Dominican Republic and Haiti: Country Studies

Dominican Republic and Haiti: Country Studies
rule. As a result, he resigned the captaincy general in January
1862.
Resentment and rebellion continued, fed by racial tension,
excessive taxation, the failure to stabilize the currency, the
uncompensated requisition of supplies by the Spanish army,
heavy-handed reform of local religious customs by an inflexible
Spanish archbishop, and the restriction of trade to the benefit
of the Spanish metropolis. The Spaniards quelled more uprisings
in 1863, but guerrilla actions continued. In response to
the continuing unrest, a state of siege was declared in Februarv
1863.
Rebellious Dominicans set up a provisional government in
Santiago, headed by General Jose Antonio Salcedo, on September
14, 1863. Their proclamation of an Act of Independence
launched what is known as the War of Restoration. For their
part, the Spanish once again turned to Santana, who received
command of a force made up largely of mercenaries. However,
by this time, his popularity had all but disappeared. Indeed, the
provisional government had denounced Santana and condemned
him to death for his actions against his countrymen.
On June 14, 1864, a broken and despondent Santana saved the
rebels the trouble of carrying out their sentence by dying (or,
unproven speculation asserts, by committing suicide).
Meanwhile, the guerrilla war against the Spanish continued.
The rebels further formalized their provisional rule by replacing
Salcedo (who had advocated the return of Baez to rule a
restored republic), and then holding a national convention on
February 27, 1865, which enacted a new constitution and
elected Pedro Antonio Pimentel Chamorro president.
Several circumstances began to favor a Spanish withdrawal.
One was the conclusion of the Civil War in the United States,
which promised new efforts by Washington to enforce the
Monroe Doctrine. Another was that the Spanish military
forces, unable to contain the spread of the insurrection, were
losing even greater numbers of troops to disease. The O'Donnell
government had fallen, taking with it any dreams of a
renewed Spanish empire. On March 3, 1865, the queen of
Spain approved a decree repealing the annexation of Santo
Do-mingo, and by July all Spanish soldiers had left the island.
The Contest for Power, 1 865-82
The Spanish left both economic devastation and political
chaos in their wake. In the period from 1865 to 1879, there
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