View source for Captaincy General of Santo Domingo

{{Short description|Spanish possession in the Caribbean (1492–1865)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2024}}

{{Infobox country
| conventional_long_name = Captaincy General of Santo Domingo
| native_name            = {{native name|es|Capitanía General de Santo Domingo}}
| common_name            = Province of Santo Domingo
| era                    = [[European colonization of the Americas|Colonial era]]
| empire                 = Spain
| status                 = [[General Captaincy|Captaincy General]] of the [[Spanish Empire]]
| year_start             = 1492
| year_end               = 1865
| event_pre              = 
| date_pre               = 
| event_start            = [[King of the Indies|Captaincy created]]
| date_start             = 5 December
| event1                 = [[Santo Domingo]] annexed to France
| date_event1            = 22 July 1795
| event2                 = [[Santo Domingo]] returned to Spain
| date_event2            = 9 July 1809
| event3                 = Unrecognized independence
| date_event3            = 1 December 1821
| event4                 = Reincorporated into Spain
| date_event4            = 18 March 1861
| event5                 = 
| date_event5            = 
| event6                 = 
| date_event6            = 
| event_end              = Disestablished
| date_end               = 15 July
| s1                     = Era de Francia
| flag_s1                = Flag of France.svg
| s2                     = Spanish West Indies
| flag_s2                = Flag of Spain (1785-1873 and 1875-1931).svg
| s3                     = Dominican Republic
| flag_s3                = Flag of the Dominican Republic.svg
| s4                     = 
| flag_s4                = 
| s5                     = 
| flag_s5                = 
| s6                     = 
| flag_s6                = 
| s8                     = 
| flag_s8                = 
| symbol_type_article    = 
| symbol_type            = coat of arms of the [[Dominican Republic|Captaincy General of Santo Domingo]]
| image_coat             = Escudo de La Española (Antillas Mayores).svg
| other_symbol           = [[File:Flag of Spain (1785–1873, 1875–1931).svg|border|100px]] 
[[File:Flag of Cross of Burgundy.svg|border|100px]] 
| other_symbol_type      = Left: [[Flag of Spain#Origins of the present ensign: Charles III|Flag of Spain]] (18th century): first national flag of Spain; Right: Flag of the Province of [[Santo Domingo]]; Bottom: Flag [[Cross of Burgundy]]
| image_map              = [[File:Hispaniola spanish ful expantion 1493-1604.svg|300px]]
| image_map_caption      = Map of the Captaincy General of Santo Domingo, when the entire island belonged to Spain (1492-1605). To the west can be seen the old Spanish villages of Lares de Guahaba, Puerto Real, Villanueva de Jaquimo, Salvatierra de la Sabana, Santa María de la Yaguana and Santa María de la Verapaz. The island was divided due to the [[devastations of Osorio]]
| capital                = [[Santo Domingo]]
| national_motto         = {{Lang|la|[[Plus ultra]]}}<br />{{small|"Further Beyond"}}
| national_anthem        = ''[[Marcha Real]]''<br />{{small|"Royal March"}}<br/>(1775–1821)<br />{{center|[[File:Marcha Real (1915).ogg]]}}
| official_languages     = Spanish
| languages_type         = 
| languages              = 
| religion               = [[Roman Catholicism]] <br> (official)
| currency               = [[Spanish colonial real]]
| title_leader           = [[List of Spanish monarchs|Monarch]]
| leader1                = [[Isabella I of Castile]] {{small|(first)}}
| year_leader1           = 1492–1504
| leader2                = [[Isabella II]] {{small|(last)}}
| year_leader2           = 1861–1865
| title_deputy           = [[List of governors in the Viceroyalty of New Spain|Governor]]
| deputy1                = [[Christopher Columbus]] {{small|(first)}}
| year_deputy1           = 1492–1499
| deputy2                = [[José de la Gándara y Navarro]] {{small|(last)}}
| year_deputy2           = 1864–1865
| legislature            = [[Council of the Indies]]<br/>[[Ministry of Overseas (Spain)]]
| stat_year1             = 
| stat_area1             = 
| stat_pop1              = 
| stat_year2             = 
| stat_pop2              = 
| footnotes              = 
| demonym                = 
| area_km2               = 
| area_rank              = 
| GDP_PPP                = 
| GDP_PPP_year           = 
| HDI                    = 
| HDI_year               = 
| today                  = {{ubl|[[Dominican Republic]]<br>[[Haiti]]}}
}}

{{History of the Dominican Republic}}
The '''Captaincy General of Santo Domingo''' ({{langx|es|Capitanía General de Santo Domingo}} {{IPA|es|kapitaˈni.a xeneˈɾal de ˈsanto ðoˈmiŋɡo|pron|ES-pe_-_Capitanía_General_de_Santo_Domingo.ogg}}) was the first Captaincy in the [[New World]], established by Spain in 1492 on the island of [[Hispaniola]]. The Captaincy, under the jurisdiction of the [[Real Audiencia of Santo Domingo]], was granted administrative powers over the Spanish possessions in the [[Caribbean]] and most of its mainland coasts, making Santo Domingo the principal political entity of the early colonial period.<ref>{{Cite book| author = Spain|title = Recopilación de las Leyes de Indias. Titulo Quince. De las Audiencias y Chancillerias Reales de las Indias| year = 1680| publisher= Madrid| id = [http://www.congreso.gob.pe/ntley/Imagenes/LeyIndia/0102015.pdf Spanish-language facsimile of the original]}}</ref>

Due to its strategic location, the Captaincy General of Santo Domingo served as headquarters for Spanish [[conquistador]]s on their way to the mainland and was important in the establishment of other European colonies in the Western Hemisphere. It is the site of the first European city in the Americas, [[Santo Domingo]], and of the oldest castle, fortress, cathedral, and monastery in the region. The colony was a meeting point of European explorers, soldiers, and settlers who brought with them the culture, architecture, laws, and traditions of the [[Old World]].

The colony remained a military stronghold of the Spanish Empire for over a century, successfully resisting English, Dutch and French attacks until the early 18th century. After French [[buccaneer]]s took over part of the west coast, settlers from [[Kingdom of France|France]] arrived and decades of armed conflict ensued. Spain finally ceded the western third of Hispaniola to France in the 1697 [[Peace of Ryswick]], thus establishing the basis for the future nations of the [[Dominican Republic]] and [[Haiti]].

==History==
===Pre-Columbian era===
Prior to the arrival of [[Christopher Columbus]] and the Spanish in 1492, the native [[Taíno people]] populated the island which they called ''Ayiti'' ("land of high mountains") or "Quisqueya" (from Quizqueia), meaning "great thing" or "big land" ("mother of all lands"), and which the Spanish later named ''[[Hispaniola]]''. At the time, the island's territory consisted of five Taíno chiefdoms: Marién, Maguá, Maguana, Jaragua, and Higüey.<ref name="Perez2011">{{cite book|last=Perez|first=Cosme E.|title=Quisqueya: un país en el mundo: La Revelación Maya Del 2012|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AkDQoaMzrk0C&pg=PA27|access-date=4 June 2012|date=20 December 2011|publisher=Palibrio|isbn=978-1-4633-1368-5|page=27}}</ref> These were ruled respectively by ''[[cacique]]s'' (chiefs) Guacanagarix, Guarionex, [[Caonabo]], Bohechío, and Cayacoa.

===Arrival of the Spanish===
On his first voyage the navigator Christopher Columbus, arrived in 1492 under the Spanish Crown as he landed on a large island in the region of the western Atlantic Ocean that later came to be known as the Caribbean. Columbus promptly claimed the island for the [[Spanish Empire|Spanish Crown]], naming it La Isla Española ("the Spanish Island"), later Latinized to [[Hispaniola]]. He established a settlement in the northern part of the island, which later came under attack by the people of the area. The native Taínos' egalitarian social system clashed with the Europeans' feudalist system, which had more rigid class structures. The Europeans believed the Taínos to be misled, and they began to treat the tribes with violence and hatred.

===Conquest and settlements===
After the sinking of the ''[[Santa María (ship)|Santa María]]'' ship Columbus established a military fort to support his claim to the island. The fort was called [[La Navidad]] because the shipwrecking and the founding of the fort occurred on Christmas Day. While Columbus was away, the garrison manning the fort was wracked by divisions that evolved into conflict. The more rapacious men began to terrorize the Taíno, the [[Ciguayos]], and the [[Macorix people]]. The powerful [[Cacique]] Caonabo of the [[Maguana Chiefdom]] attacked the Europeans and destroyed La Navidad.

In 1493, Columbus returned to the island on his second voyage and established the first Spanish colony in the New World, the city of Isabella. This time Columbus returned to [[Hispaniola]] with seventeen ships. The settlers built houses, storerooms, a Roman Catholic church, and a large house for Columbus. He brought more than a thousand men, including sailors, soldiers, carpenters, stonemasons, and other workers. Priests and nobles came as well. The first Mass was celebrated on 6 January 1494. The town included homes, a plaza, and Columbus' stone residence and arsenal.<ref name="Floyd" />{{rp|22}}

In June 1495, a large storm that the Taíno called a hurricane hit the island. The Taíno retreated to the mountains while the Spaniards remained in the colony. Several ships were sunk, including the flagship, the ''Marie-Galante''. Cannon barrels and anchors from that era have been found in the bay. Gelatinous silt from rivers and wave action has raised the level of the bay floor and covers any parts of wrecks that may remain.{{citation needed|date=January 2024}}

In 1496, his brother [[Bartholomew Columbus]] established the settlement of [[Santo Domingo|Santo Domingo de Guzmán]] on the southern coast, which became the new capital. An estimated 400,000 Tainos living on the island were soon enslaved to work in gold mines. By 1508, their numbers had decreased to around 60,000 because of forced labor, hunger, disease, and [[Taíno genocide|mass killings]]. By 1535, only a few dozen were still alive.<ref name="Hartlyn1998">{{cite book | title=The Struggle for Democratic Politics in the Dominican Republic | last=Hartlyn | first=Jonathan | year=1998 | publisher=University of North Carolina Press | location=Chapel Hill | isbn=0-8078-4707-0 | page=25}}</ref>

Dating from 1496, when the Spanish settled on the island, and officially from 5 August 1498, Santo Domingo became the first European city in the Americas. Bartholomew Columbus founded the settlement and named it La Nueva Isabela, after [[La Isabela|an earlier settlement in the north]] named after the Queen of Spain [[Isabella I]].<ref name="Greenberger2003">{{cite book|last=Greenberger|first=Robert|title=Juan Ponce de León: The Exploration of Florida and the Search for the Fountain of Youth|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ov7PNM3NcC0C&pg=PA35|access-date=4 June 2012|date=1 January 2003|publisher=The Rosen Publishing Group|isbn=978-0-8239-3627-4|page=35}}</ref> In 1495 it was renamed "Santo Domingo", in honor of [[Saint Dominic]].

The expectations of obtaining great wealth in the island had been high for those who had arrived, and the violent nature and competitive drive of the colonizers also created conflicts among them. In 1497, a colonial administrator [[Francisco Roldán]] rebelled against Columbus and established a rival regime in the island, recruiting half of the Spanish in 1498, and all the towns and fortresses had joined him except La Vega and La Isabella.<ref>{{Citation |last=Bakewell |first=Peter John |title=A history of Latin America: c. 1450 to the present |year=2004 |location=Malden, MA |publisher=Wiley-Blackwell |page=83 |isbn=0-631-23160-9 }}.</ref><ref>Peter Bakewell, [https://books.google.com/books?id=MTlK0Mx1a38C&q=bobadilla+&pg=PA114 "A History of Latin America to 1825: 3rd Edition"], pg 114 ''Wiley Blackwell'', 2010. Retrieved 4/11/2016.</ref><ref name=Ferdinand>{{cite book|last1=Columbus|first1=Ferdinand|title=The Life of the Admiral Christopher Columbus by his son Ferdinand|date=1959|publisher=Rutgers, The State University|location=New Brunswick|pages=191–214}}</ref>

Roldán also promised to exempt some Indians from paying tribute, which they did with gold they collected from the rivers, if they gave him their support, thus getting the help of some natives. Roldán took weapons from La Isabela and retired to Xaragua. When Christopher Columbus returned to America in 1498 on his third voyage, he began a pact with the rebels, which was signed in August 1499, where he agreed to allow the use of the indigenous people as personal service, and gave back pay for the last two years. Even to those who had not worked, he distributed land, authorized the Spaniards to join with the Tainos and to return to Spain whenever they wished. Roldán was also reinstated as Mayor of La Isabela and, in March 1500, Roldán himself helped put down a rebellion led by Pedro Riquelme and Adrián de Mújica against Columbus.

Roldan died in 1502, in a hurricane that occurred coinciding with Columbus's arrival in America on his fourth voyage to the Indies. That hurricane would also kill Francisco de Bobadilla, the investigative judge who ordered Columbus' arrest in August 1500.<ref>{{Citation |title=Admiral of the Ocean Sea: A Life of Christopher Columbus |year=1942 |last=Morison |first=Samuel Eliot |publisher=Little, Brown and Co. |location=Boston |page=590 }}.</ref>

===Establishment of Santo Domingo===
Santo Domingo came to be known as the "Gateway to the New World" and the chief city and capital of all Spanish colonies in the Americas during the colonization era.<ref name="BoltonMarshall2005">{{cite book|last1=Bolton|first1=Herbert E.|last2=Marshall|first2=Thomas Maitland|title=The Colonization of North America 1492 to 1783|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YN64ri8RH80C&pg=PA17|access-date=4 June 2012|date=30 April 2005|publisher=Kessinger Publishing|isbn=978-0-7661-9438-0|page=17}}{{Dead link|date=April 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> Spanish Expeditions which led to [[Juan Ponce de León|Ponce de León]]'s colonization of [[Puerto Rico]], [[Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar]]'s colonization of [[Cuba]], [[Hernán Cortés]]' conquest of Mexico, and [[Vasco Núñez de Balboa]]'s discovery of the Pacific Ocean were all launched from Santo Domingo.

A large discovery of gold was also found in the island, in the [[Cordillera Central, Dominican Republic|Cordillera Central]] mountain region, which led to a mining boom and a [[gold rush]] that lasted from 1500 until 1508.<ref name="Floyd">{{cite book |last1=Floyd |first1=Troy |title=The Columbus Dynasty in the Caribbean, 1492–1526 |date=1973 |publisher=University of New Mexico Press |location=Albuquerque}}</ref>{{rp|44, 50, 57–58, 74}} [[Ferdinand II of Aragon]] "ordered gold from the richest mines reserved for the Crown." The total sum of gold extracted during the first two decades in the Island was estimated at 30,000 kilos, an amount greater than the totality of production in Europe in those years and above the total gold collected by the Portuguese in Africa.

The colony's Spanish leadership changed several times, when Columbus departed on another exploration, [[Francisco de Bobadilla]] became governor. Settlers' allegations of mismanagement by Columbus helped create a tumultuous political situation. In 1502, [[Nicolás de Ovando]] replaced de Bobadilla as governor, it was he who dealt most brutally with the Taíno people. In June 1502,<ref name="Clayton2011">{{cite book|last=Clayton|first=Lawrence A.|title=Bartolom de Las Casas and the Conquest of the Americas|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NP1WfJFLePsC&pg=PA19|access-date=4 June 2012|date=25 January 2011|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|isbn=978-1-4051-9427-3|page=19}}</ref> Santo Domingo was destroyed by a major hurricane, and the new Governor [[Nicolás de Ovando]] had it rebuilt on a different site on the other side of the [[Ozama River]].<ref>Meining 1986:9</ref><ref name="Floyd" />{{rp|55, 73}}

In 1503 the [[Hospital San Nicolás de Bari]], first hospital in the Americas, begins construction at the behest of governor (and namesake of the hospital) [[Nicolás de Ovando]]. This grand project was in keeping with the desire to emulate European princely courts, and looked to [[Renaissance]] Italy for inspiration.<ref>{{cite book|author=Bailey, Galvin Alexander|title=Art of Colonial Latin America|location=New York|publisher=Phaidon Press|year=2005|page=133|isbn=0714841579}}</ref> At the time of its completion, the wards could accommodate up to 70 patients, comparable to the most advanced churches of Rome.<ref>{{cite book|author=Palm, Erwin Walter|title=Los Monumentos Arquitectónicos de La Española, Con una introducción a América. 2 vols|publisher=Ciudad Trujillo: Universidad de Santo Domingo|year=1955}}</ref>

In 1509, the [[Atarazanas Reales, Santo Domingo|Atarazanas Reales]] (Royal Shipyards), a waterside building that housed the shipyards, warehouses, customs house and tax offices in the port of Santo Domingo, began construction.<ref>Banco Popular. ''Santo Domingo Colonial: Sus Principales Monumentos.'' Santo Domingo: Banco Popular, 1998</ref> In addition to serving as warehouses, the complex also housed the Santo Domingo office of the [[Casa de Contratación]], headquartered in [[Seville]]. Thus, the Atarazanas also served as the first customs and tax house of the New World. Management was contracted by the Crown to the powerful [[Welser family|Welser banking family]], which had a slave-trading empire.

===Enslavement of Africans===
The Spanish monarchs, [[Ferdinand II of Aragon|Ferdinand I]] and [[Isabella of Castille|Isabella]] granted permission to the colonists of the Caribbean to import African [[slaves]], and in 1510 the first sizable shipment consisting of 250 [[Black Ladinos]] arrived in Hispaniola from Spain. Eight years later African-born slaves arrived in the [[West Indies]]. Sugar cane was introduced to Hispaniola from the [[Canary Islands]], and the first sugar mill in the New World was established in 1516.<ref name="Sharpe1998">{{cite web |url=http://www.siu.edu/~ebl/leaflets/sugar.htm |title=Sugar Cane: Past and Present |access-date=2008-07-15 |last=Sharpe |first=Peter |date=1998-10-26 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080518084734/http://www.siu.edu/~ebl/leaflets/sugar.htm |archive-date=2008-05-18 }}</ref> The need for a labor force to meet the growing demands of sugar cane cultivation led to an exponential increase in the importation of slaves over the following two decades. The sugar mill owners soon formed a new colonial elite, and initially convinced the Spanish king to allow them to elect the members of the ''[[Real Audiencia of Santo Domingo|Real Audiencia]]'' from their ranks. Diego Colón arrived in 1509, assuming the powers of Viceroy and admiral. In 1512, Ferdinand established a [[Real Audiencia]] with [[Juan Ortiz de Matienzo]], Marcelo de Villalobos, and [[Lucas Vázquez de Ayllón]] appointed as [[oidor|judges]] of appeal.  In 1514, Pedro Ibanez de Ibarra arrived with the [[Laws of Burgos]]. Rodrigo de Alburquerque was named ''repartidor de indios'' and soon named ''[[juez de residencia|visitadores]]'' to enforce the laws.<ref name=Floyd/>{{rp|143–144,147}}
[[File:BriefDiegoKolumbus1.jpg|thumb|left|Brief of Diego Columbus]]
The first major [[1521 Santo Domingo Slave Revolt|slave revolt]] in the Americas occurred in Santo Domingo on 26 December 1522, when enslaved Muslims of the [[Wolof people|Wolof]] nation led an uprising in the sugar plantation of admiral Don [[Diego Colón]], son of Christopher Columbus. Many of these insurgents managed to escape to the mountains where they formed independent [[maroons|maroon]] communities in the south of the island, but the Admiral also had a lot of captured rebels hanged.<ref>Jose Franco, ''Maroons and Slave Rebellions in the Spanish Territories'', in "Maroon Societies: Rebel Slave Communities in the Americas", ed. by Richard Price (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996), p. 35.</ref>

Another rebel also fought back, the native Taino [[Enriquillo]] led a group who fled to the mountains and attacked the Spanish repeatedly for fourteen years. The Spanish ultimately offered him a peace treaty and gave Enriquillo and his followers their own city in 1534. By 1545, there were an estimated 7,000 maroons beyond Spanish control on Hispaniola. The [[Baoruco Mountain Range|Bahoruco Mountains]] in the south-west were their main area of concentration, although Africans had escaped to other areas of the island as well.

By the 1540s, French, English and Dutch pirates had become active in the Caribbean Sea. In 1541, Spain authorized the construction of Santo Domingo's fortified wall, and decided to restrict sea travel to enormous, well-armed convoys. In another move, which would destroy [[Hispaniola]]'s sugar industry, [[Havana]], more strategically located in relation to the [[Gulf Stream]], was selected as the designated stopping point for the merchant [[Spanish treasure fleet|''flotas'']], which had a royal monopoly on commerce with the Americas. With the conquest of the [[Spanish Main]], Hispaniola slowly declined. Many Spanish colonists left for the silver mines of the American mainland, while new immigrants from Spain bypassed the island. Agriculture dwindled, new imports of slaves ceased, and white colonists, free blacks, and slaves alike lived in poverty, weakening the racial hierarchy and aiding ''intermixing'', resulting in a population of predominantly mixed Spaniard, Taíno, and African descent. Except for the city of Santo Domingo, which managed to maintain some legal exports, Dominican ports were forced to rely on contraband trade, which, along with livestock, became the sole source of livelihood for the island dwellers.

===English and French incursions===
[[File:Casa del Cordon CCSD RD 11 2017 6568.jpg|thumb|upright=1.15|[[Casa del Cordón, Santo Domingo|Casa del Cordón]], Colonial Santo Domingo]]

In 1586, [[Francis Drake]] [[Battle of Santo Domingo (1586)|captured the city]] and held it for ransom.<ref name=loc3>{{cite web |url=http://countrystudies.us/dominican-republic/3.htm |title=Dominican Republic – THE FIRST COLONY |access-date=2009-03-18 |publisher=[[Library of Congress]]}}</ref> Drake's invasion signaled the decline of Spanish dominion over the Caribbean region, which was accentuated in the early 17th century by policies that resulted in the depopulation of most of the island outside of the capital. An English expedition sent by [[Oliver Cromwell]] in 1655 attacked the city of Santo Domingo, but was defeated. The English troops withdrew and took the less guarded colony of [[Jamaica]], instead.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rdvp3cGJUZoC&q=%22Santo+Domingo%22+1655+Penn+Venables&pg=PA148 |title=Wars of the Americas |last=Marley |first=David |publisher=ABC-CLIO |year=1998 |isbn=9780874368376 |pages=148–149}}</ref> In 1697, the [[Treaty of Ryswick]] included the acknowledgement by Spain of France's dominion over the Western third of the island, now [[Haiti]].

In 1605, Spain, unhappy that Santo Domingo was facilitating trade between its other colonies and other European powers, attacked vast parts of the colony's northern and western regions, forcibly resettling their inhabitants closer to the city of Santo Domingo.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Caribbean: The Genesis of a Fragmented Nationalism |edition=2nd |last=Knight |first=Franklin W. |year=1990 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=New York |isbn=0-19-505440-7 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/caribbeangenesis0002knig/page/54 54] |url=https://archive.org/details/caribbeangenesis0002knig/page/54 }}</ref> This action, known as the ''[[devastaciones de Osorio]]'', proved disastrous; more than half of the resettled colonists died of starvation or disease.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Rough Guide to the Dominican Republic |last=Harvey |first=Sean |edition=3rd |year=2006 |publisher=Rough Guides |location=New York |isbn=1-84353-497-5 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/roughguidetodo00sean/page/352 352] |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/roughguidetodo00sean/page/352 }}</ref> The city of Santo Domingo was subjected to a [[smallpox]] epidemic, cacao blight, and hurricane in 1666; another storm two years later; a second epidemic in 1669; a third hurricane in September 1672; plus an earthquake in May 1673 that killed two dozen residents.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Marley|first1=David|title=Historic Cities of the Americas: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, Volume 2|date=2005|publisher=ABC-CLIO|page=94}}</ref> San José de Ocoa, the best-known maroon settlement in Santo Domingo, was subjugated by the Spanish in 1666.

In the 17th century, the French began occupying the unpopulated western third of Hispaniola. In 1625, French and English pirates arrived on the western side of the island. The pirates were attacked in 1629 by Spanish forces commanded by [[Fadrique Álvarez de Toledo, 1st Marquis of Villanueva de Valdueza|Don Fadrique de Toledo]], who fortified the island, and expelled the French and English. In 1654, the Spanish [[Capture of Fort Rocher|re-captured the west side the island]].<ref>[http://www.thepirateking.com/books/books_buccaneersintewestindies_ch04.htm The Buccaneers In The West Indies In The XVII Century – Chapter IV<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>

In 1655 the west of Hispaniola was reoccupied by the English and French. In 1660 the English appointed a Frenchman as governor who proclaimed French sovereignty and defeated several English attempts to reclaim the island.<ref>[http://www.thepirateking.com/books/books_buccaneersintewestindies_ch04.htm The Buccaneers In The West Indies In The XVII Century – Chapter IV]</ref> In 1665, French colonization of the island was officially recognized by King [[Louis&nbsp;XIV]]. The French colony was given the name [[Saint-Domingue]]. By 1670 a Welsh privateer named [[Henry Morgan]] invited the pirates on the island of Tortuga to set sail under him. They were hired by the French as a striking force that allowed France to have a much stronger hold on the Caribbean region. Consequently, the pirates never really controlled the island and kept Tortuga as a neutral hideout. The capital of the French Colony of Saint-Domingue was moved from Tortuga to [[Port-de-Paix]] on the mainland of [[Hispaniola]] in 1676.
[[File:AMH-6754-NA Bird's eye view of the city of Santo Domingo.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.2|City of Santo Domingo in 1665.]]
In 1680, new Acts of [[Parliament of England|Parliament]] forbade sailing under foreign flags (in opposition to former practice). This was a major legal blow to the Caribbean pirates. Settlements were made in the [[Treaty of Ratisbon]] of 1684, signed by the European powers, that put an end to piracy. Most of the pirates after this time were hired out into the Royal services to suppress their former buccaneer allies. In the 1697 [[Treaty of Ryswick]], Spain formally ceded the western third of the island to France.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/266962/Hispaniola |title=Hispaniola Article |encyclopedia=Britannica.com |access-date=4 January 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://cardiostart.org/blog/ |title=Dominican Republic 2014 |access-date=24 April 2014}}</ref> It was an important port in the Americas for goods and products flowing to and from France and Europe. Intermittent clashes between French and Spanish colonists followed, even after the 1697 Treaty of Ryswick recognized the de facto occupations of France and Spain around the globe. Periodic confrontations also continued despite a 1731 agreement that partially defined a border between the two colonies along the Massacre and Pedernales rivers. In 1777, the [[Treaty of Aranjuez (1777)|Treaty of Aranjuez]] established a definitive border between what Spain called Santo Domingo and what the French named Saint-Domingue, thus ending 150 years of local conflicts and imperial ambitions to extend control over the island.<ref>{{cite book|title=Africana: The Encyclopedia of the African and African American Experience|page=422}}</ref>

===Economic revival===
[[File:DOMREP-s-dom-panteon-innen.jpg|thumb|upright|National pantheon.]]
The [[House of Bourbon]] replaced the [[House of Habsburg]] in Spain in 1700 and introduced economic reforms that gradually began to revive trade in Santo Domingo. The crown progressively relaxed the rigid controls and restrictions on commerce between Spain and the colonies and among the colonies. The last ''flotas'' sailed in 1737; the monopoly port system was abolished shortly thereafter. Many Spaniards and Hispaniola-born Creoles also then became pirates and privateers. By the middle of the century, the population was bolstered by emigration from the [[Canary Islands]], resettling the northern part of the colony and planting tobacco in the [[Cibao Valley]], and importation of slaves was renewed.

====Age of Piracy====

Santo Domingo's exports soared and the island's agricultural productivity rose, which was assisted by the involvement of [[History of Spain (1700–1808)|Spain]] in the [[Seven Years' War]], allowing [[privateer]]s operating out of Santo Domingo to once again patrol surrounding waters for enemy [[Merchant ship|merchantmen]].<ref name=Hazard>{{cite book|last1=Hazard|first1=Samuel|title=Santo Domingo, Past And Present; With A Glance At Haytl|url=https://archive.org/details/santodomingopast00haza_0|date=1873|page=[https://archive.org/details/santodomingopast00haza_0/page/100 100]}}</ref> Dominican privateers targeted British, Dutch, French and Danish ships throughout the eighteenth century.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://ruor.uottawa.ca/bitstream/10393/4972/1/ML21744.PDF|title=Corsairs of Santo Domingo a socio-economic study, 1718–1779}}</ref> Dominicans constituted one of the many diverse units which fought under [[Bernardo de Gálvez]] during the Spanish recapture of [[Florida]] from Britain during the [[American Revolutionary War]].<ref>{{cite book |title=Latino Chronology: Chronologies of the American Mosaic |isbn = 9780313341540|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TWX5d27NkFgC&pg=PA36|last1 = Figueredo|first1 = D. H.|year = 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Spain and the Independence of the United States: An Intrinsic Gift |isbn = 9780826327949|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cCbhQZFdZlYC&pg=PA170|last1 = Chavez|first1 = Thomas E.|year = 2002}}</ref>
[[File:A map of the island of St. Domingo (4586550141).jpg|thumb|left|Map of Santo Domingo in the 1700s.]]
Dominican privateers had already been active in the [[War of Jenkins' Ear|Guerra del Asiento]] decades prior, and they sharply reduced the amount of enemy trade operating in [[West Indies|West Indian]] waters.<ref name=Hazard/> The [[prize (law)|prizes]] they took were carried back to Santo Domingo, where their cargoes were sold to the colony's inhabitants or to foreign merchants doing business there. During this period, Spanish privateers from Santo Domingo sailed into enemy ports looking for ships to plunder, thus disrupting commerce between Spain's enemies in the Atlantic. As a result of these developments, Spanish privateers frequently sailed back into Santo Domingo with their holds filled with captured plunder which were sold in Hispaniola's ports, with profits accruing to individual sea raiders. The revenue acquired in these acts of piracy was invested in the economic expansion of the colony and led to repopulation from Europe.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Ricourt|first1=Milagros|title=The Dominican Racial Imaginary: Surveying the Landscape of Race and Nation in Hispaniola|date=2016|publisher=Rutgers University Press|page=57}}</ref> The enslaved population of the colony also rose dramatically, as numerous captive Africans were taken from enemy [[slave ship]]s in West Indian waters.<ref name=Hazard/> The author of ''Idea del valor de la Isla Española'' emphasized the activities of Dominican privateer Lorenzo Daniel (also known as Lorencín Daniel), and noted that in his career as a privateer, Daniel captured more than 60 enemy ships, including "those used for trade as well as war”.{{Efn|During the war of 1762, a packet boat, a brigantine, six sloops, two schooners, and a coastal vessel were brought into port and it was Dominican corsairs, Lorenzo Daniel, Juan Bautista San Marcos, Juan Cueto, and Domingo Alberto Serrano who brought them in.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Bosch|first1=Juan|title=Social Composition of the Dominican Republic|date=2016|publisher=Routledge|page=101}}</ref>}}

The population of Santo Domingo grew to approximately 125,000 in the year 1791. Of this number, 40,000 were white landowners, about 70,000 were mulatto freedmen, and some 15,000 were black slaves.<ref>{{cite book |title=idea del valor de la isla española |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MuwCAAAAYAAJ&q=idea+del+valor+de+la+isla+espa%C3%B1ola|last1 = Valverde|first1 = Antonio Sánchez|year = 1862}}</ref> This contrasted sharply with neighboring [[Saint-Domingue]] (Haiti), which had an enslaved population of over 500,000, representing 90% of the French colony's population, and overall seven times as numerous as the Spanish colony of Santo Domingo.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://countrystudies.us/dominican-republic/3.htm|title=Dominican Republic – THE FIRST COLONY|access-date=16 August 2016}}</ref> The French had become the wealthiest colonists in the Western Hemisphere due to the exploitation of their massive slave population. As restrictions on colonial trade were relaxed, the colonial [[French Haitians|French elites]] of St. Domingue offered the principal market for Santo Domingo's exports of beef, hides, mahogany and tobacco. The 'Spanish' settlers, whose blood by now was mixed with that of Taínos, Africans, and Canary Guanches, proclaimed: 'It does not matter if the French are richer than us, we are still the true inheritors of this island. In our veins runs the blood of the heroic ''conquistadores'' who won this island of ours with sword and blood.'.<ref>{{cite book|title=Peasants and Religion: A Socioeconomic Study of Dios Olivorio and the Palma Sola Religion in the Dominican Republic|page=565}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://countrystudies.us/dominican-republic/3.htm |title=Dominican Republic—The First Colony |access-date=2008-07-15 |work=U.S. Library of Congress }}</ref>

====Later years====
[[File:Juan Sánchez Ramírez.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Juan Sánchez Ramírez]], who led the [[Spanish reconquest of Santo Domingo]]]]

With the outbreak of the [[Haitian Revolution]], the rich urban families linked to the colonial bureaucracy left the island, while most of the rural cattle ranchers remained, even though they lost their principal market. Nevertheless, the [[Spanish crown]] saw in the unrest an opportunity to seize all, or part, of the western region of the island in an alliance of convenience with the rebellious slaves. The Spanish governor of Santo Domingo purchased the allegiance of mulatto and black rebel leaders and their personal armies.<ref name=Scheina>{{cite book|last1=Scheina|first1=Robert L.|title=Latin America's Wars: Volume 1|date=2003|publisher=Potomac Books}}</ref> In July 1793, Spanish forces, including former slaves, crossed the border and pushed back the disheveled French forces before them.<ref name=Scheina/>

Although the Spanish and Dominican soldiers had been successful in the island during their battles against the French,<ref name=Scheina/> such had not been the case in the European front, as Spain and Portugal lost the [[War of the Pyrenees]], and on July 22, 1795, the French Republic and Spanish crown signed the [[Peace of Basel|Treaty of Basel]]. Frenchmen were to return to their side of the Pyrenees in Europe and Spanish Santo Domingo was to be ceded to France. This period called the ''[[Era de Francia]]'', lasted until 1809 until being recaptured by the Dominican general [[Juan Sánchez Ramírez]] in the [[Spanish reconquest of Santo Domingo|reconquest of Santo Domingo]].{{citation needed|date=December 2024}}

==Cities and towns==
{| class="toccolours" border="2" cellpadding="2" style="border-collapse:collapse"
|- bgcolor="lightsteelblue"
! Cities and towns||Foundation
|- Trinidad
|[[La Isabela|Isabela]]||[[1492]]
|-
|[[Concepción de la Vega]]
|[[1494]]
|-
|[[Bonao|San Antonio de Bonao]]
|[[1494]]
|-
|[[Santiago de los Caballeros]]
|[[1495]]
|-
|[[Santo Domingo]]||[[1496]]
|-
|[[San Felipe de Puerto Plata]]
|[[1499]]
|-
|[[El Seibo|Santa Cruz del Seybo]]
|[[1502]]
|-
|[[Puerto Príncipe|Santa María de la Vera Paz]]
|[[1503]]
|-
|[[Les Cayes]]
|[[1503]]
|-
|[[Hinche|Lares de Guaba]]
|[[1503]]
|-
|[[Salvaleón de Higüey]] 
|[[1503]]
|-
|[[San Juan de la Maguana]]
|[[1503]]
|-
|[[Azua, Dominican Republic|Compostela de Azua]]
|[[1504]]
|-
|[[Aquin|Villanueva de Yáquimo]]
|[[1504]]
|-
|[[Cabo Haitiano|Puerto Real de Bayajá]]
|[[1504]]
|-
|[[Sánchez Ramírez|La Buenaventura]]
|[[1504]]
|-
|[[Cotuí|Cotuy]]
|[[1505]]
|-
|[[San Fernando de Monte Cristi]]
|[[1506]]
|-
|[[Hato Mayor del Rey]]
|[[1520]]
|-
|[[Sabana Grande de Boyá]]||[[1535]]
|-
|[[Neiba|Neyba]]||[[1546]]
|-
|[[Peralvillo]]||[[1601]]
|-
|[[Bayaguana|San Juan Bautista de Bayaguana]]||[[1606]]
|-
|[[Monte Plata]]||[[1606]]
|-
|[[Hinche|Concepción de Hincha]]||[[1704]]
|-
|[[Samaná (town)|Santa Bárbara de Samaná]]||[[1756]]
|-
|[[Sabana de la Mar]]||[[1760]]
|-
|[[Saint-Raphaël, Haiti]]||[[1761]]
|-
|[[Las Caobas|San Gabriel de Las Caobas]]||[[1763]]
|-
|[[Baní]]||[[1764]]
|-
|[[Saint-Michel-de-l'Attalaye|San Miguel de la Atalaya]]||[[1768]]
|-
|[[San Francisco de Macorís]]||[[1778]]
|-
|[[Boca Chica|San José de los Llanos]]||[[1779]]
|-
|[[Las Matas de Farfán]]
|[[1780]]
|}

==Society==

===Education===
[[File:San Domingo, 1855 208245 02.jpg|thumb|right|[[Church and Convent of los Dominicos|Convent of los Dominicos]]]]
The St. Thomas Aquinas University, today the [[Autonomous University of Santo Domingo]], is the first institution of higher education in the [[Americas]]. It was founded by [[papal bull]] in 1538 in [[Santo Domingo]]. The headquarters of the university was the [[Church and Convent of los Dominicos]]. Founded during the reign of [[Charles I of Spain]], it was originally a seminary operated by [[Roman Catholic Church|Catholic]] monks of the [[Dominican Order]]. Later, the institution received a university charter by [[Pope Paul III]]'s papal bull ''In Apostulatus Culmine'', dated October 28, 1538.

In its structure and purpose the new university was modeled after the University of Alcalá in the city of Henares, Spain. In this capacity it became a standard-bearer for the medieval ideology of the [[Spanish Conquest]], and gained its royal charter in 1558. In this royal decree, the university was given the name University of Saint Thomas Aquinas (Universidad Santo Tomás de Aquino).

The university was closed in 1801 under the French, but reopened in 1815 as a secular institution.<ref name="d1823">{{cite web |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150502011605/http://bibliotecasvirtuales.com/biblioteca/LiteraturaDominicana/pedrohu/culturayletrascoloniales/LasUniversidades.asp |title=Las Universidades |language=Spanish |url=http://bibliotecasvirtuales.com/biblioteca/LiteraturaDominicana/pedrohu/culturayletrascoloniales/LasUniversidades.asp |archivedate=May 2, 2015}}</ref>

===Religion===
[[File:Nave Norte Catedral Primada CCSD 05 2019 5530.jpg|thumb|right|Interior view of Santa María la Menor Cathedral.]]
The [[Archdiocese of Santo Domingo]] is considered the first episcopal seat in America. Of all the dioceses in the north and south of the American continent, only the archbishop of Santo Domingo corresponds to the title of first of the Indies. It is the oldest of the surviving dioceses in the Americas, the Diocese of Santo Domingo was created on August 8, 1511 by Pope Julius II's bull Romanus Pontifex of August 8, 1511. In those days, the diocese of Concepción (today in La Vega, Dominican Republic). In 1527 the diocese of Concepción de la Vega was abolished, leaving the entire island of Hispaniola under the jurisdiction of the bishop of Santo Domingo.

It was elevated to Metropolitan Archdiocese on February 12, 1546, through the bull Super universas orbis ecclesiae of Pope Paul III, being its first archbishop Alonso de Fuenmayor. The Diocese of Puerto Rico, the Diocese of Venezuela (with headquarters in Coro, founded in 1531; today the Archdiocese of Caracas), the Diocese of Cuba (with headquarters in Santiago de Cuba, initially founded in Baracoa in 1518; today Archdiocese of Santiago de Cuba), the Diocese of Honduras (based in Comayagua, initially founded in Trujillo in 1531; today Archdiocese of Tegucigalpa) and the territorial abbey of Jamaica (suppressed in 1655).

==Demographics and caste system==
The presence of precious metals such as gold boosted migration of thousands of Spaniards to Hispaniola seeking easy wealth. In the year 1510, there were 10,000 Spaniards in the [[colony of Santo Domingo]], and it rose to over 20,000 in 1520. However after the depleting of the gold mines, the island began to depopulate.<ref name=Bosch>{{cite book|last1=Bosch|first1=Juan|author-link1=Juan Bosch (politician)|title=Composición Social Dominicana|date=1995|publisher=Alfa y Omega|location=Santo Domingo|isbn=9789945406108|page=45|edition=18|url=http://inabima.gob.do/descargas/biblioteca/Autores%20Dominicanos/Juan%20Bosch/Juan%20Bosch%20-%20Composici%F3n%20social%20dominicana.pdf|access-date=3 September 2014|language=es|quote="Aunque, siguiendo a Herrera, Sánchez Valverde diga que después de lo que escribió Oviedo aumentó el número de ingenios, parece que el punto más alto de la expansión de la industria azucarera se consiguió precisamente cuando Oviedo escribía sobre ella en 1547. Ya entonces había comenzado el abandono de la isla por parte de sus pobladores, que se iban hacia México y Perú en busca de una riqueza que no hallaban en la Española".|archive-date=18 May 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150518091258/http://inabima.gob.do/descargas/biblioteca/Autores%20Dominicanos/Juan%20Bosch/Juan%20Bosch%20-%20Composici%F3n%20social%20dominicana.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> This was followed by a limited Spanish migration toward Hispaniola, composed overwhelmingly by males. In order to counteract the depopulation and impoverishment of the colony, the Spanish Monarchy allowed the importation of African slaves to hew [[sugar cane]].

Families stopped migrating to the colony, so the lack of Spanish females led to [[miscegenation]], that drove the creation of a [[caste system]], in which Spaniards were at the top, [[mixed-race]] people at middle, and [[Amerindian]]s and [[black people]] at the bottom. In order to maintain their status and remain racially pure the caste system was enforced, because only pure whites were able to inherit [[majorat]]s. As a result, Santo Domingo, like the rest of [[Hispanic America]], became a [[pigmentocracy]]. The local-born whites were known as ''[[Criollo people|blancos de la tierra]]'' ("whites from the land"), in contrast to the ''[[peninsulares|blancos de Castilla]]'', "whites from [[Castile (historical region)|Castile]]".<ref name=MoreauDeSaintMery>{{cite book|last1=Moreau de Saint-Méry|first1=Médéric Louis Élie|author-link1=Médéric Louis Élie Moreau de Saint-Méry|title=Description topographique et politique de la partie espagnole de l'isle Saint-Domingue |location=Philadelphia |pages=55–59|url= <!--|access-date=28 January 2015-->}}</ref>

''[[Limpieza de sangre]]'' ({{IPA|es|limˈpjeθa ðe ˈsaŋɡɾe|lang}}, meaning literally "cleanliness of blood") was very important in [[Spain in the Middle Ages|Mediæval Spain]],<ref name="Spain-Then-and-Now">{{cite web|title=The Visigoths in Spain|url=http://www.spainthenandnow.com/spanish-history/visigoths-in-spain/default_154.aspx|publisher=Spain Then and Now|access-date=14 June 2013|format=aspx}}</ref> and this system was replicated on the New World. The highest social class was the [[Visigothic]] nobility,<ref>{{cite book |title=The Basque History Of The World |isbn = 9781448113224|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-Lx1KVvzI9YC&pg=PA35|last1 = Kurlansky|first1 = Mark|date = 30 September 2011| publisher=Random House }}</ref> commonly known as people of "sangre azul" (Spanish for: "blue blood"), because their skin was so pale that their veins looked blue through it, in comparison with that of a commoner who had [[olive skin]]. Those who proved that they were descendants of Visigoths were allowed to use the style of [[Don (honorific)|Don]] and were considered [[hidalgo (nobility)|hidalgo]]s. Hidalgos nobles were the most benefited of those Spanish who emigrated to America because they received royal properties (such as cattle, lands, and slaves) and tax exemptions.
These people achieved a privileged position, and most of them avoided mixing with natives or Africans.

The Spanish of the highest rank who migrated to America in the sixteenth century was the noblewoman Doña [[María de Toledo]], granddaughter of the 1st [[Duke of Alba]], niece of the 2nd Duke of Alba, and grandniece of King [[Ferdinand II of Aragon|Ferdinand of Aragon]]; she was married to [[Diego Columbus]], Admiral and [[Viceroy]] of the Indies.{{citation needed|date=January 2024}}<!-- Empty reference <ref name="Genealogy" /-->

==Government and Laws==
[[File:Museo Casas Reales CCSD 11 2018 4311.jpg|thumb|Royal Courtyard.]]
The [[Museo de las Casas Reales|Real Audiencia of Santo Domingo]] was the first court of the [[Crown of Castile|Spanish crown]] in America. It was created by [[Ferdinand II of Aragon|Ferdinand V of Castile]] in his decree of 1511, and was implemented by [[Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor|Charles V]] in his decree of September 14, 1526. This ''[[Audiencia Real|audiencia]]'' would become part of the [[Viceroyalty of New Spain]] upon the creation of the latter two decades later.

The ''audiencia'' president was at the same time governor and [[Captaincy|captain general]] of the Captaincy General of Santo Domingo, which granted him broad administrative powers and autonomy over the Spanish possessions of the Caribbean and most of its [[Spanish Main|mainland coasts]]. This combined with the judicial oversight that the ''audiencia'' judges had over the region meant that the Santo Domingo ''Audiencia'' was the principal political entity of this region during the [[Spanish Empire|colonial period]].

{| border="0" cellpadding="10" cellspacing="0" align="center" width="90%" style="background-color: #EEEEEE;"
|-----
| <blockquote><div style= "font-size:87%;"><span style="color:#EEEEEE;"> — </span>We order that in the City of Santo Domingo on the Island of Hispaniola reside our Royal ''Audiencia'' and Chancellory, as it has been established, with a president, who shall be governor and captain general; four judges of [[Private law|civil cases]], who shall also serve as judges of [[Criminal law|criminal cases]]; a crown attorney; a bailiff; and a lieutenant of the Gran Chancellor; and the other necessary ministers and officials, which will have for district all of the [[Lesser Antilles]], and the coast of [[Province of Tierra Firme|Tierra Firme]], and in them the Governments of [[Venezuela]], [[New Andalusia Province|New Andalusia]], [[Riohacha]], which is of the Government of [[Santa Marta]]; and in [[Guayana Province|Guayana]] or Province of El Dorado, the regions which it now has and no more; dividing territory in the south with the four ''Audiencias'' of the [[New Kingdom of Granada]], [[Real Audiencia of Panama|Tierra Firme]] [Panama], [[Real Audiencia of Guatemala|Guatemala]] and [[Real Audiencia of Mexico|New Spain]], along the coasts which run along the west of [[Gulf of Mexico|North Sea]], with the Provinces of [[Spanish Florida|Florida]], and with the rest in the North Sea; and that the president-governor-captain general can order and will order what is necessary in military matters and relating to the good governance and defense of said Island of Santo Domingo.</div></blockquote>
|}

===Native rights===
[[File:Cristobal Colón, 1893 "La gran batalla que tuvo el almirante con el Rey Guarionex y cien mil indios en la Vega Real". (4383849255).jpg|thumb|Battle of Vegas Real.]]
In 1501 [[Isabella of Castile|Queen Isabella]] declared [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|Native Americans]] as subjects to the crown, this implied that enslaving them was illegal except on very specific conditions. This would lead to the necessity of importing [[African slaves]] to the island in the years to come. Native chiefs were responsible for keeping track of the laborers in their community. The ''encomienda'' system did not grant people land, but it indirectly aided in the conquistadors and settlers' acquisition of land with the intent of establishing new towns and populations. As initially defined, the ''encomendero'' and his heirs expected to hold these grants in perpetuity.

The ''encomiendas'' became very corrupt and harsh. In the neighborhood of La Concepción, north of Santo Domingo, the ''[[adelantado]]'' of Santiago heard rumors of a 15,000-man army of [[Tainos]] planning to stage a rebellion.<ref>{{Cite book | title=De Orbe Novo, the Eight Decades of Peter Martyr D'Anghera | author=Pietro Martire D'Anghiera | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=e7hU_LePtIQC&q=guarionex+revolt&pg=PA122 | access-date=10 July 2010 | page=121 | isbn=9781113147608 | date=July 2009 | archive-date=25 November 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201125185832/https://books.google.com/books?id=e7hU_LePtIQC&q=guarionex+revolt&pg=PA122 | url-status=live }}</ref> Upon hearing this, the adelantado captured the ''[[cacique]]s'' involved and had most of them hanged.

Later, a chieftain named [[Guarionex]] laid havoc to the countryside before an army of about 3,090 routed the [[Ciguana people]] under his leadership.<ref>{{Cite book | title=De Orbe Novo, the Eight Decades of Peter Martyr D'Anghera | author=Pietro Martire D'Anghiera | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=e7hU_LePtIQC&q=guarionex+revolt&pg=PA122 | access-date=10 July 2010 | page=143 | isbn=9781113147608 | date=July 2009 | archive-date=25 November 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201125185832/https://books.google.com/books?id=e7hU_LePtIQC&q=guarionex+revolt&pg=PA122 | url-status=live }}</ref> Although expecting Spanish protection from warring tribes, the islanders <!-- where are we? I thought this was about Mexico -->sought to join the Spanish forces. They helped the Spaniards deal with their ignorance of the surrounding environment.<ref>{{Cite book | title=De Orbe Novo, the Eight Decades of Peter Martyr D'Anghera | author=Pietro Martire D'Anghiera | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=e7hU_LePtIQC | access-date=10 July 2010 | page=132 | isbn=9781113147608 | date=July 2009 | archive-date=31 July 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200731000235/https://books.google.com/books?id=e7hU_LePtIQC | url-status=live }}</ref> The change of requiring the ''encomendado'' to be returned to the crown after two generations was frequently overlooked, as the colonists did not want to give up the labor or power.

==Gallery==
<gallery width="150px">
File:Hispaniola Treaty of Aranjuez 1777.jpg|Contemporary map showing the border situation on Hispaniola following the Treaty of Aranjuez
File:Iglesia y Convento Dominicos CCSD 07 2018 0522.jpg
</gallery>

==See also==
{{Portal|Dominican Republic}}
*[[List of colonial governors of Santo Domingo]]
*[[Timeline of Santo Domingo]]
*[[History of the Dominican Republic]]
*[[Spanish colonization of the Americas]]
*[[Annexation of the Dominican Republic to Spain]]
*[[Saint-Domingue|French Colony of Saint-Domingue]]

== Notes ==
{{reflist|group=Note}}
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite book |title=Encyclopædia Metropolitana |title-link=Encyclopædia Metropolitana |volume=18 |location=London |year=1845 |publisher=B. Fellowes et al. |chapter=Santo Domingo |hdl=2027/mdp.39015082485213?urlappend=%3Bseq=220 |chapter-url=http://hdl.handle.net/2027/mdp.39015082485213?urlappend=%3Bseq=220  }}

{{Dominican Republic topics}}
{{Haiti topics}}
{{Spanish Empire}}
{{Caribbean topic|History of|nolinkvi=y}}
{{North America in topic|History of}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Captaincy General Of Santo Domingo}}
[[Category:History of the Colony of Santo Domingo|.]]
[[Category:Spanish West Indies]]
[[Category:Colonial government in the West Indies]]
[[Category:Former colonies in North America|Santo Domingo, Captaincy General of]]
[[Category:Former countries in the Caribbean|Santo Domingo, Captaincy General of]]
[[Category:History of New Spain]]
[[Category:Captaincies General of the Spanish Empire|Santo Domingo]]
[[Category:1490s in the Caribbean]]
[[Category:16th century in the Colony of Santo Domingo]]
[[Category:17th century in the Colony of Santo Domingo]]
[[Category:18th century in the Colony of Santo Domingo]]
[[Category:States and territories established in 1493]]
[[Category:States and territories disestablished in 1795]]
[[Category:1490s establishments in the Spanish West Indies]]
[[Category:1790s disestablishments in the Spanish West Indies]]
[[Category:1795 disestablishments in the Spanish Empire]]
[[Category:National histories|Dominican Republic, Santo Domingo]]
[[Category:Spanish-speaking countries and territories]]