1. The Indians were here first
Taino indians were the firs inhabitants of the island of Hispaniola (now divided into two countries: Haiti and the Dominican Republic).
2. In 1492 Columbus sailed the ocean blue and the Spaniards took over.
3. Mid 1600s, French colonists use women prisoners to win over Caribbean pirates and take control of Haiti.
(WHAT?!) Ok let me explain. The French became jealous of all the Spanish possessions in the New Word, and sent colonists to settle the nearby island of Tortuga and the northwestern part of Hispaniola (now Haiti), which had been abandoned by the Spanish and was now imfamous for harboring pirates. Its unclear to me whether these areas were abandoned because of the pirates, or if the pirates took over after they were abandoned. In any case, the French supplied the pirates with women prisoners accused of prostitution and thievery in order to domesticate them and win them to their side, thus securing the aforementioned regions for themselves.
4. 1791 Slaves revolt!
The French, the Spanish, and the Slaves will continue to tussle for control of the island for a while.
5. 1844 La Republica Dominicana is officially established- its a rough start
A series of really bad military leaders take over and things start going down the drain.
6. 1916 USA to the rescue!....or not.
Americans, wanting to expand their influence and power in the booming sugar industry in the D.R., used the First World War as an excuse to bring in U.S. Marines to "protect it" against vulnerability to European countries like big bad Germany. They then proceeded to rule the Dominican for the next 8 years. They also decided to train a new Dominican army, with the end result of shifting power to the military and away from civilians. Great idea U.S.A. Oh, not to mention that the quartermaster of this new American trained army was Rafael Trujillo, who later went on to become one of the most ruthless dictators the world has ever seen. So A+ America for personally training and putting a mass murderer into a position of power.
7. Trujillo is a really bad guy
Under Trujillos dictatorship, more than 20,000 men, women, and children were slaughtered. Oh and also, he pretty much took over everything so that he could become super rich. Trujillo wasn't alone though, his Vice President and right hand-man Joaquin Balaguer was thought to have been the mastermind behind much of his dictatorship.
8. Socialism! everyone's happy...maybe.
After Trujillos assassination in 1961 a socialist party was elected into control and everyone lived happily ever after. except that they didn't. Because at the same time this was happening the cold war and communist scare were also taking place. And socialism is close to communism. And well, the U.S.A. couldn't let another country go communist like Cuba, so we decided to intervene.
9. America sure knows how to pick 'em. In 1970 the U.S. helped stage a coup d'ta and rigged an election to put their own "less-socialist" president into power. Guess who we picked? Trujillos criminal mastermind and former vice president Balaguer. Once again, A+ U.S.A.
10. Its just a baby!
Through a series of rigged elections, Balaguar remained mostly in power until 1996, when finally, a fair election was held. The D.R. has been holding free and fair democratic elections ever since then, making it one of the youngest democracies in the world. The current president is Danilo Medina.
My main source of information here was Hispaniola.com, but I put my own spin on it, so if you know anything about Dominican history, forgive me if I misrepresented or miswrote anything.
You're still here? Wow, I'm impressed. Here are some more puppy pictures. Surprise!