Culture of the Dominican Republic Culture of the Dominican Republic The culture of the Dominican Republic is a diverse mixture of different influences from around the world. The Dominican people and their customs have origins consisting predominately in a European cultural basis, with both African and native Taíno influences. The Dominican Republic was the site of the first European settlement in the Western Hemisphere, namely Santo Domingo founded in 1493. As a result of over five centuries of Spanish presence in the island, the core of Dominican culture is derived from the culture of Spain. The European inheritances include ancestry, language, traditions, law, the predominant
Spanish occupation of the Dominican Republic Spanish occupation of the Dominican Republic In 1861, Dominican general Pedro Santana suggested retaking control of the Dominican Republic to queen Isabella II of Spain, after a period of 17 years of Dominican sovereignty. Newly independent Dominican Republic was economically recovering from the recently ended Dominican War of Independence (1844–1856), when the Republic won its independence against Haiti. Spanish crown and authorities, which scorned and rejected the peace treaties signed after the dismantling of some of its colonies in the Spanish West Indies some 50 years prior, welcomed his proposal and set to reestablish the colony. The end of the