Dominican War of Independence The Dominican Independence War gave the Dominican Republic freedom from Haiti in 1844 . Before the war , the whole island of Hispaniola had been united under Haitian rule for a period of 22 years when Haiti occupied the independent state of Spanish Haiti in 1822 . After the struggles that were made by Dominican patriots to free the country from Haitian control , they had to withstand and fight against a series of incursions that served to consolidate their independence ( 1844 - 1856 ) . After the war Haitian soldiers would make incessant attacks to try to gain back control of the nation , but these efforts were to no avail , as the Dominicans would go on to win every battle . Background . At the beginning of the 1800s , the colony of Santo Domingo , which had once been the headquarters of Spanish power in the New World historically was in its worst decline . Spain was during this time embroiled in the Peninsular War in Europe , and the various wars to maintain control of the American mainland , this is recalled by Dominicans as the España Boba era . The population of the Spanish colony stood at approximately 80 , 000 with the vast majority being of European descendants and mulattos . Santo Domingo ' s plantation economy never truly flourished , because of this the black slave population had been significantly lower than that of the neighboring Saint - Domingue , which was nearing a million slaves before the Haitian Revolution . During this period in time the Spanish crown wielded little to no influence in the colony of Santo Domingo . Some wealthy cattle ranchers had become leaders , and sought to bring control and order in the southeast of the colony where the " law of machete " ruled for a while . On November 9 , 1821 the former Captain general in charge of the colony , José Núñez de Cáceres , influenced by all the Revolutions that were going on around him , finally decided to overthrow the Spanish government and declared independence from Spanish rule , and thus the short - lived nation of " Spanish Haiti " was founded . Unification of the island . A group of politicians and military officers among the Dominican elite had expressed interested in uniting the entire island , while they sought for political stability and support under Haiti , which at the time was still seen as having a great deal of wealth and power ( Haiti had been by far the richest colony in the western hemisphere and was known as the " Pearl of the Antilles " ) . Haiti ' s president , Jean Pierre Boyer , promised his full protection and support to the frontier governors , and thus he ceremoniously entered the country with around 10 , 000 soldiers in February 1822 , after most of the cities and towns proclaimed their allegiance to the Republic of Haiti between November 1821 and January 1822 , including Puerto Plata ( December 13 , 1821 ) and Santiago ( December 29 , 1821 ) . On February 9 , 1822 , Boyer formally entered the capital city , Santo Domingo , where he was met with enthusiasm and received by Núñez who offered to him the keys of the Palace . Boyer rejected the offer , while saying : " I have not come into this city as a conqueror but by the will of its inhabitants " . The island was thus united from " Cape Tiburon to Cape Samana in possession of one government . " Eventually the Haitian government became extremely unpopular throughout the country . The Dominican population grew increasingly impatient with Haiti ' s poor management and perceived incompetence , and the heavy taxation that was imposed on their side . The country was hit with a severe economic crisis after having to pay a huge indemnity to France , this would give rise to many anti - Haitian plots . Resistance . In 1838 Juan Pablo Duarte , an educated nationalist , founded a resistance movement called " La Trinitaria " ( " The Trinity " ) along with Matías Ramón Mella and Francisco del Rosario Sánchez . It was so named because its original nine members had organized themselves into cells of three . The cells went on to recruit as separate organizations , maintaining strict secrecy , with little or no direct contact among themselves , in order to minimize the possibility of detection by the Haitian authorities . Many recruits quickly came to the group , but it was discovered and forced to change its name to " La Filantrópica " ( " The Philanthropic " , in Spanish ) , and continued agitating against the Haitians . In 1843 the revolution made a breakthrough : they worked with a liberal Haitian party that overthrew President Jean Pierre Boyer . However , the " Trinitarios " < nowiki > ' < / nowiki > work in the overthrow gained the attention of Boyer ' s replacement , Charles Riviere - Hérard . Rivière - Hérard imprisoned some Trinitarios and forced Duarte to leave the island . While gone , Duarte searched for support in Colombia and Venezuela , but was unsuccessful . In December 1843 , the rebels told Duarte to return since they had to act quickly because they were afraid the Haitians had learned of their insurrection plans . When Duarte had not returned by February ( because of illness ) , the rebels decided to take action anyway with the leadership of Francisco del Rosario Sánchez , Ramón Matías Mella , and by Pedro Santana , a wealthy cattle - rancher from El Seibo who commanded a private army of peons who worked on his estates . Independence . On February 27 , 1844 , thereafter celebrated as Dominican Independence Day , the rebels seized the Ozama Fortress in the capital . The Haitian garrison , taken by surprise and apparently betrayed by at least one of its sentries , retired in disarray . Within two days , all Haitian officials had left Santo Domingo . Mella headed the provisional governing junta of the new Dominican Republic . On March 14 , Duarte finally returned after recovering from his illness and was greeted in celebration . For years , Santana ' s military forces continued to defend the Republic against all the Haitian attacks , defeating them in the battles of March 19 , March 30 , El Memiso , and at Puerto Tortuguero . In early July 1844 , Duarte was urged by his followers to take the title of President of the Republic . Duarte agreed , but only if free elections were arranged . However , Santana ' s forces took Santo Domingo on July 12 , 1844 , and they declared Santana ruler of the Dominican Republic . Santana then put Mella , Duarte , and Sánchez in jail . On November 6 , 1844 a constituent assembly drafted a constitution , based on the Haitian and United States models , which established separation of powers and legislative checks on the executive . However , Santana included in it Article 210 , which granted him unlimited power during the current war against Haiti . The war continued throughout September and November 1845 being the Haitians defeated at Estrelleta and Beler . Santana remained as President until 1848 , when he lost the election , only to seize power by a coup d ' état the year after , when the Haitian President Faustin Soulouque attacked and was defeated at El Número and at Las Carreras .