HOW IT ALL STARTED: THE HISTORY OF HISPANIOLA

In order to fully understand the present day actions between these two countries on this one island, one needs to understand the colonial history of the island. The island of Hispaniola became the first fully colonized territory of the Spanish Empire in 1492. Through their conquest, the Spanish brought over their colonizers including African slaves whom they depended upon for a flourishing economy. When the colonizers eventually found the more valuable gold in Peru and Mexico, this small Caribbean island was forgotten and left to fend for itself. The Spanish imperials remained in Santo Domingo and eventually the king left the western side of the Island to the French.
In 1795, the various French occupations of the island began when Spain ceded their Eastern half to the French after their European wars. Touissant Louverture took to searching for human rights justice by freeing many of the Spanish slaves remaining in Santo Domingo, himself being a black freed slave from the French side. His actions eventually led to the Independence of Saint Dominique from the French in 1804. They remained in power on the Dominican side until they were overthrown in 1809 and the Eastern side reunited with Spain again. After the Dominican side gained some independence from the Spanish in 1821, the French began another occupation of the Spanish side led by President Jean-Pierre Boyer. After a long fight between the two sides, in 1844 the Spanish gained independence from the French and the two nations became their own.
In the more recent and contemporary history, a backlash toward the Haitians living in the Dominican Republic can be seen in relation to the idea of citizenship. The Parsley Massacre in 1937 changed the relations between the Haitians and Dominicans still today. At the start of President Trujillo’s dictatorship he ordered a massacre of the Haitians living in their country. It is named the Parsley Massacre because the Dominican soldiers carried around parsley for the suspected Haitian individuals to pronounce the spanish name, “perejil”. For the Haitians, their native language of creole would prevent them from pronouncing the name with the correct Dominican accent. Some estimate that between 9,000 and 20,000 people were killed in this unfortunate occurrence. Some also believe that they racially profiled and targeted those that had dark skin, whether they were Haitian or Dominican.
This long history between the Dominican Republic and Haiti is very important in understanding the citizenship policy changes today as well as the reason for the racism that is seen within the country. Any study on a country struggling in their post-colonial era must understand how their colonial history impacted them and continues to impact them because of the structure that was created during those hundreds of years.