The Dominican Republic Reader: History, Culture, Politics

Published by Duke University Press 2014

The Dominican Republic Reader

History, Culture, Politics

Edited by: Eric Paul Roorda , Lauren H. Derby and Raymundo Gonzalez

In the series The Latin America Readers

https://doi.org/10.1515/9780822376521

Overview
Contents

About this book

Despite its significance in the history of Spanish colonialism, the Dominican Republic is familiar to most outsiders through only a few elements of its past and culture. Non-Dominicans may be aware that the country shares the island of Hispaniola with Haiti and that it is where Christopher Columbus chose to build a colony. Some may know that the country produces talented baseball players and musicians; others that it is a prime destination for beach vacations. Little else about the Dominican Republic is common knowledge outside its borders. This Reader seeks to change that. It provides an introduction to the history, politics, and culture of the country, from precolonial times into the early twenty-first century. Among the volume's 118 selections are essays, speeches, journalism, songs, poems, legal documents, testimonials, and short stories, as well as several interviews conducted especially for this Reader. Many of the selections have been translated into English for the first time. All of them are preceded by brief introductions written by the editors. The volume's eighty-five illustrations, ten of which appear in color, include maps, paintings, and photos of architecture, statues, famous figures, and Dominicans going about their everyday lives.

Author / Editor information

Eric Paul Roorda is Professor of History at Bellarmine University in Louisville, Kentucky. He is the author of The Dictator Next Door: The Good Neighbor Policy and the Trujillo Regime in the Dominican Republic, 1930–1945, published by Duke University Press.

Lauren Derby is Associate Professor of History at the University of California, Los Angeles. She is the author of The Dictator's Seduction: Politics and the Popular Imagination in the Era of Trujillo, also published by Duke University Press.

Raymundo González is a researcher at the Dominican National Archives and Social Science Coordinator for the Dominican Ministry of Education. He teaches at the Universidad Iberoamericana and the Instituto Filosófico Pedro Francisco Bonó, both in Santo Domingo.

Reviews

"The best available collection of writing in English for anyone wanting a broad and varied introduction to Dominican history, politics and culture. Very much a book for dipping into, which works well for the appealingly diverse sections on religion, popular culture and the Dominican diaspora but means the history sections, necessarily lacking a consistent narrative, work better for those with some prior knowledge of the country's past."

-- Rough Guide to the Dominican Republic

“Roorda, Derby, and González use source materials from onsite actors/observers, government officials, writers, and intellectuals (Dominican and otherwise) to add an intimacy and sense of familiarity to the book's narrative. They blend and merge important and formative events and actors that make up the formal history of the Dominican Republic with accounts designed to help readers understand the Dominican character and bases for social norms. The dozens of essays and accounts (some from contributors more familiar to casual readers, some less familiar), with an appropriate apportioning of emphases on nations influential in Dominican affairs (such as the US), complete a historiography that is both challenging and insightful. In a collection of different tiles in the Dominican mosaic, nothing is really trivial here. Highly Recommended. Upper-level undergraduates and above.”

-- W. J. Nelson Choice

“Curious travelers, study-abroad students and faculty, and Latinamericanists generally will find this book to be a solid departure point to understand issues of race, religion (the Virgen of Altagracia, syncreticism), music, gendered roles (machismo and marianismo), and the turbulent imprint of caudillos on the evolution of the Dominican Republic. Over 150 suggested readings point the way to further explore an island in the Caribbean whose history, culture and politics have much to say about the human condition there and elsewhere.”

-- Joseph Scarpaci Journal of Latin American Geography

"The Dominican Republic Reader is a well-crafted study that will engage readers. The documents, essays, and other vignettes are representative of the Dominican Republic’s rich and colorful history and culture."

-- Michael R. Hall The Latin Americanist

“A student of Caribbean history or culture, or a student of Latin America, coming to this book would leave with a broad sense of what the Dominican Republic is, what its major historical and cultural issues are and have been, and how its current democracy has been achieved. That is not a bad achievement for a book clearly aimed at an undergraduate reader and held together with essays that illuminate the texts presented to its audience.”

-- F.S.J. Ledgister Caribbean Quarterly

"The Dominican Republic Reader represents the most thought-provoking and interdisciplinary volume offered thus far to an English-speaking [audience]. It is a must for any university library, as well as a much-needed addition to any class dedicated to the study of Hispaniola, the Spanish Caribbean, or Dominicans in the United States."

-- Juan José Ponce-Vázquez The Black Scholar

"With its broad-minded collection ofdocuments, the reader is a welcome and well-crafted addition to a bookshelf of English-language works on the Dominican Republic and is certain to be just as valuable in the classroom."

-- Anne Eller Hispanic American Historical Review

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
Acknowledgments Publicly Available Download PDF	xiii
Map Publicly Available Download PDF	xvi
Introduction Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
I. European Encounters
The People Who Greeted Columbus Irving Rouse Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	11
Religion of the Taíno People Ramón Pané Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	17
First Descriptions of the Land, First Violence against Its People Christopher Columbus Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	25
Death of the Spanish at Navidad Diego Álvarez Chanca Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	33
The First Christian Converts—and Martyrs—in the New World Ramón Pané Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	36
Founding Santo Domingo Antonio de Herrera y Tordesillas Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	40
The Indian Monarchs Luis Joseph Peguero Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	42
Criminals as Kings Bartolomé de Las Casas Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	50
A Voice in the Wilderness: Brother Antonio Montesino Bartolomé de Las Casas Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	52
The Royal Response Ferdinand I Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	58
II. Pirates, Governors, and Slaves
Las Casas Blamed for the African Slave Trade Augustus Francis MacNutt Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	63
The Slave Problem in Santo Domingo Álvaro de Castro Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	65
Lemba and the Maroons of Hispaniola Alonso López de Cerrato Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	66
Francis Drake’s Sacking of Santo Domingo Walter Bigges Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	68
Colonial Delinquency Carlos Esteban Deive Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	73
The Bulls Flérida de Nolasco Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	79
The Buccaneers of Hispaniola Alexander O. Exquemelin Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	81
Business Deals with the Buccaneers Jean-Baptiste Labat Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	84
The Idea of Value on Hispaniola Antonio Sánchez Valverde Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	88
III. Revolutions
The Monteros and the Guerreros Manuel Vicente Hernández González Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	93
The Border Maroons of Le Maniel Médéric Louis Élie Moreau de Saint-Méry Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	98
The “People-Eater” Raymundo González Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	102
The Boca Nigua Revolt David Patrick Geggus Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	109
Hayti and San Domingo James Franklin Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	115
Toussaint’s Conquest Jonathan Brown Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	118
After the War, Tertulias William Walton Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	122
Stupid Spain Carlos Urrutia de Montoya Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	126
The Dominican Bolívar José Núñez de Cáceres Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	128
Arrogant Bell Bottoms César Nicolás Penson Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	133
Dominicans Unite La Trinitaria Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	136
IV. Caudillos and Empires
Pedro Santana Miguel Ángel Monclús Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	143
The Caudillo of the South Buenaventura Báez Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	146
In the Army Camp at Bermejo Pedro Francisco Bonó Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	149
The War of the Restoration Carlos Vargas Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	154
Spanish Recolonization: A Postmortem Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	156
Making the Case for US Annexation Ulysses S. Grant Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	158
Dominican Support for Annexation Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	161
Opposition to US Annexation Justin S. Morrill Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	169
Dominican Nationalism versus Annexation Gregorio Luperón Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	171
A Lesson in “Quiet Good-Breeding” Samuel Hazard Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	173
Martí’s Travel Notes José Martí Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	180
Ulises “Lilís” Heureaux Américo Lugo Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	183
Your Friend, Ulises Ulises Heureaux Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	185
V. The Idea of the Nation: Order and Progress
Street People and Godparents Luis Emilio Gómez Alfau Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	193
From Paris to Santo Domingo Francisco Moscoso Puello Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	195
Public Enemies: The Revolutionary and the Pig Emiliano Tejera Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	201
The “Master of Décimas” Juan Antonio Alix Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	205
Barriers to Progress: Revolutions, Diseases, Holidays, and Cockfights Pedro Francisco Bonó Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	209
Food, Race, and Nation Lauren Derby Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	212
Tobacco to the Rescue Pedro Francisco Bonó Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	215
Patrons, Peasants, and Tobacco Michiel Baud Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	217
Salomé Salomé Ureña de Henríquez Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	225
The Case for Commerce, 1907 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	231
VI. Dollars, Gunboats, and Bullets
Uneasiness about the US Government Emiliano Tejera Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	235
In the Midst of Revolution Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	237
Gavilleros Listín Diario Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	243
A Resignation and a Machine Gun Frederic Wise and Meigs O. Frost Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	245
The “Water Torture” and Other Abuses US Senate, Hearings before a Select Committee on Haiti and Santo Domingo Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	252
The Land of Bullet-Holes Harry Franck Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	260
American Sugar Kingdom César J. Ayala Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	265
The Universal Negro Improvement Association in San Pedro de Macorís Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	269
The Crime of Wilson Fabio Fiallo Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	271
VII. The Era of Trujillo
The Haitian Massacre Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	281
Message to Dominican Women Darío Contreras Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	286
The Sugar Strike of 1946 Roberto Cassá Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	290
Informal Resistance on a Dominican Sugar Plantation Catherine C. LeGrand Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	296
Biography of a Great Leader Abelardo Nanita Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	303
A Diplomat’s Diagnosis of the Dictator Richard A. Johnson Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	307
A British View of the Dictatorship W. W. McVittie Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	313
Exile Invasions Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	316
I Am Minerva! Mu-Kien Adriana Sang Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	320
VIII. The Long Transition to Democracy
“Basta Ya!”: A Peasant Woman Speaks Out Aurora Rosado Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	327
Without Begging God Joaquín Balaguer Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	329
The Masters Juan Bosch Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	332
The Rise and Demise of Democracy cia Reports, 1961–1963 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	335
“Ni Mató, Ni Robó” Juan Bosch Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	341
Fashion Police Elías Wessin y Wessin Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	344
The Revolution of the Magi José Francisco Peña Gómez Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	346
United States Intervention in the Revolution of 1965 William Bennett Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	349
The President of the United States Chooses the Next President of the Dominican Republic Lyndon Johnson Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	352
Operation Power Pack Lawrence A. Yates Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	355
Lawrence A. Yates cia Special Report Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	362
Why Not, Dr. Balaguer? Orlando Martínez Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	365
Dominican, Cut the Cane! State Sugar Council Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	368
The Blind Caudillo Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	369
The “Eat Alones” of the Liberation Party Andrés L. Mateo Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	373
The Election of 2000 Central Election Commission Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	376
The Sour Taste of US-Dominican Sugar Policy Matt Peterson Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	378
Leonel, Fidel, and Barack Leonel Fernández, Fidel Castro and Barack Obama Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	380
IX. Religious Practices
Mercedes Flérida de Nolasco Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	389
Altagracia Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	393
The Catholic Bishops Say No to the Dictator The Five Bishops of the Dominican Republic Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	395
Liberation Theology Octavio A. Beras Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	398
To Die in Villa Mella Carlos Hernández Soto Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	403
A Tire Blowout Gives Entry into the World of Spiritism Martha Ellen Davis Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	406
Díos Olivorio Mateo: The Living God Irio Leonel Ramírez López Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	411
Jesus Is Calling You Frances Jane Crosby Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	415
X. Popular Culture
Carnival and Holy Week Luis Emilio Gómez Alfau Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	419
Tribulations of Dominican Racial Identity Silvio Torres-Saillant Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	423
Origins of Merengue and Musical Instruments of the Republic J. M. Coopersmith Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	427
Dominican Music on the World Stage: Eduardo Brito Arístides Incháustegui Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	431
“The People Call All of It Merengue” Johnny Ventura Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	435
A Bachata Party Julio Arzeno Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	439
The Tiger Rafael Damirón Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	442
La Montería: The Hunt for Wild Pigs and Goats Martha Ellen Davis Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	446
Everyday Life in a Poor Barrio Tahira Vargas Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	450
The Name Is the Same as the Person José Labourt Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	456
“I Hope It Rains . . .”: Juan Luis Guerra Eric Paul Roorda Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	461
XI. The Dominican Diaspora
The First Immigrant to Manhattan, 1613: Jan Rodrigues Crew Members of the Jonge Tobias and Fortuyn Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	469
Player to Be Named Later: Osvaldo/Ossie/Ozzie Virgil, First Dominican Major Leaguer Enrique Rojas Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	472
The Dominican Dandy: Juan Marichal Rob Ruck Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	475
The Queen of Merengue Milly Quezada Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	479
Dominican Hip-Hop in Spain Arianna Puello Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	483
Black Women Are Confusing, but the Hair Lets You Know Ginetta Candelario Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	486
Los Dominicanyorks Luis Guarnizo Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	490
The Yola Milagros Ricourt Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	495
The Dominican Who Won the Kentucky Derby Joel Rosario Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	500
You Know You’re Dominican . . . Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	503
Suggestions for Further Reading Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	507
Acknowledgment of Copyrights and Sources Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	515
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	527

Language: English
Publisher: Duke University Press
Audience: General/trade;
Pages
- Main content: 552
Illustrations
- Other: 85 illustrations, incl. 10 in color

eBook

Published: April 28, 2014
ISBN: 9780822376521