The Republic of Haiti

The Republic of Haiti occupies the western, smaller portion of the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antillean archipelago, which it shares with the Dominican Republic.  Ayiti was the indigenous Taíno or Amerindian name for the island, the total area of Haiti is 27,750 square kilometres (10,714 sq mi) and its capital is Port-au-Prince. Haitian Creole and French are the official languages.  Haiti's regional, historical, and ethno-linguistic position is unique for several reasons.  It was the first independent nation in Latin America and the Caribbean and the first black-led republic in the world when it gained independence as part of a successful slave revolution in 1804.  Haiti is the only predominantly Francophone independent nation in the Americas. 

Haiti is the the most populous full member-state of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM)-bloc, and is also the poorest country in the Americas and has experienced political violence throughout its history and much of this can be attributed to external interference.  There's a shortage of skilled labour and widespread unemployment with the agricultural sector providing around half of the available employment.  However, there are many natural resources that have yet to be developed, or to their full potential.

Hispaniola, of which Haiti occupies the western third, is one of many Caribbean islands that were inhabited by theTaíno Indians, who spoke the Arawakan language.  The Taíno name for the entire island was either Ayiti or Kiskeya, in the Taíno societies of the Caribbean Islands, the largest unit of political organization was led by a cacique; hence the term 'caciquedom' for these Taíno polities, which are often called "chiefdoms".  Before the arrival of Christopher Columbus, the island of Hispaniola was divided among five or six long-established caciquedoms.

There were five caciquedoms of Hispaniola at the time of the arrival of Christopher Columbus, the modern country of Haiti spans most of the territory of the caciquedoms of Xaragua and Marien. Christopher Columbus landed at Môle Saint-Nicolas on December 5, 1492, and claimed the island for Spain. 

One of the earliest leaders to fight off Spanish conquest was Queen Anacaona, a princess of Xaragua who married Caonabo, the cacique of Maguana. The couple resisted Spanish rule in vain as she was captured by the Spanish and executed, Queen Anacaona is revered in Haiti as one of the country's founders. 

The Spanish exploited the island for its gold, those refusing to work in the mines were killed or sold into slavery.  The Spanish governors also began using enslaved Africans for labour, some Taínos who evaded capture fled to the mountains and established independent settlements where they mixed with escaped African slaves (called maroons) and produced a multiracial generation.  The Europeans had brought with them infectious diseases that were new to the Caribbean, to which the indigenous population lacked immunity, these new diseases were the chief cause of the dying off of the Taíno people and they became virtually extinct.

As a gateway to the Caribbean, Hispaniola became a haven for pirates and the western part of the island was settled by French buccaneers.  Hispaniola was divided between France and Spain with the French receiving the western third. Many French colonists soon arrived and established plantations, the colonists brought slaves from Africa and Saint-Domingue became a society dependent on slavery as the basis of its economy.  By 1789, there were approximately 40,000 French immigrants on the western part of the island, they were vastly outnumbered by the slaves of whom there were around 500,000.

By about 1790 it quickly became the richest French colony in the New World by satisfying international demand for crops, French men often took sexual advantage of African women and a population of mixed-race people resulted; in some cases, the French fathers provided for their children, including sending them to France for education.  They also freed their mothers and the children, and gradually a class of free people of colour developed, they tended to become artisans, shopkeepers and tradesmen, and more often lived in the towns of the southwest, especially Port-au-Prince. 

Jean Jacques Dessalines, a leader of the Haitian Revolution and the first ruler of an independent Haiti was inspired by the French Revolution and principles of the rights of men.  Free people of colour and slaves in Saint-Domingue pressed for freedom and civil rights but the most important was the revolution of the slaves in Saint-Domingue.  In 1792, the French government sent three commissioners with troops to re-establish control and to build an alliance with the gens de couleur and slaves, this lead commissioners Sonthonax and Polverel to abolished slavery.

In 1793, France and Great Britain went to war, and British troops invaded Saint-Domingue, Toussaint L’Ouverture, a former slave and leader in the slave revolt, having established a disciplined flexible army, drove out the Spanish and the British invaders who threatened the colony.  

He restored stability and prosperity by inviting planters to return and insisting freed men work on plantations to renew revenues for the island.  He also renewed trading ties with Great Britain and the United States.  During the uncertain years of revolution, the United States traders had supplied both the rebels and the French. 

After Toussaint L’Ouverture created a separatist constitution, Napoléon Bonaparte sent an expedition under the command of his brother-in-law, General Charles Leclerc, to retake the island and restore slavery.  More than 50,000 of Napoléon troops including 18 generals died in the attempt to retake colony.  Some time later Leclerc invited Toussaint L’Ouverture to a discussion under a truce, where he was then seized and sent to France, imprisoned, interrogated, tortured and later died. Slaves, along with free people of colour and allies continued their fight for independence. 

Jean-Jacques Dessalines a long time ally and general of Toussaint L’Ouverture, defeated the French at the Battle of Vertières, at the end of the double battle for emancipation and independence, former slaves proclaimed the independence of Saint-Domingue on 1 January 1804.  Declaring the new nation be named "Ayiti", a Native American term meaning "home or mother of the earth" and "sacred earth or homeland" in the Fon African language, to honour one of the indigenous Taíno names for the island. Haiti is the only nation born of a slave revolt with successful resistance against colonial forces and this would later influence the outcome of the United States Civil War.