La Trinitaria (, ''The Trinity'') was a secret society founded in Juan Pablo Duarte's home situated in what today is known as Arzobispo Nouel Street, across from the "Del Carmen's Church" in the then occupied Santo Domingo, the current capital of the Dominican Republic. The founder, Juan Pablo Duarte and a group of like minded young people, led the struggle to establish the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares wit ...

as a free, sovereign, and independent nation in the 19th century. Their goal was to protect their newly liberated country from any foreign invasion. They helped bring about the end of the

Haitian occupation of Santo Domingo The Haitian occupation of Santo Domingo ( es, Ocupación haitiana de Santo Domingo; french: Occupation haïtienne de Saint-Domingue; ht, Okipasyon ayisyen nan Sen Domeng) was the annexation and merger of then-independent Republic of Spanish Hai ...

from 1822 to 1844.

History

La Trinitaria was established on July 16, 1838 by

Juan Pablo Duarte Juan Pablo Duarte y Díez (January 26, 1813 – July 15, 1876) was a Dominican military leader, writer, activist, and nationalist politician who was the foremost of the founding fathers of the Dominican Republic and bears the title of Father of ...

in the house of Juan Isidro Pérez de la Paz. Some of its first members included Juan Isidro Pérez, Pedro Alejandro Pina, Jacinto de la Concha, Félix María Ruiz, José María Serra, Benito González, Felipe Alfau, and Juan Nepomuceno Ravelo. The society also conceptualized and designed the

flag of the Dominican Republic The flag of the Dominican Republic represents the Dominican Republic and, together with the Coat of arms of the Dominican Republic, coat of arms and the National Anthem of the Dominican Republic, national anthem, has the status of a national ...

. Duarte and his followers also founded the societies ''La Filantrópica'' and ''La Dramática'', a more visible organization than La Trinitaria, which spread its separatist ideas by staging theatrical events. Duarte saw how

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

used theatre to raise public sentiment and keep spirits high and as a result, wanted to bring it to the Dominican Republic. Hoping to increase nationalism, the members of these two groups would rehearse theatre acts in people's homes and perform in front of hundreds in ''La Carcel Vieja'' ("The Old Jail", which today houses the Museo de la Catedral). These performances would help ease tension within the people of the Dominican Republic and it was within these performances that group would push revolutionary agendas. For example, Pérez called for a revolution during one performance and the whole crowd cheered and gave a standing ovation. Unfortunately for the revolutionary movement and for Duarte, he was forced into exile in August 1843 as a result of his dissident activities. La Trinitaria's other members continued the fight in Duarte's absence. One of them was

Francisco del Rosario Sánchez Francisco del Rosario Sánchez (March 9, 1817 – July 4, 1861) was a Dominican revolutionary, politician, and former president of the Dominican Republic. He is considered by Dominicans as the second leader of the 1844 Dominican War of Independen ...

, who corresponded with Duarte during the latter's exile in

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

, and

Matías Ramón Mella Matías Ramón Mella Castillo (February 25, 1816 –June 4, 1864), who was most known by his middle name (Ramón), was a Dominican revolutionary, politician, and military general. Mella is regarded as a Folk hero, national hero in the Dominican ...

, who along with Duarte and Sanchez became known as the founding fathers of the Dominican Republic. Flag of the Dominican Republic (up to 1844)

On January 16, 1844 La Trinitaria's manifesto in favor of independence was released, and the fight for independence began to gain the necessary momentum. On the heels of La Trinitaria's work, and after many battles and much bloodshed, the Dominican Republic was born on February 27, 1844, claiming independence from

Haiti Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and ...

with a declaration at the

Puerta del Conde La Puerta del Conde (The Count's Gate) was the main entrance to the fortified city of Santo Domingo (in present-day Dominican Republic), named to honor Governor Captain-General Bernardino de Meneses Bracamonte y Zapata, 1st Count of Peñalva, wh ...

. The involvement of La Trinitaria is also seen in the early formation of the new republic. Yet for the most part the society's ideology, which was in sync with Duarte's, was not implemented, as

Pedro Santana Pedro Santana y Familias, 1st Marquess of Las Carreras (June 29, 1801June 14, 1864) was a Dominican military commander and royalist politician who served as the president of the junta that had established the First Dominican Republic, a pre ...

forcibly took the reins of the newly formed nation and exiled Duarte. As a result, Santana enacted re-colonization of the country by Spain, making it the only former colony of the Americas to do so.

Members of Secret Society La Trinitaria

- (1813–1876) was a Spanish-Dominican military leader, writer, activist, and nationalist politician who was the foremost of the founding fathers of the Dominican Republic. *

- (1816–1864) was a Spanish-Dominican revolutionary, politician, and military general. *

- (1817–1861) was a politician and revolutionary *

Tomás Bobadilla Tomás Bobadilla y Briones (30 March 1785 – 21 December 1871) was a writer, intellectual and politician from the Dominican Republic. The first ruler of the Dominican Republic, he had a significant participation in the movement for Dom ...

- (1785–1871) was a Spanish-Dominican writer, intellectual and politician. The first ruler of the Dominican Republic. * Juan Isidro Pérez - (1817-1868) was a Spanish-Dominican revolutionary, politician. * Pedro Alejandro Pina - (1820-1870) was a Spanish-Dominican military leader and politician. *

Antonio Duvergé Antonio Duvergé Duval (1807–April 11, 1855), a Dominican general of French origin and one of the most legendary military figures in the history of the Dominican Republic, served in the Dominican War of Independence. He was a hero and martyr ...

- (1807–1855) was a French-Dominican general who is one of the most legendary military figures in the history of the Dominican Republic.

Other usage

Today, ''La Trinitaria'' may also refer to the three founding fathers of the

. The usage is a play on words whereby the concept of the

Trinity The Christian doctrine of the Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the central dogma concerning the nature of God in most Christian churches, which defines one God existing in three coequal, coeternal, consubstantial divine persons: God the F ...

is overlapped with the establishment of one nation by the three founding fathers: Duarte, Sánchez, and Mella.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Trinitaria History of the Dominican Republic Secret societies Organizations established in 1838 1838 establishments in Haiti