Today’s ephemeris: national holidays, events marking the history of Haiti, proverbs… the online agency Juno7 brings you a refresher of your memory.
May 1st: agriculture and labor festival
The Agricultural Festival is among the first four national holidays of Haiti (Imperial Constitution of 1805: General provisions, art. 27) without however setting a date. The Constitution of 1816 was the first to retain the date of May 1 for this holiday (Constitution of 1816, article 34). The origin of Labor Day dates back to the year 1889 when it was decided, during an international meeting of socialists, that May 1 would be dedicated to the masses of workers.
This date was chosen to commemorate the dramatic demonstrations of the first days of May 1886 in Chicago (USA). For more than two decades, workers demanded an eight-hour work schedule. Labor Day is celebrated today all over the world. The United States and Canada remain the very rare countries not to observe this day. Their Labor Day is celebrated on the first Monday in September. The Constitution of 1946 associated it with agriculture which has always been celebrated on May 1 (article 139).
May 1, 1875: death of generals Momplaisir Pierre and Birmard Brice Held as suspects by the government of President Domingue who tried to arrest them, they tried to defend themselves with weapons in their hands. Wounded, Brice died in the Spanish consulate. Momplaisir Pierre committed suicide instead of allowing himself to be apprehended.
May 1, 1826: ratification of the Rural Code of Jean-Pierre Boyer by the Senate
Ratified by the House of Commons on April 21, 1825, this code signed by the president on May 6 reduced the farmer to the state of serf.
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