Dominican History with the Evidence

[NALs]

The Dominican Republic in 1914

Social descriptions by Mr. Hyatt Verrill, an American that visited Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, and Haiti in 1914. He wrote about the three countries, but this is the social aspect he found in the Dominican Republic two years before the U.S. militarily invaded the country from 1916 to 1924.

Keep in mind that the plantations were overwhelmingly in the eastern part of the country (San Ppedro, La Romana, etc) and in some areas of the south (Barahona, etc), almost all owned by Americans who preferred men from the British Island because they worked for less and spoke English. The administrative positions in these plantation areas were also occupied by Americans, the only thing Dominican was the soil.

This was the Dominican Republic approximately 4 generations ago. For the record, the Dominican Republic didn't really began to economically surpass Haiti until the Trujillo dictatorship 1930-1961. Until then, Haiti was the richest of the two, yet marked differences were evident even before that time, as Hyatt Verrill clearly demonstrates. These differences can only be explained as cultural, because at that time Haiti was slightly ahead of the DR and Port-au-Prince was the most cosmopolitan city on the island.

Remember to right-click and then click on 'open image in new tab' to see the full images.

 

[NALs]

Spaniards in Dominican Republic in 1854

The Agencia Comercial de Espa?a en Rep?blica Dominicana (Commercial Agency of Spain in Dominican Republic) based in Santo Domingo opened a register to matriculate all the Spaniards that were living in the country at that time. This document was discovered in 2013 by the Spanish genealogist Fernando Revuelta C?raves at the Archivo General de la Administraci?n (General Archives of Administration) in Alcal? de Henares, Spain. A total of 51 individuals were registered by the 31st of December of 1855, the vast majority was from the Iberian Peninsula, Cuba, and Puerto Rico (the last two were still Spanish territory at that time, hence everyone living there, as long as they were free, were Spaniards.)

I’m only going to copy a few names here with some of their details; the full list is in the links at the end (in Spanish.) This has genealogical value for anyone that has any links to these people. Most of them probably left some offspring’s and today hundreds, in some cases thousands, of Dominicans owe their existence to the arrival of these people. This may be of help to some Dominicans or even to expats married to Dominicans, especially if they have kids. Never know if these are some of their ancestors.


AG?ERO, JOS? ANTONIO: Born in Guant?namo, Cuba. Tailor and single, lived in Santo Domingo city since June 1855. Was 39 years old and was registered with fellow Spanish compatriot Mijares in June 1855. He was a “moreno” (dark skin, could be a dark mulatto or a black Spaniard.)

PICHARDO Y CONTRERAS, SEBASTI?N: Native of Santiago de Cuba. Lived in Santiago de los Caballeros since July 1854. Registered in 1855 and was single. Appears as “amanuense” which probably means secretary. He was one of the signatories of act of independence of 1863 (end of Restoration War or Guerra de la Restauraci?n which ended the reannexation of the DR to Spain.)

GUTI?RREZ, ANTONIO: Native of Palmas, Canary Islands. Born 30 June 1807. Merchant. Widow, lived in Santo Domingo city since November 1842 (notice DR was under Haitian occupation at the time he moved to the city.) Had lived in Venezuela and had two daughters.

ABRIL, JUAN: Born 1 May 1812 in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Lived in Santo Domingo city since June 1844 (notice it was 4 months after the independence of the DR was proclaimed.) His daughter Rosa was born in Santo Domingo on 30 August 1852.

PADILLA, IGNACIO: Born in Tenerife, Canary Islands on 31 July 1815. Merchant, widow, and lived in Santo Domingo since August 1852. His son Manuel was born in Matanzas, Cuba in 1842.

MELLA, ASENCI?N: Native of Santo Domingo, born 17 May 1804 (notice one year before the invasion of Dessalines.) Widow of the First Sergeant of Provincial Militias of Havana (Cuba) Juan Jos? Benzo, native of C?diz (Spain), with whom she procreated Luisa (b. 1825 in Havana, Cuba) and was occupied in domestic chores; Juan (b. 8 May 1830 in Santo Domingo) was a businessman; Miguel (b. 7 October 1833 in Santo Domingo) was a priest; and Juan (b. 2 May 1836 in Santo Domingo) was a store clerk.

SAIZ, ENRIQUE: Born in Puerto Pr?ncipe (Camag?ey), Cuba on 25 January 1811. Lived in Puerto Plata since 1821 (notice this was the year of the first independence by N??ez de C?ceres, two months later Haitian dictator Jean Pierre Boyer invades the Spanish part) and was a merchant. His wife was Teresa Lantigua, born in Puerto Plata on 15 October 1821. Their offsprings were all born in Puerto Plata; Maria Vicenta (b. 27 June 1841), Juana Helena (b. 9 May 1843), Nicol?s (b. 6 June 1845); Mar?a (b. 17 November 1851), and Enrique (b. 2 March 1854.)

BETANCES, JOS?: Born in Mayag?ez, Puerto Rico. Was a merchant, married, and lived in Santo Domingo city since July 1854. Was 40 years old.

MONZ?N, GALO: Born in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Was 22 years old and single. Merchant, lived in Santo Domingo city since July 1854.

GUERRA Y CASTILLO, LUIS: Born in Puerto Pr?ncipe (modern Camag?ey), Cuba. Was 40 years old when registered in January 1855. Was married and a merchant.

VALENCIA, DIONISIO: Born in Novellana, Asturias, Spain. Before moving to Santiago de los Caballeros in September 1854 lived in Ponce, Puerto Rico. Was 38 years old, tobacco farmer, and single.


ESPA?OLES EN REP?BLICA DOMINICANA EN 1854 (1 de 5)

ESPA?OLES EN REP?BLICA DOMINICANA EN 1854 (2 de 5)

ESPA?OLES EN REP?BLICA DOMINICANA EN 1854 (3 of 5)

ESPA?OLES EN REP?BLICA DOMINICANA (4 de 5)

ESPA?OLES EN REP?BLICA DOMINICANA (5 of 5)

 

[NALs]

Frederick Douglass on the Dominican Republic in 1871

Frederick Douglass is one of the most celebrated African American. He accompanied the U.S. Commission for the Annextion of Santo Domingo (the DR) in 1871 by orders of then president Gen. Ulises S. Grant. Frederick Douglass visited both countries on the island along with the commission.

On the 30th of March, 1871 this excerpt regarding Douglass's eyewitness based perception of the two countries, as well as his opinion of Senator Charles Sumner (a man who in Santo Domingo has a street named after him, a very blasphemous thing considering he rejected annexation of the DR to the US because he wanted to put an end to Dominican independence in favor that the whole island should had been in Haitian control), was published in The New York Times.

Extra information on who was Frederick Douglass:

 

[NALs]

Dominican Republic in 1845 According to Francis Harrison

Here are a few excerpts of an interview that an official of the United States government did to Francis Harrison on June 26, 1845. This interview was part of an investigation the US government made of the condition of the one year old Dominican Republic prior to recognizing Dominican sovereignty.

If can't see images in their entirety, right-click and then click on 'open in new tab.'

Background Information on Mr Harrison

Characteristics of the Population

The Causes of the Dominican Independence

Public Education

Race Relations

Attitude Towards the USA

Viability of Dominican Independence

 

[NALs]

The Lie of the Dominican-Haitian Relations from 1860 to 1930

The proponents of an anti-Dominican agenda, especially among certain Dominican intellectuals, have the habit of omitting certain aspects of history and of making assumptions based on wishful thinking than on actual verifiable historical facts.

An example of this that can be so easily debunked is the notion that from 1860 to 1930 relations between the Dominican Republic and Haiti were amicable with no animosity what-so-ever. They even imply that at the social level, among the everyday people, there was no feelings of animosity between the two nations.

Personally, I think this lie was created in order to absolve the Haitians of their responsibility in the often rocky Dominican-Haitian relations while putting all the blame on Dominican shoulders. They also do this to put all the blame on Trujillo.

Here are some evidence of a handful out of many comments or events that took place between 1860 and 1930 that clearly show that the suppose 'Dominican-Haitian honeymoon' is a nonsense.

1871 Samuel Hazard, American, as he was sailing from Puerto Plata to Cap Haitian noticed this.

13 Jan 1889 The New York Times

4 Apr 1899 The New York Times

20 Jan 1911 The New York Times

10 Aug 1912 The New York Times

Dominican-Haitian relations from 1860 to 1930 were as they have been before 1860 and after 1930; in other words, with its ups and downs. At times peaceful and at others not so much. A 'honeymoon' it was not!

Most of the examples presented here have to do with Haitian usurpation of Dominican land (the current Haitian department of Centre and parts of Artibonite, Nord, and Nord-Est was officially Dominican territory), and it was not until the border treaty of 1929 and the amendment of 1936 that the DR officially ceded more than 5,000 KM2 to Haiti. Our neighbors gained that land because those valleys were settled by impoverished Haitian peasants and Haiti used the presence of those people to lay claim to land that was legitimately Spanish/Dominican.

 

[NALs]

Dominican Republic in 1845 According to Abner Burbank

Abner Burbank, a native of the US state of New Hampshire, was also consulted by the commissioners sent to investigate the DR in 1845, prior to recognizing the country's sovereignty. His interview took place on June 10, 1845; at that time he had been living in Santo Domingo as a merchant for eight years.

Here are a few of his responses that give an idea of what the DR was like one year after its independence.

In the population description, notice that he doesn't mentions Haitians as having a sizeable minority presence in the country, despite that Haitian Domination (1822-1844) had ended a year earlier. This is indicative of what has always been said, and some pro-Haitian Dominican intellectuals are attempting to deny, and that is that relatively few Haitians migrated to the eastern part of the island and the few that did were high ranking individuals and families from Port-au-Prince's mulatto elite and military generals and soldiers. The African Americans from several eastern US states that Jean Pierre Boyer settled in the DR during the Haitian Domination are mentioned due to being a sizeable minority. A similar situation is noticed in all descriptions of the Dominican population up to the 20th century, to the dismay of certain modern intellectuals that now want to push the lie of 'extensive interactions between Dominican and Haitian populations during the Haitian Domination.'

The worse part of that lie that some Dominican intellectuals have been promoting is that they consider anyone who challenges their claims using the historical evidences as 'racists' and 'promoters of hate towards Haitians' in addition to 'deniers.' It seems that they make use of the psychological trick of innoculating the audience as a way of making people listen to their false claims and ignore the claims of those that use the historical evidences. If you notice all population descriptions presented in this thread, the absence of any mention of Haitians as a sizeable minority is palpable.

If can't see completely, right-click in each image and then click on 'open in new tab.'

Characteristics of the Population

Reason for Cordial Race Relations

Financial Situation

Foreign Trade

The Military & Navy

 

[NALs]

The Real Myth of the Quisqueya Name

There is a hypothesis that has been entertained by some minds that the indigenous name Quisqueya was not a Taino name for the island, but rather an invention by Dominican intellectuals. According to the proponents of this hypothesis, Dominican intellectual purposely 'invented' the name in order to avoid calling the island Haiti, for obvious reasons.

The proponents of this myth perhaps could be considered anti-Dominicans due to the attempt at re-writing history, as is the tendency among those with pro-Haitian stance. However, they conveniently ignore many things, three of which are the following:

A. Given the size of the island and its diversity of the landscapes, the Taino had several names for different sections of the island. Haiti was one of them, later adopted by some intellectuals as if it was the name for the whole island, and another was Quisqueya among a handful of other names.

B. In Haiti itself there is (or perhaps was, depends if the earthquake wiped them out) a university called Kiskeya, which is the kreyol written version of Quisqueya. If I'm not mistaken, there is also a radio station in Port-au-Prince called Kiskeya too. if the only known Taino name of the island was Haiti, why did several Haitians adopted the other Taino name for the island for their institutions and businesses? Shouldn't the name Kiskeya not appear in Haitian historical references if it was truly a Dominican invention?

C. This one is perhaps the greatest condemnation of the anti-Quisqueya/Dominican groups. Here is a copy of a map published in 1583 and found in a book about Christopher Columbus. Please notice the name of the island.

A Dominican invention?

How could Dominicans invent a name in an attempt to not refer to the island as Haiti 221 years before Haiti becomes independent?

117 years before Spain officially recognizes the French presence on the west coast of the island?

3 years before English pirate Francis Drake captures, sacks, and burns to the ground a third of Santo Domingo city?

When the whole island was Spanish?

 

[NALs]

Newest Genetic Study (Pub. March 2015)

Here is the newest genetic study that includes Dominicans and was published in a scientific journal. Genetic studies are good ways of deciphering historical migration patterns in a society. This particular studies also includes other ethnicities that previously had not had their genome analyzed, such as Barbadians (from Barbados in the formely British Caribbean) and Peruvians among others. Non-nationality based ethnicities, such as the Mexican Mayans, were included in the study too.

If image is not fully visible, right-click and open in new tab.

These are averages. Whatever regional differences within each country aren't shown. These results don't include foreigners within each nationality.

AFRICAN AMERICANS
Predominantly African mixed with a small amount of English and traces of Amerindian (Native American).

BARBADIANS
Predominantly African mixed with very small amount of English and negligible Amerindian.

COLOMBIANS
Predominantly Spanish mixed with a small amount of Amerindian and traces of African.

DOMINICANS
Predominantly Spanish mixed with significant amount of African and traces of Amerindian.

ECUADORIANS
Predominantly Spanish mixed with significant amount of Amerindian and traces of African.

MEXICANS
Predominantly Amerindian mixed with significant amount of Spanish and traces of African.

PERUVIANS
Predominantly Amerindian mixed with small amount of Spanish and traces of African.

PUERTO RICANS
Predominantly Spanish mixed with small amount of African and traces of Amerindian.

From Greatest to Least Ancestry

AFRICAN
Barbados
United States (African Americans)
Dominican Republic
Puerto Rico
Colombia
Ecuador
Mexico
Peru

SPANISH
Puerto Rico
Colombia
Dominican Republic
Ecuador
Mexico
Peru
United States (English ancestry in African Americans)
Barbados (English ancestry)

AMERINDIAN
Peru
Ecuador
Mexico
Colombia
Puerto Rico (tie)
Dominican Republic (tie)
United States (Amerindian ancestry in African Americans)
Barbados


The Study:
Unravelling the hidden ancestry of American admixed populations : Nature Communications : Nature Publishing Group

 

[NALs]

North African Genes in Dominicans Despite No Major North African Migration

I meant to include this in the previous post, but forgot to do it when I posted the info.

These are the results of a recent genetic study done in Spain and Portugal. The relevance for Dominicans is that most Dominicans are registering sizable percentages of North African ancestry, even though North African (Maghreb) migration to the DR in colonial and independent times has been negligible at best.

The results in Spain show significant North African ancestry in most regions. This is the result of mixing between Europeans and the Moors (North African muslims that invaded and ruled much of Spain for centuries. The Spanish successfully liberated themselves from that yoke shortly before Christopher Columbus made his first voyage to the New World. During the inquisition, anyone that was a Moor or a Jew that didn't convert to Catholicism was either expelled or killed).

The significant Jewish (Ashkenazi) genetic presence among Spaniards also shows that the converts were much more than historians previously thought.

What this means for Dominicans is that the North African (and Jewish) genetic input is indicative of Spanish migration to the island. The Jewish part is not completely of direct Spanish immigration, because the DR did received some Jewish migration from Curacao. The Jews that arrived in the 1940's have a negligible impact on Dominican DNA, except maybe among many Dominicans native to the Sosua area.

If image is not fully visible, right-click and open in new tab.

Black = North African genes
Blue = Jewish genes
Pink = Native Iberian (Spanish/Portuguese) genes

The North African input probably explains why so many Dominicans with no known Arab or North African mixture (until they do a DNA test) can often time resemble Arabs or North Africans in looks.

 

[NALs]

Latest Evidence that the Effects of Traumatic Events can be Genetically Inherited

In post # 33 I cited an article about a study that was done on mice about epigenetic transmission of trauma to offsprings and the possibility that this might occur in humans too. Now there is new evidence of epigenetic transmission to future generations of response to a traumatic event that their parents or ancestors lived but they themselves haven't. To understand how this ties to Dominicans and the DR, read post 33, as this post can be considered a continuation of that one.

This video is only a handful of minutes long describing the results of the latest study about this, but for the first time involving humans, in this case the sons/daughters of survivors of the Jewish holocaust.

[video=youtube;zV9sya4F5KQ]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zV9sya4F5KQ[/video]