Complex sentence: The leader of the independence movement José Núñez de Cáceres, intended the Dominican nation to unite with the country of Gran Colombia, but no longer under Spain's custody the newly independent Dominicans were forcefully annexed by their more powerful neighbor Haiti in February 1822.
Split into simpler sentences: The leader of the independence movement José Núñez de Cáceres, intended the Dominican nation to unite with the country of Gran Colombia. However, once no longer under Spanish rule, the newly independent Dominicans were forcefully annexed by their more powerful neighbor Haiti in February 1822.