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A number of prominent conservatives were obliged to go into hiding in order to escape imprisonment, and the central council of government appointed Duarte its representative in the north and ordered that General Francisco del Rosario Sanchez supersede Santana in command of the troops in the south.

Neither France nor Spain was anxious to annex a hornet's nest, and Spain was fearful that any uprising against her authority would find an echo in Cuba and Porto Rico. Nothing came of this matter owing to opposition by foreign powers and the fall of the Santana government.

Congress adjourned to San Cristobal, the most important towns of the country rose against the administration, and Santana laid siege to the capital.

Baez, who was to play a leading part in the history of his country during the next thirty years, was the antithesis of Santana in manners and education. Born in Azua in 1812, the oldest of a family of seven children, his father had sent him to Europe to study and he returned one of the most polished and best educated Dominicans of his day.

The electoral college having been convened, Santiago Espaillat was chosen president, but refused to accept, realizing that Santana would expect to manage him as a puppet. Colonel Buenaventura Baez was then chosen and on December 24,1849, entered upon his first term as president of the Dominican Republic.

After the declaration of independence of Santo Domingo he was a member of the first constitutional assembly and speaker of the first congress, being elected from the province of Azua, where his influence was similar to that enjoyed by Santana in Seibo. Until he became president he was a close friend of Santana.

Santana entered the city at the head of his army on May 30, 1849, and assumed the reins of government, one of his first measures being a wholesale expulsion of Jimenez followers. He was crowned with honors by Congress and given the title of "Libertador."

For several years Santana had become jealous of the extension of Baez' influence and wrathful at the independent spirit displayed by his former protege. It soon became apparent that the retirement of Baez was equivalent to a fall from power. In July, 1853, Santana issued a proclamation in which he accused Baez of treason and of playing into the hands of the Haitians, and ordered his banishment.

These men, who came to be known as conservatives and who counted Santana among their number, began to spread their doctrines and were bitterly opposed by a different element, calling themselves liberals, among whom were Duarte, returned from exile, and the members of the central council of government.

An encounter took place near Azua, in which the Dominican forces, under General Pedro Santana, were victorious, but instead of following up his victory, Santana fell back on Bani and permitted the enemy to occupy Azua. In the meantime another Haitian army was advancing in the north.