Before being divided into two nations, which we now know as Haiti and the Dominican Republic, the island on which those two nations now reside was once known as Hispaniola. Dating back to over 3,000 B.C. Hispaniola was first settled by a group of people which called themselves the Taino. They migrated from South America to many of the other Caribbean islands as well causing them to have great influence in these areas. That is until 1492 when Spanish explorer Christopher Columbus sailed the ocean looking for India and Asia but instead he landed on the island of Hispaniola. Assuming that he was in India, he called the Tainos Indians.
Columbus explored the island of Hispaniola and was instantly fascinated by its people, their practices, and their way of life. Some of the inventions that were used in Europe, he was shocked to learn that the Taino knew nothing about, such as the wheel. He also observed that the Taino had several gold artifacts and treated gold as it had no real worth. Prompted by his great interest in the gold, he recounted what he had seen to Spain thereby causing Spain to permanently settle on one side of Hispaniola. The settlement was named Santo Domingo. This led to Spain capitalizing on the gold and natural resources in Santo Domingo. Also, Columbus exploited the Taino people and the land by making the Taino work as slaves mining for gold and other resources. The Europeans brought diseases with them to Santo Domingo, of which the Taino had never been exposed so they had no immunity to them. In addition, the Taino were not given much food, so they also had to battle starvation. Therefore they started dying in drastic numbers similar to a plague. According to Frank Pons, in the 1508 census out of the original 400,000 Taino people only 60,000 survived. As a solution to their dilemma, the Europeans resorted to transporting Africans to Hispaniola to work as slaves.
Soon after the French moved into Hispaniola and began creating settlements, causing conflict between France and Spain. This conflict was not settled until the Treaty of Ryswick which established the division of Hispaniola into two nations: the French controlled nation Saint Domingue (Haiti) and the Spanish controlled nation Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic).
Following the Haitian slave revolt against the French in 1791, Santo Domingo declared independent from Spain. The Haitian Government took advantage of this and ruled Santo Domingo for 21 years causing issues between both nations, according to Susan Haberle. In 1844, Santo Domingo overthrew the Haitian government and was finally free from foreign control.
In this popular account of the settlement of the Dominican Republic, the heroes and villains vary usually according to if it was from the perspective of a European, a Taino, or an unbiased person. Usually from a European perspective, the villains would be the “Indians” for trying to fight against the Spanish colonialists and the hero would be Christopher Columbus for “discovering” the island of Hispaniola. From the Taino perspective the villains would be the Europeans who came and took their land, spreading diseases, killing their people, and enslaving them and the Africans. The heroes would be Francisco Del Rosario Sanchez and Ramon Mella for overthrowing Haitian rule which led to it becoming a republic. It depends on how it is examined and interpreted. From what you have read why don’t you judge for yourself?
Haberle, Susan. (2004). Dominican Republic. Mankato, Minnesota: Capstone Press. Retrieved September 3, 2011, from http://books.google.com/books?id=BcnxYUHLMOUC&printsec=frontcover&dq=dominican+republic&hl=en&ei=j5xjTsTXJarW0QGxj8X8CQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CEIQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q&f=false
Pons Moya, Frank. (1998). The Dominican Republic: A National History. Princeton, New Jersey: Markus Wiener Publishers inc. Retrieved September 3, 2011, from http://books.google.com/books?id=8BfRF9B02kgC&printsec=frontcover&dq=dominican+republic&hl=en&ei=lJ1jTvKBDYG80AHH1JCOCg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CDsQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false
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