History of the Dominican Republic

The Dominican Republic was first recognized as an independant nation in 1844 when a group of revolutionaries and outlaws basically beat the rulers of the island of Hispaniola, or better known as the Haitians. When the most famous Mr. Christopher Columbus first stumbled upon the island in 1492, he called it La Isla Española. They eventually changed the name to Santo Domingo, and quickly became the Spanish hub of the new found world. It gained popularity and rose to prominence so quickly because of its convenient  location in the ocean, right in the trade winds. France somehow got a hold on the western end of the island, and by the time 1795 rolled around, Spain just went ahead and deeded the entire island to France. By 1804,  African slaves on the part of the island known as Haiti, rebelled against the new French rulers and took over the whole island. This was a major undertaking for the captured slaves as they were often separated from their families and friends. French troops eventually stormed back onto the island, but were only able to capture back the western part. In 1838 a small group of  Dominican scholars from Santo Domingo,the popular city, devised a plan to form a  secret society. The purpose of the society ,La Trinitaria, was to basically overthrow the current rulers. The society was thought up and headed by Juan Pablo Duarte, who was the the son of a rich Dominican family. After the  rulers were overthrown, Pedro Santana, one of the members of the secret society and leaders of the Dominican revolution, became the first full on president of the now people led and people governed Dominican Republic.