Dominican Act of Independence (1844)
The Dominican Act of Independence (1844), also called the Manifesto of January 16, 1844, has its date indicates, was conceived and drafted before the founding of the Dominican Republic. It serves as a declaration of independence – platform on which the republic was founded and raised – the manifesto presents the reasons that justify the separation from neighboring Haiti, which controlled the entire island between 1822 and 1844. It out all the grievances suffered during the Haitian occupation of Santo Domingo and goes on to detail what the new State that would emerge from that separation would be like.
The manifesto establishes the boundaries of the Dominican Republic and the provinces that comprise it:[1]
Divided as it is the territory of the Dominican Republic into four provinces, namely Santo Domingo, Santiago or Cibao, Azua from the border to Ocoa and Seibo.
Background
[edit]In the absence of Juan Pablo Duarte, who was a refugee in Venezuela, Francisco del Rosario Sánchez, Matías Ramón Mella and Vicente Celestino Duarte were entrusted with leading the Trinitarios. With very limited resources, handwritten leaflets were circulated throughout the country and at great risk, completing the campaign aimed at gaining more supporters for the independence cause and finalizing details.
The most important of these documents was the famous Manifestation of the peoples of the Eastern Part of the Island formerly Spanish or Santo Domingo, on the causes of their separation from the Haitian Republic, of January 16, 1844, a few days before the Dominican Republic was proclaimed on February 27, 1844. It is therefore the first official document of the Nation, with which our collection of laws begins.
Drafting
[edit]The authorship of the document has not been without controversy, as several historical figures dispute the fact of having written the manifesto. Haitian historian, Thomas Madiou, says that the manifesto was written and circulated by Sánchez and Mella.[2]
Manuel Dolores Galván states in his Obituary, published in the magazine Letras y Ciencias on November 19, 1984, that he served as Sánchez's secretary and that the January 16 Manifesto was circulated in his own handwriting. In a brief historical account written in 1918 by Eustaquio Puello, he states that his father, General Gabino Puello, circulated throughout the south of the island the handwritten Manifesto written by his "cousin Manuel Dolores Galván at the Musié Pallén meeting."
However, in the Dominican Republic it is considered that the drafting of the document was the work of Tomás Bobadilla, since in a working session of the Tribunate on June 10, 1847, he would affirm it saying:[3]
I believe, gentlemen, that no one can be a better Dominican than I. I was the first to say: God, Homeland and Liberty; I was the author of the Manifesto of January 16; on the night of February 27, I was at the head of the people; I was the President of the Governing Board…
The Constitutional Court of the Dominican Republic published the book THE JUST CAUSE OF FREEDOM, which contains the Manifesto of the peoples of the Eastern Part of the Island, formerly Spanish or Santo Domingo, on the causes of their separation from the Haitian Republic on January 16, 1844. This title comes from the Manifesto itself. The prologue is by Dominican historian Juan Daniel Balcácer, president of the Permanent Commission of National Anniversaries, who confirms that the Manifesto of January 16, also known as the "Dominican Act of Independence," was authored by Bobadilla.
Thus, Bobadilla is the author of the declaration of independence, which supported the pronouncement of the Puerta del Conde on the night of February 27, 1844, that is, the birth of the State called the Dominican Republic.[4]
The Manifesto contains the ideas of its author, supported by all its signatories and endorsed by all peoples. Stated clearly: The Dominican Republic is built on the ideas of Tomás Bobadilla Briones. The Manifestation is the first document in the Collection of Laws, Decrees and Regulations of the Dominican Republic.[5]
References
[edit]- ^ Garrido, Victor (1971). Espigas Históricas (in Spanish). p. 108.
- ^ Madiou, Thomas. Histoire d'Haïti, Années 1843-1846. Port-au-Prince. 1904
- ^ Rodríguez Demorizi, Emilio. El Acta de la Separación Dominicana y el Acta de Independencia de los Estados Unidos de América.. Cuadernos Dominicanos de Cultura. Santo Domingo. 1943
- ^ Manuel Otilio Pérez P. (16 January 2016). "Tomás Bobadilla Briones, autor del Manifiesto del 16 de enero de 1844". Retrieved 19 November 2016.
- ^ García, José Gabriel. Compendio de la historia de Santo Domingo. Santo Domingo. 1894
External links
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