In 1496, Columbus established the first permanent Spanish settlement on the island, Santo Domingo, which became the capital of the colony. The Spanish colonization of Hispaniola was marked by the exploitation of the island's natural resources, including gold and other precious minerals. The Spanish also brought enslaved Africans to the island to work on plantations.
Muchos investigadores y estudiantes buscan el término "" para acceder a investigaciones sólidas sobre el tema.
Para los interesados en profundizar, el texto de Filiberto Cruz Sánchez ha sido publicado en varias ediciones por El Nuevo Diario .
Below is a timeline of the key events and periods that Cruz Sánchez analyzes in the book. This era, beginning in 1492, forged the island's unique character:
: You can find detailed study notes titled "Notas de Historia Prehispánica y Colonial de la Isla de Santo Domingo" by Filiberto Cruz Sánchez on StuDocu . These notes cover the core material taught in university-level Dominican history courses. In 1496, Columbus established the first permanent Spanish
The Biblioteca Nacional Pedro Henríquez Ureña and the Archivo General de la Nación (AGN) of the Dominican Republic offer vast, free digital collections of historical documents, books, and essays regarding the colonial period.
La Crisis del Siglo XVII y el Siglo XVIII: El Despertar Dominicano
Based on the book's table of contents, the historical journey is broken down as follows:
If you are developing a paper, Cruz Sánchez typically organizes the colonial history into these key stages: Muchos investigadores y estudiantes buscan el término ""
The arrival of the Spanish in December 1492 established La Hispaniola as the laboratory of the Spanish Empire. Here, the crown tested the administrative, economic, and religious frameworks that would later be deployed across the American continent. The initial coexistence rapidly deteriorated due to the demands of the repartimiento and encomienda systems, which legally bound the indigenous population to forced labor, leading to demographic collapse due to overwork, warfare, and Old World diseases. The Gold Economy and the Sugar Shift
The era of the "Devastaciones de Osorio."
Sánchez examina cómo el conflicto en la vecina colonia francesa impactó la parte oriental de Santo Domingo.
: The 7th edition (2018) consists of 213 pages organized into 13 chapters . This era, beginning in 1492, forged the island's
The book offers a critical look at the encomienda system, which granted Spanish settlers authority over indigenous Taino populations. Cruz Sánchez outlines how this system led to demographic collapse and the subsequent introduction of enslaved African labor. 2. Sugar and Devastation
| | Key Event / Period | Significance | | :--- | :--- | :--- | | 1492 | Arrival of Columbus | The first European settlement, La Navidad, is established during Columbus's first voyage. | | 1496-1498 | Founding of Santo Domingo | The city becomes the first permanent European settlement in the Americas, serving as the administrative capital of the Spanish New World territories. | | 1503-1520 | Encomienda system | The encomienda system formalized the forced labor of the indigenous Taíno population for Spanish encomenderos, leading to their dramatic population decline due to overwork and disease. | | 1502-1509 | Nicolás de Ovando's governorship | He transformed Santo Domingo into the primary base for Spanish operations, launching expeditions that would conquer Puerto Rico, Jamaica, and Cuba. | | 1586 | Drake's attack | The English privateer Francis Drake captured and sacked Santo Domingo, delivering a major blow to the city's prestige and wealth. | | 1605-1606 | The Devastations of Osorio | To stop widespread contraband, the Spanish crown forcibly evacuated and destroyed thriving communities on the island's northwest coast, relocating their populations closer to Santo Domingo. This devastated the regional economy. | | 1655 | Siege of Santo Domingo | A massive English naval force led by Admiral William Penn and General Robert Venables failed in its attempt to capture the city from Spain, a key moment in the Anglo-Spanish War (1654–1660). | | 1697 | Treaty of Ryswick | Spain officially ceded the western third of the island to France, which became the wealthy colony of Saint-Domingue (present-day Haiti). | | 1795 | Treaty of Basel | As a result of the French Revolutionary Wars, Spain ceded its two-thirds of the island (Santo Domingo) to France, uniting the island under French rule. | | 1801-1804 | Haitian Revolution | Toussaint Louverture gained control of the entire island, abolishing slavery. The revolution culminated in the establishment of the independent nation of Haiti in 1804. | | 1809 | Reconquest by Spain | Known as the "Siege of Santo Domingo," a Spanish-led force, composed largely of criollos from Santo Domingo and with British naval support, defeated a French garrison and returned the colony to Spanish rule. | | 1821-1844 | Haitian occupation | The "Ephemeral Independence" is crushed, leading to 22 years of Haitian rule over the entire island, a period that profoundly shapes Dominican national identity. | | 1844 | Dominican Independence | The founding of the Dominican Republic. |
Platforms like Google Scholar, ResearchGate, and Academia.edu frequently host shared chapters, reviews, and related essays by contemporary historians analyzing Cruz Sánchez's contributions.
En este artículo, exploraremos los puntos clave de su obra, la relevancia del período colonial y cómo acceder a estudios fundamentales de este período.