United States or Uganda ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
On October 6, 1879, a revolution broke out at Puerto Plata and a provisional government was formed under the presidency of General Gregorio Luperon, an intelligent negro, who had been imprisoned for larceny under Spanish rule, but had redeemed himself by signal services in the War of the Restoration. Guillermo resisted two months, but was compelled to surrender on December 6, 1879.
Baez then began to rule with a firm hand, and though occasionally bothered by small uprisings on the Haitian border, promoted by Cabral, Luperon and other unruly spirits, managed to sustain himself in power for almost his full term of six years. He was able to realize what had been the golden dream of administrations since the birth of the Republic, the contracting of a foreign loan.
Luperon went into exile, but later became reconciled with Heureaux and returned to die in Santo Domingo. Billini entered upon the presidency on September 1, 1884, but became restive under the demands of Heureaux and his friends and resigned on May 15, 1885. The vice-president, Alejandro Woss y Gil, succeeded to the chief office.
The mountain chieftain entered, bearing a rifle, and, the first salutations having been exchanged, he struck an oratorical attitude, and after expressing, in a loud harangue, his high consideration for the United States, for its representative, and for all present, he solemnly tendered the rifle to me, saying that he had taken it in battle from Luperon, the arch-enemy of his country, and could think of no other bestowal so worthy of it.
When General Luperon overthrew President Cesareo Guillermo, in 1879, Heureaux was closely associated with the revolutionary movement. Heureaux was able to strengthen himself to such an extent that when, in 1882, Luperon determined to become president himself he found that his former follower had outgrown him in power.
Luperon then held an election and gave the presidency, for the two years beginning September 1, 1880, to one of his supporters, Father Fernando de Merino, an eloquent priest who had taken an active part in politics since his youth, and who later became archbishop of Santo Domingo.
On the death of Santana in 1863, Luperon and Cabral became the leaders of the Blue party, and for several years after the expulsion of the Spaniards in 1865 the Reds and Blues took turns in setting up governments and having them overthrown.
He distinguished himself by his bravery and was many times wounded. Throughout these civil wars he remained a sturdy follower of General Luperon, the successor of Santana as leader of the "Blue" party and an implacable opponent of General Buenaventura Baez, the chief of the "Reds" and of General Ignacio Maria Gonzalez, the leader of the "Greens."
The blacks are commonly the lower laborers, but negroes are to be found in all grades of society and are not infrequently represented in the cabinet itself. Of the presidents the majority have been of mixed blood, but several, like Luperon and Heureaux, were full-blood negroes. It appears that the strong strain of white blood in the country has elevated all, mulattoes and negroes.
The result was that Heureaux became president and served from September 1, 1882, to September 1, 1884. When his term expired a bitter struggle ensued with Luperon, who still retained considerable influence. Luperon's candidate was Segundo Imbert, while Heureaux supported General Francisco Gregorio Billini, who was ultimately victorious.
Word Of The Day