The islands of Hispaniola (Haiti), Tortuga, Jamaica are not the largest in the world (especially Tortuga). However, their names are known even to people living thousands of kilometers away, on the other side of the earth. They owe their popularity to pirates and privateers-privateers, who felt so at ease in the Caribbean that Voltaire wrote about them:
“The previous generation just told us about the miracles that these filibusters performed, and we talk about them all the time, they touch us … If they could (do) a policy equal to their indomitable courage, they would have founded a great empire in America … Not the Romans and no other bandit nation has ever achieved such amazing conquests."
Currently, filibusters and privates who are very similar to them are strongly romanticized by the authors of adventurous pirate novels and films. But these dashing guys did not seem like heroes to their contemporaries. About the heyday and decline of the islands of Jamaica and Tortuga was a little told in the "Caribbean" series of articles. And today we will talk about the history of the island of Haiti, which was also mentioned in those articles, but despite its size, remained in the shadow of a very small neighboring Tortuga.
Little Spain
Haiti is the second largest island in the Antilles archipelago. Around him we see other large and small islands - the Bahamas, Cuba, Jamaica, Puerto Rico. In the north, Haiti is washed by the Atlantic Ocean, in the south - by the Caribbean Sea.
Haiti meets the criteria for a tropical island paradise: the average monthly temperature throughout the year is 25-27 ° C (cooler in the mountains - 18-20 C °), the rainy season lasts from June to November.
The island was discovered by the First Columbus Expedition, whose ships landed on its shores on December 6, 1492. Then he got the name "Little Spain" (La Española). And the local Taino Indians called him Quisqueya ("Great Land").
Here the Europeans found settlements of the Taino Indians, which were constantly attacked by the more warlike Caribbean tribes.
On the northern coast of Hispaniola, Columbus lost his flagship, the famous Santa Maria caravel. This ship ran aground, its wreckage went to the construction of Fort La Navidad. The fate of this first colony was sad: the settlers were killed by the Indians. The new Spanish settlement on the island was named La Isabela (1493). The Europeans did not stay here: either they simply moved to the southern coast, or they were forced to do it by some kind of epidemic.
Finally, in 1496, Bartolomeo Columbus founded the city of Santo Domingo (originally New Isabela). It is currently the capital of the Dominican Republic and is considered the oldest European city in America.
Sugar cane was soon brought to Hispaniola from the Canary Islands. And in 1503, the first blacks were brought in to work on the plantations. And already in 1516 the first sugar factory was opened here.
The modern name of the island - Haiti, also traces its origin from the Taino language: Ayiti - "mountainous country". There are indeed mountains here, including the Duarte peak, which, according to various sources, has a height of 3087 to 3175 meters. It is the tallest in the West Indies.
In my opinion, the name "Haiti" is unfortunate. Mountains, as you can see on the map, do not cover the entire territory of this island.
In addition, the territory of the island is now divided between the two states. The name of one of them coincides with the name of the entire island. Another is the Dominican Republic, which is extremely popular with tourists from all over the world. Some of them, upon arrival, are very surprised that they went to the Dominican Republic and ended up in Haiti. Meanwhile, in some European countries, the island is still called Hispaniola. Moreover, Hispaniola is usually called their island and the inhabitants of the countries dividing it.
Buccaneers of the island of Hispaniola
The mountainous western and northern coasts of Hispaniola have been the go-to destination for smugglers. Pirates also came here, wishing to sell the booty and replenish water and provisions. Tired of fighting these guests, the Spanish authorities ordered all Europeans to move to the southeast coast of the island, much more convenient for a quiet, peaceful life.
However, not everyone liked this offer, and people associated with smugglers and filibusters preferred to leave for Tortuga or Cuba. And on the vacated territory, boucaniers have now settled. This was the name of the hunters for wild bulls and pigs (which were left here by the former inhabitants). The buccaneers smoked the meat of these animals on racks according to the Indian recipe, selling it to the planters of Hispaniola, and visiting merchants, and filibusters. In addition to meat, they also sold skins and lard for wicks.
It so happened that the first buccaneers were mainly the French - ruined peasants and artisans, unlucky merchants, sailors who fell behind their ships, as well as fugitive criminals and deserters. For some time, the famous Bertrand d'Ogeron, the future governor of Tortuga, also had to work as a buccaneer on Hispaniola - after his ship crashed in the Gulf of Cul de Sac (this is the very beginning of his Caribbean adventures).
The collection of buccaneer communities was called the "coastal fraternity".
The peaceful existence of buccaneers on Hispaniola continued until 1635, when the French corsair Pierre Legrand, in command of a small Luger (4 cannons, 28 crew members), unexpectedly attacked and captured the Spanish 54-gun flagship galleon. Look at the illustrations and try to estimate the size of these ships.
The Spaniards were taken by surprise, under the threat of a powder magazine explosion, the captain surrendered the ship, the crew of which was landed on Hispaniola. This galleon, along with the cargo, was sold in the French Dieppe. The unlucky Spaniards were laughed at both in the New World and in the Old. And therefore it was decided to organize a demonstrative punitive operation against the filibusters of the Antilles.
Chasing pirates across the sea is a very tedious, thankless and even dangerous occupation. And that is why some of the colonial officials came up with the ingenious idea to strike at the "coastal brotherhood" of buccaneers. Their way of life did not inspire confidence in the authorities, and many of them were indeed associated with trade interests with filibusters.
The buccaneers did not expect an attack, and therefore the beginning of this operation was successful for the Spaniards: the soldiers managed to kill several hundred people. However, the surviving buccaneers did not flee in terror from the island, but went into the forest and began to brutally avenge their comrades. And these people were desperate, harsh, and besides, they were all excellent shooters. Johann Wilhelm von Archengoltz reports:
“From that time on, the buccaneers breathed only revenge. The blood flowed in streams; they did not understand either age or gender, and the terror of their name began to spread more and more."
Now the villages of the Spanish colonists were burning, and the regular troops were completely powerless against the buccaneers who knew the area well. But the creativity of the Spanish colonial officials knew no limits. By their order, the soldiers began to destroy the resource base of buccaneers - wild bulls and pigs. It was possible to almost completely exterminate these animals in two years.
The result exceeded all expectations: having lost their only source of income, the buccaneers joined the crews of filibuster ships. Here they were received with open arms, and it was impossible to make a better gift for the gaining strength of the pirate Tortuga.
The "Coastal Brotherhood" was now called pirate communities, and the words "filibuster" and "buccaneer" were perceived by many as synonyms. Archengolts, mentioned above, wrote about the exiled buccaneers:
"They united with their friends, filibusters, who were already beginning to be glorified, but whose name became truly terrible only after connecting with the buccaneers."
If you are interested in this topic, look at the articles "Filibusters and Buccaneers", "Tortuga. Filibusters' Caribbean Paradise "," The Golden Age of Tortuga Island ". You can also open other articles of the "Caribbean Cycle", which tells about the corsairs and privatizers of Port Royal in Jamaica and Nassau in Bahamas.
We will now continue our story about the history of the island of Hispaniola.
Cromwell's West Indies Expedition
The first British to attack Espanyola was the famous Francis Drake. In January 1586, he captured Santo Domingo, taking 25,000 ducats and over 200 cannons as ransom.
In 1654, Oliver Cromwell sent a fleet of 18 warships and 20 transport ships to the West Indies to capture this island. The squadron was very formidable: 352 guns, 1145 sailors, 1830 soldiers and 38 horses. On the islands of Montserrat, Nevis and St. Christopher, they were joined by three to four thousand volunteers. On the way to Hispaniola, the British attacked Barbados, where they captured 14 (according to other sources - 15) Dutch merchant ships.
But with Hispaniola, the Cromwell veterans did not succeed: only 600 Spanish soldiers, with the support of local residents, repulsed the attack with heavy losses for the British. The leaders of the expedition in May 1655 captured Jamaica in grief (and for Britain this island turned out to be a very valuable acquisition). But Cromwell was dissatisfied. On their return to London, Admiral William Penn and General Robert Venables were sent to the Tower.
French colony of Saint-Domingue
The French were more fortunate.
Under the treaty of 1697 (Riksvik Peace), Spain was forced to cede the western third of the island of Hispaniola to them. The French colony of Saint-Domingue founded here in the 18th century was called “the pearl of the Antilles”. French sugarcane plantations in 1789 produced 86 thousand tons of sugar per year (this is approximately 40% of world production). Coffee and tobacco were also grown here. Saint-Domingue then gave a third of the profits from French exports of colonial goods.
The Spanish colony on Hispaniola - Santo Domingo, against this background, looked like a nondescript Cinderella. The fact is that the Spanish colonists now preferred to settle on the American continent. The white population of Santo Domingo did not grow, but even decreased. In addition, since 1561, the Spaniards began to send goods to Europe only in well-guarded large caravans of ships, the main base for the formation of which was Cuba.
Hispaniola was now on the outskirts and was of little interest to the Spanish authorities. But on the territory of the modern Dominican Republic there are forests cut down in Haiti for plantations.
First Republic of Haiti on the island of Hispaniola
The first blacks, as we remember, were brought to Hispaniola in 1503. Subsequently, their number on the island grew steadily. Especially after almost all Hispaniola Taino Indians died during the smallpox epidemic in 1519.
On the eve of the French Revolution, the population of Saint-Domingue consisted of three large groups. The privileged community was the white population, whose number reached 36 thousand people. However, as you understand, not all whites were rich planters, and no one in Saint-Domingo encroached on the holy right of the purebred French to starve and walk in rags.
There were about 500,000 dark-skinned slaves, about the same number as in the rest of the West Indies.
In addition, about 28 thousand free mulattoes lived on the island. They were also not a homogeneous group, differing in both the level of wealth and blood (the French were very scrupulous in such matters). The most "pure" mulattoes were the Sangmel, who had only 1/16 of Negro blood, followed by Sakatra (1/8). But even such "dubious" mulattoes were not considered equal by the whites. However, at the same time, mulattos could own land, have their own slaves, and some of them lived better than most European colonists. And therefore, demanding equal rights with whites, the mulattoes in no way objected to slavery for blacks.
In 1791, the wealthy mulatto Vincent Auger visited revolutionary France. He liked the slogan of universal equality very much, and therefore, when he returned, he demanded that at least the richest mulattoes be equal in rights with whites. Local officials refused to compromise, and Auger encouraged the mulattos to revolt. It ended in the defeat and execution of Auger.
But the situation in Saint-Domingue, where, as we remember, there were significantly more blacks than whites and mulattos combined, and so it had long been teetering on the brink of an explosion. The mulattoes set an example. And on August 22, 1791, Negro slaves rebelled, who in 2 months destroyed 280 plantations and killed about two thousand whites, including many women and children.
The most authoritative leader of the rebels was François Dominique Toussaint-Louverture, the son of a black slave who rose to the rank of estate manager and was freed at the age of 33. After the start of the uprising, he helped the family of the former owner escape to Spanish territory, and he himself led the four thousandth detachment.
On April 4, 1792, the revolutionary government of France belatedly declared the equality of all free people - regardless of skin color. If this decision had been taken a year earlier, the history of Haiti could have taken a different course. But now it was too late.
Finally, on February 4, 1794, the convention also abolished slavery. After negotiations with General Etienne Laveau Louverture, the leader of the rebels recognized the power of France.
In 1795, the French defeated the Spanish by capturing the entire territory of Hispaniola. And in 1798 the British attack on the island was repulsed.
Even the biggest optimist could not call the situation on Espanyol stable. In 1799-1800, Louverture, at the head of the Negroes, had to fight the mulattoes. And in 1800-1801 he took control of the former Spanish possessions - Santo Domingo.
On July 7, 1801, the Colonial Assembly of Saint-Domingue adopted a constitution that proclaimed the island autonomy within France, and Louverture as governor for life of the former colony.
The first consul of the Republic, Napoleon Bonaparte, did not recognize the constitution of Saint-Domingo and sent French troops to Hispaniola. They were commanded by Charles Leclerc (husband of Pauline Bonaparte, Napoleon's sister).
This detachment reached Hispaniola on January 29, 1802. Here he was supported by the mulattoes and even some associates of Louverture. On May 5, Louverture was forced to conclude an armistice, on June 6 he was sent to France, where he died on April 7, 1803.
Meanwhile, on May 20, 1802, by decree of Bonaparte, slavery was restored in Saint-Domingue. This led to a new uprising that began in October of the same year. Alexander Petion and Jean-Jacques Dessalines became its leaders. For the French, the situation was aggravated by the yellow fever epidemic, from which many soldiers and officers died, including Leclerc. In 1803, British warships blockaded Hispaniola, making it impossible for the French to receive aid from the mother country. All this together led to their defeat in November 1803 and the withdrawal of the remaining troops from Saint-Domingo to the east - to the former Spanish possessions.
On November 30, 1803, Dessalines declared himself Governor-General of Saint-Domingue. And on January 1, 1804, the former colony proclaimed independence and declared the creation of the state of Haiti.
In honor of this momentous event, a new massacre of the remnants of the white population was organized. The killings lasted from February to April 1804, about 5 thousand people became victims. All this was done with the full approval of Dessalines, who declared Haiti a state for blacks and mulattoes and went down in history as the first black racist in power.
After that, Dessalines, casting aside false modesty, on September 22, 1804, proclaimed himself Emperor Jacques I. In the spring of 1805, he tried to seize the eastern part of the island, but was defeated by the French. On October 17, 1806, the unlucky emperor was killed by his disgruntled associates.
The "holiday of disobedience" in Haiti continued, and soon the negroes, led by Henri Christophe, and the mulattoes, led by Petion, grappled here. As a result, the country fell into two parts.
In the north, the state of Haiti emerged. Its president was Christophe, who in 1811 proclaimed himself King Henri I.
And in the south of the former Saint-Domingo, the Republic of Haiti appeared, headed by President Petion.
In October 1820, a rebellion broke out in the kingdom. Henri Christophe shot himself, his son and heir was killed 10 days later. But the grandson of this self-appointed monarch served as President of Haiti from 1901 to 1908, and his great-great-granddaughter became the wife of Baby Doc, Jean-Claude Duvalier.
After the death of King Henri, the Republicans took advantage of the situation and annexed the territory he controlled.
In 1825, in exchange for the recognition of independence, the Haitian authorities agreed to pay compensation of 150 million francs to the former owners of the seized property (or to their heirs). The French officially recognized the independence of the former Saint-Domingo in 1834.
In 1838, the amount of compensation was reduced to 90 million.
This money was paid in full only in the middle of the 20th century.
Spanish Haiti (future Dominican Republic)
Trouble was also in the east of Hispaniola, where an anti-French uprising began in November 1808.
Thanks to British help, the French were expelled, and in July 1809 this part of the island became Spanish again. However, the authorities of this country practically did not pay attention to Santa Domingo, and therefore the period 1809-1821 in the modern Dominican Republic is called "the era of stupid Spain."
On November 30, 1821, the independent state of Spanish Haiti was proclaimed here. Whites were not exterminated here, as a result there were even more of them than blacks - about 16% versus 9%. Well, the absolute majority of the inhabitants of the new country were mulattos (in the second half of the twentieth century, the Japanese and Chinese communities also appeared in the Dominican Republic).
Spanish Haiti was not lucky with its neighbors. A few months later, on February 9, 1822, the army of western Haiti invaded here. The Haitian occupation of this part of the island continued until February 27, 1844, when the invaders were driven out as a result of a popular uprising.
This is how the state, now known as the Dominican Republic, appeared. And he still had to repel five attacks from Haiti - in 1844, 1845, 1849, 1853 and 1855-1856. An additional destabilizing factor was the unsettled border with Haiti.
Due to constant tension on the border, the possibility of transferring to the rule of some strong power was considered.
The first president, the planter Pedro Santana, in 1861 agreed to restore the power of Spain. But already in August 1863, an anti-Spanish uprising began in the Dominican Republic, which ended in victory in the summer of 1865. Santana was killed.
After that, the Dominican Republic entered a long period of political instability. And in the years 1865-1879, 5 military coups took place here, and the government changed 21 times.
In 1869, another president, B. Baez, signed an agreement on the transfer of the country to the rule of the United States, but this agreement did not receive the approval of American senators.
Over time, the external threat factor ceased to be relevant, but the complex and unstable internal political situation persisted until 1930, when for a long time power fell into the hands of Rafael Trujillo.
