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About The Dominican People
Product Description The vanquished Taíno Indians, the Spanish conquistadors, rebellious slaves, common folk, foreign invaders, bloody dictators, gallant heroes, charismatic politicians, and committed rebels ― all have left their distinct imprint on Dominican society and left behind printed records. Nevertheless, the five-hundred-year history of the people of the Dominican Republic has yet to be told through its documents. Although there has been a considerable production of documentary compilations in the Dominican Republic ― particularly during the Trujillo era ― few of these are known outside the country, and none have ever been translated into English. The Dominican People: A Documentary History bridges this gap by providing an annotated collection of documents related to the history of the Dominican Republic and its people. The compilation features annotated documents on some of the transcendental events that have taken place on the island since pre-Columbian times: the extermination of the Taíno Indians, sugar and African slavery, the establishment of French Saint Dominique, independence from Haiti and from Spain, caudillo politics, U.S. interventionism, the Trujillo dictatorship, and contemporary politics. Review Ernesto Sagas and Orlando Inoa have compiled a concise and satisfying anthology of documents on Dominican history. To the extent to which a collection of documents can have an argument, this one does: that while authoritarian and undemocratic politics are deeply ingrained in Dominican culture, democratic institutions have been slowly but surely taking root over the past several decades. Thus, the overwhelming majority of the documents are political in nature and trace the origins and character of this authoritarian political culture. Several elements stand out in the history these documents exemplify: Spanish and French colonialism, the Dominican Republic's uneasy relationship with its neighbor Haiti, and U.S. influence form the scaffolding around which Dominican history unfolds. The editors use public speeches and proclamations, treaties, and laws to chronicle the country's shifting relationships with these different external actors and the ways that its political leaders responded, both internally and externally. Many of the documents also suggest the limited economic alternatives open to the country, although economic issues receive more attention in the pre-twentieth-century sections. Still, the links between foreign economic dependence and political authoritarianism are evident. Dominican elites--the political class--could only maintain their status through collaboration and manipulation; most of the population remained alienated from the political system. There are many areas of Dominican history that get short shrift, however. Although the introduction announces the editors' intent to include the history of ordinary Dominicans alongside documentation of "high politics," the latter comprise the bulk of the selections. The lives of those outside the formal political sphere--that is, the majority of the Dominican population--remain elusive. The editors explicitly acknowledge their decision to avoid any discussion of Dominican culture in the volume. This decision gives the collection a curiously unidimensional quality and seems to preclude the use of these documents to develop a more in-depth or multilayered analysis of the country's history in the classroom. History, in this collection, is a series of political events rather than a study of people and society. Even in the realm of traditional politics, some key issues remain unaddressed and key questions unanswered. Why did Trujillo suddenly adopt viciously anti-Haitian ideologies and policies in the late 1930s? Why did the United States accept the loss of control over the sugar industry under Trujillo? Why did the population seemingly acquiesce to the destruction of a populist, social democratic alternative in the i96os? How violent was the repression
