Unification of Hispaniola
| Department of the Ozama and the Cibao Départements de l'Ozama et du Cibao (French) Departamento del Ozama y del Cibao (Spanish) |
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| Haitian Department | ||||||||||||||||
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| Capital | Port-au-Prince | |||||||||||||||
| Languages |
French Spanish Haitian Creole |
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| Government | Republic | |||||||||||||||
| President | ||||||||||||||||
| • | 1822–1843 (first) | Jean-Pierre Boyer | ||||||||||||||
| • | 1843–1844 (last) | Charles Rivière-Hérard | ||||||||||||||
| Governor | ||||||||||||||||
| • | 1822–1832 (first) | Jérôme-Maximilien Bargella | ||||||||||||||
| • | 1843–1844 (last) | Léo Hérard | ||||||||||||||
| History | ||||||||||||||||
| • | Haitian annexation | February 9, 1822 | ||||||||||||||
| • | Independence | February 27, 1844 | ||||||||||||||
| Area | 76,480 km² (29,529 sq mi) | |||||||||||||||
| Currency | Gourde (HTG) | |||||||||||||||
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| Today part of |
 Haiti Dominican Republic
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The Unification of Hispaniola by Haiti lasted twenty-two years, from February 9, 1822 to February 27, 1844 under administration as the Departments of the Ozama and the Cibao (French: Départements de l'Ozama et du Cibao pronounced: [de.paʁ.tə.mɑ̃ d(ə) l‿o.za.ma e dy si.ba.o]). This unification ended the first brief period of independence in the history of the Dominican Republic, which had been known as the Republic of Spanish Haiti.
The occupation is recalled by some as a period of strict military rule, though the reality was far more complex. It led to large-scale land expropriations and failed efforts to force production of export crops, impose military services, restrict the use of the Spanish language, and suppress traditional customs. The twenty-two year unification reinforced the Dominican people’s view of themselves as different from the Haitians in race, language, religion and domestic customs.
By the late 18th century, the island of Hispaniola had been divided into two European colonies: Saint-Domingue, in the west, governed by France; and Santo Domingo, governed by Spain, occupying the eastern two-thirds of Hispaniola.
During the second half of the eighteenth century the French side of the island quickly developed into the most prosperous plantation colony of the New World. French Saint-Domingue was dubbed the Pearl of the Antilles, as a result of the sugar plantations worked by African slaves; sugar had become an indispensable commodity in Europe. By the Peace of Basel of 22 July 1795, Spain ceded its two-third of the island to France in exchange for the return of the province of Guipuzcoa occupied by the French since 1793. Although Hispaniola was now unified under a single administration, it proved difficult for the French to consolidate their rule since their part of the island had been experiencing uprisings by elite mulattos and black freedman since 1791, and in 1804 the leader of the Haitian revolution, Jean-Jacques Dessalines, declared Haiti's independence. Independence did not come easily, given the fact that Haiti had been France's most profitable colony.
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Wikipedia