Juan Pablo Duarte (January 26, 1813 July 15, 1876)[1] is one of the founding fathers of

the Dominican Republic. He was a visionary and liberal thinker, who along with Francisco del
Rosario Snchez and Matas Ramn Mella, is widely considered to be the architect of the Dominican
Republic and its independence from Haitian rule in 1844. He would help create the political
organization La Trinitaria to fight against the Haitian occupation, achieve independence, and create
a self-sufficient nation.
Duarte helped inspire and finance the Dominican War of Independence, paying a heavy toll which
would eventually ruin him financially. His liberal views made him a controversial figure among
conservative and powerful Dominicans of the time, and he was exiled at numerous occasions after
the founding of the new nation. His liberal views went against the conservative elites who sought for
heavy-handed control of the nation, and wanted to maintain the traditional regionalisms of the past.
Duarte had strong disagreements with the republic's first president, Pedro Santana, as Santana was
a tyrannical figure. Ultimately, Duarte would spend many years away from the nation he helped
shape and would die in exile, this made him a political martyr in the eyes of subsequent generations.

Contents
[hide]

1Early years
2The struggle for independence
3Legacy and honors
4See also
5Notes
6References
7External links

Early years[edit]
Duarte was born in Santo Domingo, Captaincy General of Santo Domingo[1] during the period
commonly called Espaa Boba.
Duartes father was Juan Jos Duarte Rodrguez, a Peninsular from Vejer de la Frontera, Kingdom
of Seville, Spain, and his mother was Manuela Dez Jimnez from El Seybo, Captaincy General of
Santo Domingo; three of Duartes grandparents were Europeans. [a] In 1802 the Duarte family
migrated from Santo Domingo to Mayagez, Puerto Rico.[3] They were evading the unrest caused by
the Haitian Revolution in the island. Many Dominican families left the island during this
period.[4] Toussaint Louverture, governor of Saint-Domingue(now Haiti), a former colony of France
located on the western third of Hispaniola,[5][6] arrived to the capital of Santo Domingo, located on the
islands eastern two-thirds, the previous year and proclaimed the end of slavery (although the
changes were not permanent). At the time, France and Saint-Domingue (the western third of the
island), were going through exhaustive social movements, namely, the French Revolution and
the Haitian Revolution. In occupying the Spanish side of the island the European hating governor
was using as a pretext the previous agreements between the governments of France and Spain in
the Peace of Basel signed in 1795, which had given the Spanish area to France.
Upon arrival in Santo Domingo, Louverture immediately sought to abolish slavery in Dominican
territory, although complete abolition of slavery in Santo Domingo came with renewed Haitian
presence in early 1822. Puerto Rico was still a Spanish colony, and Mayagez, being so close to
Hispaniola, just across the Mona Passage, had become a refuge for wealthy migrants from Santo
Domingo like the Duartes and other native born on the Spanish side who did not accept Haitian rule.
Most scholars assume that the Duartes' first son, Vicente Celestino, was born here at this time on
the eastern side of the Mona Passage. The family returned to Santo Domingo in 1809, however,
after the Spanish reconquest of Santo Domingo.

[show]