Dominican Republic and Haiti: Country Studies

Introduction
THE HISTORIES OF THE TWO countries on the island of
Hispaniola, the Dominican Republic and Haiti, have been
inextricably intertwined. However, despite their similarities in
some areas, they have important differences. The whole island,
the first Spanish settlement in the New World and named
Santo Domingo by Christopher Columbus in 1492, experienced
decimation of its indigenous Indian, primarily Taino,
population as a result of the Indians' treatment by colonial settlers.
African slaves were brought to both sides of the island as
early as the first part of the sixteenth century to supply the
needed labor force for sugar plantations. Spain ruled the
entire island until 1697, when, under the Treaty of Ryswick, it
ceded the western third of the island, which then became
known as Saint-Domingue, to France.
During the eighteenth century, important demographic differences
emerged. The population of Santo Domingo grew
rapidly as trade reforms occurred, and by 1790 the country had
some 100,000 people, roughly equal numbers of whites, free
coloreds, and slaves. In contrast, Saint-Domingue, the most
prosperous agricultural colony in the Western Hemisphere,
had some 30,000 whites, 27,000 freedmen, and 400,000 black
slaves. Differences in the economies of the two countries
affected the makeup of the population. Santo Domingo
engaged primarily in subsistence agriculture, requiring fewer
slaves, and Spanish legislation enabled slaves to buy their freedom
for relatively small sums. The result was a more egalitarian
society than that of Saint-Domingue, which featured a more
racially stratified population.
The resultant race-based tensions in Saint-Domingue, combined
with the influences of the French Revolution, led to a
struggle for independence from France that started in August
1791. The rebellion began as a slave uprising against whites
and developed into the Haitian Revolution, headed by such figures
as Toussaint Louverture. The uprising ultimately culminated
in Haiti's proclamation of independence in 1804.
Meanwhile, Spain, which had suffered setbacks on the European
continent and was unable to maintain its hold on Santo
Domingo, turned the area over to France in a peace treaty in
1795. Toussaint entered Santo Domingo in January 1801 and
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