Dominican Republic Adopts First Constitution (1844)
On November 6, 1844, the Dominican Republic adopted its first constitution modeled after the United States.
The Dominican Republic (Spanish: República Dominicana) is located in the Caribbean Greater Antilles archipelago on the island of Hispaniola. The Dominican Republic is situated on the east and Haiti is situated on the west of the island of Hispaniola.
In December 1492, Christopher Columbus landed on the island of Hispanolia in his first voyage and called the island La Española. La Española became the first permanent European settlement in the Americas. And Santo Domingo, the current capital of the Dominican Republic, became the first permanent European city in the New World and the home of many “firsts,” including the first castle and university in the Americas.
In 1838, Juan Pablo Duarte founded a secret society called La Trinitaria, which fought for independence from Europe. Within a few years Duarte and his followers were successful in acquiring independence for the new nation.
In February, 1844, Duarte, his followers, and a local wealthy rancher, Pedro Santana, declared independence from Haiti and all other countries. Shortly thereafter, on this day, November 6, 1844, the Dominican Republic's first Constitution was adopted and modeled after the United States’ Constitution.
The Dominican Republic adopted a representative democracy with three branches of government much like the United States. For example, the three branches include the executive, legislative, and judicial branches. The president heads the executive branch, Congress heads the legislative branch, and the supreme court heads the judicial branch.
Since 1844, the Dominican Republic has amended its constitution more than 35 times and has amended over forty articles within the constitution.
Today, the Dominican Republic is the second largest Caribbean nation after Cuba and has over 10 million people.