Haitian occupation of Santo Domingo
On November 9, 1821, the former captain general in charge of the colony, José Núñez de Cáceres, decided to overthrow the Spanish government and declared independence from Spain.Meanwhile the mulatto president of Haiti, Jean-Pierre Boyer, offered his support to the frontier governors, and thus they allowed him to enter the city of Santo Domingo with around 10,000 soldiers in February 1822 which lead to the occupation.By the 1790s, large-scale rebellions erupted in the western portion of the island, spearheaded by men such as Toussaint Louverture and Jean-Jacques Dessalines which led to the eventual removal of the French and the independence of Haiti.The accounts by the Dominican essayist and politician José Núñez de Cáceres cite the Spanish colony's population at around 80,000, mainly composed of criollos, mulattos, freedmen, and a few black slaves.However, due to the near chaotic situation in Saint-Domingue resulting from uprisings by mulattos and freedmen since 1791, the expected armed opposition of the Spanish settlers of Santo Domingo who feared the abolition of slavery if the French were to take over, and under the belief that the British would seize Santo Domingo if the transfer was effected, the Committee of Public Safety decided to delay the occupation until such time as it had enough military and naval forces to take possession of the eastern part of the island.[11] Unable to overpower the Spanish–French defense, and intimidated by the arrival of a French fleet in support of Borgella in Santo Domingo, the army of Dessalines along with Henri Christophe raided through the interior Dominican towns Santiago and Moca, while Alexandre Pétion invaded Azua.[19] Haitian rebel leaders encouraged fugitive African slaves to move into Hispaniola and they formed communities such as San Lorenzo de Los Mina, which is currently part of the "city" of Santo Domingo.A group of Dominican politicians and military officers in the frontier region favored uniting the newly independent nation with Haiti, as they sought political support from Haitian president Jean-Pierre Boyer against their enemies.[31][32][33][34][page needed] While appeasing the Dominican frontier officers, Jean-Pierre Boyer was already in negotiations with France to prevent an attack by fourteen French warships stationed near Port-au-Prince, the Haitian capital.[35] Support of the unification found itself to be more popular among the Black population who believed that Boyers government would usher an era of social reform, including the abolition of slavery."[31] Upon unification of both French-side (Haitï) and Spanish-side (then Spanish Haiti) nations under the Haitian flag, Boyer divided the island into six departments, that were subdivided into arrondissements (administrative districts) and communes.[37] This period 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 suppress traditional customs [citation needed].Since Haiti was unable to adequately provision its army, the occupying forces largely survived by commandeering or confiscating food and supplies at gunpoint [citation needed].Many emigrated to Cuba, Puerto Rico (these two being Spanish possessions at the time) or Gran Colombia, usually with the encouragement of Haitian officials, who acquired their lands[citation needed].Santo Domingo's university, the oldest in the Western Hemisphere, lacking both students and teachers had to close down, and thus the country suffered from a massive case of human capital flight.[42] Black refugees who had been subjected to slavery in other foreign territories (including Puerto Rico and Martinique) escaped to Santo Domingo and successfully claimed freedom under Haitian law.They testified to local Dominican officials (who now worked for the Haitian government) that they had sought to travel to Santo Domingo because they viewed it as a "free country" after annexation by Haiti.[43] Several resolutions and written dispositions were expressly aimed at converting average Dominicans into second-class citizens as Boyer had done with the Haitian peasantry under the aforementioned Code Rural:[44] restrictions of movement, prohibition to run for public office, night curfews, inability to travel in groups, banning of civilian organizations, and the indefinite closure of the state university (on the alleged grounds of its being a subversive organization) all led to the creation of movements advocating a forceful separation from Haiti with no compromises.[46] In 1838 a group of educated nationalists, among them, Matías Ramón Mella, Juan Pablo Duarte and Francisco del Rosario Sánchez founded a secret society called La Trinitaria to gain independence from Haiti.In an uprising timed to preempt Báez, on February 27, 1844, the Trinitarios declared independence from Haiti, backed by Pedro Santana, a wealthy cattle-rancher from El Seibo who commanded a private army of peons who worked on his estates.[48] Under the command of Faustin Soulouque Haitian soldiers tried to gain back control of lost territory, but this effort was to no avail as the Dominicans would go on to decisively win every battle henceforth.
French Coat of armsAnnexedSanto DomingoDemonym(s)DominicanGovernmentMilitary occupationPresidentJean-Pierre BoyerCharles Rivière-HérardDominican War of IndependenceGourdeISO 3166 codeRepublic of Spanish HaitiFirst Dominican RepublicDominican RepublicHaitian Creoleannexationthen-independentRepublic of HaitiHispaniolaSaint DominguePeace of BaselHaitian Revolutionrecaptured Santo DomingoJosé Núñez de CáceresJuan Pablo DuarteDominicansSaint-DomingueToussaint LouvertureJean-Jacques DessalinesEra de FranciaAfrican slavesheadquarterscriollosGuipuzcoaBritishCommittee of Public Safetydeclared Haiti's independenceJuan Sánchez RamírezRoyal Navyended French controlreestablishedSiege of Santo Domingo (1805)slave raidingHenri ChristopheSantiagoAlexandre PétionMonte PlataCotuíLa VegabarristerHigüeyLesser Antilleshuman capital flightKingdom of HaitiBattle of Palo HincadoToribio MontesJamaicaJunta of SevilleUniversidad Santo Tomás de AquinoSouth AmericanEspaña BobaNational PantheonGran ColombiaMackau150 million francsPort-au-Princeabolition of slaverySebastián Kindelán y Oregonseverely underdeveloped economymarched into the countrymulattoesredistributeJoseph Balthazar InginacPuerto RicoSpanish possessionsCatholic ChurchVaticanSanto Domingo's universityWestern HemisphereUnited States Constitutionforms of slaveryAmerican Colonization SocietySamaná AmericansFree negroesLiberiaLoring D. DeweyEast CoastBaltimorePhiladelphiaMatías Ramón MellaFrancisco del Rosario SánchezLa TrinitariaBuenaventura BáezHaitian National AssemblyPedro SantanaEl SeiboFaustin SoulouqueHaitian leaderHincheOuanamintheSaint-RaphaëlSaint-Michel-de-l'AtalayeLascahobasBelladèreJérôme-Maximilien BorgellaBernard-Philippe-Alexis CarriéHistory of the Dominican RepublicHistory of HaitiLibrary of CongressMackenzie, CharlesSpringer PublishingFrank Moya PonsEl Rincón del VagoFranco Pichardo, Franklin J.Wayback MachineHistoryCacicazgoColonial governorsDevastations of OsorioSlave tradeSpanish reconquestSpanish HaitiUnification of Hispaniola