Blog 10 - History and Politics

 History and Politics of The Dominican Republican

Early History

The Dominican Republic is one of the earliest European settlements in the Western Hemisphere. The country is located in the eastern half of the island Hispaniola. Originally the island was conquered by the Spanish which was led by Diego Columbus. This name may sound familiar since he was the elder son of Christopher Columbus. In 1664 the Spanish lost the western half of the island to the French. This became known as Haiti. Haitai was under the rule of Henri Christophe who later on died. Jean Pierre Boyer then took command after and invaded the eastern half of the island, Santo Domingo. Boyer is then overthrown in 1943 during a revolution that allows the eastern half of the island its independence, in 1884. The invasion under Boyer would cause many problems to this date for Haiti's and The Dominican Republics' relationship.

History after becoming Independent

    From the start, some people in the Dominican Republic maintain that independence is a foolhardy step, largely because they fear invasion by their larger neighbor, Haiti(History Of DR Par.5). The Dominican Republic struggled with maintaining its self that from1861 to 1865 they voluntarily sought Spanish help. The Dominican Republic continued to struggle as there was talk about them seeking annexation from the U.S(History Of DR Par.5). During the 20th century, they had a way to solve their political chaos by having a Dictatorship. They benefited by having great economic progress at the high cost of oppression, torture, and corruption. There were two rulers one being Ulises Heureaux and the second being Raphael Trujillo both of who were assassinated.

Democracy and Politics

    After both dictator periods were over the attempt for democracy resulted in coups, civil wars, and military intervention from the U.S due to the U.S fearing a communist takeover. It is harder for someone outside to understand their politics since it is more old fashioned and many things come into play in their political system. Bloodlines, whether one is rich or poor and other elements come into play. Their past affects their democracy to this date. An example of that would be their relationship with Haiti. The previous invasion of Haiti has caused much hate towards Haitian's and a lot of political conflicts. These political conflicts have led to violence, racism, and xenophobia in the Dominican Republic.

Cited Works

“HISTORY OF THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC .” HISTORY OF THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC, www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?historyid=ab43. 

“Politics.” Dominican Republic, www.dominicanrepublic.com/politics/. 

“Rafael Trujillo.” Biography.com, A&E Networks Television, 16 July 2020, www.biography.com/dictator/rafael-trujillo. 

“Ulises Heureaux.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 17 Oct. 2020, www.britannica.com/biography/Ulises-Heureaux.