Decolonization

Decolonization was rather interesting on the island of Hispaniola; it was characterized by a general displacement of freed slaves and the importation of foreign workers that would take the potential jobs available for former slaves. The were tensions within the freed slave community as far as skin color goes; mulattos had been instilled with a certain hate toward their darker counterparts. After years upon years of brainwashing, one can easily see how this would be a problem. With that being said, the Haitian Massacre led by Trujillo comes as no surprise. Tens of thousands of Haitians were murdered in an effort to deafricanize the Dominican Republic.

            Haitians tried to invade Santo Domingo but the everlasting and infamously brutal population of DR resisted Haitian rule and declared independence in 1865. If anything, the events that defined this period all dealt with the dictatorship of Trujillo.  A man who some Dominicans still look up to today; others hate him and his legacy to the core. As horrible of a person he was; Trujillo did stand up for an impoverished group of people and in doing so he showed the world that Dominicans wouldn’t be stepped on.

            The United States funded the DR in an effort to eliminate the debt and because they couldn’t stand to have Europeans ruling the country. It was a way to reestablish U.S. influence in the Caribbean, in addition to influences existing in Cuba and Jamaica. One cannot note tensions between colony and metropole because Trujillo had absolute power and there was no challenging that. Hereaux ruled years before Trujillo but he drove the country into a massive amount of debt and there was no tension between him and the bullet that killed him. At least Trujillo brought some sort of infrastructure to the country instead of just being an extremely racist dictator.

            In conclusion, decolonization was characterized by strong anti-Haitian and anti-American sentiments. Trujillo was able to capitalize on the hate and coin the DR as a white Hispanic society. He did effectively modernize the economy and mobilize the Dominican Army under his rule. Cheap labor from Haiti only instilled the idea that Haitians were beneath Dominicans and the massacre showed that they were, in a sense, disposable. DR is an independent country but the U.S. views it as a client state as they do help out the Dominican Republic at times when it is in their best interest (when it involves keeping the Europeans out). However the same can’t be said for the other islands in the Caribbean; the United States pretty much owns Puerto Rico and Jamaica. If it weren’t for tourism (mainly from the United States) both of those economies would cease to exist. The naval base influences Cuba and it will be ever present as long as the embargo lasts. The lesser Antilles receive protection the United States and in essence have a dependency on the United States. Many Dominicans would be more than happy to say that dependency on the U.S. within DR is…nonexistent.

Knight, Franklin W. The Caribbean: The Genesis of a Fragmented Nationalism, 2d ed.New York: Oxford University Press, 1990.

Kurlansky, Mark. A Continent of Islands: Searching for the Caribbean Destiny. Reading, Mass.: Addison-Wesley Publishing, 1992.

Freedom

It is safe to say that freedom doesn’t always mean free; nothing is free in this mad world. In reality, freed slaves were essentially displaced. After years and years of being enslaved, aside from the horrid treatment, the necessities of life were provided (somewhat).  There was food and shelter, along with other slaves to interact with. When abolition finally came, most slaves were left with nowhere to go, and quite a few ended up going to work for their former masters. Freedom sometimes meant deprivation, but in a new way. Deprivation of opportunity; instead of being shackled physically, their minds were still enslaved. Which goes back to my comment about slaves returning to their masters, they had been brainwashed for so long that they felt as if they really needed their masters.

This is understandable, one would become dependent on whoever was over them because there was nowhere else to go nor did they have a say in the situation.  Whites in this era systematically de-humanized African slaves and broke them down to the most basic level of laborers. Even with abolition, there was still a need for labor, and there were hundreds of thousands of people that needed a place to go.

After the Spanish reoccupied the Dominican Republic, there was a wave of indentured servitude. Workers would be contracted to work for a certain amount of years. They were paid for their work, given adequate food rations, and even had the opportunity to own land. Women didn’t have the same opportunities as they were still taken advantage of and considered to be lower on the totem pole than their male counterparts. This doesn’t come as a big surprise due to the treatment of women historically.

Having a system of indentured servitude with the opportunity to become self-sufficient did bring a somewhat positive light to the island. We can assume that things looked better on paper but just the fact that a structured system was put in place that was drastically different from slavery let people know that it was going in the right direction. This led to institutions and progress mainly because they weren’t laboring for masters, they finally had the opportunity to work for themselves and better their own lives. In my previous post, I credited the Haitians for Dominican freedom and success. In my opinion this post confirmed that notion because without the revolt, who knows what would’ve happened.

As a result, a new system was put into place and the journey to reconstruction and independence was able to commence.

           

Attitudes of Foreign Governments Towards the Spanish Reoccupation of the Dominican Republic

Charles C. Hauch

The Hispanic American Historical Review 
Vol. 27, No. 2 (May, 1947), pp. 247-268

Published by: Duke University Press

Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2508418

Property Rights and the Commercialization of Land in the Dominican Sugar Zone, 1880-1924

Julie Franks

Latin American Perspectives 
Vol. 26, No. 1, Creating Markets in Latin America, 1750-1998 (Jan., 1999), pp. 106-128

Published by: Sage Publications, Inc.

Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2634040

The Haitian Revolution

Slavery in the Dominican Republic differed from the other islands because the Spanish made considerably little effort to make sure that slaves had no liberties or choices whereas other colonies made it a priority to keep slaves down. Not to say that slavery in DR wasn’t brutal but in comparison to Haiti, life was a little bit better. Primarily because Haiti was actually a slave society and the planters were genuinely out for maximum profit which would cause them to try to get the most labor out of their slaves. One can say that this led to more brutality and a lower quality of life because it all revolved around profit. Dominican slavery was viewed more as forced labor; I realize that the terms are virtually synonymous but ‘forced labor’ sounds less harsh, just like the lifestyle.

            In DR, Toussaint Louverture was the driving force behind the abolishment of slavery. It’s a bit ironic that a Haitian was responsible for Dominican freedom but in modern day society there still lies a deep hatred between the two sides of the island. Slavery was officially abolished in 1822 (the Spanish managed to reinstate slavery for a period of time after Toussaint’s reign).  Although Toussaint led the revolution, it is important to note that its was pushed by Gens de colour who experienced inequality although they were technically free.

          

  It is evident that the Haitian Revolution had everything to do with the abolishment of slavery in the Dominican Republic. Had it not been for Toussaint’s testicular fortitude, Santo Domingo would not have been freed, and a lot of people would have been left uninspired. Jean-Jacques Dessalines was one of these inspired men; he led a force that defeated the French and was responsible for creating the world’s first black republic. The Haitian occupation of the Dominican Republic protected it until independence was declared.

            Upon the abolishment of slavery, Haiti was the first black-led nation that was a result of a revolution. However, the already shambled country  was indebted to France for about 60 million francs. In my opinion that was a slap in the face since the French enslaved the island and made a plethora of money from it; for some reason they held the country (that they raped and pillaged, by the way) responsible for the loss of profit.

            Although Napoleon put and end to the works of Toussaint, the legacy lives on because it created a change on the international stage. It was a sovereign state that existed autonomously after colonialism, and that’s a pretty big deal. More importantly it successfully led a revolution against a European empire. Events that ensued after the revolution aren’t necessarily relevant but one could say that uprisings occurring after were undoubtedly inspired by the Haitian Revolution. The Dominican Republic would’ve probably been enslaved for a significantly longer period of time if it weren’t for the Haitian; Toussaint Louverture.

Thomas O. Ott, The Haitian Revolution 1789-1804 (Knoxville, Tennessee:University of Tennessee, 1973); http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part3/3p2990.html

Freedom and Oppression of Slaves in the Eighteenth-Century Caribbean

Author(s): Arthur L. Stinchcombe

Source: American Sociological Review, Vol. 59, No. 6 (Dec., 1994), pp. 911-929

Published by: American Sociological Association

Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2096375 .

From Hidden Hand to Heavy Hand: Sugar, the State, and Migrant Labor in Haiti and the Dominican Republic

Samuel Martinez

Latin American Research Review 
Vol. 34, No. 1 (1999), pp. 57-84

Published by: The Latin American Studies Association

Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2503926

Slavery in the Dominican Republic has led to a racial disparity on the island and it has created a tension between Haiti and itself. Haitians continuously got the short end of the stick throughout history and being indebted to France certainly didn’t help. It is interesting when you look back through the window of time and realize how the different types of labor forced upon Haitians has molded the Dominican view of them today. To put it into simple terms; a racial hierarchy was the byproduct of slavery.

            In an interesting article,  Mallon points out that mixture has become encouraged in order to whiten the country and further deny black and indigenous identities. African slaves that were shipped to Saint Domingue fought to preserve their culture by sticking to their Vodou practices and other elements of culture. With time this has changed and actually went in the exact opposite direction. I attribute this to the different jobs that slaves had to do, mainly because they had to identify with that occupation.

            For example, darker skin was already looked down upon during that period, and those of darker complexions ended up doing more brutal labor. The mind would place these slaves at the bottom of the totem pole. This is associated with Africans, but those of lighter complexion ended up doing more domestic tasks and ended up in a better position than their darker counterparts. Women, while some of them were wet nurses, the majority of them labored and had to fulfill sexual needs against their will. One might say that the fallacy of darker women being promiscuous was actually misconstrued because these women were being forced to do this.

            Mulattos also had it fairly bad according to Sheller, the post-slavery transitional period did not fare well for them either. Granted, the Haitians did revolt and did gain independence but they were left in shambles. Plus there was still terrible tension between skin colors. Years later the Dominican dictator grabbed the reigns and murder thousands of Haitians only to further dig the rabbit hole of hatred.

            The negative characterization we see now is a product of the enslavement period. The pictures, the treatment, the lies, and the suffering yielded a social stigma that shows Haitians in a very bad light, especially to Dominicans.

Understanding Latin American Beliefs about Racial Inequality

Edward Telles and Stanley Bailey

American Journal of Sociology 
Vol. 118, No. 6 (May 2013), pp. 1559-1595

Published by: The University of Chicago Press

Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/670268

THE ARMY OF SUFFERERS: PEASANT DEMOCRACY IN THE EARLY REPUBLIC OF HAITI

Mimi Sheller

NWIG: New West Indian Guide / Nieuwe West-Indische Gids 
Vol. 74, No. 1/2 (2000), pp. 33-55

Published by: BRILL on behalf of the KITLV, Royal Netherlands Institute of Southeast Asian and Caribbean Studies

Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/41850025

It’s no secret that Haitians were responsible for the abundance of work on the island. Haitians worked on the cane fields in the Dominican Republic, they also joined the Jamaicans on the sugar estates in Cuba. It is important to note that the Dominican Republic was actually the first site of sugarcane cultivation although it did not last past the sixteenth century. A hierarchy of sorts existed on the island placing those of darker complexion on the bottom. Slaves that were accustomed to the climate and way of the island were valued more, as expected. Those that were born on the island also earned a place above African slaves due to lighter complexion and being more aesthetically pleasing. Different tasks were allotted to those with different abilities; Haitians would be found working in the fields whereas more creolized persons would hold domestic tasks. Certain persons were also responsible for hunting and gathering food; particularly persons stolen from Guinea.

            In essence, a system of governance was put into place that would establish various liberties. Slaves had a degree of freedom, or the inverse of the probability of coercive limitation in daily life of many rights less often interfered with among free men. It is evident that slaves responsible for hunting were allowed to carry weapons and enjoyed fair treatment because of their job status. Those in the field however, had to bear the greatest burden because they worked the longest in the harshest conditions, in addition to having the most basic of necessities to retire to at the end of a long day. Codes were put in place to dictate the treatment and punishment; in most cases death was warranted but for misdemeanors, there were more gruesome torture methods.

           

It’s ironic how the most elite people were the ones that were subjected to the worst conditions. West Africa’s resource lacking environment accounted for a durable biological makeup, and they were more adapted to surviving in the tropics than Europeans. Africans were the immunological elite in the Caribbean; their ancestors endured a plethora of nutritional deficiencies and diseases. Sickle-cell anemia was a mutation that specifically resisted Malaria. Yellow fever and Malaria wiped out a great deal of Europeans because their bodies weren’t adapted to withstand these diseases. Also, slaves being born with the sickle-cell mutation were valued more because of their ability to withstand disease and also being native to the island.

            One may ask, why weren’t there more successful revolts? Europeans did a fairly good job of preventing slaves from gathering and conspiring. They were not allowed to gather, even for weddings. They didn’t have access to armaments that would’ve allowed them to overpower their masters. The link between plantations was removed in order to prevent an uprising. Haitians were eventually successful in revolting and achieving emancipation, not to say it was short lived, but years later Trujillo led a massacre of about 15,000 Haitians. The uprising led to a serious problem of migratory labor, emancipation was enjoyed for about a century, which led to freed slaves migrating to the Dominican Republic.

            Europeans were unable to use indigenous peoples for coerced agricultural labor, so Africans were imported. They found that sugar production was poor in Santo Domingo and was short lived but thanks to the Columbian exchange, they were able to focus on the cultivation of livestock. However the French made a lot of profit from sugar production in Saint Dominique and followed a very brutal system of slavery.

            Although the island was shared between France and Spain, the two had very different systems. The French were entirely more brutal and profit based whereas the Spanish realized sugar wasn’t working and shifted their focus elsewhere; also their treatment of slaves was far more humane.

La Rebelion de Esclavos de Haiti. by Torcuato S. Di Tella; The Caribbean Slave: A Biological History. by Kenneth F. Kiple;Sugar is Made with Blood: The Conspiracy of la Escalera and the Conflict between Empires over Slavery in Cuba. by Robert L. Paquette; Sugar and Modern Slavery: A Tale of Two Countries. by Roger Plant; Stand the Storm: A History of the Atlantic Slave Trade. by Edward Reynolds; Narrative of a Five-Year Expedition against the Revolted Negroes of Surinam.by John Gabriel Stedman; Richard Price; Sally Price; British Capitalism and Caribbean Slavery: The Legacy of Eric Williams. by Barbara L. Solow; Stanley L. EngermanReview by: Laird W. BergadLatin American Research Review Vol. 25, No. 3 (1990), pp. 199-213

Published by: The Latin American Studies Association

Politics, Foreign Trade and Economic Development: A Study of the Dominican Republic. by Claudio Vedovato; The Dominican Republic: Politics and Development in an Unsovereign State. by Jan Knippers BlackReview by: Cary Hector and Alain GillesLatin American Perspectives Vol. 17, No. 4, Guatemala, Debt, and Drugs (Autumn, 1990), pp. 110-118Published by: Sage Publications, Inc.