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132 7 Dominican Spanish in the United States Introduction From the early twentieth century until very recently, the largest Spanish-speaking group in the New York City urban area was Puerto Ricans—first those born on the island, and then those born and raised in the mainland United States. In the last decade or so, the Dominican Republic has replaced Puerto Rico as the source of the largest number of New York City’s Spanish speakers (although individuals of Puerto Rican origin still outnumber Dominicans), and varieties of Dominican Spanish are increasingly becoming part of New York Spanish, as well as that of other urban areas of the Northeast. Dominican Spanish shares similarities with the Spanish of its Antillean neighbors, particularly Puerto Rico. The linguistic development of the Dominican Republic is linked to the history of Santo Domingo, which was rapidly transformed from Spain’s front door to the New World into a colonial backwater.1 The island of Española was visited by Columbus on his first voyage, and he left a small settlement on the north coast. When he returned to La Navidad on his second voyage, all the inhabitants had perished. Columbus had brought nearly a thousand settlers on his second trip, and he founded the village of Isabela farther to the east, leaving his brother Bartolomeo in charge. Hostile attacks from native Taínos and internal dissent ravaged the colony, and Bartolomeo was led to found Nueva Isabela, later renamed Santo Domingo, on the island’s south coast. As had been the case in Puerto Rico, the Dominican gold deposits were soon exhausted, and the discovery of fabulous wealth in Mexico and Peru enticed colonists away from the Antilles. As Spanish interest in Española declined, so did the colony’s economic situation, and the competition of the French and the English for the western part of the island caused additional difficulties. During the course of the eighteenth century, Spain sent large numbers of settlers from the Canary Islands to hold the line against French incursions. The significant proportion of Canary Islanders in rural western regions and also in the capital city may in particular account for some of the features of Dominican Spanish. The French eventually prevailed at the western end of the island, establishing the wealthy colony of Saint Domingue, whose economy was exclusively based on sugar cultivation, and where African slaves represented as much as 90% of the total population. African slavery was also important in Spanish Santo Domingo, although slaves were found in lesser numbers than in the French colony.2 The sugar plantation boom that affected Cuba and Puerto Rico at the beginning of the nineteenth century was less important in Santo Domingo, because the effects of the Haitian revolt were too close at hand, and there was a natural reluctance to duplicate a system that had just been overthrown in the neighboring colony. Nor were these fears unfounded, for only a few years after the Haitian revolution, the Haitian general Toussaint L’Ouverture invaded and conquered the Spanish colony. Napoleon subsequently sent his own army, under Leclerc, to overcome the Haitians, but Santo Domingo remained under French control until 1809, when the French were driven out with British assistance. With the Dominican declaration of independence in 1821 came the aid of the Haitian president Jean-Pierre Boyer, but Haiti ended up occupying and controlling the future Dominican Republic from 1822 to 1844. The Dominican forces finally revolted in 1844, and after fierce fighting the Dominican Republic came into existence. Since that time, Haiti and the Dominican Republic have shared a history of invasions, counterinvasions , and mutual hostilities.3 Over the years, Dominican leaders tried to annex their nation to Spain and to the United States. De facto return to Spanish control was accomplished in 1861, and for four years the Dominican Republic was a protectorate of Spain, flooded with Spanish settlers and subject to the economic exigencies of the former colonial power. Yet another war was required to bring the second Spanish domination to a close, but even this did not end the problems. The Dominican Republic was under virtual U.S. control from 1899 to 1916 as the result of a disintegrating political and financial situation, and it was actually occupied by United States military forces from 1916 to 1924. Since that time, the Dominican economy has revolved around DOMINICAN SPANISH IN THE UNITED STATES 133 [3.142.199.138] Project MUSE (2024-04-19 16:13...

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