Pre-Columbian era doms of Hispaniola at the time of the arrival of Christopher Columbus The island of Hispaniola, of which Haiti occupies the western three-eighths, In Taíno society the largest unit of political organization was led by a
cacique, or chief, as the Europeans understood them. At the time of European contact, Hispaniola was divided among five 'caciquedoms': the Magua in the northeast, the Marien in the northwest, the Jaragua in the southwest, the Maguana in the central regions of Cibao, and the Higüey in the southeast. Taíno cultural artifacts include
cave paintings in several locations in the country. These have become national symbols of Haiti and tourist attractions. Modern-day
Léogâne, started as a French colonial town in the southwest, is beside the former capital of the caciquedom of
Xaraguá. According to the Puerto Rican historian
Cayetano Coll y Toste, the German explorer
Carl Friedrich Philipp von Martius was the first person to describe the
Indigenous peoples of Haiti as "Taini" (
Taino). The archaeologist
L. Antonio Curet has written that Martius described these peoples as "Taini...perhaps by mistaking the qualifier for an ethnonym".
Colonial era Spanish rule (1492–1625) of
Christopher Columbus landing on
Hispaniola, engraving by
Theodor de Bry Navigator
Christopher Columbus landed in Haiti on 6 December 1492, in an area that he named
Môle-Saint-Nicolas, and claimed the island for the
Crown of Castile. On 25 December his ship the
Santa María ran aground near the present site of
Cap-Haïtien. Columbus left 39 men on the island, who founded the settlement of
La Navidad. Relations with the native peoples were initially good; however the settlers were later killed by the Taíno. The sailors carried endemic Eurasian infectious diseases, causing epidemics that killed a large number of native people. The first recorded
smallpox epidemic in the Americas erupted on Hispaniola in 1507. Their numbers were further reduced by the harshness of the ''
system, in which the Spanish forced natives to work in gold mines and plantations. and gave legal framework to .'' The natives were brought to these sites to work in specific plantations or industries. As the Spanish re-focused their colonization efforts on the greater riches of mainland Central and South America, Hispaniola became reduced largely to a trading and refueling post. As a result
piracy became widespread, encouraged by European powers hostile to Spain such as France (based on
Île de la Tortue) and England. In 1697
France and
Spain settled their hostilities on the island by way of the
Treaty of Ryswick of 1697, which divided Hispaniola between them. The French set about creating sugar and coffee plantations, worked by vast numbers of those enslaved imported from Africa, and Saint-Domingue grew to become their richest colonial possession, The French settlers were outnumbered by enslaved persons by almost 10 to 1. In the north of the island, those enslaved were able to retain many ties to African cultures, religion and language; these ties were continually being renewed by newly imported Africans. Some West Africans in slavery held on to their traditional
Vodou beliefs by secretly syncretizing it with Catholicism. Saint-Domingue has been described as one of the most brutally efficient slave colonies; at the end of the 18th century it was supplying two-thirds of Europe's tropical produce while one-third of newly imported Africans died within a few years. Many enslaved persons died from diseases such as
smallpox and
typhoid fever. They had low birth rates, and there is evidence that some women aborted fetuses rather than give birth to children within the bonds of slavery. The colony's environment also suffered, as forests were cleared to make way for plantations and the land was overworked so as to extract maximum profit for French plantation owners. The United States oscillated between supporting or not supporting Louverture and the emerging country of Haiti, depending on who was President of the US.
George Washington, who was a slave holder and isolationist, kept the United States neutral, although private US citizens at times provided aid to French
planters trying to put down the revolt.
John Adams, a vocal opponent of both slavery and Revolutionary France, fully supported the slave revolt by providing diplomatic recognition, financial support, munitions and warships (including the
USS Constitution) beginning in 1798. This support ended in 1801 when
Thomas Jefferson, another
slave-holding president, took office and recalled the US Navy. With slavery abolished, Louverture pledged allegiance to France, and he fought off the British and Spanish forces who had taken advantage of the situation and had invaded Saint-Domingue. The Spanish were later forced to cede their part of the island to France under the terms of the
Peace of Basel in 1795, uniting the island under one government. However, an insurgency against French rule broke out in the east, and in the west there was fighting between Louverture's forces and the free people of color led by
André Rigaud in the
War of the Knives (1799–1800). The United States' support for the blacks in the war contributed to their victory over the mulattoes. More than 25,000 whites and free blacks left the island as refugees. in French service and the
Haitian rebels. The majority of Polish soldiers eventually deserted the French army and fought alongside the Haitians. After Louverture created a separatist constitution and proclaimed himself governor-general for life,
Napoléon Bonaparte in 1802
sent an expedition of 20,000 soldiers and as many sailors under the command of his brother-in-law
Charles Leclerc to reassert French control. The French achieved some victories, but within a few months most of their army had died from
yellow fever. Ultimately more than 50,000 French troops died in an attempt to retake the colony, including 18 generals. The French managed to capture Louverture, transporting him to France for trial. He was imprisoned at
Fort de Joux, where he died in 1803 of exposure and possibly
tuberculosis. The enslaved persons, along with free and allies, continued their fight for independence, led by generals
Jean-Jacques Dessalines,
Alexandre Pétion and
Henry Christophe. Under the overall command of Dessalines, the Haitian armies avoided open battle and instead conducted a successful
guerrilla campaign against the Napoleonic forces, working with diseases such as yellow fever to reduce the numbers of French soldiers. Later that year France withdrew its remaining 7,000 troops from the island, and Napoleon gave up his idea of re-establishing a North American empire, selling
Louisiana (New France) to the United States in the
Louisiana Purchase. Throughout the revolution, an estimated 20,000 French troops succumbed to yellow fever, while another 37,000 were killed in action, exceeding the total French soldiers killed in action across various 19th-century colonial campaigns in Algeria, Mexico, Indochina, Tunisia, and West Africa, which resulted in approximately 10,000 French soldiers killed in action combined. The British sustained 45,000 dead. Additionally, 200,000 Haitians died. In the process, Dessalines became arguably the most successful military commander in the struggle against Napoleonic France.
Independent Haiti First Empire (1804–1806) The independence of Saint-Domingue was proclaimed under the native name 'Haiti' by Dessalines on 1 January 1804 in
Gonaïves, and he was proclaimed "Emperor for Life" as Emperor Jacques I by his troops. Dessalines at first offered protection to the white planters and others. However, once in power, he ordered the
genocide of nearly all the remaining whites; between January and April 1804, 3,000 to 5,000 whites were killed, including those who had been friendly and sympathetic to the black population. Only
three categories of white people were selected out as exceptions and spared:
Polish soldiers, some of whom had deserted from the French army and fought alongside the Haitian rebels; a small group of
German colonists invited to the north-west region; and a group of medical doctors and professionals. Reportedly, people with connections to officers in the Haitian army were also spared, as well as the women who agreed to marry non-white men. Fearful of the potential impact the slave rebellion could have in the
slave states, U.S. President Jefferson refused to recognize the new republic. The Southern politicians who were a powerful voting bloc in the American Congress prevented U.S. recognition for decades until they withdrew in 1861 to form the
Confederacy. The revolution led to a wave of emigration. In 1809, 9,000 refugees from Saint-Domingue, both white planters and people of color, settled
en masse in
New Orleans, doubling the city's population, having been expelled from their initial refuge in Cuba by Spanish authorities. The plantation system was re-established in Haiti, albeit for wages; however, many Haitians were marginalized and resented the heavy-handed manner in which this was enforced in the new nation's politics. Pétion's republic was less absolutist, and he initiated a series of land reforms which benefited the peasant class. Meanwhile, the French, who had managed to maintain a precarious control of eastern Hispaniola, were
defeated by insurgents led by
Juan Sánchez Ramírez, with the area returning to Spanish rule in 1809 following the
Battle of Palo Hincado.
Unification of Hispaniola (1821–1844) Beginning in 1821, President
Jean-Pierre Boyer, also an
homme de couleur and successor to Pétion, reunified the island following the suicide of Christophe. After
Santo Domingo declared its independence from Spain on 30 November 1821, Boyer invaded, seeking to unite the entire island by force and to end slavery in Santo Domingo. Struggling to revive the agricultural economy to produce commodity crops, Boyer passed the Code Rural, which denied peasant laborers the right to leave the land, enter the towns, or start farms or shops of their own, causing much resentment as most peasants wished to have their own farms rather than work on plantations. Starting in 1824, more than 6,000
African Americans migrated to Haiti, with transportation paid by an American philanthropic group similar in function to the
American Colonization Society and its efforts in
Liberia. Many found the conditions too harsh and returned to the United States. In July 1825, King
Charles X of France, during a period of restoration of the French monarchy, sent a fleet to reconquer Haiti. Under pressure, Boyer agreed to a treaty by which France formally recognized the independence of the state in exchange for
a payment of 150 million
francs, or $560 million in today's dollars. By an order of 17 April 1826, the King of France renounced his rights of sovereignty and formally recognized the independence of Haiti. The enforced payments to France hampered Haiti's economic growth for years, exacerbated by the fact that many
Western states continued to refuse formal diplomatic recognition to Haiti; Britain recognized Haitian independence in 1833, and the United States not until 1862. Pierrot's most pressing duty was to check the incursions of the Dominicans, who were harassing the Haitian troops. On 1 January 1846, Pierrot announced a fresh campaign to reimpose Haitian suzerainty over eastern Hispaniola, but his officers and men greeted this fresh summons with contempt. Emboldened by the sudden retreat of the Haitian army, the Dominicans counter-attacked. Their flotilla went as far as
Dame-Marie on the west coast of Haiti, which they plundered and set on fire.
Late 19th century–early 20th century The period following Soulouque's overthrow down to the turn of the century was a turbulent one for Haiti, with repeated bouts of political instability. Geffrard was overthrown in a coup in 1867, as was his successor,
Sylvain Salnave, in 1869. Under the Presidency of
Michel Domingue (1874–1876) relations with the Dominican Republic were dramatically improved by the signing of a treaty, in which both parties acknowledged the independence of the other. Some modernisation of the economy and infrastructure also occurred in this period, especially under the presidencies of
Lysius Salomon (1879–1888) and
Florvil Hyppolite (1889–1896). Haiti's relations with outside powers were often strained. In 1889 the United States attempted to
force Haiti to permit the building of a naval base at
Môle Saint-Nicolas, which was firmly resisted by President Hyppolite. In 1892 the German government supported suppression of the reform movement of
Anténor Firmin, and in 1897 the Germans used
gunboat diplomacy to intimidate and then humiliate the Haitian government of President
Tirésias Simon Sam (1896–1902) during the
Lüders Affair. In the first decades of the 20th century, Haiti experienced great political instability and was heavily in debt to France, Germany and the United States. A series of short lived presidencies came and went:
Pierre Nord Alexis was forced from power in 1908, as was his successor
François C. Antoine Simon in 1911;
Cincinnatus Leconte (1911–1912) was killed in a (possibly deliberate) explosion at the National Palace;
Michel Oreste (1913–1914) was ousted in a coup, as was his successor
Oreste Zamor in 1914.
United States occupation (1915–1934) fighters against the
U.S. occupation of Haiti, Germany increased its influence in Haiti in this period, with a small community of German settlers wielding disproportionate influence in Haiti's economy. In 1915, Haiti President
Vilbrun Guillaume Sam sought to strengthen his tenuous rule by a mass execution of 167 political prisoners. Outrage at the killings led to riots, and Sam was captured and killed by a lynch mob. Fearing possible foreign intervention or the emergence of a government led by the anti-American Haitian politician
Rosalvo Bobo, President
Woodrow Wilson sent U.S. Marines into Haiti in July 1915. The , under Rear Admiral
Caperton, arrived in Port-au-Prince in an attempt to restore order and protect U.S. interests. Within days, the Marines had taken control of the capital city and its banks and customs house. The Marines declared martial law and severely censored the press. Within weeks, pro-U.S. Haitian President
Philippe Sudré Dartiguenave was installed, and a new constitution was written that was favorable to the interests of the United States. The constitution (written by future US President
Franklin D. Roosevelt) included a clause that allowed, for the first time, foreign ownership of land in Haiti, which was bitterly opposed by the Haitian legislature and citizenry. gaining Péralte the status of national martyr. The occupation improved some of Haiti's infrastructure and centralized power in Port-au-Prince. Haitian traditionalists based in rural areas were highly resistant to U.S.-backed changes, while the urban elites, typically mixed-race, welcomed the growing economy but wanted more political control. The debts were still outstanding, though less due to increased prosperity, and the U.S. financial advisor-general receiver handled the budget until 1941. Armed opposition to the US presence was led by the
Cacos under the command of
Charlemagne Péralte; his capture and execution in 1919 earned him the status of a national martyr. Haitian historians have claimed the true number was much higher, but this is not supported by most historians outside Haiti.
Post-occupation era (1934–1957) After U.S. forces left in 1934, Dominican dictator
Rafael Trujillo used
anti-Haitian sentiment as a nationalist tool. In 1937, in an event that became known as the
Parsley Massacre, he ordered his army to kill Haitians living on the Dominican side of the border. Few bullets were used; instead, 20,000–30,000 Haitians were bludgeoned and bayoneted, then herded into the sea, where sharks finished what Trujillo had begun. The indiscriminate massacre occurred over a period of five days and involved hundreds of Dominican troops. Haitian President
Sténio Vincent, under US pressure owing to his increasingly dictatorial actions, resigned in 1941 and was replaced by
Élie Lescot. In December 1941, during the
Second World War, Lescot declared war on Japan, Germany, Italy, Bulgaria, Hungary, and Romania. Out of these six
Axis powers, only Romania reciprocated. On 27 September 1945, Haiti became a
founding member of the
United Nations (the successor to the
League of Nations, of which Haiti was also a founding member). In 1946 Lescot was overthrown by the military, with
Dumarsais Estimé becoming president. Firmly anti-Communist, he was supported by the United States; with greater political stability tourists started to visit Haiti. The waterfront area of Port-au-Prince was redeveloped to allow cruise ship passengers to walk to cultural attractions.
Duvalier dynasty (1957–1986) in 1968 In 1956–57 Haiti underwent severe political turmoil; Magloire was forced to resign and leave the country in 1956, and he was followed by four short-lived presidencies. He advanced black interests in the public sector, where over time people of color had predominated as the educated urban elite. Not trusting the army, despite his frequent purges of officers deemed disloyal, Duvalier created a private militia known as
Tontons Macoutes ("Bogeymen"), which maintained order by terrorizing the populace and political opponents. In 1964 Duvalier proclaimed himself 'President for Life';
an uprising against his rule that year in
Jérémie was violently suppressed, with the ringleaders publicly executed and hundreds of mixed-raced citizens in the town killed. In 1971 Duvalier died, and he was succeeded by his son
Jean-Claude Duvalier, nicknamed 'Baby Doc', who ruled until 1986. However, as the economy continued to decline, Baby Doc's grip on power began to weaken. Haiti's pig population was slaughtered following an outbreak of swine fever in the late 1970s, causing hardship to rural communities who used them as an investment. The opposition became more vocal, bolstered by a visit to the country by
Pope John Paul II in 1983, who publicly lambasted the president. Demonstrations occurred in Gonaïves in 1985 which then spread across the country; under pressure from the United States, Duvalier left the country in February 1986. In total, roughly 40,000 to 60,000 Haitians are estimated to have been killed during the reign of the Duvaliers. Through the use of his intimidation tactics and executions, many intellectual Haitians had fled, leaving the country with a massive brain-drain from which it has yet to recover.
Post-Duvalier era (1986–2004) returns to Haiti following the
U.S.-led invasion in 1994 designed to remove the
regime installed by the
1991 Haitian coup d'état Following Duvalier's departure, army leader General
Henri Namphy headed the
National Governing Council. Another
coup followed in September 1988, after the
St. Jean Bosco massacre in which approximately 13 to 50 people were killed while attending a mass led by prominent government critic and Catholic priest
Jean-Bertrand Aristide. General
Prosper Avril subsequently led a military regime until March 1990. Avril transferred power to the army chief of staff General
Hérard Abraham on 10 March. Abraham gave up power three days later, becoming the only military leader in Haiti during the 20th century to voluntarily give up power. Abraham later helped to secure the
1990–91 Haitian general election, in which Aristide was elected president. However, his ambitious reformist agenda worried the elites, and in September 1991 he was overthrown by the military, led by
Raoul Cédras, in the
1991 Haitian coup d'état. Amidst the continuing turmoil many Haitians attempted to flee the country. As part of the deal Aristide had to implement free market reforms in an attempt to improve the Haitian economy, with mixed results. The
1995 general election was won by
René Préval, gaining 88% of the popular vote, albeit on a low turnout. The election had been boycotted by the opposition, then organized into the
Convergence Démocratique, over a dispute in the
May legislative elections. In subsequent years, there was increasing violence between rival political factions and
human rights abuses. Aristide spent years negotiating with the Convergence Démocratique on new elections, but the Convergence's inability to develop a sufficient electoral base made elections unattractive. In 2004,
an anti-Aristide revolt began in northern Haiti. The rebellion eventually reached the capital, and Aristide was forced into exile. These charges were denied by the US government. However, MINUSTAH proved controversial, since their periodically heavy-handed approach to maintaining law and order and several instances of abuses, including the alleged sexual abuse of civilians, provoked resentment and distrust among Haitians.
Post-Aristide era (2004–present) Amidst the continuing political chaos, a series of natural disasters hit Haiti. In 2004,
Tropical Storm Jeanne skimmed the north coast, leaving 3,006 people dead in flooding and mudslides, mostly in Gonaïves. In 2008, Haiti was again struck by tropical storms;
Tropical Storm Fay,
Hurricane Gustav,
Hurricane Hanna and
Hurricane Ike all produced heavy winds and rain, resulting in 331 deaths and about 800,000 in need of humanitarian aid. The state of affairs produced by these storms was intensified by already high food and fuel prices that had caused a food crisis and political unrest in April 2008. The earthquake was reported to have left between 160,000 and 300,000 people dead and up to 1.6 million homeless, making it one of the
deadliest natural disasters ever recorded. An estimated 80% of schools and more than half of Haiti's hospitals were destroyed or damaged. In 2017, it was reported that roughly 10,000 Haitians had died and nearly a million had been made ill. After years of denial, the United Nations apologized in 2016, but , they have refused to acknowledge fault, thus avoiding financial responsibility. General elections had been planned for January 2010, but were postponed due to the earthquake. In 2011, both former presidents Jean-Claude Duvalier and Jean-Bertrand Aristide returned to Haiti; attempts to try Duvalier for crimes committed under his rule were shelved following his death in 2014. Meanwhile, after continuing political wrangling with the opposition and allegations of electoral fraud, Martelly agreed to step down in 2016 without a successor in place. After numerous postponements, partly owing to the effects of devastating
Hurricane Matthew, elections were held
in November 2016 with a record low voter turnout of just 17%. The victor,
Jovenel Moïse of the
Haitian Tèt Kale Party, was sworn in as president in 2017. Protests began on 7 July 2018 in response to increased fuel prices. Over time, these protests evolved into demands for the resignation of president Moïse. On 7 July 2021,
Moïse was assassinated in an attack on his private residence, and First Lady
Martine Moïse was hospitalized in
Miami. Amid the political crisis, the government of Haiti installed
Ariel Henry as the acting prime minister on 20 July. On 14 August, Haiti suffered
another huge earthquake, with many casualties. The earthquake also damaged Haiti's economic conditions and led to a rise in gang violence which by September 2021 had escalated to a long-lasting full-blown gang war and other violent crimes within the country. As of March 2022, Haiti still has no president, no parliamentary quorum, and a dysfunctional high court due to a lack of judges. By late 2023, gangs and armed groups controlled an estimated 80% of the capital, Port-au-Prince. Doctors, lawyers, and other wealthy members of society were kidnapped and held for ransom. Many victims were killed when ransom demands were not met, leading those with the means to do so to flee the country, further hampering efforts to pull the country out of the crisis. In March 2024, Ariel Henry was prevented by gangs from returning to Haiti, following a visit to
Kenya. Henry agreed to resign once a transitional government had been formed. As of that month, nearly half of Haiti's population was living under
acute food insecurity, according to the
World Food Programme.
Michel Patrick Boisvert was named acting prime minister. On 10 November,
Alix Didier Fils-Aimé replaced Conille as acting prime minister. ==Geography==