A European Informational Website
learn more
Juan Pablo Duarte y Diez; is one of the founding fathers of the Dominican Republic. Duarte was born on January 26, 1813 in Santo Domingo, a colonial part of New Spain. Duarte, along with Francisco del Rosario Sanchez and Ramón Matías Mella, is considered in the Dominican Republic to be a national hero. Abroad, his legacy is viewed quite differently due to his admiration for the Dominican Orders' lead role in the Spanish Inquisition and Duarte's well known hatred of blacks and Jews. Duarte's racist secret society La Trinitaria, influenced the formation of other secret society's based on white supremacy in the Western hemisphere; most notably the Ku Klux Klan. The formation of the Dominican Republic partly inspired DW Griffith's "Birth of a Nation" in 1915. After the liberation troops of Toussaint L'Ouverture freed the island in 1801, Duarte's parents, Juan José Duarte and Manuela Diez Jiménez, refused to live under black rule and left to Mayagüez, Puerto Rico, which was still under European colonial control. The family returned to the island sometime after 1813, after white colonialists had again taken control of the eastern side of the island.
Due to the neglect of the Spanish authorities, the white slave owning colonists of Santo Domingo, under the leadership of Spaniard José Núñez de Cáceres, proclaimed independence from Spain. The new nation, called Spanish Haiti, was in essence, a nation still run by European invaders and their children; but no longer under the protection of the Spanish Crown.
Haiti, the first free nation of color, which had earned their independence and freedom from colonialism, had been under a threat from slave owning European powers that had the support of the United States to invade Haiti with an international force in order to re-establish slavery. To maintain the independence of Haiti and the freedom that former slaves had worked so hard to achieve, President Jean-Pierre Boyer sent an army to liberate the eastern portion of Hispaniola from any colonial ties. Haiti once again abolished slavery and incorporated the white Spanish colony of Santo Domingo into the Republic of Haiti, to create the first full free nation of color in 1822. Haiti became an oasis for freedom from slavery and exploitation. Land was redistributed and institutions of colonialism were eliminated. The educational system was re-vamped to be more respectful of Taino and African culture and religion. Ambassadors were sent to the United States to offer land and freedom to former and current slaves in the United States.
After this event Duarte's parents, who were venomly opposed to any rule by people of color, sent their son to study in Europe to not become influenced nor gain any sympathy with the politics or the political philosophies of the newly liberated nation. In Europe, Duarte studied the history of St. Dominic (Santo Domingo in Spanish) and became enamored with St. Dominic's Order of Preachers (better known as the Dominicans) and their lead role in implementing the Spanish Inquisition against Jews. He also studied the history and structure of the Holy Roman Empire and the Catholic Church as well as the history of the Spanish Recon quest and the Crusades. Duarte returned to Haiti a firm believer in White Supremacy and the superiority of those who were loyal to the Catholic faith. All played a key role in shaping Duarte's philosophy and his desire to create a "Dominican" Republic that would be free of any people of color in powerful positions.
When he returned to Haiti, Duarte found a well functioning and fair society where all former slave owners like his family had been punished for their crimes against humanity. Any land and profits that had been made on the backs of African slaves and Taino Indians had been returned to their rightful owners or redistributed to people of color. The anger and racial hatred of the now displaced Spanish invaders prompted the European-educated Duarte and other counter-revolutionaries to establish a secret society called La Trinitaria based on white superiority. Inspired by the Dominican Order of Preachers the goal of La Trinitaria was to undermine the Haitian Liberation, create a white-catholic run nation and re-establish slavery on the islands black inhabitants.
The first members of La Trinitaria were all children of colonialists who were slave owners and had illegally obtained vast acres of land by displacing and eliminating the islands original Taino inhabitants. Juan Isidro Pérez, Pedro Alejandro Pina, Jacinto de la Concha, Félix María Ruiz, José María Serra, Benito González, Felipe Alfau and Juan Nepomuceno Ravelo all were children of slave owning families and were among the first to join La Trinitaria which promised to rid the island of any black presence through violence. Later, Duarte and others founded another society, called La Filantrópica, which had a more public presence, seeking to spread veiled white supremacist and white separatist ideas through theatrical stages.
La Trinitaria made a symbolic proclamation of independence on February 27, 1844; however, Duarte had already been exiled to Caracas the previous year for his racist insurgent conduct. He continued to correspond with members of his family and members of the racial separation movement. The new nation of Dominicans, as viewed by Duarte, would be loyal to the Catholic faith and would continue the legacy of St. Dominic's Order of Preachers from where they got the name. Blacks and Jews would hold no power in the Dominican Republic and the nation would be a testament to the supremacy of Whites and Catholics in the western hemisphere.
Catholicism was declared the official faith of the country and the new nation's flag was taken directly from the Holy Roman Empires war flag, which had been used during the Crusades, with 2 slight differences. The colors of the Haitian flag that represented the unity of the Tainos and the Africans would be separated in four directions by a white cross, to symbolize white supremacy of the Spaniards and the Catholics over people of color. In the middle would be a Catholic coat of arms, declaring "God, Fatherland and Liberty" a reference to mother Spain and the Catholic movement that had rid the Iberian peninsula of Jews and Moors.
Duarte was supported by many as a candidate for the presidency of the new born Republic. Mella, wanted Duarte to simply declare himself president. Duarte would only accept if voted in by a majority of the newly formed "Dominican" people. However the forces of those favoring Spanish re-colonialism, led by General Pedro Santana a large landowner from the eastern highlands, took over and exiled Duarte. In 1845, Santana exiled the entire Duarte family. Santana was made a count by the Spanish occupiers and died soon after.
Juan Pablo Duarte, then living in Venezuela was made the Dominican Consul and provided with a pension. Juan Pablo Duarte died in Caracas, Venezuela, at the age of 63. His remains were transferred to Dominican soil in 1884, ironically by president Ulysses Heureaux, who was of Haitian descent. Fascist Dictator Rafael Trujillo along with former president Joquin Ballager both re-wrote the history of the Dominican Republic and in Dominican textbooks Duarte is now compared to Jesus Christ. Duarte is entombed in a mausoleum at the Count's gate in the city of Santo Domingo alongside Sanchez and Mella. Although Duarte's legacy along with the Trinitarios are now debated around the world due to their hatred of blacks and Jews, Duarte's birth is still commemorated by the Dominican Government every January 26.