1st Senate of Haiti

The 1st Senate of Haiti was organized from the Constituent Assembly which drafted the 1806 Constitution. After the elected president and previous Provisional Chief Executive of Haiti Henri Christophe took up arms against the Senate, the Senate retaliated by stripping power from Christophe and electing Alexandre Pétion as president of Haiti in early 1807.

The 24-member Senate was the first legislative body in post-revolutionary Haiti, and was designed by Pétion to be a powerful body. The members were nominated by Pétion from regions of the country for affirmation by the members, with a third each being selected for nine, six and three-year terms. The Senate was suspended until 1811 due to the power struggle which split Haiti between Pétion and Christophe. Those senators who remained in office representing western and southern Haiti voted to re-elect Pétion to the presidency on March 9, 1811 and again in 1815. However, Pétion tired of the Senate, and successfully pushed for a significant revision to the 1806 Constitution in 1816, including authorizing him to serve as president for life, as well as the transformation of the unicameral Senate to the first bicameral Parliament.^[1][2]