In the history of the Dominican Republic, the period of Era de Francia ('Era of France', 'French Era', 'Age of France' or 'French Period') occurred in 1795 when France acquired the Captaincy General of Santo Domingo, annexed it into Saint-Domingue and briefly came to acquire the whole island of Hispaniola by the way of the Treaty of Basel, allowing Spain to cede the eastern province as a consequence of the French Revolutionary Wars.
Despite its brevity, it produced important changes in society, especially in the demographic aspect, as there was a massive emigration of settlers (especially those with greater resources) to Puerto Rico, Venezuela and Cuba, some out of loyalty to Spain, and others as a result of the Haitians invasions perpetrated by Haitian forces commanded by Toussaint L'ouverture and Jean-Jacques Dessalines in 1801 and 1805, respectively. The colony lost two-thirds of its population and almost all of the oldest and most traditional aristocratic families on the island; in addition, the population on the Spanish side went from being predominantly white to being essentially mulatto. The establishment of French settlers and the return of some emigrants barely attenuated this population decline.
During this time, it was also referred to as the French Santo Domingo, the Captaincy General was divided into two separate departments, each with its own governor and autonomy – Cibao Department, with its at Sant-Yago (now Santiago de los Caballeros) and Ozama Department.
Background
In 1665, French colonization of the western part of the island was officially recognized by Louis XIV. The French colony was given the name Saint-Domingue. In the 1697 Treaty of Ryswick, Spain formally ceded the western third of the island to France. Saint-Domingue quickly came to overshadow the east in both wealth and population. Nicknamed the "Pearl of the Antilles," it became the richest colony in the West Indies and one of the richest in the world. Large sugar cane plantations were established and worked by hundreds of thousands of African slaves who were imported to the island. In 1754, the population numbered 14,000 whites, 4,000 free mulattoes and 172,000 negroes.
The Spanish colony on the other hand sank lower than ever. Practically abandoned by Spain, there was no commerce beyond a little contraband and only the most indispensable agriculture, the inhabitants devoting themselves almost entirely to cattle raising. The ports were the haunts of pirates, and a number of Dominicans also became privateers. Santo Domingo's population grew from 6,000 in 1737 to 125,000 in 1790; 40,000 were white settlers, 25,000 were free people of color and 60,000 were slaves. However, it remained poor and neglected in contrast with Saint-Domingue, which by the 1790s had become the wealthiest American colony with half a million inhabitants.
The division of Hispaniola between France and Spain in 1697 recognized a reality with which neither the Kings nor their Revolutionary successors were happy. Although the population of Spanish Santo Domingo was perhaps one-fourth that of French Saint-Domingue, this did not prevent Charles IV of Spain from launching an invasion of the French side of the island in 1793, attempting to take advantage of the chaos sparked by the French Revolution (1789–99). Although the Spanish military effort went well on Hispaniola, it did not do so in Europe. As a consequence, Spain was forced to cede Santo Domingo to the French under the terms of the Treaty of Basel (22 July 1795) to get the French to withdraw from Spain.
News that the Spanish colony had been ceded to France reached Santo Domingo in October 1795. Those who could not reconcile themselves to the new situation had up to a year to remove themselves to Cuba, Puerto Rico, or Venezuela, where they were to be given facilities to make a fresh start. Between 1795 and 1810 some 125,000 persons are estimated to have left the Spanish sector of the island, leaving its population diminished by two-thirds compared with what it had been before the French Revolution.
Slave insurrections
Just as with the previous centuries against Spain, further slave rebellions erupted, this time against France. In this period, out of the four conspiracies exclusively slaves, three of them on haciendas or mills. These attempts or rebellions had as a note distinctive that transcended the mere act of liberation limited group or search for particular claims characteristics of the palenques or manieles maroons.. These movements had several greater objectives which included the overthrow of colonial rule, the elimination of whites, the implementation of racial equality or a union with Saint-Domingue. They occurred at the time of development of the Haitian Revolution, the influence of the French Revolution that brought new ideas and a liberating speech. With this background, the conspiracies of this first moment
Rebellion in Hincha: 1793
The state of anxiety and fear had remained everpresent since the incidents of El Negro Comegente, which further overwhelmed Dominican slave owners. In addition, rumors about the advances or setbacks of slaves in Saint-Domingue were scattered among whites and blacks, free and slaves. In 1793, Don Pedro Vasquez, denounced an alleged rebellion plan by the slaves of Hincha, one of the Spanish towns closest to the Dominican-Haitian border. The story began with a free black man named Dimini, who was declared captain of the insurrection of the revolt through a letter written by "San Fransua," as told by Jean-François Papillon, who since 1792 fought against France under the flag of Spain. The slave Thomas, one of the Insurgents involved, affirmed:
"I had spoken with Capt. Dimini, the one who had showed him a piece of paper and had told him that San Fransua had written naming him as captain of all the blacks of the Spanish part and that in it he was arrested that after it finished with all the would he come here to wage war.
Although Thomas could not read, the presence of a document supposedly written by Papilion, convinced him to join the plot. In an illiterate society, the legitimacy of the written or printed letter was significant. Asked in the judgment that was made that since so few proposed such an undertaking, he answered that "they were confident that starting with them, everyone had to continue". The plan, apparently, was to start a revolt at the Chamuscadillas Hacienda of Pedro Vasquez, kill all the white people in it, seize the weapons and then continue like this with all the whites of the Spanish Part. The slaves involved demonstrated shrewd handling of politics of the moment, for example, Dimini, to defend himself, stated that Papilion could not be part of said plan because he was an ally of the Spanish and, on the contrary, said: "that San Fransua, as you hear it said, has generally been behaved very well with the Spanish and did not want to admit no Spanish black, rather has handed over to his masters how many have gone to the colony." Slaves had become aware of the strategic alliance of Papilion and the Spanish, which prevented any unity with the slaves of Spanish Santo Domingo. In other words, although Jean Franqois was a source of inspiration, he could not really support.
Samana slave rebellion: 1795
Over the next two years, news of negotiations between the Spanish and French over the Spanish colony brought new concerns and readings of the revolution in progress. The regent of the Royal Hearing in Santo Domingo, Jose Antonio de Urizar, in November 1795, indicated his concern about the presence of French commissioners who:
"(...) have scattered various printed papers, and have also tried to extend by word of mouth that the slaves that are found in the Spanish possessions since the present Those owned by the Republic must be free without any distinction, and these propositions have made them spread by themselves, and through other French people so that they understand them
our slaves."
From this international agreement the revolutionary influence of France, to the free blacks or slaves, it difficult to contain and its effects did not take long to be felt. In that same year, there was news that slaves from Samaná tried to carry out an uprising, encouraged by three white Frenchmen who had arrived clandestinely. As in Hincha, this attempt was revealed before it could be carried out and could have been a simple rumor.
Boca de Nigua Rebellion: 1796
In 1796, there was the largest slave rebellion in the history of the Dominican Republic, when two hundred slaves of the Ingenio Boca de Nigua took up arms. This farm was considered as "the best established, richest and well governed of the entire Spanish Part and even of the entire island at the time." That is to say, the sugar producing company functioned as was desirable for slave interests. The high concentration of slaves and intensive exploitation provided the ideal conditions for a resistance movement. Unfortunately, in the documents of this rebellion, the voice of the slaves cannot be found because the then governor Joaquin Garcia y Moreno spoke for them. He said that the rebels intended initially attack his master to continue with all the targets and take over the estate, killing all slaves who did not take up arms on their behalf. They were counting on adding "the black ones that would fly from the neighboring Haciendas upon hearing the sound of Liberty and the extermination of the whites.”
The rebellious slaves intended to establish a government "like that of Guarico and others of the French Part."12 These words, in the governor's voice, clearly reflected way or another the influence of the liberating discourse that existed in the colony and that was a direct influence of the events in the French colony of Saint-Domingue. The authorities assumed that these were the ideas that inspired the slaves. In addition, the rebels had come into contact with three subordinates of Jean Franqois with whom they had obtained information about the way in which the insurrection had occurred in the neighboring colony. The reference to Jean-François Papilion appears again. Demonstrating great organizational capacity, they established a "commander of artillery, dragoons, and infantry." Inspired by the Haitian Revolution, the slaves of Boca de Nigua established a king and queen. For instance, Ana Maria, an enslaved woman, "more attended and distinguished by her lord, she offered herself to be the murderer and was the constituted Queen in the disorder, corresponding with entertainment and gifts."
Once the revolt was subdued, Garcia expressed his satisfaction "since it did not seem possible in a country like this that such disorder could be ended so quickly." Furthermore, he suggested that the rebellion had a lot of sympathy, since there were sectors among the slaves, naturally, and among the French people who left in defense of the accused can be interpreted in his description of the day the sentence was handed down:
"The day of justice was frightening and not taking measures capable of containing so many black people, both free and slave, and so many foreigners adhering to freedom and equality, closing the doors, establishing patrols, putting on weapons all the Guards and czen cattlemen For the execution, the troops were all ready in the barracks with the officers and in a word alert the entire garrison, we could having experienced a shock of the kind that has the island has been theater in its vicinity and feasible in a city that counts one year and four months of cessation to the French Republic."
The atrocious compliance with the sentence brought some peace of mind to the authorities. The rumor had been partially quelled and certainly over the next five years, conspiracies or slave rebellions had been halted.
French occupation
Invasion of Toussaint Louverture
Under the Treaty of Basel, France returned to Spain the areas it had taken during the war in the Iberian Peninsula, and Spain in turn, ceded eastern Hispaniola to France. The information about the signing of the treaty became known in Santo Domingo on 18 October 1795, at a time when the Spanish were fighting against the French forces represented by Toussaint Louverture, who was trying to take Spanish Santo Domingo. The agreement is known as the Treaty of Basel, because it was signed on 22 July 1795, in the Swiss city of Basel.
On 27 January 1801, Toussaint Louverture, who had occupied Spanish Santo Domingo on behalf of France, issued a proclamation in which he invited the inhabitants of the city of Santo Domingo to return to their usual activities. He urged those who had left the island because of the occupation by Toussaint's troops to return to Santo Domingo. He addressed the message "to people of all colors." In this way, the military chief representing France tried to dispel the fears that worried the inhabitants of Santo Domingo. After the treaty came into force, large numbers of families, who were of Spanish origin, moved to Cuba and Puerto Rico. Those who went to Cuba suffered multiple difficulties because they did not receive the land and facilities that the colonial authorities promised to those who left Santo Domingo. For this reason, many requested in writing to the King of Spain that they be granted more than a year to leave Spanish Santo Domingo, but as soon as the occupation of Toussaint became a reality, they began to leave.