Haitian occupation of Santo Domingo

Dominican Republic, 1822–1844. Draft, not yet reviewed

In February 1822 Jean-Pierre Boyer, the president of Haiti, entered the city of Santo Domingo with around 10,000 soldiers, which led to the occupation. The occupation lasted twenty-two years, from February 9, 1822, to February 27, 1844. This period led to large-scale land expropriations and failed efforts to force production of export crops, restrict the use of the Spanish language and suppress traditional customs. On February 27, 1844, the Trinitarios declared independence from Haiti, which marked the beginning of the Dominican War of Independence.

Seat of power: Santo Domingo

Rulers

Jean-Pierre Boyer

President of Haiti, 1818–1843

He served as president of Haiti from 1818 to 1843. He annexed the newly independent Spanish Haiti, also called Santo Domingo, bringing all of Hispaniola under one Haitian government by 1822. To raise funds for the indemnity Haiti agreed to pay the former French colonists, the Haitian government imposed heavy taxes on the Dominicans.

Portrait of Jean-Pierre Boyer: B.C. (Name unknown, beyond these initials), Public domain, file

Culture

The occupation led to the abolition of slavery as an institution in what became known as the Dominican Republic, but forms of slavery persisted in Haitian society.
Beginning in September 1824, nearly 6,000 Americans, mostly free blacks, migrated to Haiti within a year. Descendants of the migrants now live in the Peninsula of Samaná.
The Haitians confiscated all church property and deported all foreign clergy. Santo Domingo's university, the oldest in the Western Hemisphere, had to close down.
In 1838 a group of educated nationalists founded a secret society called La Trinitaria to gain independence from Haiti.

Picture

The Dominican War of Independence began on February 27, 1844, and ended on January 24, 1856.

Image: Mariano Torrente, CC0, file

Sources

Text adapted from the Wikipedia articles listed as sources, CC BY-SA 4.0.