Saint-Domingue facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Saint-Domingue
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| 1625–1804 | |||||||||
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| Status | Colony of France | ||||||||
| Capital | Cap-Français (1711–1770) Port-au-Prince (1770–1804) |
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| Common languages | French, Haitian Creole | ||||||||
| Religion | Roman Catholicism | ||||||||
| Government | Absolute monarchy (until 1792) Republic (1792–1804) |
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| King | |||||||||
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• 1625–1643
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Louis XIII | ||||||||
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• 1643–1715
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Louis XIV | ||||||||
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• 1715–1774
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Louis XV | ||||||||
| Head of State of the French Republic | |||||||||
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• 1792–1795
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National Convention | ||||||||
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• 1795–1799
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French Directory | ||||||||
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• 1799–1804
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Napoléon Bonaparte | ||||||||
| History | |||||||||
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• First French settlement
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1625 | ||||||||
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• Recognized
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1697 | ||||||||
| January 1 1804 | |||||||||
| Area | |||||||||
| 21,550 km2 (8,320 sq mi) | |||||||||
| Currency | Saint-Domingue livre | ||||||||
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| Today part of |  Haiti |
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Saint-Domingue was a French colony on the Caribbean island of Hispaniola from 1659 to 1804, in what is now Haiti.
The French had established themselves on the western portion of the islands of Hispaniola and Tortuga by 1659. In the Treaty of Ryswick of 1697, Spain formally recognized French control of Tortuga Island and the western third of the island of Hispaniola.
In 1791, the slaves and some free people of color of Saint-Domingue began waging a rebellion against French authority. The rebels became reconciled to French rule following the abolition of slavery in the colony in 1793, although this alienated the island's dominant slave-holding class. France controlled the entirety of Hispaniola from 1795 to 1802, when a renewed rebellion began. The last French troops withdrew from the western portion of the island in late 1803, and the colony later declared its independence as Haiti, its indigenous name, the following year.
Overview
Spain controlled the entire island of Hispaniola from the 1490s until the 17th century, when French pirates began establishing bases on the western side of the island. The official name was La Española, meaning "The Spanish (Island)". It was also called Santo Domingo or San Domingo, after Saint Dominic.
The western part of Hispaniola was neglected by the Spanish authorities, and French buccaneers began to settle first on the Tortuga Island, then on the northwest of the island: they called it le Grande Terre. Spain later ceded the entire western coast of the island to France, retaining the rest of the island, including the Guava Valley, today known as the Central Plateau.
The French called their portion of Hispaniola Saint-Domingue, the French equivalent of Santo Domingo. The Spanish colony on Hispaniola remained separate, and eventually became the Dominican Republic, the capital of which is still named Santo Domingo.
Images for kids
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A Saint Dominican servant boy and his mother
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Drawing of a slave sale aboard the Marie Séraphique in the waters off Cap‑Français, 1773
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Jean-Baptiste Belley, an affranchi who became a rich planter, elected member of the Estates General for Saint-Domingue, and later Deputy of the French National Convention
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A Saint Dominican girl with her nanny
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Slaves cutting a sugar cane field. A black commander speaks with a plantation steward.
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A rich Creole planter and his wife
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A picture showing the distance between Saint Domingue & France.
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A Saint Dominican Creole woman smelling a flower.
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A Creole plantation.
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A Saint Dominican Creole general.
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Creoles in elegant dress
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Slaves having a stick fight. A white engagé (indentured servant) is on the left.
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Maroons preparing to ambush a convoy
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Creole rebel leader, Jean-Baptiste Chavannes
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Toussaint L'Ouverture with Sonthonax
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Republican abolitionist and Jacobin Léger-Félicité Sonthonax
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The Vicomte de Rochambeau in Saint-Domingue
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The Battle of Palm Tree Hill
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Atrocities committed by the French expeditionary forces under the Vicomte de Rochambeau
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A Democratic publication of Republicans dancing the "San Domingo" war dance for freed slaves, 1872.
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See also
In Spanish: Saint-Domingue para niños
