Main article: History of Haiti
See also: 2004 Haitian rebellion and United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti
Precolonial and Spanish colonial periods
The island of Hispaniola, of which Haiti occupies the western third, is one of many Caribbean islands inhabited at the time of European arrival by the Taíno Indians, a branch of the South American Arawaks. The Taíno name for the entire island was Kiskeya. The Taínos reportedly called the island's western part Ayiti, which means "mountainous land", and part of Ayiti they called Bohio, meaning "rich villages". In the Taíno societies of the Caribbean Islands, the largest unit of political organization was led by a cacique; hence the term 'caciquedom' (French caciquat, Spanish cacicazgo) for these Taíno polities, which are often called "chiefdoms". Before the arrival of Christopher Columbus, the island of Hispaniola was divided among five long established caciquedoms: Marien, Xaragua, Maguana, Higuey, and Magua. Modern day Haiti embraces nearly all of the territory of the first two of these.

The caciquedoms were tributary kingdoms, with payment consisting of harvests. Taíno cultural artefacts include cave paintings in several locations in the country, which have become national symbols of Haiti and tourist attractions. Modern-day Léogane, a town in the southwest, is at the site of Xaragua's former capital.

 
1510 pictograph telling a story of missionaries arriving in HispaniolaChristopher Columbus landed at Môle Saint-Nicolas on 5 December 1492, and claimed the island for Spain. Nineteen days later, his ship the Santa María ran aground near the present site of Cap-Haitien; Columbus was forced to leave behind 39 men, founding the settlement of La Navidad. Following the destruction of La Navidad by the local indigenous people, Columbus moved to the eastern side of the island and established La Isabela. One of the earliest leaders to fight off Spanish conquest was Queen Anacaona, a princess of Xaragua who married Caonabo, the cacique of Maguana. The couple resisted Spanish rule in vain; she was captured by the Spanish and executed in front of her people. To this day, Anacaona is revered in Haiti as one of the country's founders.

The Spaniards exploited the island for its gold, mined chiefly by local Amerindians directed by the Spanish occupiers. Those refusing to work in the mines were slaughtered or forced into slavery. Europeans brought with them chronic infectious diseases that were new to the Caribbean, and therefore the indigenous population lacked immunity to them. These new diseases were the chief cause of the dying off of the Taíno,[5] but ill treatment, malnutrition, and a drastic drop of the birthrate also contributed. The first recorded smallpox outbreak in Americas occurred on Hispaniola in 1507.[6] The Laws of Burgos, 1512–1513 were the first codified set of laws governing the behavior of Spanish settlers in America, particularly with regards to native Indians. They forbade the maltreatment of natives, and endorsed their conversion to Catholicism.[7] The laws were never truly enforced.

The Spanish governors began importing enslaved Africans for labor. In 1517, Charles V authorized the draft of slaves. The Taínos became virtually, but not completely extinct on the island of Hispaniola. Some who evaded capture fled to the mountains and established independent settlements. These survivors mixed with escaped African slaves (runaways called maroons) and produced a multiracial generation called zambos. French settlers later called people of mixed African and Amerindian ancestry marabou. The mestizo increased in number from children born to relationships between native women and European men. Others were born as a result of unions between African women and European men, who were called mulâtre in French. Creoles[8] are a mixture of European, Amerindian, and African ancestry regardless of color. Mixed race Haitians make up about 15–20% of the population of Haiti. They live mostly in the wealthier suburbs of the capital like Petionville or Kenscoff. Also they originate from and live in the Southwestern regions of Haiti such as: Jacmel, Les Cayes, Cavaillon. There is no one-drop rule regarding African ancestry in Haiti or the rest of Latin America.

As a gateway to the Caribbean, Hispaniola became a haven for pirates. The western part of the island was settled by French buccaneers. Among them was Bertrand D'Ogeron, who succeeded in growing tobacco. His success prompted many of the numerous buccaneers and freebooters to turn into settlers. This population did not submit to Spanish royal authority until the year 1660 and caused a number of conflicts. By 1640, the buccaneers of Tortuga were calling themselves the Brethren of the Coast.

17th century settlement
Bertrand D'Orgeron attracted many colonists from Martinique and Guadeloupe, such as the Roy family (Jean Roy, 1625–1707), Hebert (Jean Hebert, 1624, with his family) and the Barre (Guillaume Barre, 1642, with his family). They and others were driven from their lands when more land was needed for the extension of the sugar plantations. From 1670 to 1690, a drop in the tobacco markets affected the island and significantly reduced the number of settlers.joozone.com