Dominican Republic History

By Karoline Urena • October 10, 2008

The Dominican Republic occupies more than half the territory of the island of Hispaniola (which it shares with Haiti), is a land of lush green mountains, fertile fields and above all golden beaches, which led to Christopher Columbus to qualify as the most beautiful land that human eyes have ever seen.

The primitive habitants of the island were the Taino Indians, with a population estimated around 600,000, the Tainos (meaning “the good”) who named the island Quisqueya (“Mother of all lands”), they from the Orinoco and Amazon, this peaceful Amerindian people lived on fishing and agriculture. Organized into chiefdoms, they have contributed to the Spanish language with words like barbacoa (barbecue), coco (coconut), Macuto (knapsack) or hamaca (hammock).

On December 5, 1492 Christopher Columbus arrived to Puerto Plata, north of the island. After taking possession of it, named La Hispaniola (The Spanish) and with the remains of the wrecked ship he built a fortress named Christmas. Columbus himself grew a particular fondness for Hispaniola, describing it in his journal as “a beautiful island paradise with high forested mountains and large river valleys.”

After leaving there to a detachment commanded by Diego de Arana, he returned to Spain. On his return a year later, the garrison had been eliminated by the natives. However, the continued colonization started and founded the first cities of the new continent, La Isabela (1493) and Santiago de los Caballeros (1496). In 1502, Bartholomew Columbus, brother of the admiral, and Nicolas de Ovando founded Santo Domingo.

Under the Viceroyalty of Diego Columbus, son of the sailor was introduced on the island cane sugar imported from the Canary Islands. With the presence of new settlements, the Taino Indians were put into slavery and over the next 25 year, despite of resistance from a female chief of leaders (cacique) called Anacaona, they were eventually wiped out. Simultaneously, the settlers began bringing African slaves to the island to ensure adequate labor for their plantations. The sixteenth century was an era of glory for the Spanish. Commerce and the arts flourished, while Santo Domingo was the leading American port.

In the seventeenth century the island was subjected to constant attack from pirates, as the famous Francis Drake. The growing influence of the French, installed in part of the Spanish, endangered the Spanish hegemony. Faced with this pressure, Spain ceded to France by the treaty of Ryswick in 1697 the western part of it. In 1805 the island was again being under the Spanish crown.

The Criollo people, who were eager to achieve their independence, revolted in 1821 under the orders of Núñez de Cáceres. Although came to draft a constitution, the newly established government was short-lived, because in 1822, Haiti, which had been independent in 1804 - invaded the eastern part of the Spanish. In 1844, the revolution led by Juan Pablo Duarte-founder of the Dominican Republic and national hero, returns the freedom to Dominicans. To oppose the threat of Haiti, the government sought help from Spain, who tried to recover the colony seized between 1861 and 1865. That year, the last Spanish troops were finally expelled. However, the country did not achieve political stability and plunged into an economic and social crisis.

In 1916 U.S. troops occupied the country and stayed until 1924 when a democratically elected Dominican government was put into place. In 1930, Trujillo gave a coup d’état and imposed a tough and cruel dictatorship that lasted until 1961, when he was riddled with bullets by a group of opponents.

Following Trujilo’s death, political unrest again prevailed. The Dominican Republic went through a series of leaders until 1965 when Lyndon B. Johnson ordered the U.S. marines to again occupy the country. A rigged election in 1966 put Dr. Joaquin Balaguer, a member of the Partido Reformista Social Cristiano (PRSC), in power for a reign that lasted until 1978 when Dominicans elected Antonio Guzman, also of the PRD. Guzman died in 1982 at which time Dominicans elected another member of the P.R.D. In 1986 Balaguer was again elected, this time legitimately, and remained president until 1996 when President Leonel Fernandez (of the Party of the Dominican Liberation or PLD.) was elected. He served for four years and was replaced by Hipolito Mejia in 2000. Leonel Fernandez was elected again in 2004 for four years. Today’s Leonel Fernandez is again president. His new term, which began in 2008, will last for four years more.