This is a timeline of Haitian history, comprising important legal and territorial changes and political events in Haiti and its predecessor states. To read about the background to these events, see History of Haiti. See also the list of heads of state of Haïti.
15th century Year Date Event 1492 Christopher Columbus came to the first Spanish community near Cap-Haïtien.
16th century Year Date Event 1501 The first Africans were brought to Hispaniola as people in the U.S. 1503 Queen Anacaona, leader of the last Taino kingdom in the Hispaniola, is executed by Spanish governor. 1511 The Dioceses of Santo Domingo and Concepción de la Vega was foundedText has been adapted from: Reinhold, G. (1910). "Haiti", The Catholic Encyclopedia, New York: Robert Appleton Company. Retrieved May 27, 2009 1518 Ferdinand II of Aragon officially established Spain's African slave trade. 1528 Don Sebastián Ramirez de Fuente became the first Catholic bishop of the island.
17th century Year Date Event 1625 French, Dutch and English filibusters, pirates and privateers occupied Tortuga Island and were repeatedly expelled by the Spaniards. 1670 The city of Cap-Francais was founded on the north coast by French settlers. 1670 Louis XIV of France authorized the African slave trade in Saint-Dominque. 1685 Louis XIV enacted the Code Noir, regulating slavery in Saint-Domingue and the rest of the French colonial empire. 1697 Spain signed the Treaty of Ryswick, under whose terms she ceded the western third of Hispaniola to France.
18th century Year Date Event 1749 The city of Port-au-Prince was founded by Charles Burnier, Marquis of Larnage and named the capital of Saint-Domingue. 1751 Slave rebellions in northern Saint-Domingue, led by François Mackandal, began. 1758 Mackandal was captured and publicly executed in Cap-Français. 1778 Volunteer Haitian slaves, led by French admiral Count d'Estaing, left for Savannah, Georgia to participate in the unsuccessful Siege of Savannah during the American Revolutionary War. 1791 25 February Vincent Ogé and Jean-Baptiste Chavannes, proponents of equal rights for free blacks and mulattos and leaders of an armed rebellion, were publicly executed in Cap-Français. 7 August The Conseil des Représentants de la Commune was founded by affranchis to demand equal rights. Pinchinat was named president of the council. 14 August Haitian Revolution: Dutty Boukman and Cécile Fatiman held a Vodou ceremony in Bois-Caïman, where hundreds of slaves vowed to die for liberty. 21 August Major slave revolt begins, led by Dutty Boukman and his lieutenants: Jean François, Georges Biassou, and Jeannot. 25 August Rebel attack on Cap Francais is repulsed by the cannons and militia of the white colonists. 24 September The Concordat de Damiens was signed, granting political rights to the affranchis. November The First Civil Commission, comprising Roume, Mirbeck, and Saint-Léger, arrived in Cap-Français to restore order. 7 November Dutty Boukman killed in a counter attack by colonial forces. 1792 4 April France's Legislative Assembly voted to give full citizenship and equal rights to all free people of color. 18 September The Second Civil Commission, comprising Léger-Félicité Sonthonax, Étienne Polverel and Ailhaud, arrived in Cap-Français to execute the law of 4 April. 1793 12 April A force led by the Second Civil Commission and affranchis defeated white colonists in a fight to enforce the law of 4 April. Toussaint Louverture offered his services as a military commander to the Spanish. 20 June French colonial forces, under the authority of the Second Civil Commission, put down a revolt led by François-Thomas Galbaud du Fort. Henri Christophe was promoted to the captaincy of the French colonial forces, but soon removed when accused of adultery. British troops landed in Saint-Domingue. June Toussaint, fighting for Spain, captured the city of Dondon. 13 August Toussaint defeated the French general Desfourneaux at Ennery. 29 August Sonthonax, without prior approval from the French government, declared the abolition of slavery by decree in northern Saint-Domingue. Polverel soon after does the same for the southern part of Saint-Domingue. 6 December Toussaint captured Gonaïves for Spain. 1794 4 February The French National Convention declared the abolition of slavery in all French colonies, so making the abolition of slavery legal and applying to all of France and its colonies. May Toussaint left the Spanish and joined the French forces. 1 June The British captured Port-au-Prince from Colonel Montbrun of France. 21 October Toussaint captured the cities of Saint-Michel and Saint-Raphaël for the French. 1795 13 October Toussaint captured the city of Dondon a second time, this time for France. 14 October The Treaty of Bâle was ratified, ending Spain's involvement in the conflict and surrendering the eastern part of Hispaniola to France. 1796 30 March Toussaint rescued French commander Laveaux from mulatto rebel Villatte; Laveaux appointed Toussaint the Lieutenant-Governor of Saint-Domingue. 11 May The Third Civil Commission, comprising Sonthonax, Roume, Giraud, Leblanc, and Julien Raymond, arrived in Saint-Domingue to establish diplomatic relations between France and the colony. 1797 1 May Sonthonax appointed Toussaint the commander-in-chief of the French colonial forces. 1798 20 April General Hédouville arrived in Cap-Français on the orders of the French government in order to oppose the ambition of Toussaint Louverture. 31 August British general Maitland agreed to evacuate Môle Saint-Nicolas in a treaty signed with Toussaint. 1799 12 January The generals of the colony – Toussaint, André Rigaud, Bauvais, and Laplume – met in Port-au-Prince and named Toussaint the lead commander. Rigaud surrendered control of the southern cities of Léogâne, Grand-Goâve, Petit-Goâve, and Miragoâne.
19th century