The island is inhabited by several indigenous peoples; traces of economic activity can be found around a natural harbor long inhabited by the Taino people.

In 1492, Christopher Columbus lands on the island inhabited by the Taino people called Quisqueya (Mother of All Lands); Columbus renames it Hispaniola, claiming the whole island for Spain. After decimating the population of Taino people by 1661, they brought almost 2,000 kidnapped and enslaved African people to the island to work in gold mines and on sugar plantations. By 1697, Spain was forced to cede the western part of the island to France, which would become the French colony of Saint-Domingue.

On August 14, 1791, the sacred ceremony of Bwa Kayiman launched the Haitian Revolution. Toussaint L’Ouverture, a former enslaved African who became a guerrilla leader and then the leader of the revolutionary army, defeats the colonial army, abolishing slavery and proclaiming himself governor-general of an autonomous government over all Hispaniola.

But L’Ouverture would not live to see a free Haiti. He was captured by the French army and killed. Jean-Jacques Dessalines would go on to lead the revolutionaries and defeat the French army at the Battle of Vertieres on November 18, 1803.

On January 1, Haiti becomes a free republic ruled by Jean-Jacques Dessalines. Independence for all people from colonial rule and enslavement is declared.

notes: Here is the first flag of the new independent country. The words mean: Liberty or death.

In 1825, France demands payment from Haiti, in the form of an indemnity for 150 million francs (over $20 billion today) to be paid for claims over lost property damages (enslaved Africans who were now free Haitians) in return for diplomatic recognition.

The U.S. finally recognizes Haiti on July 12, 1862. Like most of the Western and European powers, the U.S. did not recognize Haiti’s independence for almost 60 years because white Americans worried that Haiti’s existence posed a direct threat to their slavery-driven economy. This disenfranchised Haiti’s economy, leaving the country to pay off a debt for nearly 150 years.

Antenor Firmin, Haitian anthropologist, linguist, and diplomat, writes the seminal essay challenging racism in the sciences called, “The Equality of the Human Races” in response to the text of French scholar Arthur de Gobineau that was published in the 1850s. In French, the Haitian philosopher wrote, “Human beings everywhere are endowed with the same qualities and defects, without distinctions based on color or anatomical shape…The races are equal.”

After a series of border disputes with the Dominican Republic and short-lived presidencies culminating in the assassination of leader Jean Vilbrun Guillaume Sam, the United States invaded Haiti in 1915 to protect its investments in-country. The United States withdrew its forces in 1934. Three years later, Dominican forces under the orders of President Rafael Trujillo kill an estimated 30,000 Haitians living in the border zone between the two countries in what’s known today as the Parsley (Perejil) Massacre.

Major resistance to the U.S. Occupation spreads across Haiti in many forms. Several key figures publish seminal works that would help shape Pan-Africanist thought and the Negritude Movement, including Jean-Price Mars (So Spoke the Uncle-1928), Jacques Roumain (Masters of the Dew-1944), and Jean-Fernand Brierre (Black Soul-1947).

In 1956, Francois "Papa Doc" Duvalier seizes power in a military coup and is elected president a year later. He declares himself president-for-life and establishes a dictatorship. In 1971, he dies and is succeeded by his 19-year-old son, Jean-Claude, or "Baby Doc", who also declares himself president-for-life.

On February 7, 1986 Jean-Claude Duvalier is forced into exile and the violent regime comes to an end. In its place, the birth of a new democracy, led by the formation of the 1987 Constitution, which officially recognizes Haitian Creole (or Kreyòl Ayisyen) as an official national language, alongside French.

Two historic firsts happen within a year. As part of the provisional government installed to oversee democratic elections, Ertha Pascal Trouillot became Haiti’s first woman president on March 13, 1990. As the provisional head of state, she led Haiti's first free and peaceful elections, in which Jean-Bertrand Aristide is elected on December 16, 1990. He became the first democratically elected president. However, his term lasts only 9 months (February 7, 1991-September 29, 1991) before he is ousted in a military coup, triggering sanctions by the U.S. and the Organisation of American States.

Military regime relinquishes power in the face of an imminent U.S. invasion; U.S. forces oversee a transition to a civilian government; Aristide returns. United Nations peacekeepers begin to replace U.S. troops; Aristide supporters win parliamentary elections.

Vodou is recognized as a religion, on par with other faiths.

In January and February, celebrations marking 200 years of independence turn into an uprising against President Aristide, who is forced into exile. An interim government takes over. The year is followed by Hurricane Ivan and Hurricane Jeanne which kill at least 3,000 and leave another 250,000 Haitians homeless.

In 2010, Haiti is hit by a 7.0-magnitude earthquake that kills up to 300,000 people and a cholera outbreak claims some 3,500 lives and triggers violent protests. After Hurricane Sandy (2012) caused extensive crop damage and Hurricane Matthew (2016), the strongest to hit the region in decades, more than 220 thousand homes are destroyed.

The Dominican Republic government shuts down the border with Haiti after the Haitian government announced plans to continue building a canal coming from the Massacre River. This led to a massive mobilization of thousands of Haitians (in Haiti and the Diaspora) to build the canal, demonstrating the people’s desire to build their country’s infrastructure and become self-sufficient.