Nord (French, ) or Nò (Haitian Creole, ; both meaning "North") is one of the ten departments of Haiti and located in northern Haiti. It has an area of and a population of 1,067,177 (2015). Its capital is Cap-Haïtien.
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History
Taino period
The department was part of the Chiefdom of Marien with settlements such as Guarico in Limonade and Guanawari in Grande-Rivière-du-Nord.
Spanish period
After the arrival of Columbus, the Taino granted the Spanish land to build the fort Navidad with their shipwreck, the first Colombian-era shelter built by Europeans in America. The fort was destroyed by Caonabo, leader of the Maguana, in response to the Europeans abusing their stay and locals. The Europeans moved eastward to actual la Isabella in the Dominican Republic.
French period
After the treaty of Ryswick, the French administer the west side of the island. The capital of the colony from 1697 to 1751 has been Cap-François, the actual Cap-Haitian.
The department was the most densely populated with enslaved Africain, making it the beginning with the Bwa-Kayiman and the end with the Battle of Vertières of the Haitian Revolution.
In 1789 the Nord Department on the northern shore was the most fertile area with the largest sugar plantations. It was an area of vast economic importance. Here most of the slaves lived in relative isolation, separated from the rest of the colony by a high mountain range known as the Massif. This area was a stronghold of the wealthy planters who wanted greater autonomy for the colony, especially economically, so they could do as they pleased.
Haitian Revolution
Many rebellions have taken place in Haiti notably in the North even before 1791 such as the Makandal Rebellion or the Ogé and Chavannes Insurrection. August 1791 becomes important as a Jamaican maroon Duty Boukmann and manbo or Vodoun priestess Cecile Fatiman organized the enslaved from different African nations. One week after that Congress and essentially what some scholars call the first Haitian Vodoun ceremony the general rebellion has started being led by Toussaint, Dessalines, Papillon, Biassou and many more.
Within the next ten days slaves had taken control of the entire northern province in an unprecedented slave revolt that left the whites controlling only a few isolated fortified camps. Within the next two months as the violence escalated, the rebelling slaves killed 2,000 whites and burned or destroyed 280 sugar plantations. Within a year the island was in revolutionary chaos. Slaves burned the plantations where they had been forced to work, and killed masters, overseers, and other whites.
Under the reign of His Majesty Henry 1st of Hayti, the North knew great development in architecture, culture, music, theater legislature, and science.
The Kingsmen, Royal Dahomey saw to the application of Code Henry.
In 1820, King Henry committed suicide after suffering a stroke that resulted in the loss of control of his army and power. The area was re-claimed by Jean-Pierre Boyer, then the appointed president of Haiti, on October 26, 1820, after Haitian forces captured Cap-Haïtien, re-uniting Haiti.