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We Dream Together: Dominican Independence, Haiti, and the Fight for Caribbean Freedom By Utietiang, Bekeh | Journal of Global South Studies, Fall 2017 | Go to article overview Save to active project We Dream Together: Dominican Independence, Haiti, and the Fight for Caribbean Freedom Utietiang, Bekeh, Journal of Global South Studies Eller, Anne. We Dream Together: Dominican Independence, Haiti, and the Fight fo r Caribbean Freedom. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2016. The history of Hispaniola is one marred by slavery, colonization, Euro-American c ompeting interests, wars, and rebellions. The 1697 Treaty of Ryswick ceded the we stern part of the island (Haiti) to France. In We Dream Together, Anne Eller explor es the unification and separation of the island during the early nineteenth century, S pains annexation of the Dominican Republic, and the subsequent Restoration. Mov ing away from conventional narratives that merely focus on the conflicts in the isla nd, the author argues that the relationship between the Dominican Republic and Ha iti is more complicated and needs to be placed in an international context. Eller's text is separated into two main sections. The first section examines the chall enge the Dominicans faced in forging a new state following liberation from Haitian rule and how this resulted in annexation, and the second section looks at post- annexation colonization and resistance. In the first chapter, Eller shows how Domi nicans navigated living in the shadow of both internal political revolutions, some in spired by Haiti and the competing interests of foreign powers such as the United Ki ngdom, France, Spain, and the United States. The president, Pedro Santana, was a dictator and executed many of his opponents, some of whom organized and sought a return to Haitian rule. Eller argues that Santanas push toward annexation was bec 1

ause he "hoped a foreign monarch would centralize the political administration, def eat opponents, and offer strong defense to external threats" (60). The second and th ird chapters discuss the process of making this island a Spanish province and the at tempts to "reeducate" the Dominicans to conform to a certain way of life. Colored by racial prejudices that portrayed the Dominicans as lazy, the Spanish wanted to make them more "productive subjects" by bringing the people and "peasant labor" under the control of the colonial state. This program restructured all aspects of the l ives of the colonized, including their religious beliefs. The promotion of Catholicis m became synonymous with the promotion of Spain. The fourth chapter turns to the new colonial project and Dominican opposition. Sa ntana and his supporters claimed the opposition they faced was Haitian. He resigne d in 1862 for health reasons. Eller fails to take a position on the actual reasons Sant ana resigned. The evidence she marshals in the book proves that his administration was a failure. The opposition against his government continued to mount, and the S panish were disappointed with his leadership. Dominicans who had supported the a nnexation began to express reservations as the price of colonization became too co stly. The author notes that "town clergy, even those who had initially supported Spa ins arrival, resented their newfound role as tax collector for various sacraments" (1 34-135). Some Dominicans suspicious of the Spanish mission decided in February of 1863 t o overthrow the Spanish administration. The fifth chapter looks at this insurrection and the War of Restoration that ensued. The anti-colonialist fighters received wides pread support from the people because of persistent rumors that the Spanish were g oing to reintroduce slavery. Opposition to Dominican colonization became an anti- slavery struggle. The resistance, Eller notes in chapter 6, was "not just armed strug gle locally but a hemispheric defense of their right to self-determination" (185). By January of 1865, Spain had taken steps to accept defeat and withdraw its control ov er Santo Domingo. The last chapter examines the end of Spanish rule. With failure eminent, Spain insi sted annexation was a burden they accepted to bear as a benevolent mission. They 2

argued that the failure of this colonial project was because "politically, socially, and religiously, the former republic was too different from the neighboring Spanish pro jects" (223). In the epilogue, Eller reveals that the end of Spanish rule did not usher a reign of peace for the island as it continued to face threats, some coming from the United States. Eller's book is an important addition to the historiography on anti-colonial struggle s. Her globalized perspective is insightful as it offers the reader a fresh way of look ing at events in Hispaniola within the context of global competition for interests in the Caribbean. The sources consulted reflect this perspective as she utilizes Spanis h sources as well as materials from archives in the United States and the United Ki ngdom. By bringing together in conversation the events that happened in these two island nations, the author shows that their relationship is more complicated and inte rwoven than many Dominican nationalist histories portray. The book's major weak ness is the marginalization of female voices and the author's failure to offer a gende red perspective and analysis. For example, in discussing the Spanish reasons for w hy the colonization project failed, the author states that "authorities blamed Domini can women who were 'the enemies of Spain for using 'seduction to 'demoralize' the troops" (224). She continues her narrative without offering any analysis, a problem that recurs throughout the book. Eller fails to make any connections between the co mplex history she narrates and the relationship today between the two nations of Hi spaniola. Regardless, Eller must be commended for this seminal and enriching wor k. BEKEH UTIETIANG State University of New York, Cortland Questia, a part of Gale, Cengage Learning. www.questia.com Publication information: Article title: We Dream Together: Dominican Independence, Haiti, and the Fight for Caribbean Freedom. Contributors: Utietiang, Bekeh - Author. Journal title: Journal of Global South Studies. Volume: 34. Issue: 2 Publication date: Fall 2017. Page number: 266+. © Association of Global South Studies. COPYRIGHT 2017 Gale Group. 3

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