Research Question: To what extent did the Dominican Republic and Haiti’s independence and colonial period contribute to their different trajectories?
In the year 1942, Christopher Columbus set off on a journey through the Atlantic Ocean and landed on an island shared between two countries. He named the island Hispaniola, marking the beginning of European colonization and forever altering the way that people live. The Dominican Republic and Haiti have shared the same island for hundreds of years, but a border stands between them. Throughout history, they have shared similar experiences, such as the colonization by European countries and the enslavement of their people. However, after their independence, Haiti and the Dominican Republic would inhabit different economic and political realities. For example, some people consider Haiti a failed country but the Dominican Republic a success. Politically, the president of Haiti, Jovenel Moise was assassinated on July 7, 2021. Some police claim it was a group of mercenaries, while others remain in doubt. Economically, according to “Haiti vs. the Dominican Republic” by Noah Smith, “today, the D.R., by some measures is eight times as rich as Haiti, while Haiti’s standard of living hasn’t advanced at all since 1950.” This embarks the question: to what extent did the Dominican Republic and Haiti’s independence and colonial period contribute to their different trajectories? In this essay, I answered this question by comparing the Dominican Republic and Haiti’s independence and colonial period, before reaching their slave system, economic growth, and education system.
Haiti Colonial Period and Independence
Before Haiti’s 300-year colonial period, it was known as Saint-Domingue. The French acquired power in Saint-Domingue through the Treaty of Rijswijk, which stated that Spain had to give France the western side of the Hispaniola island. The French governed Saint-Domingue and turned this country into one of the wealthiest colonies in the world, as the French sold its resources that were wanted by the Europeans. During the colonial period, “Saint-Domingue produced roughly 40 percent of the sugar and 60 percent of the coffee imported to Europe,” (The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation ND). The economy was based nearly entirely on plantation production, as the French obtained and brought enslaved Africans to Saint-Domingue via the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade. According to the same article, French owners imported about 800,000 Africans to Saint-Domingue, twice the number of slaves shipped to the Western Hemisphere. On top of this, the slavery institution embedded in Saint-Domingue was one of the most violent systems, where slaves had low survival rates.
Additionally, the slaves were treated horribly by their slave owners and worked for long hours without rest. Many also died from diseases such as smallpox. After years of receiving horrible treatment by the French, a victorious slave rebellion led to the independence of Haiti from the French through the help of a former slave named Toussaint Louverture. Louverture gathered a group of people who assisted him in successfully removing the Spaniards from the island of Saint-Domingue and then declared himself the leader. Sadly, he was captured by the French, and a new leader rose: Jean-Jacques Dessalines. He proclaimed Saint-Domingue independent from the French after they attempted to gain control again and removed their forces in 1804. Later, the country renamed itself, Saint Domingue, to Haiti. Haiti became the only country to successfully gain independence through the uprising of slaves. The way the Dominican Republic became independent was nowhere near the same, but more will be discussed later.
Haiti was the first Black Republic to gain independence through a successful slave rebellion and was the first nation to ban slavery. They obtained their independence from France in 1804 and were forced to pay France billions of dollars for their freedom. The French could no longer make money out of the slaves, and Haiti had to pay France in exchange for being recognized as free. However, since Haiti did not have enough money to pay back France, they were obligated to take out loans from French banks. This was known as the double debt. The French cold-hearted punished Haiti for winning its liberty and created a double debt as another form of slavery, as approximately half of Haiti’s income was sent to France (Rosalsky 2021). The article “The Root of Haiti’s Misery: Reparations to Enslavers” states that Haitians paid about $560 million in present-day dollars. Researchers also claim that double debt is one of the main reasons why Haiti is underdeveloped, as “for generations after independence, Haitians were forced for pay the descendants of their former slave masters” (Porter et al. 2022).” This contributes to Haiti’s poor economic status and the present political and economic conditions that separate Haiti from the Dominican Republic.
The Dominican Republic Colonial Period and Independence
The Dominican Republic was first named Santo Domingo under Spanish Rule. The colonialization period of Santo Domingo started when Christopher Columbus encountered the island of Hispaniola in 1492. During this period, a group of indigenous people named Taíno lived here. However, according to “Discovery May Be Site of Massacre by Conquistadors” by Thomas H. Maugh II, the “Spanish […] killed as many as 7,000 of Taino inhabitants” (Maugh II, 1997). One of the main reasons the Spanish inhabited Santo Domingo was because word spread of its wealth and gold. However, the Spanish later realized that they did not find or acquire as much gold as they expected. Instead of leaving, they stayed because they saw Santo Domingo as a place where the Spanish could become wealthy. This led to them embedding slavery as a form of productivity. Although there was slavery in Santo Domingo, it was not heavy implemented as Haiti.
Santo Domingo has a long history of French, Spanish, and Haitian Rule trying to take control of the country. According to the book “Haiti and the Dominican Republic” by Rayford Logan, Santo Domingo began organizing plans for liberation under the rule of Haiti when a man named Juan Pablo Duarte formed a secret revolutionary society called La Trinitaria. Duarte gathered a group of supporters, but they were not strong enough to defeat Haiti. However, another group of revolutionaries was successful in removing the Haitian soldiers from their island and acquiring Santo Domingo’s independence from Haiti’s rule in 1844. It also renamed itself the Dominican Republic. The people of the Dominican Republic were free for only some years until the Spanish took over in 1861. There is insufficient information regarding how the Dominican Republic gained independence from the Spaniards. However, the conclusion is that the Spaniards left voluntarily because they accepted their defeat. During the era of imperialism from [date] to [date], Spain was in control of Puerto Rico, Cuba, and the Dominican Republic. The United States at the time was growing in power and became a threat to the Spanish, which later led to the Spanish losing control of the colonies it dominated, including the Dominican Republic. This led to the country gaining its second and last independence in 1865.
Haiti and Dominican Republic’s storylines of how they became independent are entirely different. One was obtained through the rebellion of slaves, and the other twice in two distinct manners. The primary difference between Haiti and the Dominican Republic is that the Dominican Republic never paid reparations to any European country. While Haitians were paying the French for generations after its independence, the Dominican Republic did not pay Haiti or the Spanish. This allowed the Dominican Republic to prosper and develop as a nation while Haiti became in debt.
What is different between the Dominican Republic and Haiti? What was the impact?
Haiti’s slavery system was built based on race and color. According to a book called “Haiti in the World Economy: Class, Race, and Undeveloped Since 1700” by Alex Dupuy, a group of people called the grand blancs was known as the merchant bourgeoisie, lawyers, or colonial representatives of the French state. They owned the majority of the land and slaves in Haiti. The slaves worked as laborers in the plantations and were domestic servants. In addition, white folk dominated over all blacks, even the ones who were free, and they believed that blacks did not have the same mentality as them. Because of this, white people rationalized the enslavement of blacks. There was another group of people called mulattoes, which were those who were born from one black and one white parent. According to Dupuy, mulattoes were known for treating their slaves worse than white masters. Thus, demonstrating how Haiti’s structure of slavery was a hierarchy.
In comparison to Haiti’s slave system, the Dominican Republic had the encomendero system. According to the article “The Encomienda System and Forced Indigenous Labor in the Spanish Empire,” “the encomienda was a system where Spanish adventurers and settlers were granted the legal right to extract forced labour from indigenous tribal chiefs in the Americas colonies of the Spanish Empire” (Cartwright, 2022). The slaves were used for gold exploitation because Spain was more interested in gold than sugar and cotton. In addition, due to all the exports of African slaves to the Dominican Republic, there were more black people than white. Another system in place was called the hatera economy, which was when slaves divided their time in half. One part was to benefit their masters, and the other half was to earn money to buy their liberty (Andujar, 2012). Unlike Haiti, in the Dominican Republic, slavery was not as dominant because the Spanish cared more for farm animals and gold, which did not require as many slaves. When Haiti gained independence, slavery was abolished, but in the Dominican Republic, there were many cycles of slavery. Even when a new regime took over, slavery remained instituted until the Domincan Republica gained their final independence from the Spanish in 1865. For example, when the president of Haiti, Louverture, ruled over the Dominican Republic. for a short period, he did not eliminate slavery even though all former slaves were freed in his country. Thus, by comparing and contrasting the Dominican Republic and Haiti’s experience with slavery, I can conclude that this did not play a major role in their different destinies. Rather, independence paid a larger role.
The economy of Haiti once flourished because of the plantation system that the French embedded in Haiti’s economy. The slave trade in Haiti was considered to be one of the worst in the world. For example, according to an article called “Haiti: a long descent to hell,” “conditions for these men and women were atrocious; the average life expectancy for a slave on [in] Haiti was 21 years. [The] abuse was dreadful” (Henley, 2010). One could only imagine the horrors that the slaves experienced. However, it helped the economy immensely—specifically, the French and the elites of Haiti. After Haiti gained independence, slavery was abolished, which was its main source of income. This has become one of the main reasons present-day Haiti is known as one of the poorest countries in the world. The government has not had and currently does not have enough money to improve its educational system and/or medical care system. Furthermore, during the time of natural disasters, the country does not have enough resources to help its citizens during preparation or after the disaster has occurred. Hence, since Haiti’s economy is one of the worst, it had become extremely difficult for the country to progress as a whole.
On the other hand, the Dominican Republic has had economic growth since its independence. For example, during the dictatorship presidency of General Rafael Leonidas Trujillo, he invested his country’s money into infrastructure. Trujillo was an oppressive dictator who governed the country through terror and violence. Families were forced to have pictures of him in their houses, and students were taught about him in school (Chicago Public Library Foundation, 2004). In addition, Trujillo acquired money for improvement through the national sugar industry. The United States was also involved in the Dominican Republic from 1916 to 1924, which benefited them. According to the article “Growth and Structure of the Economy,” American “presence helped stabilize Dominican finances and greatly improved the physical infrastructure, as roads, sanitation systems, ports, and schools were built” (U.S. Library of Congress ND). This allowed the government of the Dominican Republic to invest its money and resources to improve not only economically but socially with health care and education systems. However, in the present day where the Dominican Republic has been able to thrive economically, there iss still income inequality. For instance, “Dominican Republic Economy” states that “the poorest half of the population receives less than one-fifth of GDP, while the richest 10% enjoys nearly 40% of GDP ” (Country Reports ND). Similar to Haiti, there are high rates of poverty and unemployment. Although the economic advancement between Haiti and the Dominican Republic has been different, they remain facing the same challenges.
Another aspect to take into consideration is Haiti’s education system compared to the Dominican Republic. As mentioned previously, Haiti’s economic crisis has become one of the obstacles to why education is limited and has not improved. It is difficult to construct and hire teachers if there is not enough money, especially in the government. The majority of the schools that Haiti offers parents are private and require the payment of tuition (The World Bank, 2015). This minimizes access to education to only those who have money and can afford it, which then leaves behind families who cannot pay. This increases the percentage of illiteracy in Haiti since the majority of the population is poor. Many have claimed that the French are the reason why Haiti has not had the chance to develop as a country. By Haiti paying back reparations after gaining its independence for many generations, it can be concluded that these fees later impacted their future, such as making sure that future children have access to free education.
On the contrary, the Dominican Republic has had the privilege of creating a form of education that includes primary and secondary school. The oldest university in the New World was also built in this country by the Spanish. In addition, according to the article “Education in the Dominican Republic” by Cassie Lipp, “some of the issues […] include overcrowded classrooms, poor-quality facilities, and outdated curriculum” (Lipp, 2017). This demonstrates that, although the Dominican Republic has built schools, it has not been the best quality and improvement is crucial. However, the SDG Country Profile states that “the completion rate of lower secondary education increased from 71.5% in 2000 to 94.1% in 2018.” This benefits the Dominican Republic because it leads to students applying to colleges and universities to better their futures. Not only this, but it eventually improves the economy as well since students will graduate and register for jobs, decreasing the percentage of unemployment in the country and increasing the gross domestic product (GDP). Increasing the GDP shows that the economy of a country is rising. Although this may be an improvement, according to the same article by Lipp, “teachers are paid so little that instructors cannot earn a living to support themselves or their families.” This has continued to be a problem in the Dominican Republic since the 1960s and it has yet to be resolved. It can be stated that independence played a role in Haiti’s development, but this does not apply to the Dominican Republic. The Dominican Republic did not pay the Spanish after becoming a liberated country. It can be inferred that the government of the Dominican Republic is not using its resources to improve the educational system nor has made it its main priority over the past years.
In conclusion, Haiti and the Dominican Republic were both colonized and conquered by European countries for years. Many factors have contributed to why Haiti and the Dominican Republic are different, but by looking at their early periods in history, I can conclude that independence played a noticeable role. The colonial periods did not influence their fate but rather their independence era. The whom they fought against to win freedom is the most significant aspect. Only one can imagine how different Haiti and the Dominican Republic would be in the present day if the roles were reversed.
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