Following the successful slave revolt against French rule, Jean-Jacques Dessalines formally declared Haiti's independence on January 1, 1804. Haiti became the world's first black-led republic and the first independent Caribbean state. The name 'Haiti' was restored from the indigenous Taíno word for 'land of high mountains.' This event was a radical challenge to the world order, as it was the only successful state-founding slave revolution in history. However, the new nation faced immediate isolation and was later forced to pay a massive 'independence debt' to France to compensate former slaveholders, a burden that hampered Haiti's economy for over a century. Despite this, the revolution served as a powerful inspiration for abolitionist movements and anti-colonial struggles across the globe.