The History of the Dominican Republic

Podcast Transcript

Known for its beautiful beaches and unique culture, the Dominican Republic is one of the Caribbean’s crown jewels.

However, it has had a history totally unlike its neighbors. Even Haiti, which shares an island with the Dominican Republic, went down a totally different path.

Today, the Dominican Republic is a relatively stable, prosperous country, yet its past has been marked by violence, political turmoil, and chaos.

Learn about the history of the Dominican Republic and how it became the country it is today on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.

Any discussion of the Dominican Republic has to start with its geography.

The Dominican Republic is located in the Caribbean on the island of Hispaniola.

Hispaniola is divided into two sovereign states: the Dominican Republic and Haiti. The Dominican Republic covers two-thirds of the island; Haiti occupies the remaining third.

The Mona Passage, a 130-kilometer-wide channel, is what separates the Dominican Republic from Puerto Rico.

Hispaniola is part of the Greater Antilles, which includes Cuba, Puerto Rico, Jamaica, and the Cayman Islands.

The Dominican Republic has a land area of 48,670 km², or 18,791 square miles, making it the second-largest nation in the Caribbean by area, following Cuba. The nation is also the second most populous country in the region, behind Haiti, with a total population of roughly 11.4 million.

While the Dominican Republic is often viewed as just a beach destination, its geography is more diverse than most people realize.

The Dominican Republic is actually home to four small mountain ranges: the Cordillera Septentrional to the North, the Cordillera Central in the center of the country, and the Sierra de Neiba and Sierra de Bahoruco, both located in the South.

The Cordillera Central is also known as the Dominican Alps. The range runs through the center of Hispaniola, connecting with the Haitian mountain range, Massif du Nord.

Pico Duarte stands as the tallest peak in the Cordillera Central range, rising to 10,164 feet or 3,098 meters, making it the highest point in the entire Caribbean.

Between the North and Central mountain ranges is the Cibau Valley. The valley contains most of the nation’s farmland due to its rich and fertile soil.

Lake Enriquillo, located in the southwestern Dominican Republic, is a salt lake. Enriquillo is the largest lake in the Caribbean and holds the record for the lowest point of any island country, reaching 46 meters or 151 feet below sea level.

Ten rivers on the island drain into Lake Enriquillo, with no rivers running out, making it an endorheic lake. Rainfall and evaporation determine the lake’s water levels.

The Dominican Republic is also comprised of approximately 50 smaller islands, some of which are relatively uninhabited, while others serve as popular tourist destinations.

The climate of the Dominican Republic is predominantly tropical, with some regions transitioning to a savannah-like landscape. Due to the country’s mountainous topography, the average temperature exhibits a wide variation over short distances.

Due to its location in the Caribbean, the country is at risk of hurricanes, most of which hit the southern coast. Fortunately for the island’s residents, the likelihood of a direct hit is very low, occurring roughly once every thirty years. This is because the country is blocked by Puerto Rico, providing a convenient buffer from the worst of the storm.

The island’s first inhabitants were from Arawak tribes in modern Venezuela, who migrated to and settled Hispaniola around 400 BC, becoming the Taíno people.

The Taíno fostered connections with other Caribbean peoples, forming their own communities and eventually settling across Hispaniola, Jamaica, Eastern Cuba, the Bahamas, the Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico.

When the Spanish arrived in the region in 1492, they began chronicling the Taíno. They described their towns as well-organized and dispersed, but densely populated.

In 1496, Bartholomew Columbus, Christopher Columbus’s brother, founded the city of Santo Domingo. This city became the first permanent European settlement in the New World.

The city and the surrounding region developed into a plantation-based economy.

The Spanish colonists and Taíno coexisted briefly before their relationship soured.

The colonists took Taíno men from their villages and forced them to work on plantations or in mines. With so many removed from their homes, the Taíno faced starvation, unable to plant their own food.

Many Taíno fought the Spanish, while others fled to more remote regions.

Over time, many Conquistadors married Taíno women. Within just two decades of contact, 40% of Spanish men on the island had Taíno wives. Their mixed-race children became the basis of the Creole population on the island, who remain the majority of the population today.

Slavery was introduced to the colony in the early 16th century, with thousands of Africans being forcibly brought to the colony to work on plantations.

European settlers brought deadly diseases like measles and smallpox for which the Taíno had no immunity. Within thirty years, these diseases killed an estimated 70-90% of the Taíno population.

Those who survived lost their language, political structure, and religion. By 1864, no more “pure” Taíno peoples remained.

In 1697, Spain signed a treaty ceding one-third of Spanish Hispaniola to France, thereby establishing the division of the island that remains in place today.

By 1789, Santo Domingo was one of the least important and least wealthy colonies to the Spanish. The population was only 125,000 people, which was minuscule when compared to the French third of the island. The French colony of Saint-Domingue was the wealthiest in the entire Caribbean.

In 1795, the Treaty of Basel transferred Santo Domingo from Spain to France. It was returned to Spanish hands just 14 years later, in 1809, after the Haitian Revolution.

After Spain returned, Santo Domingo saw repeated attempts at independence. Lieutenant Governor José Núñez de Cáceres declared independence on November 30, 1821, starting what became known as the Ephemeral Independence period.

The new country, Spanish Haiti, only lasted two months before it was annexed by Haiti. Haiti ruled for 22 years, during which it was known as Parti de l’Est.

In 1838, a secret society known as La Trinitaria was founded by Juan Pablo Duarte, with the goal of achieving independence from Haiti without foreign intervention. Other independence movements were being led simultaneously by Francisco del Rosario Sánchez and Ramón Matías Mella. These three men are known as the founding fathers of the Dominican Republic.

Independence from Haiti was declared by La Trinitaria on February 27, 1844. Over the next many decades, the Dominican Republic faced opposition from Haiti, the rise and fall of various governments, tyranny, economic difficulties, and other troubles.

During this time, the most important political figure was Pedro Santana.

For almost two decades, Santana exiled, imprisoned, or executed many of his political rivals. However, the political and economic struggles of the Dominican Republic during that time led Santana to ask Queen Isabella II of Spain to retake the territory.

Spain annexed the territory and sent 30,000 troops to occupy the country. During that time, Haiti began to provide refuge and logistical aid to revolutionaries who did not want to return to Spanish rule. This began a Civil War known as the War of Restoration.

The War of Restoration lasted for two years, from 1863 to 1865, with the rebels of the Dominican Republic ultimately emerging victorious. Following reclaiming their independence, the Dominican Republic again faced a period of political uncertainty.

The country finally reached a period of stability in the 1880s, under the leadership of General “Lilís” Heureaux.

Heureaux actually put the country in significant debt as leader, as most of the wealth of the country went to supporting his police state or towards personal use. Not surprisingly, he was assassinated in 1899.

Despite his assassination, the stability his rule instilled over the country continued. This allowed the Dominican economy to experience drastic improvement, as sugar plantations modernized and more people began immigrating to the island.

During the early 20th century, the Dominican Republic’s governments continued to experience instability. Simultaneously, the country was facing pressure from European powers to repay debts, something the Dominican Republic couldn’t afford.

To help pay back their debts, the Dominican Republic improved relations with the United States. The US was fearful that European involvement in the Caribbean would weaken its influence in the region.

The US and the Dominican Republic made a deal in which the United States would help the Dominican Republic pay off its debts in exchange for keeping European powers out.

In 1911, the Dominican Republic fell back into a period of political turmoil, including a Civil War, following the assassination of President Ramón Cáceres. The United States then stepped in and occupied the territory from 1916 to 1924.

During the occupation, there was conflict between the US and the native Dominicans, but eventually peace was established, with many of the laws and institutions established during the occupation remaining in place afterward.

Additionally, the US helped create hundreds of schools for Dominicans.

In 1930, the Dominican Republic faced another threat when a military coup led by General Rafael Trujillo took control of the government.

Trujillo took power and established himself as a dictator. Initial resistance was quickly quashed.

The Trujillo era was characterized by Iron-fisted, authoritarian rule. Nonetheless, some improvements were made under his leadership.

Under Trujillo, transportation, healthcare, and education underwent significant improvements. Additionally, the administration constructed houses, created pension plans, helped establish an official border with Haiti, and cleared the country of its debts.

Despite the economic improvements, the Dominican Republic saw dramatic reductions in civil rights. Those who opposed Trujillo often suffered imprisonment, torture, and murder.

One of the worst cases took place in 1937, when ten to fifteen thousand Haitians living on the border were hacked to death with machetes following the assassination of several Dominicans in New York City.

The United States and many of the elite members of Dominican society supported Trujillo despite the horrific acts of violence committed under his rule because he was an anti-communist in the midst of the Cold War.

However, the US eventually withdrew support in 1960 following his attempt to assassinate the Venezuelan President.

Following the assassination attempt, the Dominican Republic faced embargoes from the United States. This caused the country’s economy to plummet, making Trujillo expendable. He was assassinated in 1961.

Following the assassination, Trujillo’s son took control of the Dominican Republic for the next six months. The dictator’s brothers also returned to the country.

The US then threatened the Trujillos, stating that if they decided to re-establish a dictatorship, the US would not sit idly by. The threat, along with a few warships, led to the Trujillos fleeing the country and the lifting of the embargoes.

Once again, the country faced a period of political turmoil. Over the following decades, peacekeeping troops would be sent to the Dominican Republic to help maintain peace from 1965 to 1966.

In 1966, the country began to stabilize, following the election of Joaquín Balaguer. His period of rule was still marked by repression of civil liberties and human rights, but it didn’t attract international intervention. Balaguer ruled for twelve years before being dismissed from office. He would later be re-elected.

Jumping forward to 1996, a new political party, the Dominican Liberation Party, or PDL, won the presidential election.

Following their victory, the party remained the dominant force in the Dominican Republic until 2020, when the Modern Revolutionary Party was elected.

Today, the Dominican Republic has the fastest-growing economy in Latin America. By size, it is the largest economy in the Caribbean. By income, it is classified as an upper-middle-income country, with a GDP per capita of nearly $10,900 in 2024.

The history of the Dominican Republic has been unlike that of any of its neighbors in the region. They were a colony, became independent, and then were colonized again.

They suffered dictators and occupations by the United States. After decades of ups and downs…with a lot of downs, they have managed to have one of the fastest-growing and largest economies in the Caribbean.