The 1st Legislature of the Haitian Parliament held office from April 22, 1817, to March 31, 1822. It was the first bicameral parliament, introduced by the Revised Constitution of 1806 under President Alexandre Pétion. It succeeded the 1st unicameral Senate of Haiti, adding the 29-member "Chamber of Representatives of the Communes" as the lower house. Despite the expansion of the parliament, Pétion's also revised the constitution to designate himself as president for life, and the Senate approved his designation of Jean-Pierre Boyer as his successor.[1] In addition, the revision adjusted the 24 Senate members' terms entirely to nine-year terms, and the Chamber of Commons regularly accepted Pétion's slates of nominations for appointments to the Senate. Initially a supporter of democracy, Pétion found the constraints imposed on him by the senate onerous and suspended the legislature in 1818.[2] It was reconstituted following Boyer's succession to the presidency on 30 March 1818.
The parliament only governed southern Haiti until 1820, when the northern Kingdom of Haiti was overthrown in a coup and reintegrated under Boyer's government in Port-au-Prince.
