Colonialism Events

1492 Dec 5 Christopher Columbus Arrives at, and Names, Island of Hispaniola
The recorded history of Haiti began on December 5, 1492 when the European navigator Christopher Columbus happened upon a large island in the region of the western Atlantic Ocean that late...
1496 Founding of Santo Domingo, First European Settlement in Western Hemisphere
Before the arrival of Christopher Columbus in 1492, the Taíno people populated the island they called Quisqueya (mother of all lands) and Ayiti (land of high mountains), which Columbus na...
1697 Sep 20 Signing of the Treaty of Ryswick
The Treaty of Ryswick or Ryswyck was signed on 20 September 1697 and named after Ryswick (now known as Rijswijk) in the Dutch Republic. The treaty settled the Nine Years' War, which pitte...
1791 Aug 22 Haitian Revolution Begins with Uprising by Slaves of Saint-Domingue
Guillaume Raynal attacked slavery in the 1780 edition of his history of European colonization. He also predicted a general slave revolt in the colonies, saying that there were signs of “t...
1801 Jul 8 L'ouverture Promulgates the Haitian Constitution of 1801
The great hero of the Haitian Revolution and a man considered one of the great revolutionaries and generals in his own time throughout America and Europe, was François Dominique Toussain...
1802 Oct After Initially Fighting with France Against the Rebellion, Dessalines and Pétion Switch Sides and Fight for Haiti's Freedom
For a few months the island was quiet under Napoleonic rule. But when it became apparent that the French intended to re-establish slavery (because they did so on Guadeloupe), Dessalines a...
1806 Oct 17 Assassination of Jean Jacques Dessalines
In January 1804, Dessalines, preferring Napoleon’s style rather than the more liberal yet vulnerable type of political government of the French Republican Radicals (see liberalism and rad...
1822 Feb 9 Jean-Pierre Boyer Invades Dominican Republic and Succeeds in Uniting Island of Hispaniola
After promising protection to several Dominican frontier governors and securing their allegiance, Boyer invaded the Dominican Republic with a force of 50,000 soldiers in February 1822. Th...
1825 Jul 11 Jean-Pierre Boyer Agrees to Payment of Crippling Financial Indemnities to France in Exchange for Haiti's Recognition as an Independent Country
Boyer was anxious to remove the threat of France and opened negotiations. An agreement was reached on July 11, 1825, when (with fourteen French warships off Port-au-Prince) Boyer signed a...
1898 Dec 10 Treaty of Paris is Signed, Ending the Spanish-American War
American and Spanish delegates met in Paris on October 1, 1898 to produce a treaty that would bring an end to the war after six months of hostilities. The American commission consisted of...
1899 Jun 2
to 1913 Jun 15
 Philippine-American War
The Philippine–American War, sometimes known as the Philippine War of Independence (1899–1902) was an armed military conflict between the Philippines and the United States, which arose fr...
1914 Jun Gandhi Suspends South African Struggle After Winning Passage of the Indian Relief Act
The treatment of Indians had reached pathetic limits. The prisons were too small to house the resisters. Mr Hult, a mine manager had flogged 300 Indian prisoners placed under his custody....
1917 Apr Gandhi Goes to Champaran to Investigate Conditions of Local Farmers
Bhumihar Brahmins in Champaran had earlier revolted against the conditions of indigo cultivation in 1914 (at Pipra) and 1916 (Turkaulia). Then Pandit Raj Kumar Shukla persuaded Mahatma Ga...
1919 Mar British Government Passes the Rowlatt Act in Colonial India, Indefinitely Extending the Use of 'Emergency Measures'
The Rowlatt Act was a law passed by the British in colonial India in March 1919, indefinitely extending "emergency measures" (of the Defence of India Regulations Act) enacted during the F...
1919 Apr 13 Jallianwala Bagh Massacre
The Jallianwala Bagh Massacre (Hindi: जलियांवाला बाग़ हत्याकांड جلیانوالہ باغ Jallianwala Bāġa Hatyākāṇḍ), alternatively known as the Amritsar Massacre, was named after the Jallianwala Ba...
1921 Dec Gandhi is Given Exclusive Authority Over the Indian National Congress
In December 1921, Gandhi was invested with executive authority on behalf of the Indian National Congress. Under his leadership, the Congress was reorganized with a new constitution, with ...
1922 Feb Nationalist Mob Sets Fire to a Police Station in Chauri Chaura Incident, Prompting Mahatma Gandhi to Call Off the Non-Cooperation Movement
On February 4, 1922, around 2,000 protesters gathered for picketing of the liquor shop at the local market in Chauri Chaura. Sensing the trouble, armed policemen were sent to the city pol...
1922 Mar 10 Gandhi is Arrested by the British Government on Charges of Inciting Violence at Chauri Chaura
The Government seized the opportunity for which it was waiting. On the evening of March 10, 1922, Gandhi was arrested in his ashram. The trial was held before Broomfield, District and Ses...
1924 Feb Gandhi is Released from Prison After Serving Only Two Years of a Six-Year Sentence Following Surgery for Appendicitis
In February, after he had served only two years in jail, Gandhi, after an operation for appendicitis, was released. He did not, as his faithful No-Changers hoped, throw his weight in thei...
1924 Sep Gandhi Begins Twenty-One Day Fast in an Attempt to Reconcile Hindus and Muslims
In September 1924, Gandhi went on a twenty-one day fast to "purify" himself and " to recover the power to react on the people." The fast had a soothing effect, but only for a while; India...
1925 Sep Gandhi Founds the All-India Spinners' Association
During the next three years, while national politics were dominated by communal issues and controversies in legislatures, Gandhi retired from the political scene; to be precise, he retire...
1929 Dec 31 Indian National Congress Raises the Tricolor Flag of India
In December 1928, Congress held in Calcutta, Mohandas Gandhi proposed a resolution that called for the British to grant dominion status to India within two years. If the British failed to...
1930 Jan 26 Declaration of the Independence of India
The Declaration of the Independence of India was promulgated by the Indian National Congress on January 26, 1930, resolving the Congress and Indian nationalists to fight for Purna Swaraj,...
1930 Mar 12 Mahatma Gandhi Embarks on the Salt Satyagraha
The Salt Satyagraha was a campaign of nonviolent protest against the British salt tax in colonial India which began with the Salt March to Dandi on March 12, 1930. It was the first act of...
1930 Apr 6 Mahatma Gandhi Arrives at Dandi, Gujarat, Concluding the Salt March
On March 12, 1930, Gandhi and 78 male satyagrahis set out on foot for the coastal village of Dandi, Gujarat, 390 kilometres (240 mi) from their starting point at Sabarmati Ashram. Accordi...
1931 Mar 5 Lord Irwin, Viceroy of India, Signs the Gandhi-Irwin Pact
Gandhi–Irwin Pact refers to a political agreement signed by Mahatma Gandhi and the then Viceroy of India, Lord Irwin on 5th March 1931. before this, the viceroy. Lord Irwin announced in O...
1931 Aug 29 Gandhi Sets Sail for England to Represent the Indian National Congress at the Second Round Table Conference
On August 29, 1931, Gandhi sailed for England in the SS Rajputana to attend the Second Round Table Conference, He went as the sole representative of the Indian National Congress. All the...
1931 Dec 28 Gandhi Arrives in Bombay After His Visit to Europe
While Gandhi was on the high seas, the arrests of Jawaharlal Nehru and Abdul Ghaffar Khan, two of his ablest lieutenants, had created a crisis. Most of the British officers in India had r...
1932 Sep Gandhi Begins Six-Day Fast to Protest Separate Elections for Untouchables
A new twist to the civil disobedience movement came in September 1932 when Gandhi, who was in Yeravda Jail, went on a fast as a protest against the segregation of the so-called "untouchab...
1934 Aug 15 US Ends Occupation of Haiti, but Retains Control of Its External Finances
In 1930, Sténio Vincent, a long-time critic of the occupation, was elected President. By 1930, President Herbert Hoover had become concerned about the effects of the occupation, partic...
1934 Sep 17 Gandhi Announces Retirement from Politics to Focus on Village Economics
In the summer of 1934, three unsuccessful attempts were made on his life. When the Congress Party chose to contest elections and accept power under the Federation scheme, Gandhi decide...
1936 Apr 30 Gandhi Relocates Base of Operations to Sevagram, a Small Village Near Wardha in Central India
When the Congress Party chose to contest elections and accept power under the Federation scheme, Gandhi decided to resign from party membership. He did not disagree with the party's move,...
1939 Mar 3 Gandhi Announces Fast-Unto-Death in the Effort to Form a People's Council in Rajkot
Before the convening of the plenary session of the Congress Party at Tripuri on March 11, India watched with interest and alarm the struggle between the Mahatma and Shri Dharmendrasinhji,...
1942 Mar 27 The Cripps' Mission
Upon his arrival in India, Cripps held talks with Indian leaders. There is some confusion over what Cripps had been authorised to offer India's nationalist politicians by Churchill and Le...
1942 Aug 8 The All India Congress Committee Launches the Quit India Movement
The "Quit India" resolution passed by the All-India Congress Committee brought it into a head-on collision with the Government in August 1942. The Viceroy, with the strong backing of the ...
1942 Aug 9 Gandhi is Arrested, Along with the Entire Congress Working Committee
World War II broke out in 1939 when Nazi Germany invaded Poland. Initially, Gandhi had favored offering "non-violent moral support" to the British effort, but other Congressional leaders ...
1942 Aug 15 Mahadev Desai, Gandhi's Personal Secretary, Dies From Heart Failure
Gandhi and the entire Congress Working Committee were arrested in Bombay by the British on 9 August 1942. Gandhi was held for two years in the Aga Khan Palace in Pune. It was here that Ga...
1944 Feb 22 Kasturba Gandhi Dies at Age 74
Kasturba suffered from chronic bronchitis. Stress from the Quit India Movement's arrests and hard life at Sabarmati Ashram caused her to fall ill. Kasturba fell ill with bronchitis which ...
1946 Mar 23 The British Cabinet Mission Arrives in India
The British Cabinet Mission of 1946 to India aimed to discuss and plans for the transfer of power from the British Raj to Indian leadership, providing India with independence under Domini...
1946 May 5
to 1946 May 12
 The Simla Conference
In the summer of 1945, a conference was convened at Simla by the Viceroy, Lord Wavell, who had recently returned from England with the approval of the Newspaper report of the outcome of t...
1946 Sep 2 Formation of the Interim Government of India
Alarmed by the increasing lawlessness, Lord Wavell brought the Muslim League into the Interim Government. The formation of the coalition between the Congress and the League fanned politic...
1946 Dec 19 First Indochina War Begins with French Landings in Indochina
The First Indochina War (also known as the French Indochina War, the The Anti-French War, the Franco-Vietnamese War, the Franco-Vietminh War, the Indochina War, the Dirty War in France an...
1947 Jun 15 United Kingdom Passes the Indian Independence Act 1947
The Indian Independence Act 1947 was the statute (10 and 11 Geo VI, c. 30) enacted by the Parliament of the United Kingdom promulgating the partition of India and the independence of the ...
1948 Jan 12 Mahatma Gandhi Announces Fast to End Hindu/Muslim Violence in Delhi
He conducted extensive dialogue with Muslim and Hindu community leaders, working to cool passions in northern India, as well as in Bengal. Despite the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947, he was t...
1957 Oct 22 François "Papa Doc" Duvalier is Elected President of Haiti by a Vote of 1,320,748 to Zero
Magloire resigned the presidency in December, 1956, leaving Haiti to be ruled by a succession of provisional governments. Through an election viewed as rigged by the Army (FADH), Duvalier...
1964 Jun 14 "Papa Doc" Duvalier Declares Himself President for Life
On June 14, 1964, a referendum was held on whether Duvalier should be made President for Life; 2.8 million people voted "yes," and only 3,234 voted "no." His government was soon accused o...