Life by Steam: The Dominican Republic’s First Republic, 1844–1861
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Published:November 2016
This chapter situates the Dominican Republic in the context of the nineteenth-century Caribbean. In the face of tremendous foreign pressures, Dominican politicians attempted to build a state. Many elites maligned Haiti as the antithesis of Dominican national identity and “progress,” and they masked their racism with raceless republicanism. However, common Dominicans’ worldview was explicitly in conflict with these constructions of Dominicanness. Their consciousness of race and racism, everyday sociality with neighboring Haiti, and fierce independence from ruling interests of the capital were in pronounced conflict during the period. They were particularly wary of foreign threats. From the capital, strongmen presidents, or caudillos, fought each other fiercely for power. Wealthy men from the Cibao valley also vied for control. Occasional mobilizations from Haiti disturbed the peace; simultaneously, some center-island residents looked to Haiti as an ally. As the Dominican state collapsed, an ambitious president turned to Spanish annexation.
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