History of the Dominican Republic
Channel: all the knowledge of the universe PRINCIPIA
Date: 2021-12-11

History of the Dominican Republic, by Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=8063 / CC BY SA 3.0

#History_of_the_Dominican_Republic
Arrival of Christopher Columbus, art by Dominican painter Luis Desangles.
The recorded history of the Dominican Republic began in 1492 when the Genoa-born navigator Christopher Columbus, working for the Crown of Castile,
happened upon a large island in the region of the western Atlantic Ocean that later came to be known as the Caribbean.
It was inhabited by the Taíno, an Arawakan people, who called the eastern part of the island Quisqueya （Kiskeya）, meaning "mother of all lands." Columbus promptly claimed the island for the Spanish Crown, naming it La Isla Española （"the Spanish Island"）, later Latinized to Hispaniola.
The Taínos were nearly wiped out due to European infectious diseases.
Other causes were abuse, suicide, the breakup of family, famine, the encomienda system, which resembled a feudal system in Medieval Europe, war with the Castilians, changes in lifestyle, and mixing with other peoples.
Laws passed for the Indians' protection （beginning with the Laws of Burgos, 1512–13） were never truly enforced.
What would become the Dominican Republic was the Spanish Captaincy General of Santo Domingo until 1821, except for a time as a French colony from 1795 to 1809.
It was then part of a unified Hispaniola with Haiti from 1822 until 1844.
In 1844, Dominican independence was proclaimed and the republic, which was often known as Santo Domingo until the early 20th century, maintained
its independence except for a short Spanish occupation from 1861 to 1865 and occupation by the United States from 1916 to 1924.
During the 19th century, Dominicans were often at war, fighting the French, Haitians, Spanish, or amongst themselves, resulting in a society heavily influenced by caudillos, who ruled the country as if it were their personal kingdom.
Between 1844 and 1914, the Dominican Republic had 53 presidents （of whom only 3 had complete...