Haiti History Christopher Columbus made his first landing in 1492 on an island in The Bahamas, but the first part of America to be settled by the Spaniards was Hispaniola. At that time there were more than a million native inhabitants on the island. Within 50 years most had died from overwork in the gold mines, lack of food, and epidemics of such European diseases as measles and smallpox. This is why there is no significant indigenous population in present-day Haiti and the Dominican Republic. The gold that could be obtained using 16th-century placer-mining techniques was exhausted by 1530, and Spain lost interest in Hispaniola with the discoveries of Mexico and Peru. The Spaniards who remained on the island turned to cultivating sugarcane, using black slaves brought from Africa. In 1967 Spain ceded the western third of Hispaniola to France. By the end of the 18th century, the new French possession, known as St-Domingue, was one of the world's richest colonies, producing vast quantities of sugar and cotton. Of its 524,000 inhabitants, 88 percent were African slaves. France eventually gained control of the whole island in 1795. After many futile revolts, the black population united in 1798 under Toussaint-Louverture, a freed slave. Captured by trickery, Toussaint died in a French prison, but his successor, Jean-Jacques Dessalines, "The Tiger," drove out the French in 1803. In 1804 Dessalines proclaimed the colony's independence and massacred almost all the remaining white inhabitants. The plantations, sugar mills, irrigation works, and roads fell into ruins. In 1806 Dessalines was assassinated and was succeeded by his general in chief, Henry Christophe. Declaring himself emperor, Christophe attempted to reconstruct the ravaged country. His ornate palace of Sans Souci near Cap-haitien and his vast citadel, though now in ruins, are marvels of massive masonry. After Christophe's suicide, a succession of military despots seized power. By 1915, revolutions and banditry had reduced Haiti to misery. Under the Monroe Doctrine, the United States Marines intervened, remaining until 1934. In 1957 Francois Duvalier was elected president. He became a dictator, enforcing a reign of terror with his secret police, the Tontons Macoutes, until his death in April 1971. During his dictatorship, Haiti's already weak economy deteriorated. Extreme poverty caused civil unrest. In 1971 the Haitians voted to approve Duvalier's 19-year-old son, Jean-Claude, as his successor. The Tontons Macoutes continued to terrorize the population, and corruption was rampant among public officials. In July 1985 Duvalier held a fraudulent election that showed him with 99 percent of the popular vote. Anti-Duvalier riots broke out in several towns, and he and his family fled Haiti in February 1986. For the next four years Haiti was ruled by its generals, except for the six-month presidency of Leslie Manigat in 1988. He was deposed by General Henri Namphy in June 1988. Namphy was ousted in September by General Prosper Avril, who held power until forced to resign in March 1990 because of anti-government protests. Supreme Court Justice Ertha Pascal-Trouillot was appointed acting president, becoming the first woman to lead Haiti. In December 1990 Jean-Bertrand Aristide became Haiti's first democratically elected president. He was a former Roman Catholic priest who had become an ardent marxist. Following the election, a coup attempt was mounted on Jan 7, 1991, by the Duvalierist Roger Lafontant. Thousands of Haitians demonstrated in favor of Aristide, paralyzing the capital, and the coup collapsed. President Ertha Pascal-Trouillot was reinstated for the rest of her term in office. Lafontant was arrested, tried in July, and sentenced to life imprisonment. President Aristide took office on February 7 and set about sweeping away the old order. More than 150 former officials, including pascal-Trouillot, were forbidden to leave the country pending investigation into their conduct, and dozens of suspected Duvalierists were rounded up. A human rights activists, Rene Preval, was appointed prime minister. Click here to visit our photo gallery The Boston Connection Magazine
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