History of the Dominican Republic

Why go

Taíno communities farmed, fished and organized Hispaniola into chiefdoms before the Spanish arrived in 1492. Colonial Santo Domingo then became a base for Spanish expansion. The struggle for sovereignty included the 1844 independence from Haitian rule and the 1865 restoration after renewed Spanish control. The twentieth century brought US occupation and Rafael Trujillo’s dictatorship; the Mirabal sisters’ story gives that period a human scale.

Useful to know

• In the Zona Colonial, connect the early Spanish buildings with the Taíno history that predates them.
• For the twentieth century, seek out the story of the Mirabal sisters rather than ending the narrative at independence.