirteen |
| 30 | States, and America was left to pursue its democratic destiny in |
| 31 | peace and, through the Louisiana Purchase, to extend its |
| 32 | territory westward into new frontiers, NOW, THEREFORE, |
| 33 |
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| 34 | Be It Resolved by the House of Representatives of the State of |
| 35 | Florida: |
| 36 |
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| 37 | That the Members of the House of Representatives |
| 38 | acknowledge their kindred spirit with all people of Haitian |
| 39 | descent in their fierce love of freedom and join them in the |
| 40 | joyful celebration of the 200th anniversary of Haitian |
| 41 | independence. |
| 42 | BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the House of Representatives |
| 43 | declares January 1, 2004, "Republic of Haiti Day" in Florida. |