Also known as: Peace of Ryswick, Treaty of 1697
Last updated: April 26, 2026
The Treaty of Ryswick, signed September 20, 1697, formally ceded the western third of Hispaniola from Spain to France, creating the colony of Saint-Domingue. French buccaneers and colonists had occupied the western coast since the 1640s, using Tortuga as their base. The treaty ratified a fait accompli, giving legal standing to what had already become a de facto French settlement. Saint-Domingue would grow over the next century into the most profitable colony in the Atlantic world, producing over half of Europe's coffee and sugar by the 1780s — a wealth built entirely on enslaved African labor.
The Treaty of Ryswick formally established Saint-Domingue as a French colony.
Spain retained the eastern two-thirds of Hispaniola as Santo Domingo under the treaty
If you use rasin.ai data or findings in your research, please cite us:
Chicago
"Treaty of Ryswick." 1697. Rasin.ai, 2026. https://rasin.ai/connections/events/treaty-of-ryswick-1697. Accessed 2026-05-05.