History of Haiti
Columbus
 Arrived
in New World—1492
 Established base in Hispaniola
 Discovered gold
Spanish Settlers
 Rushed
to Hispaniola
 Forced Indians to mine gold
and raise food
 By 1530 only few hundred
Indians survived because of
harsh treatment
 Brought in slaves from Africa
Spanish Settlers
 Left
for more prosperous colonies
 By 1606 so few left that Spanish king
ordered those remaining to move
closer to main city (Santo Domingo)
Hispaniola, 1606
(Dutch map)
French, English, & Dutch
 Settled
N & W areas of island
 Many became pirates
– Attacked Spanish gold/silver
shipments
 Spain tried, unsuccessfully, to drive
them out
– In 1697, Spain recognized French
control of W 1/3 of island
Renamed St. Dominique
 French
colonists brought African slaves
 Developed large coffee & spice
plantations
 By 1788, 8 times
more slaves
(500,000) than
colonists
Toussaint’s Background
 Birth
?—1743 to 1746
 Plantation on St. Dominique
 Personal servant to humane
man
– Opportunity to learn
Toussaint’s Family
 Eldest
of 8 children
 Father had been African chief
 Parents & grandfather taught him:
– History
– Math
– Languages – Family traditions
– Philosophy – Christian faith
Struggle for Haitian
Independence
1789-1804
1789
 French
Revolution
 National Assembly issued
Declaration of the Rights of Man
– Free people of color in St.
Dominique did not get
promised citizenship
1790
 March
8
 National Assembly
– Voted to allow colonial whites
to determine Haiti’s political
life
– People of color could not vote
1791
 May
15
 National Assembly gave all free men
of color (with 2 free parents) full rights
 Forced white colonists to consider
separation from France
1791
 Aug.
22-23
 Slave revolt due to brutal slave
system
– Toussaint helped his master’s
family escape
 St. Dominique whites decided to
fight for freedom from France
1791
 Toussaint
joined fight
– Doctor for St. Dominique army
– Eventually a leader
(knowledge based on reading
works by Caesar & others)
1791
 Sept.
24
 Assembly revoked May 15th
decree (rights to free men of
color)
1792
 March
28
 Assembly reversed again
– All free men of color got full
citizen rights
1792
 April
4
 Louis XVI signed May 15th
decree
1793
 February
1
 France declared war on Britain
 Toussaint supported Spanish
– Spanish king would be secure
– French republic too insecure
1793
 August
 National
Convention abolished
slavery in St. Dominique
 By year’s end, Toussaint had
conquered north-central St.
Dominique for
Spain
1793
 Spain
and Britain
– Encouraged slaves to get
freedom from the French
– May have had informal
arrangement to divide colony
1794
 February
4
 France abolished slavery in
colonies
1794
 May
6
 Toussaint abandoned Spanish
– Spanish showed no signs of
keeping word on freeing slaves
– British had reinstated slavery
– If freedom was his goal, he had
no choice…support the French
1794
 He
joined French on promise of
freedom
– Helped his family flee
beforehand
– Became brigadier general
 Tide then swung in favor of
French
1794
 July
22
 Peace agreement between
France and Spain
1795
 Treaty
of Basel
– Spain ceded holdings to France
– Ceased hostilities
 Blacks who had remained loyal to
Spanish flocked to Toussaint’s
army
1796
 March
30
 Toussaint rescued French
commander from Mulatto-led
effort to depose him
– Made lieutenant governor of
St. Dominique
1797
 French
Convention made
Toussaint commander-in-chief
 He resolved to establish autonomous
black state
– Expelled French commissioner
– Made agreement with Britain to end
hostilities
– Sought loyalty of Mulattos
1799
 After
defeat of Spanish &
British, he moved toward
independence from France
 Wanted to be on equal footing
with France and other major
powers
1799
 War
of the Castes
 French sought Mulatto support to
retain dominion over colony
 Toussaint’s army fought Mulattos
1799
 Asked
US President John Adams for
help
– Adams wanted the arrangement
– US young, insecure nation
 The agreement…
– Adams sent arms and ships
– Toussaint would stop French from
using island as base
1799
 French
& US Revolutions inspired
him
– Some officers had fought with
French army in US War for Ind.
 French governor gave him nickname
L’Ouverture (break through enemy
lines)
1799
 Jefferson
– Referred to Toussaint’s army
as cannibals
– As President, reversed Adams’
St. Dominique policies
1799
 Nov.
9—Napoleon came to power
 Wanted:
– Toussaint out
– To reestablish slavery
1800
 May
 Toussaint
became military
dictator (efficiency)
 Worked on restoring order &
productivity
1800
 Needed
export-oriented economy
 Re-imposed plantation system
– Utilized non-slaves
– Basically relied on forced labor
1800
 Oct.
1
 Secret treaty of San Ildefonso
 Spain ceded Louisiana to
France
1801
 Colonial
Assembly approved
constitution
– Toussaint became GovernorGeneral-For-Life
 He “liberates” St. Dominique
– Never formally severs bond with
France
1801
 Constitution
gave Napoleon
reason for sending French troops
– French colony acting as
independent state
 Worried slave-holding nations
(Britain & US)
1801
 Napoleon
saw St. Dominique as
essential to French exploitation
of New World
 Napoleon is weakened
– Toussaint drained resources of
the colony
1802
 January
 Napoleon
sent troops to reenslave Blacks of St. Dominique
– Aided by Mulattos & Whites
 Two of Toussaint’s lieutenants
transferred their allegiance to
French
1802
 May
5
 Toussaint, recognizing his weak
position, surrendered
 French assured him that he
could retire quietly
1802
 June
 Toussaint
taken to France
 Forbade his soldiers from
retaliating against French
prisoners
1802
 French
commander,
Rochambeau, retreated
– Mutilated black prisoners and
left them to die slowly
1802
 Toussaint’s
troops had French
prisoners hanged
within sight of
French army
1802
 US
newspapers covered uprisings
with Toussaint as black Napoleon
– Intensified US slaveholders’
fear of US slave revolt
 Inspired British (on verge of
abolishing slave trade) to keep it
1802
 Other
Blacks who had sided with
French now turned against them
because of:
– Betrayal of Toussaint
– Napoleon’s restoration of
slavery in Martinique
1803
 April
7
 Died of neglect in a jail in the
Alps
1803
 April
30
 Louisiana Purchase
– Napoleon needed money to fight
British (began to consider sale on
April 10)
– Revolution in St. Dominique
crushed hope of American empire
1803
 May
12
 Britain declared war on France
– Aided Haitian rebels
– Gave French someone to
surrender to other than Blacks
1803
 November
 French
commander in St.
Dominique surrendered to British
– Never had gotten enough
reinforcements and supplies
1804
January 1
 Toussaint’s successor (one of his
lieutenants) declared St. Dominique the
independent country of Haiti
 Jean Jacques Dessalines became Haiti's
first emperor in 1804
– Gave it Arawak name Haiti
– World's first independent black
republic

1822—After Dominican Republic gains independence from Haiti