The Dominican Republic and its neighbor, Haiti, share the Caribbean island of Hispaniola. In pre-Columbian times the island was settled by several waves of indigenous colonists from the mainland and neighboring islands. The last indigenous settlers to arrive were the ancestors of the Tainos encountered by the Spaniards in the 1490s. They spoke Arawakan languages and were related to the indigenous inhabitants of other Caribbean islands.

In 1492, Christopher Columbus, sailing on behalf of Spain, became the first European to reach Hispaniola. The discovery of gold prompted Columbus to establish the first modern European settlements in the New World on the island’s north coast. Spanish colonists enslaved the Tainos and introduced devastating Old World diseases. By the first few decades of the 16th century, the island’s Taino population had virtually disappeared. The Spaniards began to import African slaves and indigenous slaves from other parts of the Americas to replace the vanishing Taino labor force in the gold mines.

By the second quarter of the 16th century, most of Hispaniola’s gold mines had been exhausted. Meanwhile Spanish Conquistadors were discovering fabulously wealthy gold and silver deposits in Mexico and South America.  Many of Hispaniola’s settlers left the island for the mainland. Those who remained turned to agriculture and, in many cases, illicit trade with Spain’s enemies.

In retaliation for its colonists’ illegal trade with English, French and Dutch pirates, the Spanish crown destroyed all of Hispaniola’s western and northern settlements. The inhabitants of these areas were forcibly resettled in areas closer to the colonial capital, Santo Domingo. Although this drastic measure reduced smuggling, it also gave other European nations the opportunity to settle in the abandoned areas. The French, in particular, became firmly established on the western side of the island. After sporadic, and unsuccessful, attempts to dislodge the French, the Spanish finally made peace with France in 1697. This meant that Spain recognized French control over the western part of the island.

The French developed their side of the island, known as St-Domingue, into a wealthy plantation colony. For decades St-Domingue’s white and free colored (people of mixed African and European ancestry) merchants and planters prospered while the black slave majority did most of the back-breaking labor.  Then, in 1789 revolution broke out in France, unleashing social and racial tensions in the colony. St-Domingue’s wealthy free coloreds demanded equal rights but were opposed by the colony’s white population. Civil war broke out between the two groups. Then, in 1791, a large-scale slave revolt erupted in the north. The rebels were supported by the Spanish, who saw the rebellion as an opportunity to re-establish their control over the entire island.

As St-Domingue descended into civil war, Toussaint L’Ouverture, a leader of the 1791 rebellion, emerged as the most outstanding military commander on the island. At first Toussaint was allied with the British and Spanish against the French. But when France abolished slavery, Toussaint switched his allegiance to France. Within a short time, Toussaint had defeated the British, Spanish and counter-revolutionary forces in St-Domingue. He then went on to conquer the Spanish side of the island on behalf of France.

When Napoleon Bonaparte came to power in France he sought to restore slavery in the French Empire. Toussaint was betrayed, captured, and imprisoned in Europe, where he died. But other ex-slave leaders defeated the French armies and declared St-Domingue‘s independence as the Republic of Haiti. What is now the Dominican Republic, however, remained under French rule. When French colonial authorities authorized slave raids into Haiti, the Haitians launched devastating retaliatory raids into the Spanish-speaking side of the island in the early 19th century.

Eventually France returned what is now the Dominican Republic to Spain. In 1822 the Haitian president Jean-Paul Boyer reoccupied the Spanish-speaking side of the island with the approval of some prominent Dominicans. The Haitians remained in control until the 1840s, when a growing independence movement, along with political turmoil in Haiti, forced them out. The Dominican Republic won its independence from Haiti in 1844.

Economic hardships and fears of foreign invasion in subsequent decades convinced Dominican leaders to return their country to Spanish colonial rule.  In 1861, after negotiations, Spain peacefully re-established its authority over the country. But opposition to renewed Spanish rule grew quickly and, by 1863, a full-fledged rebellion had broken out. In 1865 Spain withdrew its forces from the island and the Dominican Republic regained its independence.

In the remaining decades of the 19th century, the country was plagued by competing warlords and economic difficulties. Dictator Ulises “Lilis” Heureaux ruled the country during the last decade of the century. When he was assassinated in 1899 he left the country with a heavy foreign debt.

The country’s crushing debt led to increasing foreign- particularly American- control over the economy. Finally, in 1916, the American army invaded the country to establish direct military control over the Dominican Republic. The American occupation ended in 1924. After the Americans left, an American-trained soldier, Rafael Trujillo, maneuvered his way into power. Trujillo’s authoritarian regime would remain in power until the 1960s.

Domestic opposition to Trujillo’s rule grew in the late 1950s and early 1960s. In 1961 he was assassinated. After the dictator’s death, elections were held.  Left-leaning reformer Juan Bosch was elected president. In 1963 Bosch was overthrown in a military coup. Then, in 1965, there was a pro-Bosch counter-coup. Civil war erupted, lasting for several months in 1965, before the American military intervened. With the fighting suppressed, new elections were held under American supervision. This time the more pro-American candidate, Joaquin Balaguer, won.

Balaguer continued to serve as president, with a few interruptions, into the 1990s. In 1996 Leonel Fernandez replaced Balaguer as president. In 2000 Fernandez was defeated by rival Hipolito Mejia. Hipolito was initially quite popular, but an economic crisis during his term helped Fernandez to regain the presidency in 2004. Fernandez presided over an economic recovery and was re-elected again in 2008. Prevented by the constitution from seeking a third consecutive term in office, Fernandez was replaced by another member of the ruling party, Danilo Medina, in 2012.

Further Reading:

Frank Moya Pons. The Dominican Republic: A National History. 

New Rochelle, NY: Hispaniola Books, 1995.