Haiti Timeline

A chronology of key dates in Haiti's history:

Circa 450 ADThe earliest known inhabitants settle on the island, eventually naming it 'Haiti' (land of many mountains). Their descendants are later identified as Tainos and Arawaks.
1492Columbus's expedition runs aground on Haiti's shores and is rescued by the natives. On recovering, they capture the island in the name of Spain, renaming it Hispaniola (Little Spain).
1503The native population having been decimated through slave labour in gold mines, the first Africans are brought to Haiti to take their place, as recommended by Bishop de las Casas.
1592Despite decimated numbers, Tainos and Arawaks continue to resist Spanish colonisation but eventually their leader, Taino Queen Anacaona, is captured and executed.
1625French pirates, known as 'Buccaneers', take over and settle Tortuga island and north western Haiti, renaming it 'Saint-Domingue'.
1670Louis XIV of France officially authorises the trade in enslaved Africans in Saint Domingue.
1697Spain is officially forced to cede the Saint Domingue portion of Haiti to France, through the 'Treaty of Ryswick'.
1749Port-au-Prince is founded and named the capital city of Saint-Domingue.
1751Rebellions of enslaved Africans and raids by escaped African 'Maroons' are rife. A particularly successful one is led by the maroon Francois Mackandal, in northern Saint Domingue. It takes the French 7 years to finally capture and publicly execute him.
1778Volunteer Africans from Haiti join the American Revolution against British rule, led by French admiral Comte d'Estaing, in Savannah, Georgia. Henry Christophe is among them. By now, Britain is fully involved in the trade of African people, with a good few 'New World' colonies to its name, chief among them, Jamaica.
1791Sometimes questioned as myth, a secret ceremony is believed to take place in the Caiman Woods, in northern Haiti, marking the birthplace of the Haitian revolution. It is presided over by the maroon Boukman, who smuggled in from Jamaica.
1792France's revolutionary Legislative Assembly votes full citizenship rights to all free people of colour. A commission arrives in Saint Domingue to implement this. Toussaint Breda steps onto the scene to take advantage of the situation, on behalf of all enslaved Africans.
1793Now called Toussaint L' Ouverture (Opener of the ways), this fresh leader begins to play one enslaving power against another, defeating each one in turn. He raises a massive army of Africans, intent on freedom from enslavement.
1798Napoleon Bonaparte, having scuttled the French revolution, sends his first army to defeat Toussaint and re-establish order and, above all, slavery. At first, mulattoes and free African fight on the French side.
1801By now, Toussaint has defeated the French force. The Mulattoes / and free African have defected to his side. Moreover, he has invaded the Spanish side of Haiti and freed all the Africans there. He now declares himself Governor General of Haiti, making overtures to Napoleon to govern in his name.
1802Napoleon now sends a second invading army, led by his brother-in-law, Leclerc. He manages to lure Toussaint with the promise of a letter from Napoleon, capture him and his family and ship them to France. Toussaint dies just one year later, from deliberate maltreatment.
1803Toussaint's forces appoint Dessalines as their new commander. Within a year, they defeat not only Leclerc but also a third Napoleonic force sent to re-enslave Africans in Haiti.
1804Dessalines declares Haiti an independent Republic and orders all French colonists off the island.
1806Dessalines is assassinated. A year later, Haiti is split into the North, ruled by now King Henri Christophe and the South, under General Alexandre Petion.
1820Upon the death of both Christophe and Petion, Boyer re-unites the country and re-invades the Spanish side of Haiti, only to abandon it to rush back to the capital to protect his presidency.
1825France recognises Haiti's independence on condition of a 150 million franc indemnity, enforced by warships. Haiti was still paying this, plus interest, well into the mid-20th century!
1843President Boyer is overthrown and flees to France. There follows a succession of turbulent administrations, mainly characterised by the power struggle between Black and Mulatto Haitians.
1915 - 1934The US Marines, under the pretext of restoring order and good government, invade Haiti. They impose slavery-like conditions on Haitians and are fiercely resisted. They resort to the same torture, public execution and desecration of bodies once used by French and Spanish enslavers.
1937Some 3 years after US forces leave Haiti in 1934, between 17,000 to 35,000 Haitians living in the now Dominican Republic are massacred. Their executioner, President Trujillo, is praised by the US Secretary of State for his 'services' to Central and South America.
1957Francois Duvalier, a country doctor is elected President. His is to be one of the longest, most brutal and bloody dictatorships to ever rule Haiti. Prior to his death in power in 1971, having already declared himself President for life, he declares his son Jean-Claude as his successor, also for life.
1986Jean-Claude Duvalier flees Haiti to France in a US government plane. Between his family and the clique of killers that surrounded them, they have emptied the country's treasury over time. An equally brutal succession of military juntas and provisional governments follows.
1990Father Jean-Bertrand Aristide, fresh from his Liberation Theology pulpit is swept into power by a vibrant majority of Haitians in the Lavalas party, sick of intrigue and brutality, hungry for change and true democracy. He is promptly exiled after a military coup. The coup leaders rule Haiti until 1994.
1994Aristide is restored to power by a US invasion force, under the condition that he only finish out the last year of his 5-year term, i.e. until 1995. He dissolves the US-created Haitian army.
1995Haitians elect Rene Preval, also from the Lavalas party, as President.
2000Aristide is again elected President, this time with 92% majority. Among his several reforms, Vodun is recognised as legitimate faith in Haiti, on par with other faiths.
2004On the bicentennial year of Haiti's independence, opponents of Aristide strike a decisive blow. Having successfully destabilised his administration over the years, they stage an open revolt, carried out by the very same decommissioned army. Aristide does not flee Haiti but rather is bundled away with his family 'for their protection' by US military forces. He is dropped not in France but in the Central African Republic and eventually flies to South Africa at the invitation of President Mbeki. This year also sees Haiti again invaded, this time by a UN peacekeeping force and also battered by a succession of natural disasters, claiming over 5000 Haitian lives.
2006Preval is elected to a second Presidential term. Attempt to disarm opposing factions meets only partial success.
2008This time, a succession of deadly hurricanes ravages Haiti drowning a great deal of the now treeless north and claiming nearly 1000 lives. Thousands are left homeless and with no sustenance.
2009Haitians take to the streets in protest against President Preval's veto of a law raising the minimum wage to 200 Gourdes. This is still not a living wage but it is better than the current slave-like wage. His veto fulfils the wishes Haiti's business class who oppose any rise in the minimum wage. Protestors are shot and killed by UN and police forces working together.
2010On 12 January, Port-au-Prince and the surrounding area are laid flat by a 7.0 magnitude earthquake. Upwards of 250,000 people die, in a city meant for 150,000 but supporting some 3 million.