French Haitians, also called Franco-Haitians are citizens of

Haiti Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and ...

of full or partial French ancestry. The term is sometimes also applied to Haitians who migrated to France in the 20th and 21st century and who have acquired French citizenship, as well to their descendants.

Colonization

The story begins with the issuing of French adventurers in the Tortuga Island, which was close to the Spanish colony of

Santo Domingo , total_type = Total , population_density_km2 = auto , timezone = AST (UTC −4) , area_code_type = Area codes , area_code = 809, 829, 849 , postal_code_type = Postal codes , postal_code = 10100–10699 (Distrito Nacional) , websi ...

. As a result in the late 17th century, the French had

de facto ''De facto'' ( ; , "in fact") describes practices that exist in reality, whether or not they are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms. It is commonly used to refer to what happens in practice, in contrast with ''de jure'' ("by la ...

control of the island close to the Spanish colony. The wars of

Louis XIV of France , house = Bourbon , father = Louis XIII , mother = Anne of Austria , birth_date = , birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France , death_date = , death_place = Palace of Versa ...

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

finally convinced the Spaniards to give the island to the French under to the Treaty on

Ryswick Rijswijk (), formerly known as Ryswick ( ) in English, is a city and municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. Its population was in , and it has an area of , of which is water. The municipality also includes th ...

(1697). The French called their new colony

Saint-Domingue Saint-Domingue () was a French colony in the western portion of the Caribbean island of Hispaniola, in the area of modern-day Haiti, from 1659 to 1804. The name derives from the Spanish main city in the island, Santo Domingo, which came to refer ...

. And they began transforming the settlement into a large sugar

plantation A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. The ...

. Later the Frenchmen began to bring large numbers of

African African or Africans may refer to: * Anything from or pertaining to the continent of Africa: ** People who are native to Africa, descendants of natives of Africa, or individuals who trace their ancestry to indigenous inhabitants of Africa *** Ethn ...

slaves to work on plantations, the destruction of the Taino and African imports changed the demographics of St Domingue. By the late 17th century, the French made up 90% of the nation, with more than 1,000 settlers and their descendants (note that

had a European past), but as the number of

black people Black is a racialized classification of people, usually a political and skin color-based category for specific populations with a mid to dark brown complexion. Not all people considered "black" have dark skin; in certain countries, often in s ...

grew faster, they acceded to a mix between French and black people, which resulted in a fast growth of

mulattos (, ) is a racial classification to refer to people of mixed African and European ancestry. Its use is considered outdated and offensive in several languages, including English and Dutch, whereas in languages such as Spanish and Portuguese is ...

, although in some cases the mixing occurred two or more times. The French could notice that some mulatto were clearer than others. By the early 18th century, mulattos and slaves started to compose the majority of the colony, blacks continued to be used as slaves for the production of sugar, which was in demand in

Western Europe Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's countries and territories vary depending on context. The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the ancient Mediterranean ...

. That made the French put much pressure and cruelty to blacks to speed the production.''Historical Boys'Clothing'
Haitian History: French Colony--Saint Domingo (1697-1791)
Retrieved, 28/11/2014.

Haitian massacres and slave revolt

For 1791, the first revolt of slaves and mulattos got up, which consisted blacks demanded their rights, to abandon slavery, and equal skin color, this fault with indignation in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

and whites in Saint-Domingue the white man lynched blacks and mulattos that fell into their hands, no matter their gender or age. Then another stood up to 1804, this time led by the slaves:

Toussaint Louverture François-Dominique Toussaint Louverture (; also known as Toussaint L'Ouverture or Toussaint Bréda; 20 May 1743 – 7 April 1803) was a Haitian general and the most prominent leader of the Haitian Revolution. During his life, Louverture ...

and

Jean-Jacques Dessalines Jean-Jacques Dessalines (Haitian Creole: ''Jan-Jak Desalin''; ; 20 September 1758 – 17 October 1806) was a leader of the Haitian Revolution and the first ruler of an independent First Empire of Haiti, Haiti under the Constitution of Haiti, 1 ...

, but this what slaves joined and massacred in a brutal form to whites who lived in the colony, as well as their descendants in that colony. This produced a notable reduction of

French people The French people (french: Français) are an ethnic group and nation primarily located in Western Europe that share a common French culture, history, and language, identified with the country of France. The French people, especially the nati ...

in Haiti.

Notable French Haitians

* Joseph Bunel *

Charles Frédéric Chassériau Baron Charles Frédéric Chassériau du Chiron (29 January 1802 – 11 January 1896) was a Saint Dominican architect and painter, who served as chief architect of the cities of Marseille, Algiers, in Algeria; and Cairo, in Egypt. He is partic ...

* Marie-Madeleine Lachenais * Josaphat-Robert Large * Jean-Louis Michel

References

{{French diaspora European Haitian Ethnic groups in Haiti

Colonization

Haitian massacres and slave revolt

Notable French Haitians

See also

References