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Dec 1, 1492
Columbus Comes
December 1492: Christopher Columbus discovers Haiti and calls it La Isla Española( or “The Spanish Island”). The spanish come and start to enslave the native Taino and Ciboney tribes. The Spanish than forced them to mine gold for the Spanish. -
Period: Dec 1, 1492 to
Slavery
From then on, the indigenous people were forced to be slaves, mining gold for the Spanish, until the late 16th century. The slave were ravaged by european diseases and brutal working conditions. (1492 to about the early 1650s) -
French Rule
In 1650s, the French came to Haiti.The French created permanent settlements on Haiti. One of which was called Port-De-Paix and was created in 1655 -
Order of Society
By 1789, the population of the French colony had grown to 556,000, mostly slaves and colonists, but also affranchis (free mulattoes or blacks). Affranchis were treated better that slaves, but also looked down on by whites, and were discriminated. The aspirations of the affranchis became a major factor in the colony’s struggle for independence. In this time many slaves escaped to the mountains and became a group called the Maroons and fought guerrilla battles against the colonial militia. -
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Conflicts Raging
In May 1791, an act was passed to allow wealthy affranchis to have citizenship. The European settlers largely ignored it and in two months fighting had broken out, slaves allied with the affranchis, to stop the revolt, the french gave all affranchis citizenship, but the nation stayed in separate factions. In the end France sent over a commissioner to keep order, Léger-Félicité Sonthonax, in 1793. -
A Series of Conflicts
Starting in early 1790s, a series of conflicts happened. Among these were affranchis getting frustrated at the racist society, and the French Revolution causing turmoil in the colonies. These conflicts started the Haitian Revolution. -
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New Ruler and Napolean
In the late 1790s, Toussaint Louverture, a military leader and former slave, gained control of many areas of Haiti and had the support of the French. He had an allegiance with france and named himself governor of Haiti for life in May 1801. Napoleon, wishing to bring back european rule over Haiti sends his brother Gen. Charles Leclerc with a group of armed men to take back Haiti. The French betrayed Toussaint Louverture and threw him in prison in France -
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Revolt Against French Rule
Jean-Jacques Dessalines and Henry Christophe brought a black army against the French in 1802. They thought Napoleon was planning to bring back slavery. In November 1803 the commander of the French troops surrendered. -
Independence
On January 1st, 1804, the island became independent from European rulers. They took the name Haiti, which was derived from a tribal word. Many of the Caribbean islands still under European rule ostracized Haiti fearing that more slave revolts would happen. -
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What Happened After
In October 1804 Dessalines became known as Emperor Jacques l, but was killed in October 1806. In 1811 Henry Christophe became King Henry l but committed suicide in 1820 when mutinous soldiers . In 1825 France recognized Haiti as a nation and only in 1877 did the French truly allow Haiti to be a independent nation.
