Saint-Domingue
French colony that became Haiti after a slave rebellion.
Saint-Domingue was a French colony on the western side of Hispaniola, lasting from 1659 to 1803. Its name came from the Spanish city of Santo Domingo. The colony was known for its plantation system using enslaved labor and for being where the Haitian Revolution began, ultimately resulting in Haiti's independence.
Quick Facts
- Symbol type
- Royal Coat of Arms of the Kingdom of France
- National anthem
- Marche Henri IV (1697–1792), La Marseillaise (1792–1803)
- Capital
- Cap-Français (1711–1770); Port-au-Prince (1770–1803)
- Common languages
- French, Creole French; American English
- Religion
- Catholicism, Haitian Vodou
- Demonym
- Creole
- Title leader
- King
- Title deputy
- Governor
Facts from the source article.
Overview
Spain held all of Hispaniola from the 1490s until French pirates began settling on the western side in the 17th century. The Spanish neglected this area, allowing French buccaneers to establish themselves first on Tortuga and then on the northwest coast. Spain later ceded the western coast to France, keeping the rest, including the Guava Valley. The French called their portion Saint-Domingue, while the Spanish colony became the Dominican Republic.
History
Christopher Columbus named the island Insula Hispana in 1492. Spanish interest waned as mainland conquests grew, and by the early 1600s pirates used Hispaniola and Tortuga as bases. In 1606, Spain ordered inhabitants to move near Santo Domingo, which instead allowed French, English, and Dutch pirates to settle the abandoned coasts. French buccaneers settled Tortuga in 1625, surviving by piracy and selling hides. Tortuga was officially settled in 1659 under King Louis XIV. French colonization from 1665 involved slave-based plantations for coffee and cattle. Spain tacitly recognized French control of the western third in the 1697 Peace of Ryswick. The economy centered on slave labor, with plantations for coffee, cocoa, coconuts, and snuff, and Saint-Domingue soon surpassed earlier colonies in wealth and population.
Aftermath
The Haitian Revolution ended slavery in Saint-Domingue and founded the Haitian Empire on all of Hispaniola. Napoleon, having sold Louisiana to the U.S. in April 1803, lost interest in the Americas. Between 1791 and 1810, over 25,000 Creoles—including planters, poorer whites, free people of color, and slaves—fled to the U.S., Jamaica, and Cuba. The largest wave, more than 10,000 people, arrived in New Orleans from May 1809 to January 1810 after expulsion from Cuba, nearly doubling the city's population and influencing Louisiana's sugar industry and culture. Baron de Mackau delivered the ordinance with a squadron of 14 brigs carrying over 500 cannons. Haitian president Jean-Pierre Boyer signed on July 11, 1825, under threat of violence. Researchers link this debt to Haiti's underfunded education, health care, and infrastructure.
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