Online Encyclopedia

Search over 40,000 articles from the original, classic Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition.

SANTO DOMINGO [SAN DOMINGO, DOMINICAN...

Online Encyclopedia
Originally appearing in Volume V24, Page 195 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
» Make a correction to this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Spread the word: del.icio.us del.icio.us it!

SANTO DOMINGO [See also:

SAN DOMINGO, DOMINICAN See also:REPUBLIC, or officially REPUBLICA DoMINICANA] , a See also:state in the See also:West Indies. It occupies two-thirds of the See also:island of See also:Haiti (q.v.) and has an See also:area of about 18,045 sq. m. The See also:administration is in the hands of three co-See also:ordinate " See also:powers "—the executive, the legislative and the judicial. Under the constitution of 1844, modified in 1879, 188o, 1881, 1887, 1896, and 1908, the See also:president is the See also:head of the executive. He is chosen by an electoral See also:college and serves for six years, and he is assisted by a See also:cabinet of seven ministers. The legislature, called the See also:National See also:Congress, consists of a See also:Senate of 12 members, and a Chamber of Deputies of 24 members elected for four years by a limited See also:suffrage. The Supreme See also:Court comprises a See also:chief-See also:justice, six justices appointed by the Congress, and one justice appointed by the president. The republic is divided into six provinces and six maritime districts. Each See also:province and See also:district is administered by a See also:governor appointed by the Cabinet. There is a small See also:army, most of which is stationed at the See also:City of Santo Domingo, and military service is compulsory in the event of See also:foreign See also:war. The See also:navy consists of one small See also:gun-See also:boat. See also:Primary See also:education is See also:free and compulsory: elementary See also:schools are supported largely by the See also:local authorities, and the higher, technical and normal schools by the See also:government.

There is a professional school with the See also:

character and functions of a university. The See also:Roman See also:Catholic is the state See also:religion, but all others are allowed under certain restrictions. The monetary unit is a See also:silver See also:coin of the value of a See also:franc, called the dominicano, but in 1897 the See also:United States See also:gold See also:dollar was adopted as the See also:standard of value. The roads in the interior are See also:primitive, but the government encourages the construction of See also:railways. A See also:line runs between See also:Sanchez and La See also:Vega, and another between See also:Santiago and See also:Porto See also:Plata. The republic joined the Postal See also:Union in 1880. The exports include See also:tobacco, See also:coffee, cacao, See also:sugar, See also:mahogany, Iogwood, See also:cedar, satinwood, hides, See also:honey, See also:gum and See also:wax. The collection of the customs and other revenues specially assigned to the securance of bonds was in the hands of an See also:American See also:company until 1899, when this defaulted in the See also:payment of See also:interest and the government took over the collection. In 1905, to forestall foreign intervention for securing payment of the State See also:debt, President See also:Roosevelt made an agreement with Santo Domingo, under which the United States undertook to adjust the republic's foreign obligations, and to assume See also:charge of the customs houses. A treaty was ratified by the United States Senate in 1907, and an American See also:citizen is temporarily See also:receiver of customs. In See also:June 1907 the debts amounted to $17:00o,000. Santo Domingo has the finest sugar lands in the West Indies; tobacco and cacao flourish; the See also:mountain regions are especially suited to the culture of coffee, and tropical fruits will grow any-where with a minimum of See also:attention.

During the earlier years of the See also:

Spanish occupation gold to the See also:valve of £9o,000 was sent annually to See also:Spain, besides much silver. See also:Platinum, See also:manganese, See also:iron, See also:copper, See also:tin, See also:antimony, opals and See also:chalcedony are also found. In the Neyba valley there are two remarkable hills, composed of pure See also:rock See also:salt. Only an influx of See also:capital and an energetic See also:population are needed to develop these resources. Santo Domingo, the capital of the republic, is situated on the See also:south See also:coast. At a distance of 45 m. N. lies the See also:town of Azua (pop. 1500) founded in 1504 by Diego See also:Columbus. It stands in a See also:plain, See also:rich in salt and See also:asphalt, which was the See also:scene of the first planting of sugar in the West Indies. Santiago (pop. 12,000), the capital of the Vega Real, stands on the See also:banks of the Yaqui See also:river, 16o m. N.W. of the capital, in the richest agricultural district in the state.

It controls the tobacco See also:

trade which is chiefly in See also:German and Dutch hands. Its See also:port, Porto Plata (pop. 15;000), is the outlet of the.entire Vega Real district. La Vega, perhaps the most beautiful city of Santo Domingo, lies in the midst of a lovely See also:savanna, or plain, surrounded by well-wooded hills, and has a magnificent old See also:cathedral: Six See also:miles away is the Cerro Santo, a See also:hill 787 ft. in height, rising abruptly from the plain, on the See also:summit of which Columbus planted a See also:great See also:cross on his first visit in 1493. Seybo (5000), Monti Cristi (3000) and Samana (i5oo) are the only other towns of any See also:size. The population of the republic is about 500,000. The See also:people are mainly mulattoes of Spanish descent, but there are a considerable number of negroes and whites of both See also:Creole and See also:European origin. Politically the whites have the predominating See also:influence. The people, on the whole, are quiet, lazy and shiftless, but subject at times to great See also:political excitement. They are Spanish in their mode of See also:life and habits of thought. Spanish too is the See also:common See also:language, though both See also:French and See also:English are spoken in the towns. See also:History.—After the downfall of See also:Toussaint 1'Ouverture (see HAITI) there followed the See also:initiation of the See also:black Haitian See also:Empire under See also:Jean Jacques Dessalines in 1803.

Spain, however, established herself anew on the eastern end of the island in 18o6, Haiti remaining See also:

independent. Santo Domingo continued thus a Spanish See also:possession until 1821, when, under the authority and See also:flag of See also:Colombia, a republic was proclaimed, and the Spaniards withdrew. In the following See also:year the Haitian president See also:Boyer invaded Santo Domingo, joined it to Haiti and ruled the entire island till his fall in 1843. The Spanish See also:part of the island again became independent of Haiti in 1844, when the Dominican Republic was founded, and since that See also:time the two political divisions have been maintained, and their respective inhabitants have grown more and more estranged. The earlier years of the new republic were marked by the struggles between Pedro Santana and See also:Buenaventura Baez, who with the exception of a few months under Jiminez, occupied the See also:presidency in turn until 1861. In that year Santana, with the consent of the people, proclaimed the See also:annexation of Santo Domingo by Spain. The Spaniards, however, did not See also:long enjoy their See also:sovereignty, for the harshness of their See also:rule provoked a successful revolution under Jose Maria Cabral in 1864; and in the following year they withdrew all claim to the See also:country. Baez was again chosen president, but was driven out by Cabral after a year of See also:power. From 1868 to 1873 Baez was once again in See also:office, and during this See also:term overtures were made to the United States with a view to annexation. See also:General O. E. Babcock was despatched by President See also:Grant to See also:report on the See also:condition and resources of Santo Domingo, and while there, in 1869, he negotiated a treaty by which the republic was to become part of the United States.

Although ratified by the Dominican Senate, this treaty was opposed in the United States Senate, under the leadership of See also:

Charles See also:Sumner, and was finally rejected. In 1871 three commissioners were appointed by President Grant to report further, but although their report was favourable to annexation, no See also:action was taken. Baez was succeeded by Gonzalez (1873-1879), under whom the country enjoyed a See also:period of tranquillity. Great political agitation followed, which terminated in 1882 with the See also:election of Ulises Heureaux, a See also:negro, and capable statesman. Under his despotic rule of nearly 17 years, the republic enjoyed greater prosperity and tranquillity than it had ever known. He was assassinated in See also:July 1899, and was succeeded by Jiminez, who was driven out by General Vasquez in 1902. Vasquez, in turn, was deposed by a revolution headed by General Wos y Gil, who became president in 1903, but was overthrown by Jiminez in See also:November of that year. In 1904 Jiminez was expelled and C. F. Morales became president. Ramon See also:Caceres was installed in 1906, and in 1908 a new constitution was proclaimed and Caceres was elected for the term 1908-1014.

End of Article: SANTO DOMINGO [SAN DOMINGO, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC, or officially REPUBLICA DoMINICANA]

Additional information and Comments

There are no comments yet for this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click, and select "copy." Then paste it into your website, email, or other HTML.
Site content, images, and layout Copyright © 2006 - Net Industries, worldwide.
Do not copy, download, transfer, or otherwise replicate the site content in whole or in part.

Links to articles and home page are always encouraged.

[back]
SANTO DOMINGO 		[next]
SANTONIN

Site © 2006 - Net Industries