[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 100 (Monday, June 13, 2022)]
[House]
[Pages H5450-H5451]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   CARIBBEAN AMERICAN HERITAGE MONTH

  (Ms. PLASKETT asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. PLASKETT. Madam Speaker, in recognition of Caribbean American 
Heritage Month, I honor influential Haitian leader Henri Christophe.
  Born on the island of Grenada to immigrant parents, Christophe played 
a significant role in the American Revolution, serving as a sergeant in 
the French unit in Savannah, Georgia in 1780.
  Christophe was among the 545 Haitian free slaves known as the 
Fontages Legion, fighting for the freedom of men and women who desired 
to be freed from the shackles of oppression.
  After the French forces were defeated and Haiti was declared an 
independent republic in 1803, Christophe was elected president of the 
northern State of Haiti in 1807. He was responsible for the 
construction of Citadelle Henry in Haiti, introduced a monetary system 
based on gourds, declared Catholicism as a state religion, and 
established schools and hospitals, including a basic school of 
medicine.

[[Page H5451]]

  Let us honor the legacy of this great man who fought for the freedom 
of those who refused to do the same.

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