The Second Dominican Republic was a predecessor of the Dominican Republic and began with the restoration of the country in 1865 and culminated with the American intervention in 1916.
109-520: In the period of the Second Republic the political conflicts continued, now between the last government restored by Antonio Pimentel , who refused to rule from Santo Domingo, as it was commanded by the Congress, and José María Cabral who had to rule from Santo Domingo, answering to the lack of deputation of Pimentel. Cabral remained in power and adapted the constitution. In the administration of Cabral,
218-663: A 10,000-strong army. Having no capacity to resist, Núñez de Cáceres surrendered the capital. The twenty-two-year Haitian occupation that followed is recalled by Dominicans as a period of brutal military rule, though the reality is more complex. It led to large-scale land expropriations and failed efforts to force production of export crops, impose military services, restrict the use of the Spanish language, and eliminate traditional customs such as cockfighting . It reinforced Dominicans' perceptions of themselves as different from Haitians in "language, race, religion and domestic customs". Yet, this
327-647: A Dominican Republic politician is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . History of the Dominican Republic The recorded history of the Dominican Republic began in 1492 when Christopher Columbus , working for the Crown of Castile , arrived at a large island in the western Atlantic Ocean , later known as the Caribbean . The native Taíno people, an Arawakan people, had inhabited
436-545: A Haitian movement in overthrowing Boyer. Because they had revealed themselves as revolutionaries working for Dominican independence, the new Haitian president, Charles Rivière-Hérard , exiled or imprisoned the leading Trinitarios (Trinitarians). At the same time, Buenaventura Báez , an Azua mahogany exporter and deputy in the Haitian National Assembly , was negotiating with the French Consul-General for
545-615: A North American government impatient to impose its will, which already in 1915 intervened militarily in Haiti , it had to face to an emboldened Desiderio Arias and much more powerful than ever in his capacity as Minister of War and Navy and with his supporters in control of the Ministry of the Interior and Police, the capital's weapons command, the Republican Guard and the majority of the positions of
654-539: A fortified position. The Haitian army counterattacked on July 22, driving the invaders back across the frontier. On August 6, 1845, Haitian President Luis Pierrot ordered an invasion of the Dominican Republic. On September 17, Dominican troops defeated the Haitian vanguard on the southern frontier, repelling a cavalry charge. Pierrot issued " letters of marque " against ships trading with the Dominican Republic and declared all Dominican ports closed on September 27, but lacked
763-774: A fraud on the Spaniards similar to those he had carried out in the Cibao. When negotiations concluded and Spain agreed on an amortization rate for Dominican pesos, Santana printed 33 million more, so Spain would be forced to provide far more money to him and his associates, to whom he distributed the pesos as gifts. Under the annexation terms, General Santana retained military command of the new Spanish province, answering only to Spain's regional commander in Puerto Rico, but it soon became obvious that Spanish authorities planned to deprive him of his power. His associates were removed from military positions,
872-452: A group who fled to the mountains and attacked the Spanish repeatedly for fourteen years. The Spanish ultimately offered him a peace treaty and gave Enriquillo and his followers their own town in 1534. In 1501, the Spanish monarchs, Ferdinand I and Isabella , first granted permission to the colonists of the Caribbean to import African slaves, who began arriving to the island in 1503. In 1510,
981-464: A labor force to meet the growing demands of sugar cane cultivation led to an exponential increase in the importation of slaves over the following two decades. The sugar mill owners soon formed a new colonial elite and convinced the Spanish king to allow them to elect the members of the Real Audiencia from their ranks. Poorer colonists subsisted by hunting the herds of wild cattle that roamed throughout
1090-540: A lot of the captured rebels hanged. While sugar cane dramatically increased Spain's earnings on the island, large numbers of the newly imported slaves fled into the nearly impassable mountain ranges in the island's interior, joining the growing communities of cimarrónes —literally, 'wild animals'. By the 1530s, cimarrón bands had become so numerous that in rural areas the Spaniards could only safely travel outside their plantations in large armed groups. When Archdeacon Alonso de Castro toured Hispaniola in 1542, he estimated
1199-403: A national and international civic campaign in 1919 to recover their lost sovereignty, and organized around the slogan of withdrawal, "pure and simple" of the occupation forces, without conditions of any kind. But in the face of North American intransigence, the traditional caudillo parties accepted a gradual withdrawal, the validity of all the measures dictated by the interveners, the maintenance of
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#17328590728691308-483: A navy to enforce this. Haitian privateers attacked Dominican merchant ships, damaging their trade. On September 27, 1845, Dominican troops defeated a Haitian army at the battle of "Beler," a frontier fortification, resulting in the deaths of three Haitian generals, including the army’s commander. On October 28, another Haitian force attacked the frontier fort "El Invencible" but was repulsed after five hours of fighting. A Haitian squadron carrying troops to Puerto Plata
1417-451: A new Haitian invasion in 1849, Santana marched on Santo Domingo, deposing Jimenes. At his behest, Congress elected Buenaventura Báez as president. In 1853, Santana was elected president for his second term, forcing Báez into exile. After repulsing the last Haitian invasion, Santana negotiated a treaty leasing a portion of Samaná Peninsula to a U.S. company; popular opposition forced him to abdicate, enabling Báez to return and seize power. With
1526-403: A presidential form of government with many liberal tendencies, but it was marred by Article 210, imposed by Santana on the constitutional assembly by force, giving him the privileges of a dictatorship until the war of independence was over. These privileges not only served him to win the war but also allowed him to persecute, execute and drive into exile his political opponents, among which Duarte
1635-436: A southern regional leader who participated in the assassination of Cáceres, who took away much of the support it enjoyed from Jimenism in that region of the country. A "Liberal Reformist Party" also briefly manifested itself, composed mainly of young university students led by Rafael Estrella Ureña . In this situation, the northwestern guerrilla leader Desiderio Arias emerged, of Jimenist origin, dominant in Cibao, who represented
1744-410: A state of almost permanent civil war, while North American demands for greater economic and political control that would allow the free expansion of its interests, sharpened the situation. In the end, after a second provisional government of Horacio Vásquez (1902-03) and another of a coalition of Jimenistas and former Lilisists headed General Morales Languasco, a Jimenist who took power with the support of
1853-495: A transition towards more stable democracy . The islands of the Caribbean were first settled around 6,000 years ago by hunter-gatherer peoples originating from Central America or northern South America. The Arawakan-speaking ancestors of the Taíno moved into the Caribbean from South America during the 1st millennium BC, reaching Hispaniola by around 600 AD. These Arawakan peoples engaged in farming, fishing, hunting and gathering, and
1962-554: A twelve-year period of Spanish rule, known in Dominican history as España Boba ('the Foolish Spain'). The population of the new Spanish colony stood at approximately 104,000. Of this number, about 30,000 were slaves, working predominantly on cattle ranches, and the rest a mixture of Spanish, taino and black. The European Spaniards were few, and consisted principally of Catalans and Canary Islanders . During this period in time,
2071-535: A year of civil war, Santana captured Santo Domingo in June 1858, overthrew both Báez and Valverde and installed himself as president. Pedro Santana inherited a bankrupt government on the brink of collapse and initiated negotiations with Queen Isabella II of Spain to have the eastern two-thirds of the island reconverted into a Spanish overseas territory. The U.S. Civil War rendered the United States incapable of enforcing
2180-625: The Catholic Church with the French slave-masters who had exploited them before independence, confiscated all church property, deported all foreign clergy, and severed the ties of the remaining clergy to the Vatican . Santo Domingo's university , the oldest in the Western Hemisphere, lacking students, teachers, and resources, closed down. In order to receive diplomatic recognition from France and end
2289-551: The House of Habsburg in Spain in 1700 and introduced economic reforms that gradually began to revive trade in Santo Domingo. The crown progressively relaxed the rigid controls and restrictions on commerce between Spain and the colonies and among the colonies. The last flotas sailed in 1737; the monopoly port system was abolished shortly thereafter. By the middle of the century, the population
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#17328590728692398-532: The Monroe Doctrine . In March 1861, Santana officially restored the Dominican Republic to Spain . This move was widely rejected and there were several failed uprisings against Spanish rule. On July 4, 1861, former President Francisco del Rosario Sánchez was captured and executed by Santana after leading a failed invasion of Santo Domingo from Haiti. Santana, who had been given the title of Marquess of Las Carreras by Queen Isabella II, thought he could perpetrate
2507-592: The Second Dominican Republic was established. The country later experienced its first occupation by the United States from 1916 to 1924, followed by the establishment of the Third Dominican Republic . During the 19th century, the Dominican Republic frequently engaged in conflicts involving the French, Haitians, Spanish, and internal factions. This period was characterized by a society heavily influenced by caudillos , who exercised control over
2616-449: The Taíno genocide . By 1535, only a few dozen were still alive. During this period, the colony's Spanish leadership changed several times. When Columbus departed on another exploration, Francisco de Bobadilla became governor. Settlers' allegations of mismanagement by Columbus helped create a tumultuous political situation. In 1502, Nicolás de Ovando replaced de Bobadilla as governor, with an ambitious plan to expand Spanish influence in
2725-540: The Treaty of Ryswick . In 1655, Oliver Cromwell of England dispatched a fleet, commanded by Admiral Sir William Penn , to capture Santo Domingo. After meeting heavy resistance, the English retreated. Despite the fact that the English were defeated in their attempt to capture the island , they nevertheless captured the nearby Spanish colony of Jamaica , and other foreign strongholds subsequently began to be established throughout
2834-462: The Blues culminated in the overthrow of Báez. Afterwards, the Dominican state was under the governments of the blues: This was concerned with the organization of both the army and education. It was also concerned with regulating relations with Haiti, proceeding to establish diplomatic ties. On July 23, 1880, there was a change of government, Fernando Arturo de Meriño became president with the full support of
2943-442: The Dominican Republic came under the rule of Rafael Trujillo , a dictator who maintained control until his assassination in 1961. Following Trujillo's regime, Juan Bosch was democratically elected president in 1962 but was removed from office in a military coup d'état in 1963 . The Dominican Civil War in 1965 lead to a U.S.-led intervention prompted by an uprising to restore Bosch to power and allegations of communist support for
3052-541: The Dominican Republic, but the Dominicans defeated the Haitian army by March 30. On April 15, three Dominican schooners defeated a Haitian brigantine and two Haitian schooners off the coast of Azua. As a result of these Haitian defeats, Rivière-Hérard was overthrown on May 3, leading to a temporary suspension of Haitian military operations. On June 17, 1845, Dominican troops invaded Haitian territory in retaliation for border raids, capturing two Haitian towns and establishing
3161-494: The Dominican state to use it for its political and economic benefit, imposed a provisional government headed by Dr. Ramón Báez and elections in 2 months. These elections were very close, but were won by Juan Isidro Jiménes in alliance with the Progressive Party of Velásquez in 1914. The new Jiménes government, despite its constitutional basis, was faced with passions even more intense than the previous ones, since together with
3270-456: The Haitian army personally commanded by Soulouque during the two-day Battle of Las Carreras . The battle opened with a cannon barrage and devolved into hand-to-hand combat, with neither side taking prisoners. In November 1849, President Báez launched a naval offensive against Haiti. Entire villages along the Haitian coast were plundered and burned, and the crews of captured enemy ships were butchered without regard to age or gender. By late 1854,
3379-588: The Hispaniolan nations were at war again. In November, two Dominican ships captured a Haitian warship and bombarded two Haitian ports. In November 1855, a force of 30,000 Haitian troops invaded the Dominican Republic along three routes: one from the north, one through the center, and one from the south. The Dominican frontier forces retreated in good order and the Dominican navy prevented the Haitians from receiving supplies by sea. On December 22, Dominican troops defeated
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3488-591: The Horacistas, he abandoned his leader to be isolated and marginalized from power by them, and to be finally replaced by the Horacista vice president, General Ramón Cáceres, in January 1906. Under Morales and especially with Ramón Cáceres, the government completely folded to the financial, political and greater American economic penetration demands; Its sugar mills operated without paying export and import taxes, maritime transport
3597-523: The Jimenist besiegers in February 1904, which allowed Morales defeated the formidable insurrection that opposed him. But he also had the firm support of the intellectuals, the local bourgeoisie, the regional leaders of central Cibao and the farmers. With this support and after consolidating power by force, Cáceres attempted under North American guidance to take away the power enjoyed by the local chiefs, thanks to
3706-496: The Meriño government came the tyranny of Ulises Heureaux . This government was characterized by its ambition for power, which led it at the time of the elections to take fraudulent measures, which were to persecute its political opponents and take repression against its opponents, so much so. Since at the time of the elections the votes of the opponents did not appear, he promulgated a constitution in 1887 and another in 1896. In this period
3815-525: The National Congress in the hands of Jimenism. In a supreme attempt to assert his authority, Jiménes finally dismissed Desiderio and his most qualified followers, but he took control of the Foltaleza Ozama and the capital, and began the operation to have Jiménes accused before the senate. The Americans then landed military personnel "to guarantee the lives of their citizens," but they threatened to take
3924-540: The Netherlands cutting them off from the critical salt supplies necessary for their herring industry. The Dutch responded by sourcing new salt supplies from Spanish America where colonists were more than happy to trade. So large numbers of Dutch traders and buccaneers joined their English and French counterparts on the Spanish Main . In 1605, Spain was infuriated that Spanish settlements on the northern and western coasts of
4033-530: The New World, the city of La Isabela . Isabela nearly failed because of hunger and disease. In 1496, Santo Domingo was built and became the new capital, and remains the oldest continuously inhabited European city in the Americas. An estimated 400,000 Tainos living on the island were soon enslaved to work in gold mines. By 1508, their numbers had decreased to around 60,000 because of forced labor, hunger, disease, and
4142-464: The Ozama Fortress and, given its importance, Jiménes resigned. Shortly afterward, North American troops entered the city without any opposition from the desiderists. The Dominicans then selected Dr. Francisco Henríquez y Carvajal as president, but when he did not comply with North American designs, they ignored their government, declared a military regime under their absolute control (1916), dissolved
4251-488: The Spanish crown wielded little to no influence in the colony of Santo Domingo. Some wealthy cattle ranchers had become leaders, and sought to bring control and order in the southeast of the colony where the "law of machete" ruled the land. On December 1, 1821, the former Captain general in charge of the colony, José Núñez de Cáceres , influenced by all the Revolutions that were going on around him, finally decided to overthrow
4360-445: The Spanish government and proclaimed the independence of " Spanish Haiti ". The white and mulatto slave owners on the eastern part of the island—recognizing their vulnerability both to Spanish and to Haitian attack and also seeking to maintain their slaves as property—attempted to annex themselves to Gran Colombia . While this request was in transit, Jean-Pierre Boyer , the ruler of Haiti, invaded Santo Domingo on February 9, 1822, with
4469-505: The Taínos to be either weak or misleading, and they began to treat the tribes with violence. Columbus successfully tempered this trend, and he and his men departed from Quisqueya, the Taínos' name for the island, on good terms. After the sinking of the Santa María , Columbus established a small fort to support his claim to the island. The fort was called La Navidad because the shipwrecking and
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4578-663: The West Indies. Madrid sought to contest such encroachments on its own imperial control by using Santo Domingo as a forward military base , but Spanish power was by now too depleted to recapture lost colonies. The city itself was furthermore subjected to a smallpox epidemic, cacao blight, and hurricane in 1666; another storm two years later; a second epidemic in 1669; a third hurricane in September 1672; plus an earthquake in May 1673 that killed twenty-four residents. The House of Bourbon replaced
4687-606: The abolition of slavery on behalf of the French Republic. Shortly afterwards, Napoleon dispatched an army which subdued the whole island and ruled it for a few months. Mulattoes and blacks again rose up against these French in October 1802 and finally defeated them in November 1803. On 1 January 1804, the victors declared Saint-Domingue to be the independent republic of Haiti, the Taíno name for
4796-417: The armed forces created by the occupation government, the renewal of the anti-national Dominican-American Convention, the maintenance of the customs tariff and tax exemptions for sugar mills, favorable to their economic interests. Under the terms of the "Hughes-Peynado Plan", with the only concession of the establishment of an exclusively civilian provisional government headed by Juan Bautista Vicini Burgos, with
4905-448: The basic and professional education of larger groups of Dominicans, until in 1879, he led an insurrection from Puerto Plata, which gave rise to a true liberal revolution in the country. The Luperón government and the three biennial regimes under its influence: Meriño, Heureaux and Billini-Woss y Gil, continued a political line of nationalism and the promotion of agriculture and industry, which ultimately produced significant economic growth in
5014-521: The blue party. After the Báez government, several governments emerged until July 23, 1880, when the first father, Fernando Arturo de Meriño, came to power in the government, and there was a completely peaceful change. However, the Baesismos opposed him which led him to issue a decree known as the decree of San Fernando, which consisted of anyone found with soul in hand being punished with the penalty of death. After
5123-411: The congress, disarmed the country and suppressed public liberties. The US military government changed land, immigration and customs legislation so that sugar mills could expand rapidly and hire Haitians as low-cost seasonal workers, exempting them from all taxes. They also drastically lowered import taxes on North American products, causing nascent Dominican manufacturing to collapse. The regime connected
5232-469: The construction of Santo Domingo's fortified wall, and in 1560 decided to restrict sea travel to enormous, well-armed convoys. In another move, which would destroy Hispaniola 's sugar industry, in 1561 Havana , more strategically located in relation to the Gulf Stream , was selected as the designated stopping point for the merchant flotas , which had a royal monopoly on commerce with the Americas. In 1564,
5341-426: The country. Although it also had the long-term virtue of increasing the country's dependence on the capitalist metropolises. During that period , normal and professional education was also developed under the guidance of Hostos and Meriño, and great national values in literature and law emerged in the country. Luperón's self-marginalization from government tasks and his lack of support for the anti-civilist pretensions of
5450-410: The coup. In 1966, Joaquín Balaguer , a caudillo , defeated Bosch in the presidential election and remained in power for 30 years. Due to U.S. pressure in response to flawed elections, Balaguer was compelled to shorten his term in 1996. Subsequent to this period, the Dominican Republic has conducted regular competitive elections, with opposition candidates successfully assuming the presidency, showing
5559-521: The currency; The currency issued by the government was devalued by 1000%, causing the ruin of tobacco producers. The realization of the Harmont loan, led to the external debt of the country. It was the annexation project of 1870 to the United States , and finally it strengthened its regime of terror with the clear objective of liquidating the opposition of the Blue Party. Finally, the war against Baecism led by
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#17328590728695668-424: The development of a professional army and a civil guard personally attached to the president and the commander of weapons of Santo Domingo, General Alfredo Victoria. To this end, he marginalized many of these "chieftains" as "available generals" by withdrawing their followers from the ranks of the army. With these measures, accompanied by the construction of roads and telecommunications, and the increase in agriculture,
5777-522: The development of the national economy, by a manifest surrenderist tendency that translated into concessions,favors and privileges to foreign captains. The dictatorship made serious and numerous commitments regarding loans and monetary circulation. Corruption and the personalist regime as an administrative norm led to the liquidation of democratic and liberal principles, and the restriction of national capitalism based on sponsoring foreign investment. The death of Ulises Heureaux occurred on July 26, 1899, while he
5886-475: The drop in sugar prices, the lack of economic resources to keep local leaders under control, and the country's fatigue with his dictatorship, precipitated his assassination and the subsequent fall of his regime in 1899. The Lilis dictatorship constitutes the most typical political period of the 19th century in Dominican history . With Lilis, the economic policy of a blue partisanship was characterized, with regard to
5995-452: The elections in 1888. The forced peace of the Heureaux (Lilis) regime and its inefficient and corrupt administration, they created the conditions for a superior development of agriculture and particularly of the sugar industry; but they ended up plunging the country into monetary insolvency and growing financial and political dependence on North America. The bankruptcy of commerce and agriculture,
6104-582: The entire island was either Ayiti (land of high mountains) or Quisqueya (mother of all lands). Christopher Columbus reached the island of Hispañola on his first voyage , in December 1492. Guacanagarí , the chief who hosted Columbus and his men, treated them kindly and provided them with everything they desired. However, the Taínos' egalitarian social system clashed with the Europeans' feudalist system, which had more rigid class structures. The Europeans believed
6213-449: The entire island. Even after their defeat by the Haitians, a small French garrison remained in Santo Domingo. Slavery was reestablished and many of the émigré Spanish colonists returned. In 1805, after crowning himself Emperor, Jean-Jacques Dessalines invaded, reaching Santo Domingo before retreating in the face of a French naval squadron. In their retreat through the Cibao , the Haitians sacked
6322-502: The establishment of a French protectorate. In an uprising timed to preempt Báez, on February 27, 1844, the Trinitarios declared independence from Haiti, expelling all Haitians and confiscating their property. The Trinitarios were backed by Pedro Santana , a wealthy cattle-rancher from El Seibo who commanded a private army of peons who worked on his estates. On March 10, 1844, Rivière-Hérard sent three columns totaling 30,000 troops into
6431-412: The existing thirteen settlements on the island were brutally razed by Spanish troops – many of the inhabitants fought, escaped to the jungle, or fled to the safety of passing Dutch ships. The settlements of La Yaguana, and Bayaja, on the west and north coasts respectively of modern-day Haiti were burned, as were the settlements of Monte Cristi and Puerto Plata on the north coast and San Juan de la Maguana in
6540-641: The first sizable shipment, consisting of 250 Black Ladinos , arrived in Hispaniola from Spain. Eight years later African-born slaves arrived in the West Indies . The Colony of Santo Domingo was organized as the Royal Audiencia of Santo Domingo in 1511. Sugar cane was introduced to Hispaniola from the Canary Islands , and the first sugar mill in the New World was established in 1516, on Hispaniola. The need for
6649-583: The founding of the fort occurred on Christmas Day. While Columbus was away, the garrison manning the fort was wracked by divisions that evolved into conflict. The more rapacious men began to terrorize the Taíno, the Ciguayo , and the Macorix peoples, which included attempts to take their women. Guacanagarix tried to reach an accommodation with the Spaniards; however, the Spaniards and some of his own people viewed him as weak. The Spaniards treated him with contempt, including
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#17328590728696758-563: The island and selling their hides. The first major slave revolt in the Americas occurred in Santo Domingo on December 25, 1521, when enslaved Muslims of the Wolof nation led an uprising in the sugar plantation of admiral Don Diego Colon , son of Christopher Columbus . Many of these insurgents managed to escape to the mountains where they formed independent maroon communities, but the Admiral had
6867-562: The island drastically decreased due to the Taíno genocide . With fewer than 50,000 survivors, those remaining intermixed with Spaniards, Africans, and others, leading to the formation of the present-day tripartite Dominican population . The area that would become the Dominican Republic remained the Captaincy General of Santo Domingo until 1821, except during the Era de Francia , when it
6976-532: The island during the pre-Columbian era , dividing it into five chiefdoms . They referred to the eastern part of the island as Quisqueya , meaning 'mother of all lands.' Columbus claimed the island for Castile, naming it La Isla Española ('the Spanish Island'), which was later Latinized to Hispaniola . Following 25 years of Spanish occupation, the Taíno population in the Spanish-controlled regions of
7085-663: The island were carrying out large scale and illegal trade with the Dutch, who were at that time fighting a war of independence against Spain in Europe, and the English, a very recent enemy state, and so decided to forcibly resettle the colony's inhabitants closer to the city of Santo Domingo. This action, known as the Devastaciones de Osorio , proved disastrous; more than half of the resettled colonists died of starvation or disease, over 100,000 cattle were abandoned, and many slaves escaped. Five of
7194-467: The island's main inland cities Santiago de los Caballeros and Concepción de la Vega were destroyed by an earthquake. In the 1560s, English privateers joined the French in regularly raiding Spanish shipping in the Americas. With the conquest of the American mainland, Hispaniola quickly declined. Most Spanish colonists left for the silver-mines of Mexico and Peru , while new immigrants from Spain bypassed
7303-455: The island. Agriculture dwindled, new imports of slaves ceased, and white colonists, free blacks, and slaves alike lived in poverty, weakening the racial hierarchy and aiding intermixing, resulting in a population of predominantly mixed Spaniard, African, and Taíno descent. Except for the city of Santo Domingo, which managed to maintain some legal exports, Dominican ports were forced to rely on contraband trade, which, along with livestock, became
7412-465: The kidnapping of some of his wives. Fed up, the powerful Cacique Caonabo of the Maguana Chiefdom attacked the Europeans and destroyed La Navidad. Guacanagarix was dismayed by these events but did not try hard to aid the Europeans, probably hoping that the troublesome outsiders would never return. In 1493, Columbus came back to the island on his second voyage and founded the first Spanish colony in
7521-407: The last Dominican stronghold before the capital. Since a Dominican flotilla dominated the coastal road with its cannons, he had to take a longer route to Azua and could not receive supplies from the sea. On April 2, President Manuel Jimenes called upon former President Santana to lead the defense. Azua fell to the Haitians on April 6, and a Dominican counterattack failed. On April 22, Santana defeated
7630-412: The liberal president Francisco del Rosario Sánchez in a military coup after Rosario Sánchez ousted the conservative Tomás Bobadilla from power. Santana inaugurated a military dictatorship with Bobadilla as a member of his junta. The Dominican Republic's first constitution was adopted on November 6, 1844. The state was commonly known as Santo Domingo in English until the early 20th century. It featured
7739-421: The local nature of the guerrilla struggle, the scarce urban development, the lack of land communications and the lack of a true national market, regional caudillismo or Caciquismo predominated in the Dominican social and political scene. This time the forces were polarized between the followers of Buenaventura Báez , who after the death of Pedro Santana represented the big haterps and a commercial bourgeoisie that
7848-463: The main regions of the country by road, expanded telephone communications, improved sanitary conditions and reestablished the educational system. paralyzed as a result of the anarchy prevailing after the death of Cáceres, which opened new paths to agriculture and internal trade. After the end of the First World War, in which the rights of small nationalities were vindicated, the Dominican people began
7957-657: The maroon population at 2,000–3,000 persons, living mainly on the Cape of San Nicolas, in the Ciguayos, on the Samana peninsular, and on the Cape of Iguey. Latter that decade, there were also rebellions of enslaved people, led by Diego de Guzman, Diego de Campo, and Captain Lemba. Beginning in the 1520s, the Caribbean Sea was raided by increasingly numerous French pirates. In 1541, Spain authorized
8066-489: The nation as a personalised dictatorship . Between 1844 and 1914, the Dominican Republic underwent numerous leadership transitions, with 53 individuals assuming the presidency, although only three completed their terms. The country also saw the adoption of 19 constitutions, with many leaders obtaining power through military force. During this period, three presidents were assassinated: José Antonio Salcedo in 1864, Ulises Heureaux in 1899, and Ramón Cáceres in 1911. In 1930,
8175-457: The old caciques, the hateros, the Catholic Church and the bourgeoisie of Santiago; and General Horacio Vásquez , who relied on the new leaders, the farmers of Cibao, the positivist intellectuals forged by Eugenio María de Hostos , the bourgeoisie of the capital, Puerto Plata and Este, and by North American imperialism. After the overthrow of Jiménes by Horacism in 1902, the country fell into
8284-531: The opposition of that sector of the rural petty bourgeoisie to a centralized government subject to American imperialism. Thus, the brief governments of Archbishop Nouel (1912-1913) and General José Bordas Valdez (1913-1914) could not survive the growing pressures from North America, as well as from the Desideristas and Horacistas alike. In the end, the North American government, determined to completely control
8393-551: The parties of colours became the owners of the political stage, especially: the Reds and the Blues . The Red Party, the most powerful party, which ruled for six consecutive years, was led by Buenaventura Báez . Afterwards there was a succession of governments until 1887, the beginning of the dictatorship of Lilís that lasted until 1899. After the restoration of the Republic and as an effect of
8502-408: The period was increased to four years, but in this government positive things happened in this period. In 1892, the first telecommunications arrived in the country to communicate with the rest of the world in the field of electric lighting. Since 1874, the Blue Party of Luperón increased its influence along with the growth of agriculture , commerce managed by Dominicans organized in "credit boards" and
8611-416: The prerogative of the North American government to deliver the rest of the proceeds to the Dominican government that recognized it as legitimate and the prohibition of new loans being contracted without its consent. In the political order, this regime, called "enlightened despotism" by some, enjoyed full North American support, which was evident with its military incursion and machine-gunning of Villa Duarte and
8720-518: The presidency, but in the face of widespread repudiation and insurrection, he had to resign command a year later in 1912. After Cáceres' death, two new parties emerged in the public arena: the Partido Progressive of Federico Velázquez, former finance minister of Cáceres who was attributed the greatest responsibility in said administration; and the Legalist Party led by General Luis Felipe Vidal,
8829-557: The region. It was he who dealt most brutally with the Taíno people. The Taino population declined by up to 95% in the century after the Spanish arrival, from a pre contact population of tens of thousands to 8,000,000. Many authors have described the treatment of the Taino in Hispaniola under the Spanish Empire as genocide. One rebel, however, successfully fought back. Enriquillo led
8938-453: The regional chiefs gave way to the former's main lieutenant, Ulises Heureaux, allying himself with these leaders and with the growing commercial bourgeoisie, for which he obtained new foreign loans and established a personal dictatorship, in which he also gave effect to the haters and bourgeois Baecistas to neutralize the liberals of his old party. Later at the end of Meriño's government period, General Luperón recommended Ulises Heureaux who won
9047-480: The rural hateros (cattle ranchers) remained, even though they lost their principal market. Spain saw in the unrest an opportunity to seize all, or part, of the western third of the island in an alliance of convenience with the rebellious slaves. But after the slaves and French reconciled, the Spanish suffered a setback, and in 1795, France gained control of the whole island under the Treaty of Basel . In 1801, Toussaint Louverture arrived in Santo Domingo, proclaiming
9156-452: The sole source of livelihood for the island dwellers. In 1586, the privateer Francis Drake of England captured the city of Santo Domingo, collecting a ransom for its return to Spanish rule. In 1592, Christopher Newport of England attacked the town of Azua on the bay of Ocoa, which was taken and plundered. In 1595, the Spanish, frustrated by the twenty-year rebellion of their Dutch subjects , closed their home ports to rebel shipping from
9265-531: The southeastern savannah) and cutting mahogany and other hardwoods for export. This region retained a semi-feudal character, with little commercial agriculture, the hacienda as the dominant social unit, and the majority of the population living at a subsistence level. In the Cibao Valley , the nation's richest farmland, peasants supplemented their subsistence crops by growing tobacco for export, mainly to Germany. Tobacco required less land than cattle ranching and
9374-507: The southern column at the Battle of Santomé , killing 695 Haitians, including General Antoine Pierrot. On January 27, 1856, some 8,000 Dominicans defeated 22,000 Haitians at the Battle of Sabana Larga near Dajabón after eight hours of fighting, which came down to hand-to-hand combat. Thousands of Haitian dead or dying were abandoned on the battlefield as their forces retreated back across the border. In July 1844, Pedro Santana seized power from
9483-430: The southwestern area of the modern-day Dominican Republic. French and English buccaneers took advantage of Spain's retreat into a corner of Hispaniola to settle the island of Tortuga , off the northwest coast of Hispaniola, in 1629. France established direct control in 1640, reorganizing it into an official colony and expanding to the north coast of Hispaniola itself, whose western end Spain ceded to France in 1697 under
9592-469: The sugar industry with Cuban immigrants who arrived and invested their resources. The indebtedness began, which consisted of the Hartmont loan, which included of a loan for the sum of 420,000 pounds of sterling, but only the government only received 38,000 pounds of sterling. In this period, the main parties were the blues of Gregorio Luperón, and the reds by Buenaventura Báez. In conclusion, the Báez government
9701-526: The sugar industry, commerce and education, the sugar industry, commerce and education, conditions began to be created for the development of a centralized regime dominated by the bourgeoisie dependent on the United States of America that would supplant the prevailing caudillismo. But there were still no complete conditions for that change. Horacio Vásquez and the regional leaders of both sides felt marginalized and some of them, led by Luis Tejeda, killed Cáceres in 1911. General Alfredo Victoria gave his uncle Eladio
9810-399: The system of communal land tenure ( terrenos comuneros ), which had arisen with the ranching economy, and newly emancipated slaves resented being forced to grow cash crops under Boyer's Code Rural . In rural areas, the Haitian administration was usually too inefficient to enforce its own laws. It was in the city of Santo Domingo that the effects of the occupation were most acutely felt, and it
9919-807: The task of organizing elections to elect the national authorities, the regime of American military intervention. [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] Pedro Antonio Pimentel Pedro Antonio Pimentel y Chamorro (1830–1874)
10028-448: The threat of a French invasion, Haiti was forced to pay an indemnity of 150 million francs to the former French colonists, which was subsequently lowered to 60 million francs, and Haiti imposed heavy taxes on the eastern part of the island. Since Haiti was unable to adequately provision its army, the occupying forces largely survived by commandeering or confiscating food and supplies at gunpoint. Attempts to redistribute land conflicted with
10137-551: The towns of Santiago and Moca , slaughtering most of their residents. The French held on to the eastern part of the island until dealt a serious blow by the Dominican General Juan Sánchez Ramírez at the Battle of Palo Hincado on November 7, 1808. With help from the British Navy , Ramírez laid siege to the city of Santo Domingo. The French in the besieged city finally capitulated on July 9, 1809, initiating
10246-649: The treasury depleted, Báez printed eighteen million uninsured pesos, purchasing the 1857 tobacco crop with this currency and exporting it for hard cash at immense profit to himself and his followers. The Cibanian tobacco planters, who were ruined when inflation ensued, revolted and formed a new government headed by José Desiderio Valverde and headquartered in Santiago de los Caballeros. In July 1857, General Juan Luis Franco Bidó besieged Santo Domingo. The Cibao-based government declared an amnesty to exiles and Santana returned and managed to replace Franco Bidó in September 1857. After
10355-462: The wealthiest colony in the New World and had half a million inhabitants. As restrictions on colonial trade were relaxed, the colonial elites of St. Domingue offered the principal market for Santo Domingo's exports of beef, hides, mahogany, and tobacco. With the outbreak of the Haitian Revolution in 1791, the rich urban families linked to the colonial bureaucracy fled the island, while most of
10464-572: The widespread production of ceramic goods. The estimates of Hispaniola's population in 1492 vary widely, including tens of thousands, 100,000, 300,000, and 400,000-2,000,000. Estimating how many people lived on the island in pre-Columbian times is challenging, as no accurate records exist. At the time of Columbus' arrival in 1492, the island's territory consisted of five Taíno chiefdoms: Marién, Maguá, Maguana, Jaragua , and Higüey. These were ruled respectively by caciques Guacanagarix, Guarionex, Caonabo, Bohechío, and Cayacoa. The Taíno name for
10573-578: Was a Dominican Republic military figure and politician. He served as the 12th president of the Dominican Republic from March 25, 1865 until August 4, of that year. He also served as governor of Santiago de los Caballeros , Minister of War, and as a deputy of the Congress of the Dominican Republic . He was born to father Jacinto Pimentel and mother Juana Chamorro. He died sick and without any money in Quartier-Morin, Haiti in 1874. This article about
10682-548: Was a French colony from 1795 to 1815. It briefly became an independent state in 1821, known as the Republic of Spanish Haiti , until it was annexed and merged by Haiti into Republic of Haiti from 1822 to 1844. In 1844, the Dominican Republic declared its independence, establishing the First Dominican Republic . The republic maintained its independence except for a brief annexation by Spain from 1861 to 1865, after which
10791-441: Was also a period that definitively ended slavery as an institution in the eastern part of the island. Haiti's constitution forbade whites from owning land, and the major landowning families were forcibly deprived of their properties. Most emigrated to the Spanish colonies of Cuba and Puerto Rico, or to independent Gran Colombia, usually with the encouragement of Haitian officials, who acquired their lands. The Haitians, who associated
10900-524: Was bolstered by emigration from the Canary Islands , resettling the northern part of the colony and planting tobacco in the Cibao Valley , and importation of slaves was renewed. The population of Santo Domingo grew from about 6,000 in 1737 to approximately 125,000 in 1790. Of this number, about 40,000 were white landowners, about 25,000 were mulatto freedmen, and some 60,000 were slaves. However, it remained poor and neglected, particularly in contrast with its western, French neighbor Saint-Domingue , which became
11009-420: Was characterized by being a corrupt government, debt, and political repression, despotism and annexations. Their governments were characterized by being very corrupt and by governing for the benefit of their fortune, the most notable act being the one committed in 1857 when they bought with inorganic currency the record harvest of tobacco, which was the country's main export product, and which later he sold, keeping
11118-468: Was driven aground by bad weather on December 21, and the admiral and 148 others were taken prisoner. Shortly after announcing a new campaign for 1846, Pierrot was overthrown on February 27. Faustin Soulouque, now governing Haiti, launched a new invasion of the Dominican Republic. On March 21, 1849, Haitian soldiers attacked the Dominican garrison at Las Matas. Soulouque then captured San Juan, leaving Azua as
11227-451: Was in Moca . It was a group of Mocanos, at the head of which were Ramón Cáceres , Jacobo Lara and Horacio Vásquez, who prepared the conspiracy; and it was the first two who opened fire and killed Lilis. After the fall of Heureaux, regional caudillism was accentuated, although under the guise of two new national leaders: Juan Isidro Jiménes , a merchant from Montecristi who received the support of
11336-476: Was mainly grown by smallholders, who relied on itinerant traders to transport their crops to Puerto Plata and Monte Cristi . Santana antagonized the Cibao farmers, enriching himself and his supporters at their expense by resorting to multiple peso printings that allowed him to buy their crops for a fraction of their value. In 1848, Santana was forced to resign and was succeeded by his vice-president, Manuel Jimenes . After returning to lead Dominican forces against
11445-575: Was monopolized by the Clyde company of that nationality and the products of that country almost completely displaced Europeans. After a Dominican-American Convention signed in 1905 that was not approved in the North American Senate, perhaps due to its ultracolonialist nature, it was finally concluded in 1907, by virtue of which the United States not only began to control all customs of the country and retain at least 40% of its income, but they established
11554-407: Was still essentially foreign and annexationist, constituting the conservative or Red Party . Their liberal rivals or Blue Party, who had their top leader Gregorio Luperón , with the support of the Cibao farmers, the commercial petty bourgeoisie, the young intellectuals and the new Creole bourgeoisie. Since 1864, in this period in the economy at first the economy was booming due to the restoration of
11663-437: Was sufficient to seek protection from a foreign power . Offering the deepwater harbor of Samaná bay as bait, over the next two decades, negotiations were made with Britain, France, the United States and Spain to declare a protectorate over the country. Without adequate roads, the regions of the Dominican Republic developed in isolation from one another. In the south, the economy was dominated by cattle-ranching (particularly in
11772-457: Was the most important. Santana imprisoned and ultimately exiled Duarte to Germany. Santana made the first martyr of the republic when he had María Trinidad Sánchez executed for refusing to name "conspirators" against him. Santana used the ever-present threat of Haitian invasion as a justification for consolidating dictatorial powers. For the Dominican elite—mostly landowners, merchants and priests—the threat of re-annexation by more populous Haiti
11881-458: Was there that the movement for independence originated. On July 16, 1838, Juan Pablo Duarte together with Pedro Alejandrino Pina, Juan Isidro Pérez, Felipe Alfau, Benito González, Félix María Ruiz, Juan Nepumoceno Ravelo and Jacinto de la Concha founded a secret society called La Trinitaria to win independence from Haiti. A short time later, they were joined by Ramón Matías Mella , and Francisco del Rosario Sánchez . In 1843, they allied with
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