1492 to 1804
From Hispaniola to Haiti
Vast like Belgium (27,750 km2), the present republic of Haiti is the heiress of the French colony of Santo Domingo.
Located in the Greater Antilles, it occupies the western part of the island of Hispaniola, deformation of the name Isla española that had been given to him by his discoverer Christopher Columbus on December 6, 1492.
West Indies
Christopher Columbus founded Hispaniola
The first permanent settlement in Hispaniola, named Nueva Isabela in honor of Queen Isabella of Castile, was destroyed in 1502 by a cyclone and rebuilt under the name of Santo Domingo de Guzman , this time tribute to Saint Dominic. Hence the names of Santo Domingo and Dominican Republican , the latter sharing today the island with the Republic of Haiti.
The name of Haiti comes from Ayiti , or Land of high mountains , name given to the island by its first inhabitants, peaceful Tainos Indians , from the group of Arawaks . All disappeared tragically in a few years, victims of European colonization (forced labor, persecutions, diseases) and even more of the invasion of the terrible anthropophagous Indians of the Caribbean group from neighboring islands.
The Spanish settle
In 1508 Santo Domingo became the seat of the Viceroyalty of the Americas and the center of Spanish colonization.
Eager to get rich as soon as possible before returning home, the first Spaniards receive land with the right to work the Indians who live there. This is the principle of repartimiento . Gold mining in the subsoil and rivers is initially very productive, to provide 500,000 ECU gold a year to Spain.
African slaves replace Indians in plantations and gold deposits.
Indian survivors and blacks do not fail to revolt. This is how a cacique (Indian chief) named Henry hides in the mountains manages to maintain its independence for 13 years. It is the beginning of marronnage , name given to the escape of slaves in the forest (of the Spanish cimarrón , which means fugitive black slave) .
The aboriginal population disappears in a few decades. Some Indians merge with newcomers from Europe and Africa.
In 1535, Governor Nicolas Ovando brought sugar cane plants from the Canary Islands and encouraged their planting to compensate for the depletion of gold deposits.
Filibusters deliver the island to France
In the seventeenth century, French buccaneers began to settle on the neighboring island of Tortoise. They themselves pompously denominate the "Brothers of the Coast" . They are hunters. They are also pirates and privateers who attack Spanish galleons. Their presence (they are close to 3,000) attracts the attention of Richelieu. On August 31, 1640, French buccaneers expelled their English rivals Turtle and landed on the north of the island of Hispaniola.
Under French rule, plantations thrive in the tropical climate of the island: coffee, tobacco, cocoa, indigo ... But sugar cane (real white gold of the eighteenth century), tends to prevail over others cultures. A governor, Bertrand d'Ogeron, brought European "hired" to work in plantations alongside African slaves and under the same conditions. Unlike Africans, these men nicknamed "Bas-Rouges" are paid and released after 36 months. But the planters are not long in giving up this labor force that does not support the tropical climate.
In 1697, King Louis XIV was legally ceded the western part of Hispaniola by the Treaty of Ryswick which ended the war of the League of Augsburg. This acquisition marks the true beginning of France's colonial ambitions.
A successful colony
From its official name "coasts and islands of Santo Domingo in America under the wind" , the colony quickly became the most prosperous French overseas possessions thanks to its plantations of coffee and sugar cane.
On the eve of the French Revolution, Santo Domingo accounts for nearly 3/4 of world sugar trade! In 1788, its foreign trade, valued at 214 million francs, is higher than that of the United States.
The colony has nearly 600,000 inhabitants, including 40,000 emancipated, mostly mulattoes, and 500,000 black slaves.
The freedmen do not have the same rights as the colonists but enjoy a certain ease and sometimes even own slaves.
The majority of slaves were born in Africa. They were introduced into the island as part of the slave trade , the name given to the slave trade practiced by Europeans, at a staggering rate of 30,000 per year in the years preceding the Revolution.
At the same time, the Spanish part of the island, Santo Domingo , is wasting away and has only a few tens of thousands of inhabitants.
From insurrection to independence
The fate of the island is turned upside down by the French Revolution. On May 15, 1791, in Paris, the National Assembly timidly grants the right to vote to certain free colored men. This half-measure worries the white settlers of Santo Domingo who are thinking of proclaiming their independence. She does not satisfy the freedmen any more. One and the other clash violently.
The commissioners of the French Republic Sonthonax and Polverel resigned themselves to proclaiming the general freedom of slaves. Seeing this, some planters call the English to help them.
Fortunately for France, the black leader Toussaint Louverture leaves the Spanish camp for that of revolutionary France. With the rank of general, he fights the English and hunt them from the island. Prosperity is not long in coming back. It is true that the new master of the island forces his brothers of color to work as wage earners in the plantations of which they were formerly slaves!
On July 8, 1801, Toussaint Louverture proclaims the autonomy of the island and is named Governor General for life of the new Republic. The First Consul does not taste this initiative. He is arming a powerful expedition to put an end to it. His failure will allow the successors of Toussaint Louverture (Jean-Jacques Dessalines) to proclaim their independence for good on January 1, 1804.
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