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In essence, Santo Domingo's history is the history of the Europeanization of the Americas. It is a history of conquest, revolution, and ultimately of the triumph of the human spirit.
The island of Hispaniola, which today is the home of both the Dominican Republic and the Republic of Haiti, was originally home to the Taino Indians. The Taino’s were ruled by a cacique (cheif) and an impressively complex central government system. When the Europeans first arrived on Hispaniola, headed by Christopher Columbus, in 1492, the Spanish overpowered the Taino government and civilization. Christopher Columbus’ brother, Bartholomew Columbus, officially founded the city of Santo Domingo on August 5, 1498. However, the city actually dates back to 1496, when the first Europeans settled in the area.
During its first 100 years, Santo Domingo served as the jumping off point for many expeditions to various other parts of the New World of the Spanish conquista. For example, the expeditions, which led to the conquest of Mexico by Cortés, and the European discovery of Puerto Rico by Ponce de Leon, both originated in Santo Domingo.
The first blow to the strength of Spanish control over Hispaniola came with the invasion of the island by the notorious British pirate, Francis Drake, in 1568. And the island was again invaded in 1655, this time by the French, who took control of the western side of the island, and reduced the area that was controlled by Santo Domingo to less than fifty percent. 1822 saw the Haitians take control of the entire island, forcing a struggle for independence on the Spanish controlled portion of the island. After 22 years of fighting, a group of rebels led by Juan Pablo Duarte , Francisco del Rosario Sánchez and Ramón Matías Mella, took back independence for the Spanish side of the island, and it officially became its own country, the Dominican Republic in 1844.
After the victory of gaining independence, there was a long period of time marked by power struggles within the Dominican Republic, as well as various Haitian incursions, which forced them to continue fighting to maintain their independence. Less than twenty years after gaining independence, the Spanish annexed the Dominican Republic in 1861. This annexation lasted four years, after which, the governance of the Dominican Republic continued to go through many changes in power, which included the thirty year Trujillo dictatorship and the 22 years of presidency of Joaquin Balaguer.
The 500th anniversary of the arrival of Columbus on Hispaniola came in 1992, when this monumental even was commemorated with the extremely controversial construction of the Columbus Lighthouse, which cost around over 300 million Dominican pesos.
Today, Santo Domingo is the largest city in the Dominican Republic, and the country’s capital. With over 2 million residents, today Santo Domingo manages to own its title of oldest European city in the Americans while still having all the convenience and progress of a modern city.
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