Dominican Republic Recent History
Fool Spain period
During the period that followed the Reconquista (Spain Boba), several conspiracies aimed at overthrowing Spanish power occurred. Some of them sought to create an independent country while others sought annexation to Haiti or other countries. This period of fruitless conspiracies was initiated by Manuel del Monte, a close relative of Regio Commissioner Francisco Javier Caro. Del Monte was discovered, imprisoned, indicted and sent to Spain, without major consequences, since he was able to return to live in Santo Domingo thanks to the influence exerted by his relative in the Court. Another conspirator was a Havana man known by the name of Don Fermín who, in 1809, plotted with the purpose of declaring Santo Domingo independent from Spain. He was accused of being seditious and locked up for seven years in La Fuerza (Torre del Homenaje), loaded with crickets, before being shipped to the Peninsula. There was at this same time a plot by four French sergeants who tried to carry out a coup to restore the Colony to the French Government, but they failed in their attempt and were shot.
The most prominent case was that of José Núñez de Cáceres who, inspired by liberal ideas, conspired against Spain in the eastern part, and on December 1, 1821 proclaimed the independence of this part of the island, thus creating the Independent State of Haiti. Spanish. This is recorded in history as Ephemeral Independence, since in just three months the Haitian General Jean-Pierre Boyer consolidates his domination over the entire island.
Haitian occupation
The Haitian occupation lasted twenty-two years, this stage is remembered as a period of brutal military regime despite the reality having been a little more complex. Large-scale land expropriations were carried out and the necessary efforts for the production of export crops were not carried out, military service was imposed, the use of the Spanish language was restricted, and attempts were made to eliminate traditional customs, such as fights. of roosters. This situation fueled the perception of Dominicans of themselves as different from Haitians in “language, race, religion and national customs.” [5] The Haitian administration prohibited white people from owning land, forcibly depriving the country’s main families of their land. The new system was widely opposed by Dominican farmers, although there was a boom in sugar and coffee production. All levels of education plummeted, the university was closed, as young Dominican men aged 16 to 25 were recruited into the Haitian army.In order to receive diplomatic recognition from France, Haiti was forced to pay compensation of 150 million francs to ex-French settlers, a sum that was later reduced to 60 million francs, after which Haiti imposed heavy taxes on the eastern part of the island. Since Haiti was unable to adequately support its army, the occupying forces largely survived by confiscating food and supplies at gunpoint. Many fled from Santo Domingo to Puerto Rico and Cuba (both still under Spanish rule), Venezuela and other countries. One of the most important measures was the abolition of slavery.
Independence
In 1838 Juan Pablo Duarte, Ramón Matías Mella [6] and Francisco del Rosario Sánchez founded a secret society called La Trinitaria to try to achieve the independence of Haiti. In 1843 they allied themselves with a Haitian movement whose objective was the overthrow of Boyer. By revealing themselves as revolutionaries working for Dominican independence, the new president of Haiti, Charles Rivière-Hérard, exiled or imprisoned the main Trinitarians. At the same time, Buenaventura Báez, a deputy in the Haitian National Assembly, was negotiating with the French consul for the establishment of a French protectorate. In a survey whose purpose was to anticipate the agreement Báez, night Tuesday 27 of February of 1844, at the Gate of the Count of Santo Domingo, the Dominican Republic was proclaimed by Francisco of the Rosary Sanchez, head of the movement after the In the absence of Juan Pablo Duarte, the patriots gathered there would express to the Haitian authorities their indestructible resolution to be free and independent, at the cost of their lives and their interests, without any threat being able to retract their will.
That February 27, the Dominican Flag was raised at the Puerta del Conde. The flag embroidered by Concepción Bona and María Trinidad Sánchez, along with other ladies, waved in the city of Santo Domingo. The flag had emerged from a project presented by Juan Pablo Duarte, adopted on 16 July of the 1838 in the Trinitaria, where the colors and the shape of the shows that would represent the new state were presented.
According to Educationvv, the nascent republic was governed by a Board Central Gobernativa under the power of conservatives to the 14 of November of 1844 when Pedro Santana is elected first President Constitutional of Dominicana.Durante Republic several years Haitians made several invasions, but were frustrated by the Dominican army.
Ramón Matías Mella was in charge of delivering the blunderbuss of freedom on the night of February 27, 1844 at the Puerta de la Misericordia. [6]
This period of history was called the First Republic, which ranges from the formation of the nation, on February 27, 1844 until the annexation to the Kingdom of Spain in 1861.
Annexation to Spain and the War of Restoration
From that moment, and in the absence of solid leadership from its leaders, an era began dominated by landowners who had economic power, with governments taking turns for short periods. During this time, some internal groups, among which the presidents Buenaventura Báez and José Desiderio Valverde stood out, did not feel happy with the autonomy and sought to rejoin Spain, a fact that they achieved during the third government of Pedro Santana, on 18 March 1861. Pedro Santana signed a pact with the Spanish Crown and reverted the Dominican nation to the colonial state, the only American country to do so. Its ostensible purpose was to protect the nation from another annexation of Haiti.
In the Grito de Capotillo, the 16 of August of 1863, Dominican patriots proclaimed the second independence war restoration was led by Santiago Rodríguez, Benito Monción, and Gregorio Luperon, among others. Haiti, fearing that Spain would return as a colonial power on its border, gave shelter and supplies to the revolutionaries. In 1865, after the war of restoration, independence was recovered, once again going to a stage of lack of leadership and continuous changes of ruler. This situation lasted until Ulises Heureaux (Lilís) installed his dictatorship for 12 years (1887 – 1899), a situation that lasted until he was assassinated. As of 1902, the governments of short periods returned, the power was usurped by caudillos in the regions of the country. On the other hand, the Dominican government was bankrupt and unable to pay the debts left by Heureaux, faced with the threat of a military intervention by France and other creditor powers of Europe.
