Dominican Restoration Day commemorates “El grito de Capotillo” which launched the Dominican War of Restoration on August 16, 1863.
The Dominican Republic has had a long struggle to be Free
The island of Hispaniola, which is today shared by Haiti and the Dominican Republic, has had a long struggle to be free from foreign domination.
Taíno
The island was the original center of Indigenous Taíno culture.
Spanish
In December 1492, Christopher Columbus claimed the island for Spain. Spaniards destroyed the Taíno way of life and brought Africans as a slave workforce.
After French, British and Haitian invasions in the 1790s and early 1800s, Haiti gained its independence in 1804 and eastern Hispaniola became a Spanish colony again in 1809.
Haitian
In 1822, Haitians occupied the entire island and slavery was abolished.
Dominican Independence
On February 27, 1844, Dominican patriots declared independence from Haiti. That is what we celebrate as Dominican Independence Day.
Spanish
In 1861, the Dominican Republic was bankrupted by its leaders who finally gave up and gave the country back to Spain.
Dominican Restoration
On August 16, 1863 ~ El grito de Capotillo (the cry of Capotillo) marked the start of the Dominican War of Restoration.
The Dominican Republic finally became free in 1865 when the Spanish abandoned the colony.
The story continued with periods of U.S. domination, the Trujillo dictatorship, and a civil war.
The Fourth Dominican Republic has been more or less stable since 1966. We had to free ourselves from the Spanish, slavery, French, British, Haitians and Americans.
Once the nation becomes free, each of us as individuals is faced with an internal struggle to be free.
Dominican Restoration Day
On August 16, 1863, a group of Dominican patriots led by Santiago Rodríguez raided the border town of Dajabon and raised the Dominican flag on Capotillo Hill.
El grito de Capotillo (The Cry of Capotillo) was the trigger for the Dominican War of Restoration. The struggle between Dominican rebels and Spanish forces continued until 1865 when Spanish Queen Isabella II decided to abandon the colony to avoid facing the Americans of the United States who had just finished their Civil War.
¡Quisqueya!
