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North & Central America and Caribbean
Haiti |
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Country information
HISTORY
The earliest known inhabitants of Hispaniola (of which Haiti is today the western part and the Dominican Republic the eastern) reached the island about 2600 BC. When Christopher Colombus arrived in 1492, the island was occupied by the Taínos, a relatively sophisticated and peaceful people. The Taínos were enslaved by the Spanish and virtually eradicated in the first 50 years of Spanish rule due to a combination of the import of old world diseases; harsh treatment mainly in the mines; and mass suicides. In the 16th and 17th centuries, the Spaniards used the island as a launching point from which to explore the rest of the Western Hemisphere. French Buccaneers later used the western third of the island as a point from which to harass English and Spanish ships. In 1697, Spain ceded the western third of Hispaniola to France. As piracy was gradually suppressed, some French adventurers became planters, making Saint Domingue, as the French portion of the island was known, the 'pearl of the Antilles' - arguably the richest colony in the 18th century French Empire.
During this period, African slaves were brought to work on Sugarcane and Coffee plantations. In 1791, the slave population revolted - led by Haitian heroes Toussaint L'Ouverture, Jean-Jacques Dessalines, and Henri Christophe - and gained control of the northern part of the French colony, waging a war of attrition against the French.
By January 1804, the local forces defeated an army sent by Napoleon Bonaparte, established independence from France, and renamed the area Haiti. The impending defeat of the French in Haiti is widely credited with contributing to Napoleon's decision to sell Louisiana territory to the United States in 1803. Haiti is the world's oldest black republic and the second-oldest republic in the Western Hemisphere, after the United States. It is the only country in the world to have gained its independence following a successful slave rebellion. Although Haiti actively assisted the independence movements of many Latin American countries, the independent nation of former slaves was excluded from the hemisphere's first regional meeting of independent nations, in Panama in 1826, and did not receive US diplomatic recognition until 1862.
Two separate regimes (north and south) emerged after independence, but were unified in 1820. Two years later, Haiti occupied Santo Domingo, the eastern, Spanish speaking part of Hispaniola. In 1844, however, Santo Domingo broke away from Haiti and became the Dominican Republic. With 22 changes of government from 1843 to 1915, Haiti experienced numerous periods of intense political and economic disorder, prompting the United States military intervention of 1915. Following a 19-year occupation, US military forces were withdrawn in 1934 and Haiti regained sovereign rule.
From 7 February 1986 - when the 29-year-old dictatorship of the Duvalier family ended - until 1991, Haiti was ruled by a series of Provisional governments. In 1987 a constitution was ratified that provides for an elected, bicameral parliament, an elected president that serves as a head of state, and a prime minister, cabinet, ministers, and supreme court appointed by the president with parliament's consent. The Haitian Constitution also provides for political decentralisation through the election of mayors and administrative bodies responsible for local government.
BBC News Country Timeline: Haiti
