Haiti was the first Black Republic and the 2nd country in the world to become independent. Its history is rich with stories of a people’s struggle to be free of chains and outside rule.

On December 6th, 1492 Christopher Columbus landed at Mole St. Nicholas in Haiti's north. Most people are aware that Christopher Columbus landed at San Salvador in October 1492, thus "discovering" the New World for Spain. However, it is less known that his second land fall was at Mole St. Nicholas, Haiti, on December 1492, and that the first settlement in the New World was La Navidad, on Haiti's north coast. This settlement, which housed sailors from the Santa Maria which sank off Haiti's coast, was founded on December 24th, 1492, giving place to its name, which means ‘Christmas’ in Spanish.

Columbus did not discover a lost or unknown land. There was a flourishing civilization of native Americas. The particular group of Arawak-speaking people who lived on the island of Hispaniola were the gentle Taino Indians, who had been inhabiting their land of ‘Ayiti’ for 700 years prior to the Spanish arrival.

The French settled on the island of Hispaniola in the 16th century and had control over it by the 17th. In the 1700s, France turned Haiti into the richest colony in the world: producing the most sugar and coffee in the world, as well as being an important exporter of products that were important in France’s economic growth. However, this great wealth was founded on great violence – the slave trade was rife in Haiti. The French revolutionary slogan: liberté, égalité et fraternité, resonated in Haiti and revolt was ignited in 1791. After 2 years of fighting, the slaves were freed but the battle was not yet over.

Napoleon Bonaparte came to power in France in 1799, and was unhappy with how things had turned out in Haiti. He sent his brother and troops to revert things back to how they were on the island. The request was not easy to fulfil, and the tropical diseases and intense battles hindered the French massively. Napoleon was defeated, and forced to abandon his plans for an empire in the ‘New World’. Due to the war in Haiti, he sold his North American possessions in the Louisiana Purchase, which made the USA a true continental power.

Palais Sans Souci was built by self-declared king, Roi Christophe, in 1813 and was modelled on Versailles to show the rest of the world what Haiti could achieve. The slaves also built a fortress – La Citadelle la Ferriere on a hill 900 metres above sea level which still stands today, and was a pillar for new inland defensive techniques.