After the Nine Years ' War in 1697 , Spain ceded the western portion of Hispaniola ( present day Haiti ) with the signing of the Treaty of Ryswick that same year .
France named the colony Saint - Domingue .
After the Nine Years ' War in 1697 , Spain ceded the western portion of Hispaniola ( present day Haiti ) with the signing of the Treaty of Ryswick that same year and France named the colony Saint - Domingue .