Nineteenth-Century Regionalism, Political Struggle, and State Formation

The difficulties of state formation during the time period from independence in 1844 until the 1880s can only be understood in the framework of fragmentation of the Dominican economy and the social composition of the dominant blocs. In the mid-nineteenth century three regional economic activities prevailed: cattle raising all over the country, tobacco cultivation in the northern Cibao, and timber export and small-scale sugar cultivation in the south. Juan Bosch argues that between 1791 and 1805 rich urban families linked to the colonial bureaucracy abandoned the country, whereas most hateros remained to work on their lands. The difficulties in establishing national political institutions were associated with the country's economic regionalism and the consequent political fragmentation. Although the political leaders of the dominant blocs in the Dominican Republic were "nationalistic" in opposing Haiti, most were interested in pursuing their own personal interests rather than wanting to develop a locally controlled state.