Dominican History with the Evidence

[NALs]

Charles Mackenzie?s Impressions of Spanish Santo Domingo (IV of VI)

Characteristics of the Residents of Santo Domingo

The population is very mixed, consisting of all the classes and castes that are to be seen in the other parts of the island. The number of foreigners is considerably smaller, however, than at Port-au-Prince, [Les] Cayes, or the Cape [Haitian]; while the proportion of native whites and colored people considerably exceeds that of the blacks.

Color/Race Relations in Santo Domingo and Another Look into Dominican/Haitian Relations

There did not appear to me to exist to the same extent as elsewhere, the prejudices which form so inveterate an obstacle to the consolidation of the Haitians as a nation having only one common feeling. I chiefly remarked that there was a considerable dislike between the resident priesthood and the soldiery from the west; the one party regarding the other as a band of men without religion or principle, while they were deemed a set of fanatic bigots.

The Peculiar Slavery that Existed in Spanish Santo Domingo Before the Revolution

Mackenzie explains the slavery system that existed prior to the revolution in order to explain why it made even more sense that during his time on the island, it was difficult for much material progress to take place on the Spanish side of the island due to scarcity of men willing to work.

Nor is it all surprising such should be the case under the new regime, since we find that, even so long ago as in the year 1785, with the slave system in full force, there was a deplorable deficiency of labor, so much so that the proprietors... were too poor to employ managers or overseers, but were obliged to superintend in person the operations of their laborers. Nor does there appear to have been any want of industry; but the lack of means of increasing labor kept hem in continued [economic] depression.

A class of small proprietors of farmers called “estancias,” with two or three negroes, appear to have flourished in San Domingo as well as in Cuba, where they form that very efficient body of men called “monteros.” They labor with their slaves, and fare nearly as they do.

Many Spanish Haitians still hold “estancias.”

 

[NALs]

Charles Mackenzie?s Impressions of Spanish Santo Domingo (V of VI)

The Life of Dominican Cattle Ranchers

The grazing establishment is called “hato,” on which the arrangements (which were very extensive) were made with great precision. The animals were classed according to their habits. The father of the family generally directed the whole, while his sons undertook the executive part of the duty. Their life was one of continued hardship and exposure; yet I question whether there is one who would willingly exchange it for any other.

San Carlos de Tenerife (modern San Carlos neighborhood in Santo Domingo)

San Carlos was founded by a colony from the Canary Islands, commonly called “Canarios,” or Isle?os. It is said to have been formerly handsome; but Dessalines, when he besieged the city, destroyed all but the church, which still remains, and is a handsome stone edifice.

The Eastern Part Reminded Mackenzie of Spain.

The evening being fine, I strolled out, and was strongly reminded of the [Iberian] peninsula by the tinkling of guitars, and the monotonous chant so familiar to all who have visited Spain.

Of their modes of general intercourse with each other... is much the same as in the mother country [Spain], the habits of which seem to have invariably rooted themselves wherever the Spaniards have had ascendancy.

The tinkling of the guitar in the streets in the evening is associated with so many pleasing recollections to most [Iberian] peninsular travelers, that even in hands not molded to elicit eloquent music, it excites sensations nearly allied to those of the highlander at the animating sound of the pibroch. All is, I apprehend, dependent on associations with either some pleasing fantasy, that has influenced the feelings “in earlier days and happier hours.” Nearly every evening these sounds continued until the usual hour of repose, ten o’clock; and I confess they were agreeable with me.

 

[NALs]

Charles Mackenzie?s Impressions of Spanish Santo Domingo (VI of VI)

Description of San Juan de la Maguana

San Juan in days of yore had been a place of note, and contained, as I was told, some convents; but they were all destroyed during the civil contests, though the final blow was given by Dessalines. At present, even the traces of the church are scarcely to be made out; and the town itself reminds one of the accounts given by travelers in India, of the villages ruined by the Pindarrie incursion.

How the Spanish Part Returns to Spanish Rule

It is well known that, by the ninth article of the treaty of Basle concluded the 22nd of July, 1795, between France and Spain, the eastern part of St. Domingo was added to the former power, in consideration of giving up all her conquests in the Pyrenees. There appears to have been some subsequent understanding between the parent states, for no orders appear to have been ever given to the republicans chiefs in the island to occupy it; indeed, positive instructions not to do so are said by Lacroix to have been sent to Toussaint L’Overture, who, suspecting their import, pressed on in advance of the officer conveying the despatches, and had taken military possession of the city itself before they reached him. He thus attained his object without appearing to do so, in opposition to higher powers.

After Leclerc arrived, the city, in common with the whole island, fell into his hands, and remained so until 1801*, when the small French force then occupying it capitulated to the late General Carmichael, who, I presume, from directions from home, delivered possession to the Spanish authorities, at the head of whom was Don Juan S?nchez; thus the cession made in 1795 was actually voided by conquest; and to confirm the right of possession, it was stipulated by the eighth article of the treaty of Paris, concluded 30th of May, 1814, that “His most Christian Majesty restores in full right and sovereignty to His Catholic Majesty, the portion of St. Domingo ceded to France by the treaty of Basle.” Thus from that period the point of lawful possession was fixed and acted upon by the contracting parties.

*He meant to say 1808/09.


Royal French ordinance in recognition of Haitian Independence in 1825

The following is a copy of the royal French ordinance that the French king gave in order to recognize Haiti’s independence in 1825. Keep in mind that the Haitian Domination of the Spanish part started in 1822 and ended in 1844, but neither France nor Spain recognized Haiti as an independent nation. As far as these two nations were concerned, the island was still divided between the rebellious French colony and the Spanish province.

Another detail that is often ignored is that Spain never recognized the first Dominican independence of 1821, so when the Haitians invaded in 1822 and initiated the Haitian Domination, they effectively entered Spanish territory. This is the reason why the Spanish monarchy contacted Boyer on several occasions demanding him to return to Spain what was rightfully hers.

All of this is important to have in mind because the agreement in which the French monarchy agrees to recognize Haiti’s independence, in article 2 it clearly states that the obligation to pay for the debt falls on the inhabitants of the French part of the island (in French: Les habitants actuels de la partie Francoise de St. Domingue.) All other requirements in this also pertained to the French part of the island and the inhabitants of the French part.

This is the reason Dominicans refused to pay the taxes that Jean Pierre Boyer pretended to levy on the Spanish side in order to pay the debt to France. This was also another sour point in Dominican-Haitian relations.

 

[NALs]

Real Audiencia de Santo Domingo (1511-1800, 1812-1821, 1861-1865)

In Kate Santon and Liz McKay?s 2012 Atlas of World History is this map that shows the extent of the Real Audiencia de Santo Domingo?s (Royal Court of Santo Domingo) jurisdiction. This was the first royal court in America, created in 1511 by the Spanish monarchy.

The Audiencia de Santo Domingo was based in the Palacio de las Casas Reales, on calle Las Damas, in Santo Domingo from its inception until 1800 when it was moved to Camag?ey, Cuba and renamed Real Audiencia de Puerto Pr?ncipe (Camag?ey is the indigenous name of the area where the city is located, but at the time the royal court was transferred the city was named Puerto Pr?ncipe). Originally the jurisdiction encompassed the entire Antilles archipelago and the Caribbean coasts of South America and Central America plus Florida. Its jurisdiction was later modified, as can be seen in the map below which represents the political situation after 1550.

In 1812 Spain reestablished the Real Audiencia de Santo Domingo with jurisdiction limited to the island of Santo Domingo and lasted until 1821 when D. Jos? N??ez de C?ceres declares the separation of the Spanish part of the island of Santo Domingo from the Kingdom of Spain.

In 1861, as the DR became a province of Spain for a third time, SD?s royal court was reestablished and it was abolished in 1865 as the War of Restoration ends with the reestablishment of the Dominican Republic as an independent country.

 

[NALs]

Changes to the Dominican-Haitian Border (I of IV)

The original border was agreed upon and fixed between Spain and France in the Treaty of Aranjuez of 1777. This border was in effect during the following intervals:

1777-1801: From the year the Treaty of Aranjuez went into effect until the first Haitian invasion of 1801 lead by Haitian leader Toussaint L’Overture. His justification for invading the Spanish territory, which was still governed by Spanish Governor D. Joaqu?n Garc?a y Moreno, was to put into effect the Treaty of Basel signed between Spain and France in 1795. Due to the illegal nature of Toussaint’s invasion, which he did without previous approval from Paris, Napoleon Bonaparte sent his military troops to the island led by French General Leclerc (General Ferrand takes over once Leclerc dies from yellow fever), with orders to capture Toussaint, send him as a prisoner to France for committing the illegal act, and ensure that the island is in legitimate French leadership. In 1802 Paul L’Overture, Toussaint’s brother who since 1801 was in charge of Santo Domingo and the Ozama district (modern southern and eastern regions of the DR plus the Guava Valley which is now much of the Centre department of Haiti), capitulated to the troops of French General Leclerc and handed over the district. The Cibao department (modern northern region of the DR) was quickly taken over by the French too. Then the French began to focus on taking over the French cities in the western part of the island which were ruled by their former slaves, but Jean Jacques Dessalines fell into a fury once he heard that Toussaint had been imprisoned and sent to France, effectively initiating the Haitian Revolution. The very first victims of the Haitian Revolution was a group of Dominican prisoners in Port-au-Prince who were all bludgeon to death as an act of revenge.

1804-1822: In 1804 Jean Jacques Dessalines declares the independence of Haiti, but the Haitians had full control of the former French cities in the western part of the island while the Spanish cities in the central and eastern parts of the island remained under French rule and the French didn't recognized Haiti's independence until almost a quarter of a century later. In this year the original border between Saint-Domingue and Santo Domingo is re-instituted, but this time it was between Haiti (former Saint-Domingue) and “French” Santo Domingo (comprised the totality of the Spanish territory; I also put French in quotes because there was only around 2,000 French in the Spanish territory attempting to rule a population of more than 100,000 Spanish).

In 1805 Jean Jacques Dessalines and Henry Christophe attempt to take control of the Spanish territory ruled by the French by invading with a formidable military and subjugating Santo Domingo to a month long siege. In the end Dessalines fails in his attempt and on his way back to Haiti, with one part of the troops returning through the southern part and another through the Cibao, took his revenge on the towns and rural settlements found along the way by laying to waste everything that was in his path. This included murdering most of the people he found, taking as prisoners hundreds of others to Cap Haitien where they were later bludgeoned to death, burning every town; destroyed all records, and even destroyed the plots of the farmers and chopped the trees in the rural areas along the path back to Haiti. The survivors were the people that successfully fled the towns and rural areas and hid in the forests and mountains before the Haitian troops arrived, albeit everyone suffered material losses.

From 1805 to 1808 the Spanish territory continued to be ruled by the French and the former French territory was the Republic of Haiti, but in 1808 the Dominicans finally revolted against French rule due to the mistreatment the French had subjected the population to and because the French invaded Spain and put a French monarch in Madrid. The War of Reconquest of 1808-1809 on the island of Santo Domingo was an extension of the war of Spanish reconquest on the Iberian Peninsula against French rule. The difference is that the Dominican reconquest lasted a few months while the Iberian reconquest didn't end until a few years later. In 1809 the Spanish part of Santo Domingo that was under French rule returns to Spanish sovereignty, an act that the French formally recognized five years later in the Treaty of Paris of 1814. The reconquest of Spanish Santo Domingo in 1809 informally annuls the Treaty of Basel of 1795 and the Treaty of Paris of 1814 formalizes the annulment and, by consequence, renders illegitimate any claims on the Spanish part of the island that uses the Treaty of Basel as its basis.

In 1821 D. Jos? N??ez de C?ceres declares the Spanish part of the island free from Spanish rule, even though Spain never recognizes this independence, with the new state inheriting the Spanish territory with the border established in 1777. Two months later, in 1822, Haitian despot Jean Pierre Boyer invades the Spanish territory alleging it was not an invasion, yet he felt the need to subjugate roughly 60,000 people in the Spanish part with an invading force that amounted to the equivalent of 17% to 33% of the population.

 

[NALs]

Changes to the Dominican-Haitian Border (II of IV)

1844-1929: On the 27th of February of 1844, after several failed attempts at liberating from the oppressive Haitian rule (the first attempt of revolt by the Dominican population started just two years after the invasion of 1822, but was successfully put down by the Haitians by capturing the leaders and shooting them to death), Dominicans finally manage to peacefully shake off the Haitian yoke. On this day Dominicans take control of the former Spanish part of the island and the very Constitution state that the territorial limits of the Dominican Republic was the totality of the former Spanish part of the island of Santo Domingo as stipulated in the Treaty of Aranjuez in 1777.

The Dominican government attempted to reach an agreement with the Haitian authorities by sending various letters to Port-au-Prince asking for a treaty of peace and trade between the two countries, not to mention a formal recognition of Dominican independence by the Haitian government. These letters were never responded to by the Haitian authorities, an act that Dominicans interpreted as hostile, and in March Haitian troops begin the first of five military invasion attempts in which the Haitian troops not only violated Dominican sovereignty of the Dominican people and territory, but also harassed the Dominican civilian population they found along the way. For this reason, in April (roughly two months after the declaration of independence) the Dominican government officially wages war against Haiti ?by land and by sea? alleging the abuses perpetrated by the Haitians in their penetration of Dominican territory, and declares that any Dominican that helps the Haitians in any way will be treated as if they were Haitians too.

In the declaration of war it also states that the Dominican government laments the barbaric way in which the Haitian troops were mistreating the Dominican civilian population it found along the way when the Dominicans, from the very beginning of the independence movement, had treated the Haitian military and government officials in the Spanish territory with the most integrity to their safety and that of their families. This war lasted 12 years (1844-1856) and the only reason new military invasion attempts were not continued by the Haitians after 1856 was because Haitian military generals were tired of constantly losing to Dominicans in the various invasions attempts and revolted against Haitian Emperor Faustin I (Faustin Solouque), who is credited to have said prior to invasion attempt of 1856 that if his invasion was successful that not even the chickens were going to be left alive in the Dominican Republic, presumably alluding to a plan of widespread massacre of the Dominican population.

The Haitians did maintained a border dispute even after 1856 which was the cause of various Dominican-Haitian fighting along the border and kept both governments in a constant belligerent state, even during the times of official peace. Haiti coveted the Guava Valley where Dominican towns such as San Rafael de la Angostura, San Miguel de la Atalaya, Lares de Guava or Hincha and other towns are located. Dominicans refused to acknowledge Haitian claims on that territory because the Dominican Republic inherited the entire Spanish territory of the island and the border, as established in the Treaty of Aranjuez of 1777, clearly conferred those territories to the Dominicans. However, due to American pressure to settle the border dispute between the two countries, the Dominican government under the leadership of Horacio V?squez reaches a border agreement with the ?Haitian? government (Haitian is in quotes because at that time it was under American military intervention) in 1929 effectively handing over the Guava Valley to Haiti and modifying the border. In 1936 the Trujillo regime went back to the negotiation table with the Haitian government (this time Haiti was under Haitian rule) in which the eastern half of the Azuey Lake (Etang Saumatre) was transferred to Haiti (the eastern shore of the lake is the demarcation between the border of the two countries), with Haiti agreeing to let the Dominican population continue to benefit from the fishing in the lake as they had done for generations, as well as transferring to Haiti the Miel Valley (where towns such as Las Cahobas are located) and Haiti promised to keep its population from trespassing into Dominican territory and to desist from its policy of encouraging Haitian citizens to settle on Dominican territory with the hopes of in the future laying claim on legitimate Dominican land. With the agreement of 1936 the border between the two countries is the one that exist until today.

 

[NALs]

Changes to the Dominican-Haitian Border (III of IV)

Island of Santo Domingo
76,192 km2

Modifications of the Border from 1777 to Today

Dominican Territory
1777-1801, 1804-1822 and 1844-1929 = 54,642 km2 (72% of the island)

1929-1936 = 50,070 km2 (66% of the island)

1936-today = 48,442 km2 (64% of the island)

Haitian Territory
1777-1801 and 1804-1929 = 21,550 km2 (28% of the island)

1929-1936 = 26,122 km2 (34% of the island)

1936-today = 27,750 km2 (36% of the island)


Border Treaty of 1929 = 4,572 km2 were ceded to Haiti.

Decree of 1936 = an additional 1,628 km2 were ceded to Haiti.

 

[NALs]

Changes to the Dominican-Haitian Border (IV of IV)

Times when the Island at least Politically was United

1492-1697 = Entire island was under Spanish rule for 205 years. In 1697 the Spanish government recognizes the French presence on the western end of the island, but an official border was not officially defined until the Treaty of Aranjuez of 1777.

1801-1802 = Entire island was under Haitian rule lead by Toussaint L?Overture for less than one year.

1822-1844 = Entire island was under Haitian rule lead by Jean Pierre Boyer for 22 years.

1916-1924 = During these 8 years the island continued to be officially split between Haiti and the Dominican Republic, but Haiti had been militarily intervened by the US Marines in 1915 until 1934 while the Dominican Republic was militarily intervened by the US Marines in 1916 until 1924. While the two countries each had a separate US military general ruling them, at the end of the day the entire island was under the direct rule from Washington DC.


Conclusion

If we accept that the Spanish era corresponds to the Dominican Republic and the French era to Haiti, then the following conclusions come into play:

Full island wide rule by Spaniards/Dominicans: 205 years (1492-1697)

Full island wide rule by French/Haitians: 23 years

Spanish/Dominican presence on the island: 522 years (1492-2014)

Recognized French/Haitian presence on the island: 317 years (for those that accept that most Haitians don?t have French blood then it could be divided in 107 years recognized presence by the French 1697-1804 and 210 years recognized presence by the Haitians 1804-2014)

Map of the island in the 1860s by the American Joseph Fabens. Notice the border.​

 

[NALs]

The Suppose Haitian Origin of Various Dominican Surnames (I of II)

During 2013 several articles were published in various Dominican newspapers alleging French/Haitian origins to many Dominican last names. While some of the names included in those lists did originate in, or arrived in the Dominican Republic via, Haiti; a large number of the last names presented are not of French/Haitian origin, but rather legitimate Spanish last names.

Another aspect that is clearly evident in the manipulation those lists and articles have been subjected to, is that many of the Spanish last names that they are trying to present as French/Haitian, they also claim these last names arrived in the Dominican Republic during the Jean Pierre Boyer led Haitian Invasion of 1822 that lasted until the country's independence in 1844.

In the following two sections I will show not only how can people verify the Spanish origin of various last names, but also by checking legitimate Dominican historical documents, in this case baptism and death records from the early 19th Century, to confirm the presence on Dominican soil of many last names well before the Haitian invasion of 1822 and also, in some cases, before the Haitian invasion of 1805.


I. In the Instituto Nacional de Estad?stica de Espa?a website you can verify what last names are of Spanish origin and where they are most prominent/originated in Spain itself.

Once in the website, in the upper right corner you will see two links like this: ES EN. Click on EN to convert the page to English. To search for a last name you must first go to Place of Birth box and click on a blue box under the number 54, this will highlight all Spanish provinces. Then, go to the Surname box and type a last name and then click submit to get the results.

For example, if we use one of the French last names included in one of the lists (CHEVALIER), this is the result:

(Remember to right click and then click on “open image in new tab” to see the full image)

Given that CHEVALIER is not of Spanish origin, it should be of no surprise that it hardly exists in Spain. The Spanish province with the most number of people that carry the last name CHEVALIER is Almer?a with a grand total of 5 people.

Look what happens when the search is DELGADO. This last name was among the included in one of the lists presented Dominican newspapers as of French/Haitian origin.

DELGADO has a much greater coverage, because it is of Spanish origin. The Spanish province with the highest concentration of last name is Santa Cruz de Tenerife in the Canary Islands, with over 9,000 people.

This coincides with a wedded couple that in 1684 migrated from the Canary Islands to the Spanish part of the island of Santo Domingo (aka modern Dominican Republic), as can be seen here:

People need to be very careful with many of the pro-Haitian articles that have been published in many Dominican newspapers, especially when it comes to aspects of the past. There is a tendency to manipulate the past in ways that are easily identifiable, but are betting that most Dominicans will not be doing any research on their own to confirm that, in effect, they are being told many lies.

 

[NALs]

The Suppose Haitian Origin of Various Dominican Surnames (II of II)

II. This is probably the easiest way of noticing the lies that are being said. The following evidence is of a handful of last names that are unquestionably of Spanish origin that have been presented as French/Haitian in the Dominican newspapers. They also claim that the last names arrived in the Dominican Republic during the Haitian invasion of 1822-1844.

DEATH RECORDS OF MOCA IN 1801

It's very hard to accept that these last names arrived during the Haitian Invasion of 1822-1844, when they appear in Moca 21 years before the invasion.

CARABALLO

LIZARDO

MOREL

POLONIA

ROSARIO

BAPTISM RECORDS OF LA VEGA FROM 1805 TO 1812

MONEGRO

PAULINO

HOLGUIN

ABREU

BORGES

DURAN

This is only a glimpse of many last names that not only are of Spanish origin, but have been in the Dominican Republic well before the Haitian Invasion of 1822-1844, and in many cases predating the arrival of the French to the island of Tortuga, from which the French colony of Saint-Domingue got its start.

Personally, this attempt in confusing Dominicans through lies in the Dominican newspapers, in this case by claiming French/Haitian origins to family names that are legitimately Spanish/Dominican, is a continuation on the incessant attacks that Dominican identity, Dominican society, and the Dominican state has been subjected to for the past few decades.

It appears that some groups are trying very hard to fracture Dominican society, perhaps with the hopes that with the passage of time it will create the conditions for the destruction of the Dominican Republic in its political and cultural aspects. They are unabashedly lying about the past in order to accommodate Dominican society to what they perceive should be a Haitianized future.

This is completely unacceptable!

 

[NALs]

Dominican Migration History via Genetic Testing

The open-access, peer-reviewed weekly journal, PLOS Genetics, on November 14, 2013 published an interesting genetic study that was done on various Latin American populations, Dominicans included. The purpose of this genetic study is to reconstruct the migration history of the Caribbean by using genetic markers present in each population. It?s quite interesting how the migration history of entire populations can be estimated with a low margin of error using the information encoded in the DNA. The following is a concise review of the information in a set of graphs and at the end is included the link to the study which has other type of information and other sets of graphs too.


The following sets of graphs is perhaps the most complete regarding the visualization of the findings. In the case of the Dominican population, the migration timeline goes back to the early days of the colonial era and continues until today. As it?s clearly visible, based on the genetic material captured in the samples of the Dominican population, there were four relatively major influxes of foreigners.

The first influx was mostly European, essentially Spanish. In the pie its clear that an Indigenous influx was also present which could had confused some people, but through my previous reading of various historical documents, books, and unpublished manuscripts from the colonial era of the Dominican Republic, I know that a small number of Indigenous people were imported to the island from the Bahamas (the Lucayan who were essentially a Taino people) and also from Mexico (Mayan).

The second influx included the arrival of mostly more Spanish people with a smaller input of Indigenous compared to the first influx, and for the first time the African element appears, signaling the beginning of the slave trade.

The third influx was considerably smaller than the first two, but this time almost completely of African origin. The influx of Spanish and Indigenous was negligible. The lack of the first ones can be explained through the much greater interest the Spanish had of the South American mainland and of Mexico, while the lack of Indigenous was mostly due to the annihilation via the spread of diseases of the pure Indigenous stock in the surrounding islands and the influx of African slaves eliminated the need to introduce more Indigenous people from the continent. As is clearly visible in the time line, whatever Indigenous genes that were contributed to the Dominican population stock was present but mixed with the European and African components.

The fourth influx was considerably smaller than the first two but slightly larger than the third influx. It also took place centuries later, but it was mostly of African origin.

The fifth and last great influx was so insignificant that the circle is hardly visible and its contribution to the genes present in the Dominican population was negligible enough that overall nothing changed.

The end result is that within the Dominican population there is an average of slightly more than half of all genes have European origins (essentially Spanish), slightly less than half of all genes having African origins, and a small percentage composed of American or Amerindian origins.

This actually coincides with much of the genetic results in various third parties DNA studies of the Dominican population and also my own experience after having witnessed literally hundreds of Dominican genetic results on 23andme.

Other confirmed genetic tendencies are also apparent in the findings of this study. For example, of the three Spanish Caribbean countries it?s the Puerto Rican population that has the most Amerindian genes and Cubans the least. Of the four Antilles populations studied, the Amerindian contribution in Haitians are diminutive.

The African input is greatest among Haitians, then it reduces significantly among Dominicans and then it reduces again with Cubans and slightly less in Puerto Ricans.

The European-Spanish component is greatest among Cubans and slightly less but very similar levels among Puerto Ricans. Dominicans on average have less European component than Cubans or Puerto Ricans, but it?s significantly more than the European component among Haitians and slightly less among Colombians and similar among Hondurans.

PLOS Genetics: Reconstructing the Population Genetic History of the Caribbean

PS. Remember to right click and then click on 'open image in new tab' to see the full image with the graphs.

 

[NALs]

The Reasons Haitian Emperor Faustin I Invaded the Dominican Republic in the 1850's

On February 22, 1859 an article was published in The New York Times describing the effects that the overthrow of Haitian Emperor Faustin I (Faustin Soulouque) would have in Haiti and in the Dominican Republic. Faustin was a member of Dessaline’s army during the invasion of 1805 and unquestionably this then teenager took part in the pillaging, massacres, and destruction of the Dominican countryside and towns along their way back to Haiti.

As soon as Faustin rose to power in Haiti, he put his attention at invading and conquering the Dominican Republic. His first invasion attempt in the early 1850s thankfully failed. In 1855/56 he attempted to invade and conquer the Dominican Republic a second time, and this time he said his infamous quote “not even the chickens will be left alive in Santo Domingo”, hinting at his plan to commit a widespread massacre of the Dominican population. He had experience in massacres doing his part in the various white and mulatto cleansings that took place in Haiti and the horrors committed against the Dominicans in the invasion of 1805, so if someone had what it takes to wipe out the Dominicans it would had been him.

In the article it clearly states the basis of his contempt towards the Dominicans. Contrary to what some historians have claimed, Faustin was not simply motivated by wanting to subject the entire island to Haitian rule, he also had a cultural and racial hatred towards the Dominican population.

Its a good thing his invasions attempts failed, otherwise most modern Dominicans would had never been born and any foreigner that has had any kids with any Dominicans would had never had them either. In some cases it would had been our great-grandparents while in others the great-great-grandparents who would had suffered the ravages of Faustin, effectively eliminating all of their lineages of descent that today exist.

It also appears that he simply hated mixed and white people in general. In 1848 he committed a bloody massacre of Haitian mulattoes in Aux Cayes too.

It shouldn't be a surprise that after it was known that in 1859 the Haitians were planning a 9th military invasion of the Dominican Republic, that two years later the Dominican Republic became once more a province of Spain.

 

[NALs]

New Study Shows How Traumatic Historic Events Genetically Affects The Descendants

A recent Scientific discovery could very well be relevant for understanding Dominicans, especially members of old Dominican families that lived through the 8 traumatic and bloody Haitian invasions.

'Memories' pass between generations

Behaviour can be affected by events in previous generations which have been passed on through a form of genetic memory, animal studies suggest. Experiments showed that a traumatic event could affect the DNA in sperm and alter the brains and behaviour of subsequent generations.
...
"The experiences of a parent, even before conceiving, markedly influence both structure and function in the nervous system of subsequent generations," the report concluded.
...

The findings provide evidence of "transgenerational epigenetic inheritance" - that the environment can affect an individual's genetics, which can in turn be passed on.

One of the researchers Dr Brian Dias told the BBC: "This might be one mechanism that descendants show imprints of their ancestor."

"There is absolutely no doubt that what happens to the sperm and egg will affect subsequent generations."

Prof Marcus Pembrey, from University College London, said the findings were "highly relevant to phobias, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorders" and provided "compelling evidence" that a form of memory could be passed between generations.

’Memories’ pass between generations

Fearful ‘Memories’ Passed Between Generations Through Genetic Code

Phobias may be memories passed down in genes from ancestors

 

[NALs]

The Names of the Dajab?n River and the Following of the Virgen de la Altagracia

Here is the official map of the border between Spain and France on the Island of Santo Domingo. This map is based on the Treaty of Atalaya of February 29, 1776. The treaty was signed by the Spanish and French officials in the Spanish/Dominican border town of San Miguel de la Atalaya. After the changes that were made to the Dominican-Haitian border in 1929 and in 1936, the Dominican town of San Miguel de la Atalaya became Haitian along with many other towns such as San Rafael de la Angostura, La Concepci?n de Hincha, Las Cahobas and many others. The border agreed between Spain and France in the Treaty of Atalaya received the final touches in 1777 with a new signature between the two nations, but this time in the Spanish town of Aranjuez.

The original name of the river is Dajab?n, probably of Ta?no origin. The Spanish maintained its original name during the +/- 200 years of island wide Spanish rule, and then with the arrival of the French, they too referred to the river by its original name. However, this changed for the French in 1690. As a consequence of an armed and violent French invasion of the northern part of the Spanish part of the island, an invasion that went as far inland as Santiago and La Vega with the these towns pillaged and burned; in 1690 the Spanish counterattacked by invading the northern part of the French side of the island. The Spanish went as far into French territory as Cap Francais (modern Cap Haitien) massacring all the French that were found along the way, including French Governor Cussy, who himself had lead the initial invasion against the Spanish. In memory of the French that were massacred near the Dajab?n River, in what today is Juana M?ndez (Ounaminthe) in Haiti, the French renamed the river the Massacre. If you will notice at maps from colonial times, if the map is in Spanish it almost always labels the river as Dajab?n, but if the map is in French it would be labeled Massacre, and map in other languages usually labeled the river as “Dajab?n or Massacre” as way of not taking sides and risk offending one of the two peoples.

La Virgen de la Altagracia, protectora de los domincanos

Basilica de Nuestra Se?ora de la Altagracia (Hig?ey)​

Before the invasion of the French part began, the Spanish troops which consisted of men from the eastern and northern part of the modern Dominican Republic, among the men were a group from Hig?ey. They originally asked to pray to the Virgin of the Highest Grace (Virgen de la Altagracia) for her blessings during this endeavor, because the French outnumbered the Spanish troops. Despite the disadvantage in numbers, the Spanish incursion into the French territory was successful and the French were almost wiped out. This unlikely success was attributed to the intervention of the Virgin of the Highest Grace, starting the nationwide following that exist to this very day of the Protector of the Dominican people. During the battles against the French in 1808/1809, and later the various battles that took place during Haitian military invasions; the mothers, wives, and sisters of the men and teenagers that were dragged into the fighting always prayed to the Virgin of the Highest Grace. That the Dominicans tended to win most of the battles despite being grossly disadvantaged in numbers and in the quality of the arms was simply accepted as the divine intervention of the Protector of the Dominican people.

The Maps

The maps are horizontally placed, meaning that to the left is the north and to the right is the south. The first map, parts of which I show below, starts at the northern extreme of the border where the Dajab?n River meets the Atlantic Ocean, next to what today is the Dominican town of Pepillo Salcedo (didn’t exist in 1776 and is not shown on the map.) The second image is a close up of the French map (even though the heading is in Spanish) and I highlighted the name the French gave the river in the late 1600’s with the red box.

Click here to see the maps in detail and/or to download them. The maps will be listed on the left panel of the window. You can zoom in by moving the curser to the lower right corner of the map window, this will enable a menu to appear. Click on the magnifying glass with the + sign to zoom in and/or on the floppy disk to download the maps.

Any myth of the name ‘Massacre’ for this river is fully debunked, because its not an invention of the 20th century but rather by the French in the 17th century.

 

[NALs]

Juan Ponce de Leon?s Coconut Legacy & A Modern Botanical Fraud

Coconuts in Santo Domingo

An almost forgotten fact is that Christopher Columbus, or any of the men that came with him in 1492 and subsequent years, never mentions the presence of coconut trees on the island of Santo Domingo. The reason for this omission is very simple, there were none.

In Luis Jos? Peguero?s 1762 manuscript Historia de la conquista de la isla espa?ola de Santo Domingo (The History of the Conquest of the Spanish Island of Santo Domingo) is the most detailed description of how this palm spread to the island.

At a later time [non-native] palms were introduced such as the coconut palm that the Spaniards found among the Caribs of the island of Puerto Rico and the Captain Juan Ponce de Le?n brought a few to this island and planted them in his estate [in Hig?ey]. From these descend all the coconut palms that exist today on this island.

Discovery of a Possible Botanical Fraud

On the same page in Peguero?s unpublished 1762 manuscript he describes the Cacheo palm as a native to the island. This caught my attention and I started to search what this palm looks like and found this photo:

Apparently its native to the Bahoruco peninsula in the extreme southwestern part of the country and that?s the only place in the world that is its natural habitat. The scientific name of this palm is Pseudophoenix ekmanii. This is where I noticed something odd.

The ?discovery? of this palm is attributed to a Swedish botanist that wandered through the island in the 1920s and died in Santiago in 1931, Erik Leonard Ekman. It also appears that the scientific name of the palm is named after him (notice the similarity between ekmanii and Ekman.) There are streets in Santo Domingo and Santiago named after him.

This is definitely a fraud, albeit perhaps not an intentional one. Ekman can?t be considered the discoverer of the Cacheo palm when between 150 to 200 years before Ekman, Peguero described the same tree in his unpublished manuscript, and even says that the Ta?nos used the juice from the palm to make a honey-like substance to sweeten the cacao. Also, he said that it was eaten as the stalks of sugar cane are usually eaten. If it was known what the Ta?nos used the tree for, then this means that the early Spanish conquistadors knew about this.

I will keep my eyes open to see if I catch anything else in the old documents available from the various early Spaniards that settled on the island. While I can?t say who discovered the palm (or at the very least who was the first person to write about it, because Peguero had to get his information from an older source if he knew what the Ta?nos used the tree for), one thing is certain and that is that Ekman certainly did not!

 

[NALs]

Confirmation of the Massacre of Spanish/Dominican Soldiers by Toussaint Loverture

One of the events that I have been trying to corroborate with a second source is the killing of a group of Spanish soldiers that Toussaint Loverture forced to march with him after his 1801 invasion of Santo Domingo. I had only read about this incident in Spanish/Dominican writings of the time period and considered it odd that nothing of the sort appeared in the French or Haitian works, especially when the Spanish soldiers were butchered once they were on that side of the island. This took place as a consequence of Toussaint?s anger after being told that his brother Paul capitulate the city of Santo Domingo to French general Leclerc who had arrived on the island with the expedition sent by Napoleon Bonaparte with the intention of arresting Toussaint and taking hold of the island. Once this took place, all the Spanish/Dominican towns on the island were under direct French control and leadership while the former French towns were still under Haitian control.

The following is an excerpt from the translated to English Michel-Etienne Descourtilz published account of what took place in the western part of the island at the time the Leclerc?s expedition arrived on the island. His writing is an eyewitness account because his life was spared due to his condition as a medical doctor and was forced to attend the wounded soldiers of Toussaint and Dessalines. In the process he was taken all over the place in Haiti and witnessed many events.

I cite three sections of his work, the first one to confirm his profession, the second one to show some of the things he witnessed, and the third one is the description of what happened to the Spanish/Dominican soldiers, first non-Spanish/Dominican description of this event and the most detailed because he was there and saw it. In Spanish/Dominican descriptions its usually limited to something along the lines of ?Toussaint?s anger made him kill the Spanish soldiers he had at his disposal.?

Remember to right-click and click on ?open in new tab? in order to see the images in full.

 

[NALs]

Hints of the Migration History Based on the Y-Chromosome

In addition to the other DNA study already cited, there is another genetic study that may also help in giving hints of the overall migration pattern of the last five centuries. In 2001, Alfredo Coppa (Italian) published in Annals of Human Genetics, No 65; and in the American Journal of Human Genetics, No 69; the results of a widespread and representative sample of the Dominican population of paternal and maternal lineages. This is by far the most extensive and complete genetic study done on the Dominican population.

The maternal lineages were identified via the Mitocondrial DNA and the results were as follows:

85% African
9.5% Native American
0.8 % European
4.8% Undetermined

In both the maternal and paternal lineages, no distinction is made between the North African and Sub-Saharan African lineages; and this slightly hampers the accuracy of determining overall migration origins. The reason for this is that a sizeable percentage, but always in the minority, of Spanish immigrants from Andalucia in particular as well as the Canary Islands have North African and Sub-Saharan African lineages. Also, its impossible, at least from the studies available right now, to determine the percentage of any lineage that arrived in the DR directly from its original source or via an indirect way, such as the migration from the British Caribbean to the DR in the late 19th century to work in the sugar plantations and later Haitian migration to also work in those plantations; or the 0uerto Rican migration during that same time period as well as the Cuban migration, and any other relatively important migration pattern the country has received. In other words, while ita likely that most lineages, especially paternal lineages, have been in Dominican territory since before 1821, which is the year the colonial period ends; its hard to say what percentage exactly of each lineages are of the original colonial stock and which percentage of lineages were added in subsequent migration flows from 1822 to today.

Despite all of this, there is a sexual pattern in basically all migrations that had the Dominican territory as its destination, regardless if it was in colonial times or later. Basically all migration flows were overwhelmingly dominated by men, and it doesn't matter if the migration was voluntary or forced, permanent or with the intention of being temporary. For this reason, paternal lineages take a much greater level of importance in deciphering migration flows, despite the limitations already expressed.

According to Alfredo Coppa's genetic study, Y-chromosomes in the Dominican population have the following origins:

58% European
36% African
1% Native American
5% Undetermined

To reiterate some of the short falls; even though there is no question that most of the European lineages are probably Spanish and thus Western European, the lack of dividing the Western European lineages from the other European lineages makes it hard to say what percentage exactly originates in Western Europe, and in the Iberian peninsula specifically, in addition to the impossibility of deciphering what percentage arrived in colonial times vs much more recent times, and what percentage arrived directly from Europe or via the Canary Islands, Puerto Rico or Cuba, or even from North America.

A similar situation arises with the African results. Not only is it hard to separate Sub-Saharan African lineages in this study from those of the Berbers/Moors/Arabs of North Africa, but its basically impossible to know the percentage that arrived directly from Africa as part of the limited slave trade that took place in Santo Domingo, which ones arrived via Spain/Canaries as free Spanish people, which ones arrived via Haiti or the rest of the Caribbean, considering that most Haitian and British Caribbean paternal lineages are of Sub-Saharan African origin.

Even the Native American component isn't as clear as it would initially seem, because even though almost all of it is either original of the island or arrived in the 16th century, its impossible to know from this study how many of these lineages are of Mayan origin. A little known fact is that for a short time in the 16th century Taino indians from the Bahamas and neighborin islands were also imported to counter the falling numbers of Hispaniola native Tainos that were dying from diseases. Also, some Native Americans from the Yucatan peninsula, aka Mayans, were introduced for a time as well. While there are no discernible differences in the Taino lineages from any of the islands (nor any differences between Taino and Carib lineages), there is a difference between Taino and Mayan lineages but these were not noted in this study.

Another possibility is that the undetermined percentage could be the Berber/Moor/North African lineages introduced by some of the Spaniards from mainland Spain as well as the Canaries, but this is speculation.

To conclude, this DNA study is indirectly hinting that changes in the appearance of the average Dominican might not had been solely impacted by post-colonial migration, especially Haitian and British Caribbean migration from late 19th century and much of the 20th centuries; but, simply different growth rates within the original Dominican population stock can well explain some of the changes as well. There are no records of how Trujillo's policy of encouraging Dominican couples to have large families was impacted from the different population segments, but it couldn't had been uniform.

 

[NALs]

The 1914 Mausoleum to Columbus Proposal

Here is an article that was published in The New York Times on July 5, 1914.

It pertains to the monument in honor of Christopher Columbus and that would house his remains. Eventually an international architectural competition took place in the late 1920's with the participation of renown architects, only to have the design of an obscure and young British architect win the competition. Even though the Trujillo regime seemed compromised on building the monument, it was not until the early 1990's in one of the governments of Joaquin Balaguer that the mausoleum to Christopher Columbus was finally built; effectively in time for the 500th anniversary of the discovery and evangelization of America.

If anything, this article probably marks the first serious proposal for the mausoleum to Columbus. In the XVII century the idea was entertained, especially after it was discovered that the Spanish authorities took the wrong remains (it was a Columbus, just not the most famous -and infamous- Columbus of all) to La Habana and later to Seville.

Splendid Memorial Tomb to Columbus is Proposed (click here to see the original article)​

 

[NALs]

The Sugar Industry in 1907

The following are the sugar estates that existed in 1907, as were identified by the Dominican government for the Jamestown Ter-Centennial Exposition.

Sugar Production & Exports
1903: 107,406,615 LB @ $1,503,972
1905: 105,972,400 LB @ $3,292,470
1906: 123,401,271 LB @ $2,392,406

Practically all of it was exported to the United States of America.

The South Porto Rico Company (American) had not initiated operations in La Romana until about ten years later.

In 1907 most of the manual labor force in the sugar estates was composed by Cocolos (men from the English Caribbean ?St Lucia, Barbados, Tortola, etc-) and Puerto Ricans; while the administrative positions in the sugar mills were held by Americans, Puerto Ricans, and Cubans. It was not until the Trujillo regime that administrative positions were given to Dominicans, but only in Trujillo-owned sugar estates, which eventually included all estates except some of Vicini and Central Romana.

Haitian workers substituted the Cocolos when the latter made a successful strike demanding better wages and working conditions. The U.S imposed military government that lasted from 1916 to 1924 eventually gave the green light to importing Haitian laborers for the first time in Dominican history. This policy was first suggested to the Military Governor Rear Admiral Harry Shepard Knapp, but he rejected it. Unfortunately, the second Military Governor appointed by the United States, Rear Admiral Thomas Snowden, had no sympathies for the Dominican people nor did he bother to understand the history of how the Dominican Republic came to be, unlike his predecessor. Thanks to him, Haitian laborers started to be used in the Dominican sugar industry, and became the predominant work force in the industry. Snowden was the Military Governor of the Dominican Republic from 1919 to 1921.

 

[NALs]

Invasions of Haitian Emperor Faustin I Chronicled in The New York Times

Several of the armed invasions by the order of Haitian Emperor Faustin I are actually recorded in a few news articles of The New York Times. Emperor Faustin I invaded the DR in the 1840's, but there are not news articles from that time because The New York Times was founded in 1851.

September 23, 1851: Later from Aux Cayes

October 30, 1851: Important from Hayti

July 1, 1852: From St. Domingo

December 14, 1852: Mission of R. M. Walsh to the Emperor Soulouque (very extensive and detailed article)

November 23, 1854: The Dominican Republic and Our Treaty (scroll down to see the beginning of the article)

January 23, 1856: Defeat and Flight of Soulouque

January 26, 1856: Fall of Faustin the First (again, scroll down to see the start of the article)

January 31, 1859: Dominican Republic - Alarm at the Movements of the Haytian Troops (this column has several articles, this one is the second one after scrolling down)

The final words in the article of December 14, 1852 are rather interesting because they apply today as much as they did 162 years ago!

“It was one with which they [the Dominicans] could not be well satisfied; for, though it relieved them for the time being, from apprehension of attack [from Haiti], it did not allow them to lay aside their arms and devote themselves to the pursuit of peace; and they expressed a strong hope that the three powers [USA, France, and Britain] would continue their friendly interposition until the independence of the [Dominican] Republic had been secured.

That result can only be accomplished by coercing the Haytien (sic) Government. All persuasion and argument are thrown away upon it, all sense of duty and justice and right is merged by... [Haiti’s] ...sanguinary ambition and ferocious vindictiveness. The Dominicans will listen to no terms which do not establish their national sovereignty, which they have so long and so successfully defended.

They [the Dominicans] would prefer total extermination, as they declare and as their conduct demonstrates, to falling again under the atrocious despotism which they have shaken off; and every consideration of interest, of justice, of humanity, demands that their independence should be placed on a secure and permanent basis.”

Also quite interesting is the following from the January 31, 1859 article, which was written by an American in Puerto Plata:

“I avail myself of the goleta which leaves a few hours hence for Turks Island to inform you of the anxiety, and even consternation, which fills all hearts here on account of the negroes.

The Haytiens (sic) are in arms on both the northern and southern coasts of this unhappy Island of Hayti (sic); and this time it is not only the whites, but all those who unite some education with a preponderance of white blood, whom the blacks are threatening with imppeasable (?) slaughter.”

“The Haytiens (sic) act as if they are in earnest, when they proclaim they are coming to put an end to the pride and the life of the white race in the Dominican Republic.”

Two years later the Dominican Republic became a province of Spain.