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Nov 21, 1492
Columbus Discovers and Claims Land for Spain
Christopher Columbus traveled over to the Americas. There he discovered new land. This land was claimed for Spain at the time. -
French and British Colonization
The French and British came and took over this area to take advantage of the long coastline to attack Spanish ships. After a nine years battle over the land, the French took over and their main colony, Saint Domingue, became the most profitable colony in the Americas, while British and Spanish went elsewhere. The French and Saint-Domingue dominated the European markets with the sales of sugar and coffee. They also quickly became the leading consumer of the slave labor. -
Slave Escapes
With the French colony of Saint-Domingue still being the leading consumers of slave labor, slave population outnumbered free population by four to one. This made it very difficult for plantation owners to control their slaves as they would frequently attempt escapes and uprisings. Maroons(runaway slaves) formed secret colonies that they self-governed. -
Slave Revolts
The slaves that had escaped joined with other rebels to go against the French. This slave revolt caused all of the colonizing countries to worry and have problems. The French had to regain control of their colony, the British were worried that their territories would soon have its own slave rebellion, and the Spanish hoped to reunify the country as a whole and get the nation back under control. -
Saint-Domingue Rebels Join The Spanish
The rebels and escaped slaves from Saint-Domingue joined the Spanish to defeat the French and British, with their leader being an educated, escaped slave Toussaint Louverture. The French National Assembly eventually passed laws that set free the Saint-Domingue slaves. -
Louverture Takes Control
After about 7 years, Louverture switched to fight for the French and they defeated the British. Louverture also took control of Saint-Domingue and also defeated a group of escaped mulattoes, a group of people who have an ancestry with mixed races who ruled a portion of Saint-Domingue. This strengthened and expanded the rule for the French. -
Louverture Constitution
After regaining control, Louverture instituted a constitution that declared the colony to become self-governed and have Louverture remain its governor. This also allowed force labor since slavery was abolished which helped the French with their plantations and market sales. -
Napoleon Sends Invasion Force to Haiti
This started the fight between the formal French army and the rebels at Saint Domingue. Before this event, the slaves were rebelling only against the French colonists. Napoleon sent French troops to try and end the rebellion which was not immediately successful. -
Haiti Becomes Independent
Haiti declared itself to be an independent nation for the first time in about 205 years. It was the second nation to become independent in the Americas, second to the USA. Haiti was not recognized as independent by other nations for decades later due to its poor state. -
Problems After Declared Independence
In the years after Haiti declared independence, many new problems occurred. With these continuous issues, an eastern portion of Haiti broke off and became their own nation, known as the Dominican Republic, due to the internal leadership and government conflict of Haiti. These issues were the main cause for Haiti not being immediately recognized by surrounding countries as independent, although through these subsequent years Haiti remained independent.
