The dominican state came to existance out of the ideology that they were not like haitians. Thus, celebrating the liberation of blacks, mulattos, and the indigenous people for dominicans is a big no no. Yes haiti accepted everyone that would to end colonisation.. Simon Bol?var is an example of that...
No Quisqueya, that is not why the Dominican state came into existence.
First, the Dominican state came in existence in 1821 out its own desire to be free from Spanish rule! We fought for our independence and we got our independence from Spain. What did we named our country?
Oh, I believe it was "Haiti Espa?ol"! Ha! Why would we use the name "Haiti" in our official name of our first republic if it was based on the notion of Dominicans not being like Haitians??? Hmm.
Not too long after that, the Haitian army helped itself in destroying the newly earned liberty of the eastern part of the island by invading and imposing it's rule for 22 years (roughly, one generation).
What happened next? A son of a Spaniard went to France to further his studies and knowledge of the world. Why did he went to France and not Spain? He went to France because that was
the most modern country at that time, casting a sphere of influence that pretty much engulfed the world. Only the British had greater global influence. Also, because this son, whose name was Juan Pablo Duarte, lived in an island that was completely controlled from Port-au-Prince at the time he lived.
When he returned from France, he was appalled at the level of backwardness Santo Domingo had compared to what he witnessed in France. His reasoning for why all this backwardness existed was on the Haitian government (similarly how modern people blame their governments for their country's ills). His solution to this problem was not to try to get change in Port-au-Prince. He was a white descendant of a Spaniard, he was Spanish speaking, he was from the eastern part of the island, all disqualification for he to even suggest anything to the authority figures anywhere on the island who were all Haitians.
He found similar ideas and desires in Mella and Sanchez and from that point forward the trinity of the republic (with help from the Catholic Church) the planning for creating a second Spanish speaking republic on Hispaniola began to take shape. They reached their goal on February 27th of the year 1844 when they declared Dominican independence and the Dominican flag waved in the wind for the first time in the history of the world!
Tell me, where is the "Dominicans are different from Haitians" mantra that you claim was the basis of Dominican independence?
Dominican independence is not about "Dominicans claiming to be different from Haitians", but rather Dominicans wanting a better future for themselves and self-goverment was a way they thought they could achieve such. Similar to the Haitians who rebelled against their French masters. They also believed in the notion of Self-government by Haitians for Haitians. It had nothing to do with Haitians claiming to be different from the French, but all to do with being free and self-determination as a people!
Heck, the Dominican flag is based on the Haitian flag, for goodness sakes! The modification was based on placing a white cross which split the Haitian flag into four quadrants, shift the blue and red squares on the right side, place the Dominican coat of arm in the center and voila, the Dominican flag was made.
Compare that to Haiti's flag which is based on the French flag. The Haitians simply eliminated the white center third in hatred of white people, expanded the blue and red third to occupy half the flag each and placed the Haitian coat of arms in the center. Voila, the Haitian flag was made!
Notice, both flags derive from the flag of the previous political power to govern such land. Why didn't Dominican invented a flag from scratch if we really wanted to gain our independence on the notion you claim Quisqueya?
-NALs