Dominican Restoration Day commemorates the day of August 16, 1863 when “El grito de Capotillo” launched the Dominican War of Restoration.
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.
The island was the original center of indigenous Taíno culture.
In 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.
In 1822, Haitians occupied the entire island and slavery was abolished.
On February 27, 1844, Dominican patriots declared independence from Haiti. That is what we celebrate as Dominican Independence Day.
In 1861, the Dominican Republic was bankrupted by its leaders who finally gave up and gave the country back to Spain.
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 continues with periods of American 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.
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 who had just finished their Civil War.
¡Quisqueya!
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