Grad student uncovers Haitian founding document
DURHAM, NC
The university said Thursday that 26-year-old history student
Julia Gaffield discovered the yellowing document in February while
combing through papers in Great Britain's National Archives in
London.
Haiti's revolutionary leaders issued the declaration on Jan. 1,
1804, after they fought to overthrow French colonial rule and
slavery, creating the world's first black republic.
But in the following years, the country didn't preserve a
printed version of the declaration. However, the British colonial
governor of Jamaica had obtained a copy of the declaration printed
hours after it was issued. This copy was the one Gaffield
eventually found.
