Introduction: Roots and Branches of the Tree of Liberty
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Published:November 2016
The introduction offers a brief history of the island as it passed from colonial territories into independence. It situates the question of Caribbean independence in comparison with Latin American independence movements unfolding simultaneously. International scrutiny and hostility toward emancipation in the Caribbean, which many North Atlantic observers argued was an “experiment,” weighed heavily on both states of the island. Many Dominican politicians turned to annexationism and anti-Haitian sentiment, not only from defensiveness and anxieties about independence but also because of their distance from and disdain toward the vast majority of the territory’s rural residents. The introduction considers the state of Spanish empire at midcentury, as the Cuban governor plotted together with the Dominican president for annexation. Finally, the introduction presages the importance of the fighting itself in the region, as an overwhelmingly rural revolt crushed the new Spanish project. Dominicans and Haitians fought together to preserve independence; they dreamed together.
Bibliography
Archivo Nacional de Cuba (ANC)
Asuntos Políticos (AP)
Diario de la Habana
Gaceta de la Habana
El Redactor de Santiago
Biblioteca Nacional José Martí (BNJM)
Archivo General de la Nación–República Dominicana (AGN-RD)
Archivo Real de Bayaguana
Archivo Real de Higüey
Ayuntamiento de Santiago
Colección Garcia
Colección Herrera (CH)
Fondo Anexión (Anexión)
Memoria de Guerra y Marina
Relaciones Exteriores (RREE)
La Acusación
Boletín del Archivo General de la Nación (BAGN)
El Dominicano
El Eco del Pueblo
Gaceta de Santo Domingo
El Monitor
El Oasis
El Orden
El Porvenir
El Progreso
La Razón
La Regeneración
La Républica
Revista Clío, Órgano de la Academia Dominicana de la Historia (CLÍO)
El Tiempo
Some of the AGN-RD collections were being reorganized during this research period; Fondo Anexión’s legajo numbers changed from 2006 to 2008 to 2010, for example. The bulk of the numbers cited here refer to the most recent 2008 and 2010 numerations; wherever possible, changes are recorded in the corresponding citation.
Simityè Jakmèl (Cimitière de Jacmel)
La Feuille de Commerce
Le Moniteur Haïtien
L’Opinion Nationale
La République
Archivo Histórico Nacional, Madrid (AHN)
Ultramar
Gaceta de Madrid
Biblioteca Nacional, Madrid (BNE)
Servicio Histórico Militar, Madrid (SHM)
Ultramar
Archivo del Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores, Madrid (AMAE)
Política Exterior, Haití
Política Exterior, Santo Domingo
Tratados
Archivo General de Indias (AGI)
Audiencia de Santo Domingo
Papeles de Cuba (CUBA)
The National Archives, Kew (TNA)
Colonial Office (CO)
301 Turks and Caicos
Foreign Office (FO)
23 Dominican Republic
35 Haiti
National Archives (NARA)
Schomburg Library