Ulises Francisco Espaillat

Ulises Francisco Espaillat

Ulises Francisco Espaillat Quiñones (born February 9, 1823 in Santiago de los Caballeros , † April 25, 1878 ibid) was a Dominican politician and President of the Dominican Republic .

Life

Education, occupation and beginning of political career

Espaillat received lessons in English , French , music , mathematics and other subjects , despite the limited school opportunities in the country, which was still ruled under the Haitian occupation . After studying medicine with an uncle, he founded a "Botica" ( pharmacy ) in the early 1840s . Later he was also the customs inspector of Puerto Plata .

After the Dominican Republic gained independence from Haiti on February 27, 1844, he began his political career, which lasted until his death , in 1848 when he was elected member of the Assembly of the Province of Santiago . In 1849 he was one of the supporters of Pedro Santana against President Manuel Jiménez , as he rejected his army policy in relation to a feared invasion by Haiti. In 1854 he was a member of the Congress for the Revision of the Constitution ( Congreso Revisor de la Constitución ), where he was a member of the drafting committee for fundamental rights.

In early July 1857 he was one of the main supporters of an uprising in the Cibao region against the government of President Buenaventura Báez , which was particularly accused of corruption. Espaillat was one of the co-signers of a decree by the President of the Provisional Revolutionary Government José Desiderio Valverde , which provided for the confiscation of the illegally acquired property from Báez and the subsequent takeover as state property . The rebellion against Báez dragged on for several months and finally led to the convening of the Constituent Congress of Moca , where Espaillat was an influential representative of his native city of Santiago de los Caballeros . However, soon thereafter there were disagreements among the leading politicians of the revolution, which ultimately led to him having to go into exile in the USA for several months . After his return he lived first in Santo Domingo and then again in Santiago de los Caballeros.

Annexation by Spain and war of restoration

Forced by the events of 1861 he was one of the signatories of the annexation act with Spain . By 1863, however, he sought contact with the patriotic representatives of the restoration movement ( Restauradores ) in the northeast of the country. As a result, he was arrested by the Spanish authorities and sentenced to ten years of expatriation. The pardon came later after the restoration.

In August 1863 the second and last phase of the Restoration War began, which in September 1863 led to the establishment of a Provisional Revolutionary Government under José Antonio Salcedo and later under Gaspar Polanco . During this time he became the intellectual of these patriotic governments and the author of the fundamental documents such as statements, resolutions, decrees. At the same time he was the editor of the government bulletin and, despite limited resources, the organizer of a simple bureaucratic apparatus. He also wrote a letter to the Spanish Archbishop Monzón to describe his feelings about the Spanish occupation forces. In the absence of President Salcedo, he was also his representative in the organization of the war against the occupying power.

In 1864 he received the founder of the independence movement "La Trinitaria" , Pablo Duarte , after his brief resignation from exile in Venezuela and maintained excellent relationships with him and with another co-founder of the movement, the then Vice President and Minister of War Ramon Mella. However, Duarte was soon forced to leave the country again by President Salcedo. After Mella's death in June 1864, he succeeded Mella as Vice President, but resigned soon afterwards.

In October 1864 he was again vice-president under the new president Polanco and held this office until the overthrow of Polanco in January 1865 by Antonio Pimentel , Federico de Jesús García and Benito Monción. By Pimentel, the authoritative leader of the movement against Polanco, he was arrested on January 21, 1865, first in the fortress of San Luís and later exiled to the Samaná peninsula .

After the end of the Spanish occupation and the restoration of the Second Republic, however, he resumed his old role as an ideologist of the small liberal bourgeoisie and as such was the author of numerous articles and essays on the development of the young republic . In his article "A nuestros amigos de los campos" ("To our friends in the fields"), however, he also called on the rural population to participate in political life. In addition, he called for the establishment of so-called normal schools ( Escuela Normal ) in order to contribute to the progress of the country through general schooling.

Imprisoned under Báez and President in 1876

During the renewed presidency of Báez and the rebellion against him for six years, the so-called "Guerra de los Seis Años" (1868 to 1874), he was indicted and sentenced to several years in prison. Only after the fall of Báez on December 31, 1873 was he released and was able to return to Santiago de los Caballeros.

Soon afterwards he regained his old influence and so it happened that the population of the capital Santo Domingo , with the support of Gregorio Luperón, asked him to run for the presidential election, which he accepted in March 1876 after people from all other parts of the country asked him for it requested.

On April 15, 1876, the Legislative Assembly ( Cámara Legislativa ) declared him the winner of the presidential election with a total of 24,329 voters. This is followed by Gregorio Luperón (559 votes) and Manuel María Gautier (452 votes) and Juan Wanceslao Figueroa (254 votes). After the election, he went from his native city to the capital and was enthusiastically received there on April 27, 1876, as before in Moca, La Vega , San Francisco de Macorís and Cotuí , and on April 29, 1876 as President of the Dominican Republic Republic sworn in.

During his tenure there was a failed campaign against the popular dance merengue among the rural population . However, on October 5, 1876, his patriotic, progressive and democratic government was overthrown and replaced by a seven-member supreme government junta (Junta Gubernativa) before his predecessor Ignacio María González took over the presidency again on November 11 .

He then retired from political life to his hometown of Santiago de los Caballeros, where he died almost eighteen months later.

Honors and family

His body is buried in the National Pantheon of Santo Domingo. The province of Espaillat was later named in his honor, as was the Universidad Ulises Francisco Espaillat.

His great-granddaughter María Matilde Pastoriza Espaillat was married to the future President Héctor García Godoy .

Individual evidence

1. ^ Sang, Mu-Kien Adriana: "Una utopía inconclusa", 1997, p. 260
2. ^ Haggerty, Richard A .: "Dominican Republic: A Country Study - The Contest Of Power, 1865-1882" , Washington 1989
3. ↑ Clifford, Paul F .: "Heritage Of Merengue" , in: Merengue History ( Memento of November 14, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
4. ^ Guitar, Dr. Lynne: "A Brief History Of The Merengue" , 1999 ( Memento of the original from June 5, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
5. ↑ "THE WEST INDIES .; bloodless REVOLUTION IN SAN DOMINGO-- Espaillat Deposed AND GONZALES CHOSEN TO SUCCEED HIM - Conspiracies AGAINST CANAL Hayti" , New York Times October 25, 1876
6. ↑ Find A Grave
7. ^ Dominican Republic Provinces
8. ↑ Universities In The Dominican Republic
9. ^ Instituto Dominicano de Genealogía

Web links

• Presidents in rulers.org
• Biography in Yo Soy Dominikano
• Gobiernos y Gobernantes de la República Dominicana - Restauracíon yy Segunda República: 1863-1916

predecessor	Office	successor
Ignacio María González	President of the Dominican Republic 1876	Ignacio María González