Hinche History, Haiti

In the West Indies, lies an independent country, and that is Haiti. It occupies almost the western 33 percent of Hispaniola island that is surrounded by the Caribbean Sea. It also became the very first nation that is located in Latin America that gained its independence and the nation that was created because of slave’s successful rebellion. It is originally a colony of Spain but later became French’s territory. Mainly mountainous, it consists of river valleys and small plains. It said to be one of the tropical countries in the world with bauxite, copper, marble, gold, hydropower and calcium carbonate some of its rich natural resources.

Haiti has this island that is located in Hispaniola, modern Haiti, and is bounded by the Caribbean Sea and North Atlantic Ocean. It is considered to be the third largest among those countries in the region of Caribbean.

This piece of land is none other than Hinche, the very country that Christopher Columbus saw on December 6, 1492 when he had his first trip to the Western Indies and decided to leave a number of men to make settlements there before moving on to the city of Cuba. Another island of Haiti is called Hispaniola. Arawak, people that are originally the inhabitants of the Haiti’s island shares with the Republic of the Dominican that is called the island of Ayti, the old name of Hispaniola, which means “land of mountains.” When a man, named Christopher Columbus arrived in the place in 1492, he gave to the island the name of La Isla Espaňola, Spanish for “The Spanish Island” honoring Columbus’ Spanish sponsors that later evolved into its modern name.

Before the 16th century ended, a great number of island’s original Indians that is known as the Arawaks, specially in Hinche, had decreased because of  being forced to work to death, illness or diseases, or had disappeared from the conquest of between battles. Population grew little by little until it had already perished.

The history of Haiti is divided into stages and these are the colonization period where in it summarizes the details of the colonization of the country, the revolution period where the slaves’ rebellion that happened in 1791 and Toussaint Louverture leadership, the independence, the occupation by the US in the year 1915 to 1934, Duvaliers’ period and the Aristide period.

Haiti, all the way through its history, was divided into elites which are the people that hold political power and wealth, and many under classes that have little power or none at all.