The slaves eventually revolted, establishing the Republic of Haiti in 1804. From 1822 to 1844 Haiti occupied the whole island, and during this period Haitians were encouraged to settle in the Spanish region. In 1844 Santo Domingo gained independence from Haiti as the Dominican Republic, but control returned to Spain from 1861 to 1865.
The late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries were a period of political and economic instability. The United States occupied the country from 1916 to 1922, and U.S. influence contributed to the rise of Rafael Trujillo, dictator from 1930 to 1961. The following period was dominated by Trujillo's right-hand man, Joaquín Balaguer, until his death in 2002. From the mid-twentieth century Haitian seasonal workers (bracerosa) were brought for sugarcane harvests, and others came illegally. The Haitian system of voodoo influenced its Dominican counterpart, and the related rará (Dominicanized as gagá) religious societies, with carnival-like celebrations during Lent, developed in worker's settlements.
Religious Tolerance
By a concordant with the Vatican, Roman Catholicism is the state religion of the Dominican Republic, although it is not so designated by the constitution. Protestants and others are free to practice their religion and to proselytize. They do not, however, enjoy the same degree of state support, for example, of churches and schools, and Protestants do not figure as highly in the political, economic, or social hierarchies.
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