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Dec 5, 1492
Columbus's discovery of Hispaniola
On December 5th, 1492, Columbus landed on the island of Ayti. He finds the island to be inhabited by the Tainos, or the native people of the land. He re-names the island "La Espanola" or "Hispaniola." In the image, an artist depicts Columbus landing on the island and interacting with the Tainos. -
France gains control
In 1697, France was able to gain control of one-third of Hispaniola. They named their portion of the island Saint-Dominique. The establishment of Saint-Dominque wouldnt have been possible for France without the Treaty of Ryswick, an agreement between France, Spain, England and the Netherlands that ended the Nine Year's War. In the map, Saint Domingue is shown in red and green, while the spanish part (Santo Domingo) is shown in yellow. -
Affranchis demand equality
In Saint Dominque, Affranchis were free people of color. Although they were not treated as poorly as the slaves, Affranchis were often discriminated aganist due to their skin color. They demanded equal rights as the whites recieved. They heard about what was happening in their mother country, and they wanteed rights based off of the newly established Declaration of The Rights of Man and Citizen. To fight for these rights, Affranchis representatives traveled to France. They are denied of rights. -
Affranchis given rights
After the Affranchis are repeatedly denied rights, they are finally granted full rights from the French government in 1791. Unfortunately, many of the whites and colonists on the island disregard this, which deeply angers the affranchis. Slaves begin revolting aganist how they are treated, causing the French government to take away the affranchis rights and to reinforce slavery. The affranchis and slaves join up aganist this. This image shows slaves working in Saint Domingue. -
Chaos in Saint-Dominique
In the midst of a slave revolt, Saint-Dominigue is vulnerable. Other European countries, such as Spain and Britain, want to take advantage of this vulnerablity. They begin conquests to take over the colony, in hopes of obtaining the important resources such as sugar, tobacco, and indigo that Saint-Dominigue posesses. Also, Louis XVI gives free blacks equal rights. In this image, slaves are revolting aganist their cruel and unfair treatment. -
Toussaint L'Ouverture joins Spain.
In 1793, Toussaint L'Ouverture joins Spain. He is a rebel leader who joined Spain to help defeat the French attempts to re-capture the colony and re-establish slavery. The image is a portrait of L'Ouverture. -
Slavery is abolished in France and Saint-Dominique
In 1794, Slavery is abolished in France and all of its colonial posessions. This persuades L'Ouverture to leave Spain for France. -
Signing of the Treaty of Basel.
In 1795, the Treaty of Basel was signed. This was a treaty signed between Spain and France, which gave Santo Domingo to France. Spain no longer had troops on the island and France gained new land. This map shows Saint Domingue (green), and Santo Domingo (yellow). The French began colonizing about two-thirds of SAnto Domingo after Spain ceded it. -
L'Ouverture and Rigaud work together.
In 1797, Toussaint L'Ouverture and Andre Rigaud are successful in driving the British out of the colony. This is important because the British were threatening France's possession of the colony. This image is a portrait of Andre Rigaud, the rebel leader who assisted L'Ouverture in driving out the British. -
The War of Knives begins
After driving out the British, L'Ouverture and Rigaud begin to fight for posession over the island. While L'Ouverture was a superior rank in the French military, Rigaud played a more significant part in driving out the British. Both men could not agree on who would have posession of the island, leading to the War of Knives. Meanwhile, Napoleon is under a lot of pressure to re-capture Saint-Domingue and re-establish slavery in the colony. The image depicts the War of Knives. -
L'Ouverture defeats Rigaud
Toussaint L'Ouverture successgully defeats Rigaud and ends the War of Knives. He now has possesion over the colony and plans to make a new constitution for the island. The image shows L'Ouverture on his horse. -
A new constitution for Saint-Dominigue
After winning the War of Knives and gaining control of Saint-Dominigue, L'Ouverture establishes a constitution for the colony. The constitution abolishes slavery, gave all citizens all equal rights regardless of skin color, gave French citizenship to everyone lliving in Saint-Domingue, but outlawed Voodoo. This upsets the people, because Voodoo is very important to them. Napoleon feels threatened by this new constitution and will not acknowledge it. -
France re-captures Saint-Domingue
In 1802, French forces invade the colony of Saint-Domingue. They have intentions of re-establishing their French power and re-establishing slavery. This upsets the slaves and they begin another revolt aganist the French. Meanwhile, L'Ouverture is captured by France and imprisoned. He dies in prison. This image slaves revolting aganist the French. -
French forces are defeated
After being defeated by the slaves, French forces leave the island. The slaves were led by Jean-Jacques Dessalines, a french army general. In the coming year, Dessalines becomes very important to the island. This image shows a portrait of Dessalines. -
Jean-Jacques Dessalines becomes emperor
In 1804, Jean-Jacques Dessalines proclaims Haiti as an independent country. He also crowns himself emperor of the island.
