Blog #5 Introduction

Every country has a culture that they have established throughout their history. Culture is what helps establish a countries lifestyle, traditions, customs etc. But what I’m curious about is does have influences on other things such as art and music. Due to the Dominican Republic’s culture being influenced by European, African, and Taino Indian does it reflect within their art and music. Before we find out, let me tell you about the Dominican Republic’s history. Well it started off when Christopher Columbus sailed the ocean blue in 1492 with about 100 men and 3 ships on his first voyage. It was December 5th, 1492 when he discovered the 2^nd largest in the West Indies. “La Perle des Antilles” he said as he laid eyes on the island. Upon landing on the island Columbus named it La Isla Española “The Spanish Island.” The Island of Hispaniola was already occupied with a group of Taino Indians, who at the time called the island of Hispaniola “Haiti.” The Taino Indians helped Columbus build La Navidad, a fort, with lumber from one of his wrecked ships in which he didn’t have enough supply, so Columbus left some of his men in Hispaniola while he went back to Spain to get more supply. In 1493, as he returned to the island, he found out that the Taino Indians had killed off the crew that he left on the island due to their greediness of things such as food, gold, and labor. With the Taino Indians and other natives killing the Spaniards, Columbus decided to fight back which resulted in Taino Indians’s becoming enslaved as well as many Taino Indians dying due to diseases that Spanish brought. In 1496, Santo Domingo, founded by Columbus’ brother, became the oldest European settlement in the Americas.  In the 1500s Europeans started to arrive on the island as well as the colonists started importing African slaves to Hispaniola from Spain due to the Spanish monarch’s permission. They bought the African slaves in Portugal while were transported from West African Guinea Coast. In which years later started African-born slaves to arrive in the West Indies due to sugar cane demands increasing and a need for labor in which later caused the slaves to result in an armed rebellion. In the 1600s the Spanish gave up the western part of the island French while the Spanish kept the eastern part. In the 1800s, January 1^st, 1804 to be exact, the French were able the gain independence after fighting with the Spanish for 70 years. So, the country of Hispaniola became officially known as Haiti. Haiti was also the first majority-black republic in the New World.  Haiti had a wish to unify the island, so they decided to seize their neighbor. Not being able to accept the Haitian rule, the Dominican Republic’s fought for their freedom, and on February 27, 1844, the Dominican Republics were able to claim the independence from the French and have their own country in which is known today as the Dominican Republic. Now we know a little bit about the history of the Dominican Republic and how European, African, and Taino Indian influence came to the island. How are these cultures influential you ask? Well, today the Dominican Republic is well known for their music, specifically Bachata and Merengue. Bachata and Merengue are two types of music that originated in Dominica. Merengue also happens to be the country’s national music as well as their dance style.  What many people don’t know that there were other forms of music that came with the slaves when the Dominican Republic was still known as Hispaniola, as well as Dominican Republic’s arts and architecture became influenced by the Europeans during the time of colonization. With these cultures that helped shape the Dominican Republic we know today, how does it play out with tourism? And I’m not just talking about the island’s magnificent beaches, clear waters, and amazing food. I’m talking about how it all started. Its history, how everything came to be to establish the amazing Dominican Republic that we all know and love today!