The recorded written 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, or Kiskeya(Quisqueya). Columbus promptly claimed the island for the Spanish Crown, naming it La Isla Española, later Latinized to Hispaniola. French influence began in 1625, and French control of what was called Saint-Domingue—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 and depended on a brutal slave system for the necessary labor. Inspired by the message of the French Revolution, Haitian slaves rose up in revolt in 1791 and after decades of struggle the independent republic of Haiti was officially proclaimed in 1804.
François Duvalier, also known as Papa Doc(Daddy Doc), was the President of Haiti from 1957 to 1971. He was elected president in 1957 on a populist and black nationalist platform. After thwarting a military coup d'état in 1958, his regime rapidly became totalitarian and despotic. An undercover government death squad, the Tonton Macoute, killed opponents indiscriminately, and was thought to be so pervasive that Haitians became highly fearful of expressing dissent, even in private. Duvalier further sought to solidify his rule by incorporating elements of Haitian mythology into a personality cult.
The government of Haiti is a semi-presidential republic, a multiparty system wherein the President of Haiti is head of state elected directly by popular elections. The Prime Minister acts as head of government and is appointed by the President, chosen from the majority party in the National Assembly. Executive power is exercised by the President and Prime Minister who together constitute the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the two chambers of the National Assembly of Haiti. The government is organized unitarily, thus the central government delegates powers to the departments without a constitutional need for consent. The current structure of Haiti's political system was set forth in the Constitution of March 29, 1987.
The Tonton Macoute or simply the Macoute was a special operations unit within the Haitian paramilitary force created in 1959 by dictator François "Papa Doc" Duvalier. In 1970 the militia was renamed the Volontaires de la Sécurité Nationale. Haitians named this force after the Haitian mythological bogeyman, Tonton Macoute, who kidnaps and punishes unruly children by snaring them in a gunny sack and carrying them off to be consumed at breakfast.
Henri Namphy was a Haitian general and political figure who served as President of Haiti's interim ruling body, the National Council of Government, from February 7, 1986 to February 7, 1988. He served again as President of Haiti from June 20, 1988 until his deposition on September 17, 1988 in the September 1988 Haitian coup d'état.
Paul Eugène Magloire, nicknamed Bon Papa, was a Haitian military ruler from 1950 to 1956.
Pierre-Eustache Daniel Fignolé (1913–1986) was a Haitian politician who became Haiti's provisional head of state for three weeks in 1957. He was one of the most influential leaders in the pre-Duvalier era, a liberal labor organizer in Port-au-Prince so popular among urban workers that he could call upon them at a moment's notice to hold mass protests, known as "woulo konpresè"—Haitian Creole for "steamroller."
Michèle Bennett is the former First Lady of Haiti and the ex‑wife of former President of Haiti, Jean‑Claude Duvalier. They fled to France together when he resigned in 1986; they divorced in 1990.
A constitutional referendum was held in Haiti on 14 June 1964 alongside general elections. The new constitution made President François "Papa Doc" Duvalier President for Life, with absolute power and the right to name his successor. It also changed the country's flag from blue and red to black and red, with the black symbolising the country's ties to Africa.
A presidential referendum in Haiti was called in 30 April 1961 —jointly with the parliamentary election— to determine whether to let president François Duvalier remain in office for a further six years. The official count was 1,320,748 votes in favor of Duvalier and none against. The New York Times wrote about the referendum, "Latin America has witnessed many fraudulent elections throughout its history but none has been more outrageous than the one which has just taken place in Haiti."
A constititional referendum was held in Haiti on 30 January 1971. Before the referendum, the Haitian parliament had voted in favour of lowering the age limit for becoming president from 40 years to 20, as well as confirming Jean-Claude Duvalier, son of ailing Dictator François Duvalier as 21 years of age, which would allow him to succeed his father. The referendum asked Haitians the question:
Citizen Doctor François Duvalier. .. has chosen Citizen Jean-Claude Duvalier to succeed him to the Presidency for Life of the Republic. Does this choice answer your aspirations and your desires? Do you ratify it?
Parliamentary elections were held in Haiti on 30 April 1961. They followed the dissolution of Parliament by President François Duvalier and the abolition of the Senate, making the Chamber of Deputies a unicameral body. Duvalier's National Unity Party won all 67 seats in the elections, which were later re-interpreted as presidential elections in order to give Duvalier a six-year presidential term and avoid the need for scheduled presidential election in 1963.
The Anti-Duvalier protest movement was a series of demonstrations in Haiti from 23 May 1984 – 7 February 1986, that led to the overthrow of President Jean-Claude Duvalier and the Duvalier dynasty regime.
American Haitians comprise the descendants of free blacks from the United States to Haiti in the early 19th century as well as recent immigrants and expatriates as well as their locally born descendants. At the time of the 2010 Haiti earthquake, there were about 45,000 US citizens living in Haiti.
The Duvalier dynasty was an authoritarian family dictatorship in Haiti that lasted almost twenty-nine years, from 1957 until 1986, spanning the rule of the father and son pair François Duvalier and Jean-Claude Duvalier.
The period of 1859 to 1957 in Haitian history covers an era of political struggles, the period of American occupation and multiple coups and elections until the Duvalier dynasty seized control of the country in 1957.
The National Unity Party is a political party in Haiti. It was the de facto only political party in the country during the Duvalier dynasty, an authoritarian family dictatorship of François "Papa Doc" Duvalier and his son Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier, which lasted from 1957 to 1986.
Parliamentary elections were held in Haiti on 14 June 1964, alongside a constitutional referendum. The National Unity Party of President François Duvalier was the sole legal party at the time, with all other parties having been banned the previous year.
