History, Language & Culture Haiti

The recorded history of Haiti began on 5 December 1492, when the European navigator Christopher Columbus happened upon a large island in the region of the western Atlantic Ocean that later came to be known as the Caribbean. It was inhabited by the Taíno and Arawakan people, who variously called their island Ayiti, Bohio, and Kiskeya (Quisqueya). Columbus promptly claimed the island for the Spanish Crown, naming it La Isla Española ("the Spanish Island"), later Latinized to Hispaniola. French influence began in 1625, and French control of what was called Saint-Domingue in modern-day Haiti began in 1660. From 1697 on, the western part of the island was French, and the eastern part was Spanish. Haiti became one of the wealthiest of France's colonies, producing vast quantities of sugar and coffee, depending on enslaved Africans to provide the labor. Inspired by the message of the French Revolution, the enslaved Haitians rose up in revolt in 1791, and after decades of struggle, the independent republic of Haiti was officially proclaimed in 1804.

language French and Haitian Creole.

French and Haitian CreoleThe culture of Haiti is an eclectic mix of African, Taino and European elements due to the French colonization of Saint Domingue and its large and diverse enslaved African population, as is evidenced in the Haitian language, music, and religion.