Taino period The department was part of the
Xaragua kasika under the leadership of Anacaona. There are many native settlements in the department notably around
Akaya,
Azuei Lake,
Yaguana, the
island of Guanabo and
Goava. It is understood that the Azuei Plaine region was used as a hunting ground for the natives. The island of Gonave is the last point of refuge for the Taino natives.
Spanish period One of the only Spanish settlements in the area was a destroyed Spanish town called Santa-Maria-de-la-Paz-Verdadera, the actual city of
Tabarre.
French period The earliest French settlement in the area was a hospital named Morne L'Hopital. In the second half of the 18th century, the French wanted to build a new colonial capital outside the troubled North. One of the suggestions was Petit-Goâve but later they chose the region of l'Hopital building which would become the City of
Port-au-Prince.
English period In 1793 the city fell to the British troops where they built the Fort-National until Toussaint gained it back for the French government.
Haitian period Haitian Revolution Many
maroon troops controlled the mountain around Port-au-Prince mainly
Romaine-la-Prophetesse and
Lamour Dérance and Cangé. Around 1772,
Romaine-la-Prophétesse acquired a plantation named Trou Coffy in the department (likely in what is now
Fondwa), becoming a prominent coffee grower and trader. In 1791 and 1792, during the early
Haitian Revolution, Romaine led some thirteen thousand slaves and rebels in freeing slaves from and burning the provinces plantations and briefly controlling two major cities,
Léogâne and
Jacmel. Ogé and Chavannes organized more than 300 blacks the Suisses to rebel against their so-called master. Caradeux the rough slave master in the region orderer their execution in
Omòl.In 1791, Pétion, Pinchinnat, Beauvais, and more rebelled against the French authority and reclaimed their civil rights. After the Battles of Pernier,
Croix-des-Bouquets, and
Mirebalais they gained a Concordat, although the slaves did not gain anything. In Arcahaie, on May 18, 1803, the generals of the North and West and Maroons met for a Congress and chose
Jean-Jacques Dessalines as commander of the
Armée Indigènes and chose the
Haiti Flag designed by
Catherine Flon.
Independence According to
Thomas Madiou's recount of the Haitian Revolution, the fight for
Port-au-Prince is one of the most important fights. After Gabart gained control of
St-Marc, the entire
Artibonite region was under the control of
Dessalines and the
Armée Indigène. In the south, only the major port town of
Les Cayes was still under French control. In the north,
Cap-Haitian and
Mole-St-Nicolas are still under French control.
Rochambeau anticipated that the next step for
Dessalines would be the conquer of Port-au-Prince, so he moved the capital of the colony back to
Cap-Francois which would be harder for the British Navy to put under blockade versus Port-au-Prince located in the
Gulf of Gonave. Leaving
Petite-Rivière-de-l'Artibonite on September 15, the general stopped in St-Marc by
Gabart and was in
Arcahaie by
Pétion on September 17. The same night for
Croix-des-Bouquets where he camped by Frère. Pétion continued to march toward
P-au-P and was by habitation Drouillard the next day. The French general of Croix-des-Bouquets Lux left the arrondissement to go help the French troops in P-au-P, he passed by Damien, Sarthe and the convoy was attacked by the Indigènes. By September 23,
Cangé left
Léogane, marched toward Port-au-Prince, and attacked the Fort-Bizoton in
Carrefour, Gabart was at the St-Joseph gate and Dessalines camped in Turgeau a neighborhood located east of the city. The city of Port-au-Prince is officially sieged by the Armée Indigénes. The very next day Pétion was located in the habitation Philippeaux and started bombarding the French troops. By October 5, an
aide-de-camp of
Lavalette brought a letter to Dessalines with the terms of their capitulation. Dessalines accepted with an exchange of prisoners and
adjuvant-general Bonnet came back to the Haitians and gave the French 4 days to leave the city. Thus on September 9 Port-au-Prince was freed from the French troops and Dessalines enter the city proudly with Pétion on his right and Gabart on his left.
Pétion,
Germain Frère and
Yayou are signatories of the
Haitian Declaration of Independence. Ouest was part of the Second Military Division of the West with Pétion as commander. Pétion build the twin forts Jacques and Alexandre on the order of Dessalines. On October 17, 1806, coming from
Dessalinesville,
Emperor Jacques 1st was ambushed and assassinated plunging the country into a civil war. His body was buried in St-Anne Cemetery. On January 2, 1904, he received state funerals and later on his body was moved to the Autel de la Patrie in Champs-de-Mars along with
Pétion's body. On January 1, 1807, only three years after the
Haitian Declaration of Independence, the northern troops fought the western troops in the Sibert Battle, where Pétion almost died.
Cabaret was the de facto border between the two states. Under
Jean-Pierre Boyer, fearing the return of the French boat, he ordered the construction of a city in the heights like Toussaint with
Ennery, Dessalines with
Dessalines and Christophe with
Milot and naming it after his mentor
Pétionville. Being the political center of the country, most of Haiti's political instability and economical fight happen in the Port-au-Prince area since 1749 until today. ==Geography==