s to enforce
the spirit of the Monroe Doctrine, caused two of the countries to become
subject a while to European control. One of these was the Dominican
Republic.

In 1844 the Spanish-speaking population of the eastern part of the
island of Santo Domingo, writhing under the despotic yoke of Haiti, had
seized a favorable occasion to regain their freedom. But the magic word
"independence" could not give stability to the new state any more than
it had done in the case of its western foes. The Haitians had
lapsed long since into a condition resembling that of their African
forefathers. They reveled in the barbarities of Voodoo, a sort of snake
worship, and they groveled before "presidents" and "emperors" who rose
and fell on the tide of decaying civilization. The Dominicans unhappily
were not much more progressive. Revolutions alternated with invasions
and counter-invasions and effectually prevented enduring progress.

On several occasions the Dominicans had sought reannexation to Spain
or had craved the protection of France as a defense against continual
menace from their negro enemies and as a relief from domestic turmoil.
But every move in this direction failed because of a natural reluctance
on the part of Spain and France, which was heightened by a refusal
of the United States to permit what it regarded as a violation of the
Monroe Doctrine. In 1861, however, the outbreak of civil war in the
United States appeared to present a favorable opportunity to obtain
protection from abroad. If the Dominican Republic could not remain
independent anyway, reunion with the old mother country seemed
altogether preferable to reconquest by Haiti. The President, therefore,
entered into negotiations with the Spanish Governor and Captain General
of Cuba, and then issued a proclamation signed by himself and four of
his ministers announcing that by the "free and spontaneous will" of
its citizens, who had conferred upon him the power to do so, the nation
recognized Queen Isabella II as its lawful sovereign! Practically
no protest was made by the Dominicans against this loss of their
independence.

Difficulties which should have been foreseen by Spain were quick to
reveal themselves. It fell to the exPresident, now a colonial
governor and captain general, to appoint a host of officials and, not
unnaturally, he named his own henchmen. By so doing he not only aroused
the animosity of the disappointed but stimulated that of the otherwise
d