The Dominican Republic Became A Nation Of Their Own

The Dominican Republic is a middle-income country, located in the Caribbean, between the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, east of Haiti, that is dependent upon agriculture, trade and services, and a huge part of their income is tourism. Many Dominican agriculture exports have

Chile has a lot of iron, coal, iron ore, gold, silver, manganese, sulfur, petroleum, nitrates, and

Decena, Fatima as well as from speaking to people from CENIFE and to people from the hostel that I stayed at and from the streets of where I visited in the Dominican Republic-from Santo Domingo to Boca Chica. This fascinating history goes something like this: The Dominican Republic became a nation on February 27, 1844 when a group of revolutionaries seized power from the Haitian rulers of the island of Hispaniola. When Christopher Columbus first discovered the island in 1492, he named it La Isla Española, which became Hispaniola. The city of Santo Domingo became the Spanish capital of the New World, and because of its location it was the gateway to the Caribbean. France gained some Hispaniola real estate on the western end of the island, which became prosperous, and by 1795 Spain yielded the entire island to France. By 1804 the black African slaves in the western portion of the island, which is now Haiti, rebelled against the French and took over and ruled the entire island. French troops eventually took back control of the island, and they were able to occupy only the western end of this island. In 1838 a small group of Spanish-speaking Dominican intellectuals from Santo Domingo organized a secret society called La Trinitaria to overthrow the Haitian rule. The society was established by Juan Pablo Duarte, and after the overthrow of the Haitian rule, Pedro Santana, one of the leaders in the revolution, became the first president of the Dominican

BNatural Resources The mineral resources of the country are varied and extensive. Colombia is the major world

There are two sides to every story. For the Dominican Republic, they are two very contrasting stories. One being the serene, white beaches where a person’s every need can be waited upon. The other side is where a person’s most basic needs cannot even be met. A story where a child has to worry about if they will even eat tonight. Now, the majority of people would avoid the latter story. Not my mom, she dives right into the middle of it.

The division of Hispaniola began through the conflict of the French and Spanish trying to control the New World in the 17th century. The split in 1697 resolved the dispute making them two different countries. The Dominican Republic was still a part of Spain along with Haiti a part of France until the 1800s when they became independent (Lancer). The Dominicans then began to take advantage of the Haitians and use them as slaves. So in 1805 Jean-Jacques Dessalines, the ruler of Haiti, invaded the eastern part of the island of Hispaniola because of the slave raiding going on in the Dominican Republic. This wasn’t entirely successful, so in 1821 Santiago was finally overthrown by José Núñez de Cáceres. He was part of a group trying to break away from Spain and become independent. The Dominican

In 1821 the Dominicans rebelled against their Spanish colonizers, and succeeded in declaring independence. However, it was only nine weeks before the country was again forced to submit to the rule of another sovereign nation, Haiti. As Jan Lundius and Mats Lundahl stated in their book Peasants and Religion: A socioeconomic study of Dios Olivorio and the Palma Sola Movement in the Dominican Republic: “In February 1822, the Haitian president, Jean-Pierre Boyer; gained control of the entire island of Hispaniola without resistance, at the head of a 12,000-man invading army. The Haitians were to stay until 1844, when the Spanish-speaking population which had revolted the year before proclaimed the free and independent Dominican Republic” (Lundahl pg. 425). This was a very radical occupation, where Boyer attempted to reshape the Dominican Republic to how he thought it should be. One of his largest projects, was the confiscation of church and immigrant lands, and subsequently its redistribution. This, coupled with the destruction of large plantations, created a peasant class for the first time in the Dominican Republic.

Costa Rica has a narrow Pacific coastal region that rises abruptly into central highlands. The highlands, forming the rugged backbone of the country, descend much more gradually toward the generally wider Caribbean (Atlantic) Plain. The Pacific coast is generally lowland in character, and, like the Caribbean coast, it is lined with white sandy beaches. The country has made use of its

On March 13, 1494 Columbus opened the first road in the New World called Paseo de los Hidalgos, and construction of the Fort of Santo Tomas began around the Janico River, in what is now Santiago province. In 1496 Bartolome Colon (Bartholomew, Columbus’s brother) settled Nueva Isabela on the eastern side of the Ozama River on the south coast of the island, but in 1498 a hurricane and subsequent earthquakes destroyed the settlement. Soon after the destruction of Nueva Isabela, Bartolome Colon founded the city of Santo Domingo, the capital city of the Dominican Republic, on the western side of the Ozama River, on August 5, 1498. On subsequent voyages, in order to gain more funding for his travels, and under pressure to pay off the creditors who had funded his previous voyages, Columbus introduced a slave system, which can only be described as

Though the colony was returned to Spain in 1809, weak support led to a decay in colonial infrastructure, leading to a revolt, led by José Núñez de Cáceres and Don Manuel Carvajal, which declared “Spanish Haiti” independent. However, the new nation was vulnerable, and Boyer immediately seized on the opportunity to unite the island for security purposes, seeking to impose “Haitianization” on Santo Domingo economically and politically. Such aspects of “Haitianization” included abolition of slavery, land redistribution, settlement of Haitians, and forced cultivation of crops in a region dominated by cattle ranchers. (Moya Pons 123, 133) An insurrection group named los trinitarios seized on the discontent of the Dominican people in the 1830s and 1840s, leading to independence in 1844. (Black 19)

Situated on Costa Rica's southern side of the Osa Peninsula is the Corcovado National Park. It is one of the most remote rain forests in the country, nevertheless a place of magnificent beauty and breathtaking vistas. The park is also the habitat to a remarkable variety of trees, endangered plants and animal species.

The Cuban revolution was the spark that ignited the flame of communism in Cuba. The developing nation gained independence only as recently as 1898, and was already filled with an atmosphere of distrust and resentment towards the United States. In July of 1953, a revolution began in Cuba between the United States backed President Batista and Fidel Castro. Fidel and his brother Raul Castro lead a series of guerilla warfare battles against the forces of President Batista. “I am Fidel Castro and we have come to liberate Cuba,” stated Fidel Castro. In January of 1959, Fidel Castro became the President of Cuba. With the regime of Fidel Castro, Cuba would fall to communism.

As we know, Puerto Rico was a colony of Spain "found" by Christopher Columbus on November 19, 1493, and remained a colony of Spain for the next 400 years. But the interesting fact remains that Puerto Rico was not truly settled by the Spaniards until almost fifteen years later! In 1508, Juan Ponce de Leon came to settle the land of Borinken, and founded the town of Caparra. This was the start of a proud people that would

“Colombia is well endowed with minerals and energy resources. It has the largest coal reserves in Latin America and is second to Brazil in hydroelectric potential. The country's oil reserves total about 2.6 billion barrels. However, these are estimated to represent less than 20% of the country's actual oil potential.” This site also discusses how Colombia’s unique climate and topography allow for success in production of natural goods such as the aforementioned coffee, flowers, tropical fruits, and livestock to name a few (“Colombia Trade News”).

In 1863 Colombia was given its name. The name was chosen in honor of Christopher Columbus, even though Columbus never visited Colombia. Alonso de Ojeda, was the first European to set foot on Colombia in 1499, Alonso de Ojeda explored Sierra Navada de Santa Marie and was very surprised by the wealth of the Indians and their stories. These stories gave birth to the legend of El Dorado.