Everything Everywhere Daily · Thursday, September 3, 2026
Following the 1697 Treaty of Ryswick, the western third of Hispaniola became the French colony of Saint-Domingue. This region rapidly developed into a highly profitable sugar plantation state, fueled by the forced labor of enslaved people. By the late 18th century, Saint-Domingue was the world's leading sugar producer, but this prosperity came at the cost of extreme suffering for its enslaved population, who constituted over 90% of the colony's inhabitants and faced a life expectancy of only seven years.
“In a unique arrangement, outlined in the 1697 Treaty of Ryswick at the end of the Nine Years' War, Spain ceded control of roughly one-third of the western side of the island to France. Under this new arrangement, the western third was dubbed Saint-Domingue, while the eastern two-thirds remained the Spanish colony of Santo Domingo.”
“In French Saint-Domingue, the island focused on sugar production, becoming a plantation state fueled by slave labor. By the close of the 18th century, Saint-Domingue had grown into what was likely the world's most prosperous colony, leading global sugar production.”
“However, it had become a hellscape for the enslaved people who worked its fields. The population of Saint-Domingue was more than 90% slaves, governed by a small minority of white landowners who oversaw a reign of terror that saw a life expectancy of only seven years for enslaved people upon arrival.”