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Haiti was originally inhabited by indigenous peoples, primarily the Taíno and Arawak people, before the arrival of Christopher Columbus in 1492. Columbus claimed the island of Hispaniola (which includes present-day Haiti and the Dominican Republic) for Spain during his first voyage to the Americas. As a result, Haiti came under Spanish control.
However, in the early 17th century, the western part of Hispaniola, including what is now Haiti, was ceded to the French by the Treaty of Ryswick in 1697, following years of conflict between France and Spain. The French established a colony called Saint-Domingue on this portion of the island and turned it into one of the most profitable sugar-producing colonies in the Caribbean, relying heavily on enslaved African labor.
In 1804, after a long and brutal struggle for independence led by figures like Toussaint Louverture and Jean-Jacques Dessalines, Haiti became the first independent nation in Latin America and the Caribbean. It was the first country in the Western Hemisphere to be founded by formerly enslaved people who had successfully revolted against their colonial rulers. Haiti declared its independence from France on January 1, 1804, and has been an independent nation since then.
