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February 27th is Dominican Independence Day!

Side Note: Mi tierra bella! As it turns out, today, February 27th is independence day or as we call it Dia de Independencia in my home country of the Dominican Republic so I wanted to share this article with you all on a few of the many things that makes today special to us. Coming from a beautiful little pueblo called Villarosa in La Vega, Dominican Republic I was fortunate enough to live through many of the cultural traditions that distinguish this little island and makes me proud to come from there the more I learn about it. The gorgeous mountain rivers I used to visit with family to spend the day in and still do, the dreamy beaches, the amazing food that will have your taste buds clamoring for more, drinking with family and friends on the weekend celebrating life on a weekly basis.

And let’s not forget the awesome “Carnaval” that many folks from around the world come to see, which coincidentally is what my dad is in the business of. He sells the needed fabrics to the teams who go out and dance in the streets of D.R. and show the beautiful colors for the residents of the world to enjoy and I welcome anyone to come see for themselves as it is a definite treat. These are just a few of the aspects that come to mind when I remember my little country and it brings me great honor to share this with you all today.

Article by Paola Marte

Today, the Dominican Republic celebrates its 168 years of Independence! The Dominican Republic, is a country which has, from the beginning fought for its freedom – having been colonized by Spain as well as been invaded by French and Haitian troops, so here we bring you the fascinating history of the Dominican Republic, Dominican Independence Day, as well as Dominican cultures and traditions celebrated on this very special day.

The 27th of February 1844 is the date when Dominican’s obtained their Independence and were finally called the Dominican Republic. After many years of being a Spanish colony and then being occupied by our fellow Haitians, it was in 1844 when our Founding Father, Juan Pablo Duarte, created a secret society named “La Trinitaria” in which, along with other leaders Francisco del Rosario Sánchez and Matías Ramón Mella he fought against the Haitian repression to gain Independence. See below for the full history of Dominican oppression and independence!

Meaning of “Dominican”

The word “Dominican” has a meaning beyond the one of being born in the Dominican Republic… it actually means “God’s sons.” According to our history, this name is given to us after a group of religious educators, who arrived on the island of “La Hispañola” when we were still a Spanish colony.

Colors of the Dominican flag

Our Dominican flag represents our Independence.. the first Dominican flag was designed and created by María Trinidad Sánchez, Sánchez’s aunt, where she included blue, representing God’s blessings over our nation, red representing our liberators’ blood and the white cross symbolizing our Independence as an inheritance from those who fought for our freedom.

Fight for freedom! A short history of the Dominican Republic

After Christopher Columbus arrived in 1492, a point when many cultures clashed during the Spanish colonization of “La Hispañola” island, as he called it, the Dominican Republic then became a battle zone where French, Spanish and Haitian troops fought for our land.

Soon after, Spain suddenly became uninterested and left the Dominican Republic – after gold was found in México and other areas in America, but the land was soon invaded by French troops and affected by the Haitian Revolution; events which revolutionized the course of our history. After the reconciliation between slaves and French men, the Spanish troops were defeated by forces led by General Toussaint Louverture, and it was in 1795 when France took over the island, with the abolition of slavery proclaimed by Louverture in Santo Domingo.

When the French forces returned to France after several years, the Haitians then invaded the towns of Santiago and Moca causing not only many deaths, but quite a dislike from residents from the Eastern part of the island, since they were forced to give up their language, culture and beliefs, adapt and become French speaking country.

Of course, the situation wouldn’t last for ever… in 1838 a man named Juan Pablo Duarte who was born in Santo Domingo and founded a secret society named “La Trinitaria” and along with his good friends Matías Ramón Mella and Francisco del Rosario Sánchez, secretly planned on putting an end to Haitian repression. How?

In 1843 they joined a Haitian movement to defeat Boyer (the French leader), after which they were exiled and imprisoned in Puerto Príncipe by the new Haitian President, Charles Riviere-Hérard, since he feared their revolutionary ideas of independence. However after an attack produced by Haitians, Charles definitely needed the help of “La Trinitaria” and they were then released.

Meanwhile, Buenaventura Báez, who was a wood exporter and also Deputy at the Haitian’s National Assembly, was negociating with France a way of establishing French forces in order to protect the Haitian Government from rebels – and since Duarte, Mella and Sánchez knew about this event, on the 27th of February 1844 they immediately declared their Independence from Haiti! You may ask how?…

The canon shot by Matías Ramón Mella on the night of the 27th of February 1844 at the “Puerta del Conde” (now famous for this event) was the official declaration of the Dominican war of Independence, which was supported by Pedro Santana (who became the Dominican Republic’s first President) along with hundreds of his workers and residents from Santo Domingo. To cries of “Dios, Patria y Libertad” (God, Homeland and Freedom), the Dominican flag was raised for the first time at the “Puerta del Conde” and the Haitian forces were confronted – causing the, to retreat and meaning that the Dominicans were finally free!!

Although Haiti tried to invade on several other ocassions, the Dominican Republic maintained its Independence for 17 more years, thanks to Pedro Santana’s bright idea of handing the power back to Spain – but that’s a different story!

Head on over to the rest of the informative article to get some details on Francisco del Rosario Sánchez, Juan Pablo Duarte and Matías Ramón Mella also known as La Trinitaria

As a freebie, here’s a pic from last year of me donning one of the multicolored suits or Diablos they wear as a yearly tradition in the Dominican carnaval:

Happy Dominican Independence Day :D !