On July 14, 1789, an aristocratic attack on the monarchy occured, where people stormed the Bastille.

Former French colony known as Saint-Domingue. It was the first instance of enslaved people succesfully revolting from their colonizers (in this case, the French), gaining freedom. The Haitian Revolution took place from 1791-1804.

In 1803, led by Dessalines, the revolutionary army of ex-slaves defeated the French, and declared the island independent and named it Haiti (its original indigenous name).