Una colonia en la encrucijadaSanto Domingo, entre la revolución haitiana y la reconquista española, 1791-1809

Abstract

In this thesis I study the impact of the Haitian revolution on the Spanish colony of Santo Domingo. I focus on two complementary aspects: on the one hand, I explore the possibility that the Dominican Spaniards participated in the slave revolution in the neighbor colony of Saint-Domingue, considering Spain’s strategic interest in the West of Hispaniola, as well as relations between inhabitants at both sides of the border from long ago. On the other hand, I analyze Santo Domingo’s curious evolution: after Spain gave it to France, its people remained apparently loyal to Spain, and they ended up rebelling against the French at the same time that the Spaniards were fighting Bonaparte in Europe. The Dominican War of Re-conquest anticipated the final outcome of the Peninsular War (1808-1814) and it concluded with the expulsion of France from Hispaniola, in order to restore, surprisingly, Spain’s sovereignty over Santo Domingo.