History of Haiti

The history of Haiti traces Indigenous societies, French colonial rule, the Haitian Revolution, independence in 1804, and the political and social transformations of the modern nation.

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Taíno: An Indigenous Caribbean people who inhabited Hispaniola before European colonization. Taíno communities lived on the island before Spanish and later French rule.
Bois Caïman: A gathering in August 1791 traditionally associated with the start of the Haitian Revolution. It marks the uprising’s remembered beginning in the northern plantation region.
Haitian indemnity: The debt Haiti agreed to pay France in 1825 in exchange for French recognition of its independence. The imposed payments burdened Haiti’s finances for generations.
United States occupation of Haiti: The United States military occupation of Haiti from 1915 to 1934. The occupation reshaped Haiti’s state institutions and provoked resistance.
Henri Christophe: A leader of the Haitian Revolution who ruled northern Haiti as king from 1811 until 1820. His northern kingdom offered a distinct model of post-independence rule.
Saint-Domingue: France’s Caribbean colony on western Hispaniola, built around plantation agriculture and enslaved labor. Its plantation economy and racial hierarchy formed the conditions the revolution overturned.
Battle of Vertières: The November 1803 battle in which Haitian forces defeated the French expeditionary army near Cap-Français. The French defeat cleared the way for independence.
Haitian Revolution and the United States: The relationship between the Haitian Revolution and the United States, shaped by slavery, diplomacy, and American nonrecognition until 1862. U.S. policy reflected the threat Haiti’s antislavery revolution posed to slaveholding interests.
François Duvalier: Haitian president and dictator from 1957 to 1971, whose regime relied on repression and the Tonton Macoute. His rule established a dynastic dictatorship that lasted beyond his death.
Alexandre Pétion: A Haitian revolutionary leader and president of the southern republic from 1807 until his death in 1818. His republic contrasted with Christophe’s northern monarchy.