Timeline of Haitian History

Before 1492
1492 (Dec. 5) Christopher Columbus got loss and landed in Tortuga; claims the island for Spain

(Dec 24) Columbus’ flagship the Santa Maria ran aground

1493 (January 2) Columbus departed for Spain, leaves 39 crew members behind in the newly built fort called La Navidad near present-day Cap Haitien.

(Nov. 28) Columbus returned from Europe to discover the fort burned and his men dead.
(Dec. 8) Columbus built a forst called La Isabella in what is now the DR.

1494 (June 7) Treaty of Tordesillas signed between Spain & Portugal
1496 Santo Domingo established by Spanish desettlers
1505 Sugarcane cultivation introduced to Hispaniola
1510 First African captives brought to Hispaniola
1625 France established a colony on the island of Tortuga
French pirates established settlements in NW Hispaniola
1664 France claimed Western Hispaniola
1665 France established Port-de-Paix on the Northwestern cost of Hispaniola
1685 France enacted the Code NOir
1697 (Sept. 20) Treaty of Ryswick officially granted the western third of Hispaniola, whichbecame Saint-Domingue, to France
1705 France began extensive sugarcane cultivation in SD
1711 Cap-Haitien established
1724 First neswpaper published in SD
1726 Coffee cultivation introduced in SD
1740 (?) birth of Toussaint on Bréda estate
1749 Port-au-Prince established
1758 (January) Execution of François Makandal , leader of first major slave conspiracy
1763 (November) Expulsion of Jesuits from Saint-Domingue
1770 PauP made colonial capital by the French

June 3) Strong earthquake hit PauP

1772 Bayon de Libertat becomes manager of Bréda estate (until 1789); Libertat appoints Toussaint as his coachman
1774 (Jan, Apr) Death of Toussaint’s parents, Hippolyte & Pauline
1775 (?) Toussaint emancipated from slavery
1776 Declaration of Independence of the United States of America
1777 (June 3) Treaty of Aranjuez delnineated boundary between French and Spanish colonial territory in Hispaniola
1779 Siege of Savannah
1782 Toussaint marries Suzanne Baptiste (They have two children: Isaac, b. 1786; Saint-Jean, b. 1791)
1784 (December) royal ordinance calling for more ‘humane’ treatment of enslaved rejected by Saint-Domingue desettlers
1785 (April 26) John James Audubon born in SD.
1788 Audubon family subsequently relocated to France
1787 Constitution of the United States of America; Foundation of the Society for Effecting the Abolition of the Slave Trade, an unofficial extension of the Quaker slave trade committee, in England
1788 (February) creation of liberal abolitionist Société des Amis des Noirs in France
1789 – 1790 SD white community exclusively campaigned for colonial autonomy; SD experienced a second coffee boom, supplying 60% of coffee exports to the Atlantic World market. Coffee production occurred in the, west, and east of SD.
1789 (Jan-Mar) Wealthy colonial activists illegally elect deputies to the States-General in France

(January) formation of colonial assemblies in Saint-Domingue;
(July 14) French Revolution begins w/ Fall of the Bastille, July 14;
(Aug) White & free colored colonists form separate political clubs in Paris to press their interests; (August 26) French National Assembly adopts Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen,
(September) property owning free people of color petition French National Assembly demanding equal civil and political rights
(October) Saint-Domingue Colonial Assembly blocks reforms from the French metropole, denies rights to free people of color; Inspired by the Bastille’s fall, white radicals force the Intendant to flee Saint-Domingue. Free colored calling for political rights meet with persecution. Slaves voicing protests on some plantations brutally suppressed.

1790 (March) French National Assembly grants full legislative powers to Saint-Domingue; is deliberately evasive about the rights of free people of color

(May) Saint-Domingue Colonial Assembly declares autonomy from France
(July) Governor Peinier closes the autonomist Colonial Assembly at St. Marc
(October) Vincent Ogé leads brief free colored rebellion in the North.

1791 (February) Vincent Ogé gruesome execution in Cap

(Mar) White radicals drive governor out of PauP
(May 15) French Assembly extends political rights to freeborn men of color
(July) New Saint-Domingue Assembly dominated by white supremacists; they discuss secession and organize to resist the May 15 decree
(August 14-22) )Insurrections of slaves in the Northern province of Saint Domingue begins—Bois Caïman; involved in its planning, Toussaint becomes secretary of rebel leader Biassou; Cap Français burnt to the ground; insurrection of free coloreds in the west;
(Sept) National Assembly annuls the May 15 decree
(Sept-Dec) Toussaint emerges as key figure in rebel leadership; protects white prisoners and advocates compromise w/ local Colonial Assembly
(November) Death of Boukman; PauP burned in fighting between white radicals and free coloreds
(December) Rebellion of free men of color in the Les Cayemittes region—The Fond d’Icaque Rising; Cotton was the main crop of Les Cayemittes region, sold mainly to contraband traders

1792 Thomas Jefferson asserted that the doctrine of discovery was international, and therefore was applicable to the U.S. government.

(Jan-Mar) Slave rebellion spasmodically spreads in west and south
(January) Toussaint’s compromise efforts w/ local Colonial Assembly failed; Toussaint commands his own military force, composed largely of maroons
(April) Revolutionary New French Legislative Assembly ends racial discrimination in the colonies
(July) Lettre originale des chefs nègres révoltés
(August)Toussaint attends celebration in honor of French King; Fall of the French monarchy; proclamation of the French Republic, Aug. 22
(September) Arrival of French Civil commissioners in SD w/ 6,000 soldiers; France becomes a republic
(Oct-Dec) French commissioners form alliance w/ free coloreds and deport white supremacists and radicals
(December) Commissioner Sonthonax proclaims a republic in SD; TL promoted to general in rebel army

1793 (January) After execution of French King Luis XVI, Spain declares war on France

(Feb-Mar) War begins with Britain & France
(May) The Spaniards have a formal alliance with Jean-François and Biassou against the French.
(June) Civil commissioners’ struggle with Governor Galbaud causes burning of Cap Français and the emancipation of slave recruits; Toussaint becomes general in Spanish auxiliary forces; in ensuing months, he takes Dondon, Marmalade, Verrettes, Petite-Rivière, and Plaisance from the French
(Aug) Sonthonax abolishes slavery in the North. Abolition extended to the west in Sept. and the south in Oct; Toussaint adopts name ‘Louverture
(Sept) British forces begin five-year occupation in parts of south and west SD
(November) Toussaint signs reconciliation pact with Jean-François and Biassou.
(December) Saint Domingue rebels join Spanish side; Sonthonax publishes general emancipation decree in the North, August 29 (Saint Domingue) Girondin purge, trial and execution of Brissot (France); Toussaint captures Gonaïves, consolidating Spanish control of the whole northern part of Saint-Domingue—except Cap.

1794 (Jan) Fall of Fort Dauphin completes Spanish conquest of most of northern province

(February 4) Jacobin government declares the slaves in all French colonies to be free citizens;
(March) Toussaint denounces Biassou, begins rapprochement with the French; Toussaint switches sides from Spanish to French;
(Apr-Jul) Toussaint Louverture turns on his Spanish allies and joins the French
(April) British capture Guadeloupe, after taking Martinique (in March)
(May) French royalists massacred at Gonaïves; Toussaint rallies republican camp and brings territories under his control to French side.
(June) Toussaint appointed commander of western territories under French control; British capture Port-au-Prince
(July 28) execution of Robespierre, Saint Just, and fellow Jacobins
(October) Toussaint captures Saint-MIchel & Saint-Raphaël from Spanish

1795 (June) Toussaint takes Mirebalais back from British, after five months of fighting

(July) Spain signs Treaty of Bâle w/ France, abandons all positions in SD and cedes Santo Domingo to France in Thermidorian Constitution; Toussaint is promoted to brigadier general
Major slave rebellions in Venezuela, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Curaçao, Demerara; conspiracies in Santo Domingo, Trinidad, Louisiana, Bahamas
(August) Toussaint launches full-scale attack on British positions in Saint-Domingue; National Assembly dissolved & Directory established in France
(October) New French constitution establishes Directory, with Conseil des Cinq Cents as its lower chamber
(Dec) Jean-François et Biassou leave for exile

1796 (March) Toussaint saves governor Laveaux from attempted coup by people of color in Cap; Toussaint is appointed as Laveaux’s deputy-governor.

(May) New commissioners arrive from France, including Sonthonax & Julien Raimond
(July) Isaac Louverture and his half-brother, Placide, sent to France for their education
(August), British severely defeat Toussaint’s forces and recapture Mirebalais
(October) Laveaux leaves Saint Domingue to take seat in Conseil des Cinq Cents
(Oct.-Dec) Toussaint et Sonthonax consolidate their control of the north; British switch to defensive strategy

1797 (April) Counter-revolutionary royalists win majority in French legislative elections.

(May-Sept.) Reactionary forces in French legislature push for revision of colonial policy, until they’re overthrown in the coup of Sept. 4
(May 2) Toussaint appointed commander in chief of Saint Domingue army by Sonthonax; Viénot-Vaublanc speech at Conseil des Cinq Cents denounces black revolution in Saint-Domingue
(August) Toussaint forces Sonthonax to leave Saint Domingue.
(September) coup d’etat of 18 Fructidor an V in Paris, royalists defeated
(October) Toussaint publishes Réfutation de quelques assertions d’un discours prononcé au Corps Législatif le 10 Prairie an cinq par Viénot Vaublanc [Refutation of some assertions from a speech delivered to the Legislative Body on 10 Prairie year five by Viénot-Vaublanc] to counter Viénot-Vaublanc’s speech of May 2nd

1798 (January) Law on colonies adopted in French legislature fully incorporates Saint Domingue.

(April) new French agent, General Hédouville arrives in Saint Domingue.
(July) Hédouville’s Arrête concernant la police des habitations [Order concerning the housing police] provokes widespread discontent among laborers; Hédouville mission creates friction with emergent power of ex-slaves under Toussaint (Mar-Oct)
(May- Sept) British conclude negotiated withdrawal from Saint Domingue with Toussaint via secret treaty on trade and nonaggression
(September) Toussaint challenges Hédouville granting amnesties to émigrés.
(October) Hédouville flees the colony after Toussaint orchestrates insurrection against him.
(December) Philippe Roome appointed French agent in Saint Domingue.

1799 (March) Edward Stevens appointed US consul to Saint Domingue.

(May to June) attempted insurrection against Toussaint, and the beginning of the Civil War, guerre des couteaux [war of knives] against Rigaud in the South; extension of 1798 treaty between Toussaint and Maitland.
(May) Toussaint hits back at Rigaud with the publication of Réponse du citoyen Toussaint Louverture aux calomnies et aux écrits mensongers du général de brigade Rigaud [Response from citizen Toussaint Louverture to the slander and lying writings of Brigadier General Rigaud]
(June) War of the South begins between Toussaint et Rigaud
(August) Toussaint regains full control of north and west of Saint Domingue
(November-Dec) Bonaparte 18th Brumaire coup overthrows directory; new constitution removes colonies’ right to be represented in French national legislature
(December) attempted Republican plot in Jamaica foiled; Toussaint’s vessels seized by British.

1800 (March) Jacmel falls to Toussaint’s forces with American naval help (then Grand-Goâve in April)

(April) Toussaint coerces Roume approval of French takeover of Santo Domingo
(June) Arrival of delegation appointed by Consul (Vincent Julien Raimond and Michel)
(August) Toussaint victorious in southern war, enters Les Cases; Toussaint controls all of Saint-Domingue; Rigaud halls ass
(October)Toussaint labor decree establishes draconian regime and plantations, the beginning of caporalisme agraire
(November) Toussaint sends Roome into internal exile in Dondon.

1801 (January) Toussaint gives French orders the finger; invades and occupies Santo Domingo; expels Spanish authorities and abolishes slavery. Hispaniola unified under French Republican rule.

February, Toussaint announces his creation of Central Assembly to draft a new constitution for colony; Napoléon names him Captain-General of Saint-Domingue but then retracts his decision
March. Central Assembly members appointed, and begin their deliberations.
May, Toussaint publishes Instructions aux fonctionnaires publics [Instructions to public officials]
July) Saint Domingue constitution unveiled at Cap ceremony; Toussaint appointed governor of colony for life, and slavery abolished ’forever’
(October) Franco-British peace preliminaries permit the Leclerc expedition; Bonaparte orders 20,000 troops to be sent to overthrow Toussaint; the rebellion of Moyse occurs.
November, Toussaint 4 Frimaire an X decree: fight against sedition expanded.
December. Toussaint proclamation announces impending French military invasion; In the name of the French Republic, Toussaint governs all of Hispanolia

1802 Bonaparte approves decree reestablishing slavery and the slave trade;

(January 29) Toussaint personally observes the arrival of French warships off Cape Sámana, in Santo Domingo; tL and his small band of riders saw the lead ships of Leclerc expedition; French invasion begins.
(Feb-Mar) Leclerc conquers SD
February, Toussaint burns down cap and refuses to submit, launches spring campaign against French forces.
March. Battle of Crête-à-Pierrot. French take fort, but suffer heavy losses.
May. Toussaint agrees ceasefire and retires to. Bonaparte restores slavery in Martinique, Tobago, and Saint Lucia, soon followed what Guadalupe and Guyana.
June, Leclerc arrested Toussaint, and his family captured and deported to France.
July, government decree bans entry of black and mixed race people into France.
August, Toussaint interned in Fort Dujou. News of restoration of slavery in Guadalupe rekindles resistance in Saint Domingue; news of re-establsihment of slavery in Guadeloupe rekindles resistance in SD
September, Toussaint dictates his memoir.
October, Dessalines and Petron unite against French occupation and issued general call to arms.
November, Leclerc dies of yellow fever succeeded by Rochambeau.

1803, (April) death of Toussaint at Fort de Joux.

(May) Arcahaie agreement: unification of Saint Domingue’s black and mixed race insurgent forces under leadership of Dessalines; Franco-British war resumes
(November) final French defeat at Battle of Vertier. Rochambeau capitulates.
(December) Last French forces evacuate Saint Domingue. Slavery and color lines formally restored in the French colonies
John James Audubon immigrated to the U.S.

1804 (January) Dessalines declares Independence of Saint Domingue under the name of Haiti, January 1;
(February-March) massacre of the remaining white colonists by Dessalines;
(October 8) Dessalines crowned emperor of Haiti
1805 Proclamation of first Haitian constitution, May 20
1806 Dessalines assassinated, October 17; new Republican Constitution
1807 Henri Christophe proclaimed president of Haiti, February 17; issues his own constitution and establishes a capital in the North; Alexandre Pétion elected president of the republic of Haiti, with the capital in Port-au-Prince, March 11; Haiti is divided into two states, British Parliament abolishes the slave trade
1808–26 Spanish American revolutions
1809 Santo Domingo returns to Spanish rule
1810 Rigaud returns to Haiti and establishes an independent republic in the south; he dies within months and the southern republic rejoins Pétion’s republic
1811 Henri Christophe transforms the North into a Kingdom and is crowned Henri I, June 2
1811–12 Major slave rebellions and conspiracies in Louisiana, Martinique, Puerto Rico, Santo Domingo, including the Aponte Conspiracy of 1812 in Cuba
1812–14 Constitution of Cádiz (Spain); first constitutional period in Cuba
1816 Pétion declares himself president for life; Simón Bolívar is in Haiti
1818 Pétion dies and is succeeded by Jean-Pierre Boyer
1819 Congress of Angostura effectively rejects all measures of immediate slave emancipation
1820 Christophe commits suicide; Haiti is reunited
1821 “Ephemeral Independence” of Spanish Santo Domingo under leadership of Núñez de Cáceres, December 1
1822 Boyer enters Spanish Santo Domingo, February 9; beginning of Haitian occupation of the former Spanish colony; Denmarck Vesey’s conspiracy in Charleston, South Carolina
1826 Boyer issues “Code Rural”
1831 Nat Turner’s slave revolt in Virginia
1833 Emancipation Act passed by British parliament
1836 Slavery declared illegal in France
1843 Boyer resigns, March 13
1844 Santo Domingo declares independence from Haiti Escalera Conspiracy in Cuba; Plácido executed
1847 General Faustin Soulouque president (Haiti)
1848 Slavery abolished in French and Danish Antilles
1849 President Soulouque declared Emperor Faustin I
1861 Santo Domingo becomes province of Spain
1862 Slave emancipation in the US; diplomatic recognition of Haiti by the United States
1863 Holland abolishes slavery
1864 Dominican Independence from Spain
1865 Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution bans slavery
1868–78 Ten Year War in Cuba for independence from Spain (unsuccessful)
1873 Puerto Rico abolishes slavery Last known slave ship lands in Cuba
1886 Cuba is the last Caribbean territory to abolish slavery
1895–98 Cuba’s second war of independence
1899 Treaty of Paris: Cuba ceded to the United States
1902 Cuban independence under Platt Amendment
1915–34 U.S. occupation of Haiti 1916–24 U.S. occupation of Dominican Republic
1937 Massacre of Haitian migrant workers in Dominican Republic under Trujillo