Taino Period Grand'Anse was part of the
Xaragua kasika with settlements including Mamey, the modern-day town of
Abricot. Abricot is still known today as "the Indian's Paradise."
French Period It is said by the locals that the capital city of Jérémie is named after a French fisherman who established himself in the area because of its isolation from the rest of the country. Due to its rather mountainous geography, Grand'Anse did not support many plantations, and was therefore populated largely by white and mixed-race communities with some of the best schools in the colony. Some slaveowners sent their children to schools in Grand'Anse instead of sending them back to France for education.
British Period The department was briefly under British control in 1793.
Haitian Period Haitian Revolution While under the control of
André Rigaud, more than 20 slaves died in prison in Jérémie. While their cause of death was not clear,
Toussaint Louverture used their deaths as an excuse to portray Rigaud as anti-black and ordered his then-lieutenant
Jean-Jacques Dessalines to attack the town. The battle was one of the most important scenes of the Haitian Revolution, with , an officer, becoming known as the "Liberator of the Grand'Anse." Grand'Anse was the first department to come under the control of the
Armée Indigène, and was captured from French troops on 4 August 1803.
Independence Férou is a signatory of the
Act of Independence of 1 January. The first Haitian Civil War split the country between a monarchy in the north and a republic in the south. Grand'Anse
de facto sided with the monarchy under the leadership of
Jean-Baptiste Perrier (under the alias Goman) who established a government in the
Macaya mountain chain known as the Kongo Kingdom. Fort Marfranc was constructed under order of Dessalines in order to protect Jérémie. It is the burial place of Férou. For 20 years the Kongo Kingdom based in Grand-Doco was financed by the self-declared king of the northern monarchy
Henri Christophe; Goman was titled duke. The department later fell under the control of the republic under the leadership of
Jean-Pierre Boyer. There were many battles between the national and liberal political parties in Grand'Anse in the 1800s.
Modern Period The Grand'Anse department used to be part of the
Sud department until 1962 when it was created. The department was reduced further in 2003, with the creation of a new department of
Nippes from the
Miragoâne and
Anse-à-Veau arrondissements. Before the 2003 split, it had a population of around 600,000 (2002). Afterward, the population at the 2003 Census was 337,516. The area of the department (after the split) is . ==Geography and environment==