Many thanks to Andrew Walker, a PhD Candidate at the University of Michigan for bringing this document to my attention.

Jean-Jacques Dessalines, “Brevet,” 7 April 1804, New York Public Library, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Kurt Fisher Collection, Government Papers 1728-1825, Box 8B, Folder 10 (microfilm reel 6). The document has been digitized through the Slavery, Abolition, and Social Justice database (http://www.amdigital.co.uk/m-collections/collection/slavery-abolition-and-social-justice/detailed-information/ …