In January 1804, the independence of the island was proclaimed, which has since received the old Indian name of Haiti. In September 1804 Dessalines declared himself Emperor of Haiti under the name of Jacques I. "On June 16, 1805, the new Constitution of Haiti was adopted, proclaiming the independence and sovereignty of the country and the abolition of slavery. It provided for the transfer to state ownership of land that belonged to French planters before the revolution. The Constitution prohibited white foreigners from owning any real estate in Haiti, including land, and confirmed the proclamation of Dessalines as emperor and commander-in-chief of the armed forces. After the victory of the revolution, power in the country passed into the hands of local large landowners. They were divided into "former freemen", mostly mulattoes who joined the struggle for independence, and the so-called "new free" Latifundist Blacks. The latter consisted mainly of officers of the rebel army, as well as senior government officials who received large land plots (formally leased, since the sale of public lands was prohibited by law). A struggle broke out between these two groups for the former lands of the French planters" (Lutskov N.D. The occupation of Haiti by the United States 1915-1934, Nauka Publishing House, Moscow, 1981, pp. 20-21). But in the civil strife, Dessalines was killed in 1806. A republic was proclaimed on the island.
In 1844, the Dominican Republic was formed in the eastern part of the island. The President of Haiti (since 1847) was Ouluk, who proclaimed himself emperor in 1849, tried to reunite the entire island, but was defeated by Dominican troops. After his overthrow (1858) and the final establishment of the republic, power struggles, frequent rebellions and coups continued in Haiti. There were mainly two parties fighting: the "national" party, which reflected the interests of the wealthy elite of the Negro peasantry, and the "liberal" party, in which the petty bourgeoisie and the intelligentsia played a leading role. The frequent coups were also caused by the intrigues of Western powers seeking to strengthen their positions in Haiti. Given the strategic and economic importance of Haiti, the United States was particularly active in trying to assert its control over the island. From 1847 to 1915, American warships under the pretext of "maintaining order" appeared at least 20 times in Port-au-Prince. Since the end of the 19th century, the increased penetration of American capital began, and by the end of the First World War, the US monopolies, with the direct support of the State Department, drove out French and German capital. In an effort to gain monopoly dominance in the Karaib region, the United States tried in every possible way to impose a bonded customs control treaty on Haiti. During their intervention in 1911-1915, 6 presidents were replaced who refused to sign such an agreement. In December 1914, the US imperialists, sending a detachment of marines, seized Haiti's gold reserves, which were then transported to New York. In the summer of 1915, the United States occupied the city and forced its protege Dartigenava (1915-1922) to be "elected" president of the republic. However, the American Admiral Caperton became the true ruler. Under his pressure, in September 1915, a treaty was signed giving the United States the "right" to intervene and establishing full military, political and financial control over Haiti. But it was only after new pressure from Washington that the country's congress ratified (at the end of 1915) this imperialist treaty. In 1918, the occupiers imposed a new constitution on the people of Haiti, which for the first time in the history of the republic allowed foreigners to own land on the island. As a result, American capitalists seized the best lands. They used forced labor of the population to cultivate their plantations. Having seized the National Bank of the country, the United States imposed a bonded loan on Haiti in 1919 and took control of foreign trade.