178 years of independence from Haiti.
In todays environment of politics let us just remember how fragile Independence, Peace, Freedom and Democracy really is.
Hispanola,
It was originally occupied by Tainos, an Arawakspeaking people. The Tainos welcomed Columbus in his first voyage in 1492, but subsequent colonizers were brutal, reducing the Tainos population from about 1 million to about 500 in 50 years. To ensure adequate labor for plantations, the Spanish brought African slaves to the island beginning in 1503.
In the next century, French settlers occupied the western end of the island, which Spain ceded to France in 1697, and which, in 1804, became the Republic of Haiti. The Haitians conquered the whole island in 1822 and held it until 1844, when forces led by Juan Pablo Duarte, the hero of Dominican independence, drove them out and established the Dominican Republic as an independent state. In 1861, the Dominicans voluntarily returned to the Spanish Empire; in 1865, independence was restored.
Political, Social, & Cultural Bases: Economic difficulties, the threat of European intervention, and ongoing internal disorders led to a U.S. occupation in 1916 and the establishment of a military government in the Dominican Republic. The occupation ended in 1924 with a democratically elected Dominican government.
In 1930, Rafael L. Trujillo, a prominent army commander, established absolute political control. Trujillo promoted economic development and severe repression of domestic human rights. Mismanagement and corruption resulted in major economic problems. In August 1960, the Organization of American States (OAS) imposed diplomatic sanctions against the Dominican Republic as a result of Trujillo's complicity in an attempt to assassinate President Romulo Betancourt of Venezuela. These sanctions remained in force after Trujillo's death by assassination in May 1961. In November 1961, the Trujillo family was forced into exile.
The Trujillo administration initiated a campaign to increase the literacy rate, which was no higher than 30 percent in the early 1950s.
Public investment in education has increased since the 1990s, but it is still very low in comparison with other Latin American countries.
new education laws to replace the obsolete legislation of 1951; new curricula developed for Basic Education; new textbooks published and distributed throughout rural and urban schools; and an increase in the amount of compulsory education to nine years of basic education, including a preschool year.
