Dominican Republic

The Dominican Republic like other great countries has had its share of struggles. It is a nation on the island of La Hispaniola located in the Caribbean region. Two thirds of the island of La Hispaniola belongs to the Dominican Republic and the other one third belongs to a country named Haiti. Hispaniola is only one of two islands that are occupied by two nations in the Caribbean and the Dominican Republic is currently the second largest country in the Caribbean, both by area and population.

Tainos had been in habitants of the Dominican Republic since the 7th century. It was not until Christopher Columbus came in 1492 that everything began to change. Dominican Republic was the site of the first European settlement in the Americas. Spain named the capital Santo Domingo and that became the capital of the Dominican Republic and it became Spain's first capital in the 'New Word'. When the Europeans initially came into the Island both the Tainos and Europeans were on friendly terms, but that is when all the bloodshed took place. It is said that the Tainos ranged from having three hundred thousand to two million people but as years passed that number greatly dropped to about 21,000. The reason for such the dramatic decrease in numbers was not just because of the fighting between the Tainos and Europeans; it was because of the fact that when the Europeans came they had brought diseases such as small pox, measles, and others. The decrease in numbers is what led to the Europeans conquering the Dominican Republic.

In the control of the Spaniards the country of the Dominican Republic greatly increased in Population. The country went from having 6000 people in 1737 to about 125,000 in the 1790's. Slaves were brought to the island and the island was now composed of white landowners, black freedmen and 60,000 slaves. The Spaniards continued conquering other countries and in doing so they had neglected the countries they had in the Caribbean's which led to the French coming in control of the entire island in 1795. After the French held control of the island for many years, the criollos of Santo Domingo along with the aid of Great Britain and Haiti returned Santo Domingo back to Spanish control in 1808. Just 14 years after the Spanish held control of Santo Domingo, Jean-Pierre Boyer invaded in 1922 and took over. At this moment the Haitians were now in chief of command. They abolished slavery and took control of most private property. The Dominicans greatly disliked him, the Haitian army was made up of mostly Dominicans and they were unpaid and forced to attack their fellow citizens.

It was not until White Dominicans and Haitians worked together with other Anti-Haitian movements that Boyer was finally overthrown in 1843. All while this was