Spain and the American Civil War

Chapter 4: Spain’s Dominican Enterprise

Chapter 4  Spain’s Dominican Enterprise Spain’s most spectacular attempt to revive its imperial glory came in March 1861 when it annexed the Caribbean state of Santo Domingo , allegedly to protect the Dominicans from potential invasion from Haiti. Santo Domingo, the eastern two-thirds of the island of Hispaniola , had been a Spanish colony before 1822, when it was occupied by neighboring Haiti, an occupation that ended only in 1844. Ostensibly to prevent a recurrence of Haitian incursions as well as to promote economic development, Dominican president Pedro Santana invited the Spanish occupation, believing it would strengthen his rule. Santana and Spanish colonial officials from Cuba agreed on the terms of the annexation: no reinstitution of slavery, no changes in Dominican laws, the continuation of local officials and priests in their positions, and no change to local currency or property ownership. The accord, implemented without direct involvement by the Madrid government, was announced in Santo Domingo on March 18, 1861, by Santana and Spanish military officials who had negotiated the reinstallation of colonial forces from Spain’s main Caribbean base in Havana.1 This was not the first time Dominican leaders had invited foreign occupation in order to buttress their hold on power and forestall the Haitian threat. As early as 1809, the white creole population rebelled against French and Haitian occupation and invited Spain to return as the colonial power.2 After Santo Domingo’s independence in 1821, the 84 85 Spain’s Dominican Enterprise next two decades featured repeated Haitian invasions and Dominican rebellions, leading to an understandable fear of Haiti and the identification of the elite—a mostly white or biracial class—with Europe and its civilization. Even blacks with some property or status would sometimes refer to themselves as blancos de la tierra (whites of the earth) to differentiate themselves from the “barbarian” Haitians.3 Indeed, the first Haitian occupation began in February 1822—just two months after Dominican independence in December 1821. Even at this early stage, the Dominican elite had looked to outside aid as the only remedy against their large neighbor. In this case, the provisional Dominican government sent a request to Simón Bolívar, president of Gran Colombia, asking to be absorbed into the larger state. Bolívar was himself still fighting to expel Spanish forces from South America and was unable to consider the request. Under Haitian occupation, slavery ended and creole land was expropriated, to be redistributed mostly to Haitians. Fearing persecution by the Haitians, the majority of Europeans fled, as did any creoles with the opportunity to do so. The corruption and incompetence of the Haitian occupation led to a successful revolt in 1844 and the restoration of Dominican independence . Haiti continued to loom as a threat, however, even after this expulsion.4 In the mid-1840s Dominican president Pedro Santana encouraged the French to consider a protectorate—an offer declined by Paris. Santana was even unable to gain full diplomatic recognition by the United States and Britain, France, and Spain, the three principal European states with holdings in the Caribbean, given the obvious weakness of the Dominican Republic and its vulnerability to a Haitian attack.5 Santana’s fears were prescient, as Haiti invaded again in early March 1849, leading to panic in the Dominican capital and entreaties to Britain and France to extend a protectorate. By late April 1849, the Dominicans , led by Santana in his triumphant return from retirement, had repelled the incursion. Santana used the prestige gained through this victory to seize power again, receiving the title “Liberator” from a grateful Dominican Congress and being confirmed as commander in chief of the army. The threat from neighboring Haiti continued, however, with sporadic fighting until 1855, when the two nations agreed to peace terms. Santana, apart from brief episodes in exile or disfavor, continued to dominate the political system. In 1859 he was 86 Spain and the American Civil War again elected to the presidency, for the third time in the short history of the Dominican Republic.6 In early 1859, as well, a new Haitian government committed itself to living at peace with the Dominican Republic, promising to end the warfare that had plagued Hispaniola since the western half successfully broke from Port au Prince in 1844. Despite these new conditions , Santana continued to seek a foreign benefactor and settled on Spain only after being rejected by France. The absolute penury...