Decolonization in the Dominican

Hello class! As this semester winds down to the last few weeks I will be wrapping up the Dominican Blog and we will be moving on to a new unit! I hope you have learned as much about the Dominican Republic as I have through this journey and continue to do your own research after this class is finished! The world ALWAYS needs more historians and judging by most of your test grades I can tell all of you have the potential to do so. Today we will be coming to an end by talking about the decolonization of the Dominican Republic in the twentieth century, signal events that defined this period and the tensions that existed between colony and metropole. This may seem like an overwhelming amount of information at first but we will break it down into sections to make this section a breeze when studying for the final test. (Don’t forget- it is on December 13^th at 8:00 am sharp!)

Section One: Decolonization in the twentieth century

Things you will NEED to know:

1) Background to the decolonization of the country- In the nineteenth century after the Spanish abandon control of the country for a second time, the Dominican Republic fell under the rule of a ruthless leader, Ulises Heureaux. Heureaux ruled the country through a style of Napoleonic political order. For those of you who are not familiar with that style of rule it simple means a dictatorship or rule by an individual. In July, 1899 the country was experiencing an extreme financial crises and national debt of almost thirty-five million dollars. As a result of this a group planned and executed Ulises Heureaux’s assignation in Moca.

2) In the twentieth century - The United States signs a fifty year agreement to aid the Dominican Republic in their foreign customs and debts mainly because the United States does not want to European powers occupy the country. After involvement in World War One became more intense and demanding of the United States they realized they could no longer afford to give the Dominican Republic so much of their attention and organized safe, secure and accurate elections for the country.

3) With the election of President Horacio Vásquez Lajara the Dominican Republic was for the first time under the rule of a democracy with no outside threats of collapse.

4) In 1930 another election takes place and Rafael Leonidas Trujillo Molina takes power for thirty-one years of harsh dictatorship. Despite being under extreme control Dominicans could not ignore the advancements they saw in their country in the forms of improved education, debt and modernization of their country.

Things you will WANT to know

1) The assignation of Ulises Heureaux, although planned by a group of farmers was actually carried out by Ramón Cáceres, a man who will later take over the Presidency and be assonated himself.

Signal Events that defined this period:

Most of the events described to you above were signal events that defined the twentieth century for the Dominican Republic but to make things even simpler for study purposes let’s create an outline of key events:

1899- Assignation of dictator Ulises Heureaux

1906- United Sates agrees to a fifty-year agreement that aids the Dominican Republic with their extreme debt and occupy the control to ward off European powers.

1924- Elections are held and Horacio Vásquez Lajara peacefully comes into power

1930- Rafael Leonidas Trujillo Molina takes power and has a thirty- one-year reign over the Dominican until he is assonated in 1961.

1937- Parsley Massacre in 1937 kills 30,000 Haitians on the Dominican border in attempts to “deafricanize” the country, even though Trujillo was one forth Haitian himself.

Tensions that existed between colony and metropole:

The Dominican Republic experiences many different emotions throughout the twentieth century between an occupation by the United States, a dictatorship and a massacre. Despite these range of controls specific tensions are not noted between colony and metropole. This can mainly be attributed to the rule of the dictatorship because no one could contest his decision making process and tensions did not arise.

I hope this blog posts aids you in your studying throughout this week, remember to focus on specific names and key events in the Dominican Republic, these will greatly help you on the multiple choice section of the exam!

Sources:

Johnson, Kelli . Questia, "Both Sides of the Massacre." Accessed December 3, 2011. http://www.questia.com/googleScholar.qst?docId=5001957158.

Frank Moya Pons. The Dominican Republic: a national history. Princeton : Markus Weiner Publishers, 1995

QUESTION ---ANSWER

A few students submitted questions via email about the Dominican Republic, here are their questions and what I could find regarding them!

What did freedom mean for former slaves in the Dominican Republic?

Just as in many Caribbean societies emancipation did not mean automatic freedom for former slaves in the Dominican Republic. Slaves continued to be controlled by plantation owners after they had gained their freedom because they could not afford financially to leave. Boham Richardson explained freedom for former slaves in the Caribbean by stating “ Caribbean planters attempted to control members of the newly free working classes by restricting their access to local lands, enacting immobilizing vagrancy laws, and importing thousands of laborers into the region in order to drive wages down”. This means that even though slavery was no longer legal in the Dominican Republic African Americans had few options when looking for forms of employment, often times binding them to their former masters. These limits on civil rights and economic restraints on blacks were often referred to as “unfreedom” because essentially little progress had been made in the first years of emancipation on the island. Former slaves despite the revolution often experienced little changes in their quality of day-to-day life. When they were still employed by former masters they were still subject to abuse and horrible working conditions. However despite this “unfreedom” experienced by freed slaves in the Dominican Republic more rights were given to them in the form of relationships. No longer could owners put harsh, unjust restrictions on African Americans living together or starting families with one another. Occasionally when slaves were not financially bound to their original masters their first in the Dominican their first role express their newly gained freedom would be to relocate to Haiti to look for employment. This migration was looked at as a fresh start for Dominicans and a way to better themselves.

What similarities and differences occurred between the experiences of free women and free men the same?

Little is noted about the different experiences between free women and free men in the Dominican Republic. Both males and females had gone through extreme oppression during the years of slavery and had similar choices during the “unfreedom” timeframe following emancipation. It can be inferred that because so little is written about specific women or male experiences following emancipation that it was relatively similar to one another.

What kinds of systems of labor replaced slavery on your island?

Low wage work replaced slavery in the Dominican Republic. Large numbers of people from Haiti were recruited to relocate to the Dominican Republic and drive wages down for newly freed slaves with the increase in population. These Haitians were coerced into moving mainly by private companies and their stories of wealth to be had on sugar plantations. At the time both countries governments were to weak to take control of the free migrant worker system. Essentially systems of labor remained similar to slavery directly after emancipation because the wages were so minimal little advancements could be made.

Sources:

From Hidden Hand to Heavy Hand: Sugar, the State, and Migrant Labor in Haiti and the Dominican Republic

Samuel Martinez

Latin American Research Review , Vol. 34, No. 1 (1999), pp. 57-84

Published by: The Latin American Studies Association

The Tribulations of Blackness: Stages in Dominican Racial Identity

Silvio Torres-Saillant

Callaloo , Vol. 23, No. 3, Dominican Republic Literature and Culture (Summer, 2000), pp. 1086-1111

Published by: The Johns Hopkins University Press

Emancipation in the Dominican Republic

The Background:

Late 17^th century- Slave labor had become central to the way of life on the island of Hispaniola. Whites were reliant on African slave labor for almost all aspects of their daily life. The African population dramatically outnumbered their Spanish owners. Sugar production was still the leading export and the main source of income for Hispaniola. However, new fortunes had been discovered in the Americas in the form of gold and attention from the Spanish crown was dwindling. The French had slowly begun to occupy the western side of Hispaniola, what today is known as Haiti. French inhabitants of the island faced little violent hostility because of Spain’s removed interest in their investment of the island. Their presence was legally recognized in 1697 with the Ryswick peace agreement and it officially gave the western one-third of the island.

By the late 18^th century Haiti had become extremely profitable for the French and considered an invaluable colony. The French Revolution had rippled out to Hispaniola by 1789 and French officials feared they would lose their investment in the island just as they had lost Canada to the British during the seven years war. A large mixed population now inhabited the island. Slave women had discovered that having relations with their masters was a way to secure liberty for themselves and their descendants, a quick form of personal emancipation.

The Juice-

Slavery officially ceased to be a form of labor on Hispaniola in 1793. The driving force to ending slavery was a man by the name of Toussaint Louverture. Toussaint Louverture was a former slave who was believed to have been educated by his godfather. He united mainly black and mulatto people and created a force with the main goal to get the new British occupiers off Hispaniola. By 1801 Louverture had managed to unify the entire island of Hispaniola against the Spanish as well and declaring Haiti an independent country. Haitians freed that the French would re-enslave them from an attack through the Dominican so in 1844 Haitians invaded the Eastern side of the island. Slavery was officially abolished on the Eastern side of Hispaniola under the leadership of Jean Pierre Boyer. Dominicans however did not see the improvement under the new Haitian occupiers that they had so badly hoped for.

The Debate-

There was little debate over ending slavery in the Dominican Republic. Freedom was rather demanded and taken by the slaves on the island of Hispaniola. They saw an opportunity arise with the chaos of the French Revolution and used that to their advantage in gaining freedom. Had the slaves of Hispaniola tried to gain independence through peaceful means there is no telling if and when emancipation would have occurred.

Sources:

Frank Moya Pons. The Dominican Republic: a national history. Princeton : Markus Weiner Publishers, 1995

David , Howard. Coloring the nation: race and ethnicity in the Dominican Republic. Colorado: Lynne Riener Publishers, 2001.

Dominican in the Spotlight- Dania Ramirez

Dania Ramirez was born November 8, 1979 in Santo Domingo and is a Dominican-American TV actress. She is most recently known for playing Alex in Entourage, Maya Herrera in Heroes and Blanca during the last season of The Sopranos.

Did You Know?

Even though Santiago is the second largest city in Dominican Republic, as of 2006 the metropolitan area of New York City had a larger population of Dominicans.

Read, Read, Read all about it!

Conjoined Dominican twins separated after marathon surgery TODAY!

RICHMOND, Virginia. - The Dominican Siamese twins Maria Teresa and Teresa Maria were separated after a surgery lasting 24 hours, the Office of the First Lady announced Tuesday.

The operation began 5am Monday in Virginia Children's Hospital and concluded 5am today, when anxiety gripped those present in one of the hospital’s salons.

The first lady Margarita Cedeño accompanied the twins mother Lisania Sanatis and their aunt Mary for several hours to await the results.

The medical team of 20 physicians, led by doctor David A. Lanning, carried out the surgery to separate the girls organ by organ.

http://www.dominicantoday.com

Good morning Class! As a refresher we covered the somewhat recent Haitian earthquake a few days ago in class and I thought it would only be appropriate that I touch base with you on the blog regarding the subject in more detail. Today we are going to look at a brief history of the Haitian revolution, then look at the revolution from a different perspective. The perspective of a neighboring Dominican citizen, Miguel, who was hearing about the revolution that was happening in Haiti while it was taking place. In history I remind you, it is always important not to only look at the first hand accounts of people experiencing a major event but also those outsiders looking in. Often times those outsiders to the situation can offer a less emotionally involved point of view and more beneficial to your research. Just a tip for all you future historians!

Now Let’s get started:

Background: Three fact refresher on the Haitian Revolution:

1. The Haitian Revolution began in 1791 when the slaves in the country decided they would no longer live under the rule of white abusive slave owners.

2. The Haitian Revolution would last twelve years after the initial start in August 1791.

3. The Haitian Revolution was the ONLY successful widespread slave revolt to happen in the Caribbean.

Now that you are brought back into the mindset of the Haitian Revolution, we will read an excerpt of Miguel’s book where he will tell you of his experiences during this brutally violent time on the island of Hispaniola.

Hello my name in Miguel and I was a survivor of the Haitian Revolution. You may think survival for slaves in the Dominican Republic was easy during the time of the Haitian Revolution because we were not involved in the actual rebellion, I am here to tell you otherwise. During this time if I can remember correctly, my mind has started to fail me with old age, was the worst experience I ever encountered in my seventy-two years of life. I was twelve when the revolution began in 1791 and was delighted when I first heard of the success blacks were having gaining their freedom so close to our backyards. I thought it would only be a matter of time before freedom fever spread to our plantation too and we would come together to gain revenge on the people who had treated us so badly for so long. People who had raped our sisters, stolen our mothers, beaten our fathers in front of us, yes I wanted revenge on these animals. Yet as mother always told me to be patient, this is what I done. I was patient. I listened to all the stories I could of a man named Toussaint, their leader, and how he was guiding them from victory to victory against the slave owners. I knew I too could lead the people of the Dominican Republic as Toussaint did because I done lived here all my life. I knew every side road, maroon community and at least half the slaves in this country. Yet, my time never came. My patients proved to be a weapon against me. As our slave owners heard more and more about the blacks success in Haiti they grew more and more scared we’d do the same thing. They began beaten us more and more throughout the day, with harsher punishments for the smallest signs of rebellion. I know they was scared, I’d be too, we had more hatred in our hearts then anyone anywhere. We were ready to rebel the second we seen a chance, but the didn give us no chance. Many of the larger plantation owners had left at this time, seemed like the just pay someone else to take charge and they return when all this mess was over. I never seen the return though. The people that took over their jobs were much crueler then the original, I guess they felt they had something to prove to us. Non- slaveholding whites, well there really wasn’t many of them and sure not enough to concern us, but if they were rich enough they fled. Everyone could smell what was brewing in the Dominican it was to close to Haiti not too and everyone was scared.

Overtime the Spanish became tired of all the work they had to invest in us to keep us enslaved, we really made it a nightmare. That I recon we just weren’t that important to them anymore. It had been eighteen years since the revolution started in Haiti and Spain was tired of the headaches we was causing them so far away.

By 1822 the Haitians began to occupy our land. For twenty two years those people were in OUR COUNTRY. Even though whites for the first time in my life counldn’t own land most of them left anyway. We were restricted in everyway under the Haitian rule, some of my friends were forbidden to speak our native tounge of Spanish. It was around this time that I grew very ill. They said it was some kind of fever but I know better, it was from the abuse. My body was tired and could not withstand the harsh temperatures of the Dominican any longer.

- Miguel died shortly after finishing this excerpt he wrote to share his experiences with generations to come. I encourage you all to read more accounts of the Haitian Revolution for your book report due in three weeks!

Sources:

Frank Moya Pons. The Dominican Republic: a national history. Princeton : Markus Weiner Publishers, 1995

Knight, Franklin . Modern Caribbean . United States : The University of North Carolina Press, 1989.

Imagine

When studying history it is vital to look at events that took place from every perspective possible. By doing this you improve your chances dramatically of correctly piecing together that part of history. It is not uncommon when looking back on slavery in the Caribbean to unconsciously forget about half the population that was being oppressed. The half of the population that is more vulnerable to sexual and mental abuse by their masters. The half of the population that can bear children as a result of this abuse and have to raise a child for the entirety of their lives, that was born out of tragedy rather then love. Women. Despite their unique experiences as being an enslaved person in the Caribbean individual accounts of their lives are few and far between. This misrepresentation in history books is dangerous to the students of our future because they may not receive correct information dealing with enslaved Dominican women and their stories could very easily could be lost with time. In addition to the color of their skin placing them at an automatic disadvantage in society, being a women at a time of male slovenliest owners made them a double minority and the chances of prosperity near impossible. Today we will attempt to end the cycle of forgetting about enslaved women when studying about history and piece together a hypothetical typical day in the life of an enslaved Caribbean women to better understand the trials and tribulations they faced on a regular basis.

Day in the Life of me as an enslaved women:

4:00am – I wake up after a not so good sleep. Well honestly it was more of a nap because I only got to close my eyes for four hours. My laundry list of things to do for my master took longer then expected yesterday and if I wanted to avoid be beaten today I had to work till everything was done. Last night was way to hot. It is the summer months now in the Dominican and our housing has zero windows, so the chance of catching a breeze in none. I tossed and turned in a hot sweat last night. The bugs never seem to let up and bites seem to cover my body.

4:30am – We report to work. Kim, my masters newborn daughter wakes up about 5:00 every morning so I must be up and ready to tend to her so no one else in the house wakes up. I have overslept once or twice and you would’ve thought my master’s house burnt down he was so furious. I was taken out to the backyard where our gang leader was made to lash me all morning. The hurt in his eyes has disappeared now when he has to beat one of his own, but at the beginning you could tell that really messed with him. No longer is he liked by any of the slaves, poor guy he is just doing what he is made to do I suppose. We are all just trying to do our job well enough not to get beaten.

5:00am- Kim wakes up. Bless this child’s heart she doesn’t know she’s been born into a loveless family yet. She has no idea how cruel and nasty her dad is yet. I dress her and rock her for a little while just trying to keep her quiet, Mrs. K will be awake in an hour or two that’s when she’ll eat. I hope to someday have a child, a baby boy would be nice. I would love that child more then anything in the entire world but I would never bring a child into slavery. I’m gonna become free before I have me a baby. I would die if he ever saw his mother being treated like we are here. I heard in England there are no slaves so I have been saving up to get there. It is hard to make money when I’m working all the time for Mr. K though, still I will find a way.

7:00- Mrs. K wakes up and feeds Kim. I go outside to start on laundry. If I can get everything done in the morning hours its not so hot. I rarely get any water when I’m working so trying to stay in the shade is important. I must go to try and beat the heat, will write later.

1:00 I finished up the laundry before it got to hot today. Mr. K came by though and said I was working to slow, that man doesn’t even understand the idea of working let alone speed. He said I can expect a beating after my work was finished so now I am dreading the rest of the day. You never get use to it ya know, being beat. You might think after awhile it wouldn’t hurt as bad but they are always finding ways to make it hurt worse. This one time they rubbed salt in my cuts just to watch me scream. This was all over a plate I broke in the kitchen when Mrs. K ran into me. She was to scared of Mr. K to take the blame so she accused me of not watching where I was going. I hope to get married someday but not like Mrs. And Mr. K’s relationship. He cheats on her with some of the women and she has no idea, my husband won’t do that. I probably won’t find a husband though till I get to England, I don’t get much interaction with people always being inside the master’s house. I fear that if I don’t make it to England I will die before someone every really loves me. I bet my mom would’ve loved me but I was sold to the K’s so young she never got to know me. I think about her often. I wonder sometimes if she is still alive and well. It is a tough life as a women slave and easy to die during childbirth or illness.

2:00- I get lunch. It’s not much but it is more then the other slaves. Soup and some bread, it should last me till tonight. I am still dreading Mr. K’s threat this morning about being beaten. I hope something eventful happens this afternoon and he forgets.

2:20- Back to work taking care of Kim. She is a sweet child and doesn’t cry to much. While I am watching her I am also cleaning the house. Mrs. K really get anxious if one thing is out of place here.

4:30- Mr. K did not forget about his threat and got me from the house. I was stripped and tied to a tree where he whipped me himself. I got fifty lashes to the back. He said I got so many so I remember not to move so slow next time. To me it just seems as if he was in one of those moods where he enjoyed doing it. I am excused from work the rest of the afternoon but that doesn’t mean my duties go away. Tomorrow will be terrible, if I can even move I will have to get up two or three hours earlier then normal to get started on my work. Hopefully someone will be able to sneak me some dinner tonight, if not I will go to bed hungry.

Sources:

Prince, Mart. The History of Mary Prince- a West Indian SLave Narrative. Mineola: Dover Publications Inc, 1831.

Bush, Barbara. Slave Women in Caribbean Society, 1650-1832. Bloomington: Indiana University Press , 1990.

Leonel Fernandez

is a Dominican lawyer and the current President of the Dominican Republic. His current term will end in 2012.

Religion in the Dominican

Religion is perhaps the simplest topic we will cover throughout this journey of learning about the Dominican Republic. Religion in the Dominican Republic is so simple because the OVERWHELMING amount of the population practices Roman Catholicism. It is estimated that over ninety-five percent of the population considers themselves to be Roman Catholics, even if attending church is not part of their weekly routine. Catholicism was introduced to the Dominican Republic when Christopher Columbus discovered it in 1492. Christopher Columbus was on an expedition funded by the Spanish crown, so inherently the Spanish religion was adopted to the newly discovered island. Since 1492, missionaries have traveled to the island in hopes of converting and baptizing the local people. Oftentimes the native people did convert or pick up certain aspects of the religion being taught by the missionaries but not in its entirety, this lead to a blending of native religious practices with the more formal teachings of the Catholic Church. Every since the Dominican gained its independence in 1844 Roman Catholicism has been considered the official religion of the country. The Concordat of 1954 with the Vatican established this naming of an official religion in writing. A concordat is a written agreement between the Holy See of the Catholic Church and a sovereign state on religious matters. This agreement benefits the Catholic Church because it allows them to be exempt from certain taxes and other legal matters.

Although Roman Catholicism has the monopoly over religion in the Dominican other smaller denominations of religions are certainly present and welcome due to the fact the Dominican is a place of religious freedom. Toward the end of the twentieth century the uncontested dominance of the Catholic Church began to dwindle because of less funding and a smaller supply of new priests. People turned to the Protestant religion to fill the void. The Protestant faith is similar to Catholicism but directs more emphasis to personal conversion, biblical authority and economic entrepreneurship.

In addition to these strictly Christian faiths practiced by people of the Dominican Synchronistic faiths are practiced. These faiths mix two or more casually unrelated events in a meaningful matter. Meaning, certain aspects of their native religion are kept while picking up certain beliefs of other religions from those around them.

Beliefs of the Dominican population mirror those of Rebecca’s because many of the native people also converted to strain of Christianity and became Roman Catholics like their conquers. Missionaries who traveled from Spain on a quest to spread the word of God converted most of the population in the Dominican. Rebecca experienced this conversion first hand and was baptized as an young adult into the Protestant faith.

Sources:

Wikipedia. Accessed October 1, 2011. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concordat.

Countries and Their Culture. Accessed October 1, 2011. http://www.everyculture.com/Middle-America-Caribbean/Dominicans-Religion-and-Expressive-Culture.html.

About. Accessed October 1, 2011. http://atheism.about.com/library/world/AJ/bl_DominicanIndex.htm.

Did you know?

Members of the armed forces and the police are not allowed to vote in the Dominican Republic.

Dominican in the Spotlight

Dominican Oscar de la Renta is one of the best-known fashion designers of the 21st century. He was born on July 22, 1932, in Santo Domingo, the capital of the Dominican Republic.

Did you know?

Lisa Marie Presley and Michael Jackson got married May 18, 1994 in La Romano, Dominican Republic. Their marriage lasted 20 months.

Have a free second?

Check out this youtube video on Dominican. Not only does it show you pictures from the island but a brief review on the history and how it all got started!

Quit playing games with my heart.

The national game of the Dominican Republic is baseball.

Did you know?

In terms of geographical area occupied, the Dominican Republic is just a little larger than twice the size of New Hampshire.

Conflict in Hispaniola

The seventeenth century was not a period of peace for Hispaniola. (To clarify the Dominican Republic had not been established yet, that is why we are still referring to it as Hispaniola) It was a century of transition, invasion and chaos. Too keep things simple a timeline of Hispaniola conflict in the seventeenth century is below. While investigating the timeline, try to imagine what it was like for the residents of Hispaniola having to react to all these conflicts taking place on the island they called their home.

1600- Caribbean pirates begin making Hispaniola a regular stopping point to dock and restock their ships. Pirating was beginning to become popular in the Caribbean waters because of relatively “lawless” seaports. The draws to becoming a pirate included comradely, equality and wealth. The profession of piracy offered escaped slaves, people who were considered outcasts and those seeking extreme adventure an alternative lifestyle to a regular citizen. Pirating became centralized in the Caribbean seas and Hispaniola coast due to the valuable cargo ships were carrying from the islands back to Europe. Although not all pirate ships were a threat to the locals in Hispaniola their presence was not warmly welcomed.

1606- The king of Spain orders all residents of Hispaniola to move from their homes on the coast of the island and towards the city of Saint Domingue. This demand was made for two main reasons. One, was that the Spanish crown wanted to protect the people of Hispaniola from the recent pirating traffic and moving the people towards the city would limit interaction between those who called Hispaniola their home and the pirates. Two, was that Spain was upset Saint Domingue was facilitating trade between other European countries so they attacked the Northwest region of the island forcibly relocating people towards the city. During this process of relocation over half the migrants died of starvation and disease. The pirates quickly capitalized on the internal conflict of the island and the abandoned property. Semi-permanent homes were established on the coast, making the island even less safe then it originally had been.

1629- French and English buccaneers become the main group of people found on the Northwest coast of Hispaniola. The term Buccaneer is often used interchangeably with the word pirate however their crews were often larger and found mainly in the Caribbean seas. The term Buccaneer originates from the word buccan a wooden frame used for smoking meet. Buccaneers caused conflict on the island because their attacks were focused primarily on Spanish ships. Hispaniola was still under Spanish rule and ships were coming in often to collect sugar and other goods to take back to Spain.

1655- Sir William Penn, an English admiral, sets sail from to conquer the city of Santo Domingo. His attempt to conquer the city does not come as easy as anticipated and he settles taking Jamaica instead.

1697- The Treaty of Ryswick is signed ceding control if Hispaniola over to the French. The seventeenth century proved to be a messy one for the people of Hispaniola. A century filled with eventful conflicts and unpredictable attacks by buccaneers, the English and even Spain itself.

Sources:

Wikipedia. Accessed September 23, 2011. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hispaniola.

Wikipedia. Accessed September 22, 2011. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Dominican_Republic.

Pirate King. Accessed September 23, 2011. http://www.thepirateking.com/terminology/definition_buccaneer.htm

Hispaniola . Accessed September 24, 2011 http://www.hispaniola.com/dominican_republic/info/history.php.

Show me the money!

The official Dominican Republic currency is the Dominican Peso, circulated in one and five Peso coins and in 10, 20, 50, 100, 500, 1000, 2000, Peso paper notes.

Fun Fact

According to the CIA World Factbook the Dominican Republic has a population of 9,956,648. Thats enough people to fill Bryant Denny Stadium 98 times!!ROLL TIDE.

RIGHT NOW

The weather in the Dominican Republic right now is 82 degrees, the SAME exact temperature it is in Tuscaloosa AL. However Tuscaloosa is missing the sand, crystal clear water and palm trees....seeing as there is no class tomorrow anyone up for an impromptu vacation!?

Let's Get Going!

How it all got started: In order to understand today’s Dominican Republic it is vital to be knowledgeable about the roots in which this beautiful country stems from. Here are five things I want you know about the settlement of the Dominican Republic.

1.Geography: The Dominican Republic is located on the island of Hispaniola. In addition to being the place Dominicans call home, Hispaniola also houses the country of Haiti. The Dominican Republic occupies the Eastern two-thirds of the island and Haiti occupies the Western third. This island is the second largest in the Caribbean, falling only behind Cuba. On the map you can find the Dominican and the island of Hispaniola sandwiched in between the countries Cuba and Puerto Rico.

Now that we’ve covered the basics, let’s get to the good stuff!

2.The first people to ever inhabit the Dominican Republic and the island of Hispaniola were the Taino population in approximately 600 AD. Taino is a branch of the Arawak migrants, the people who are thought to have been the first people in the Caribbean. Tainos in Hispaniola became very skilled agriculturally and grew the main portion of their diet. In addition to being farmers, Tainos are also thought to have fished and hunted for a portion of their food.

3. Christopher Columbus discovered the island of Hispaniola in 1942 on his first expedition funded by the Spanish crown. His goal for the expedition was to discover efficient trade routes for Spain. The Spanish hoped that Columbus’s discoveries would give them the trading advantage over their Portuguese competitors and bring enormous amounts of wealth to their country. On December 25, 1942 one of the three ships under Columbus’s command, the Santa Maria, hit a coral reef and sank off the coast of modern day Haiti. With help from the local population much of the destroyed ship was recovered and turned into a fort for the Europeans. This fort provided a home base for Columbus’s crew and was later named La Navidad (Christmas) due to the date of the shipwreck.

4. Initially, relations between Europeans and the local people of Hispaniola (Tainos) were pleasant and beneficial to all that were involved. Columbus left thirty-nine men of his crew with orders to trade for gold with the Taino Indians. Columbus then returned home to Spain with the two remaining ships and the news of his discoveries. Columbus called the people of Hispaniola Indians in letters to the Spanish royalty because he was under the impression he had landed on the country of India.

5. On Columbus’s second voyage he returned to the island of Hispaniola with his fleet of seventeen ships only to find La Navidad had been destroyed. It was thought to have been destroyed by the once peaceful Tainos because the European men were constantly demanding gold, food and women from them. These relations continued to worsen after the establishment of the new settlement Isabela when, under Columbus’s leadership, the Europeans started demanding a gold quota from the Tainos.

Wait till next weeks entry to find out what becomes of this Taino and European interaction!

Sources:

Ferguson, James. South America, Central America and the Caribbean 2002. 10thth ed. London: Europa Publications, 1985. Accessed September 2, 2011. Retrieved from http://books.google.com/books pages 335- 339

Symcox, Geoffrey, and Blair Sullivan. Christopher Columbus and the Enterprise of the Indies. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2005.

Taino people. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Sept. 2011. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ta%C3%ADno_people