Atabey previously said:

Guys, guys Let me try and bring a bit of Peace to this.

Yes, we Dominicans have every right to be proud of being the First institutionalized system of colonization of the Americas. Pre-dating Williamsburg Virginia and Plymouth Rock Harbor in Plymouth, Massachusetts. We Dominicans need not feel shame nor disconnect from that World Transcending process that would in time altered everything in the World. From how people lived their lives, cooked their meals, and thought about the future. The very idea that would birth the notion of AMERICA was started during the journeys of Enterprise by Spain and Portugal. Columbus and his posse, financed by Spain, being the most important to the Americas. At several crucial periods these bounds became difficult to sustain and Spain itself burdened with Imperial overstretch would indeed cede a small western share of the island of La Española to France, a rising and powerful nation-state by the 1697 Treaty of Ryswick. With time the entire island- the Peace of Basel in 1795- would be offered to France and with it some very important institutions and people would make leave to Cuba, Puerto Rico and Venezuela, among other options. BUT there still remained a Spanish stamp to the eastern lands that however having lost overall control of the island steadfastly refused to be extinguished as a historically relevant entity and cultural expression. Even when the Haitian slaves rebelled and killed their colonial masters during the Haitian Revolution of 1791-1804 and made haste after the murderous affairs that transformed the western part of the island, there still remained a Spanish imprint and cultural awareness intact on the eastern side of La Española
One example suffices to bring this clear stance into focus:

" Iglesia y Convento Regina Angelorum/ Church and Convent of Regina Angelorum

This is the first building made exclusively for the Dominican nuns (monjas dominicanas). When these six sisters arrived in 1560 there was only one convent in the city, that of Santa Clara, belonging to the Franciscan sisters.These six Dominican nuns first place of worship was nothing more than a plain room. By 1567 they had begun construction on a more appropriate temple on land donated by Maria de Arana.

In December 1795 the nuns had to emigrate to Havana (Cuba) because of the Treaty of Basel. The surviving nuns return to the country in 1820. In 1866 President Cabral turned the building over to Father Billini (his remains are located here) and he started the School San Luis de Gonzaga. The convent was reconstructed and turned into an institute for the ladies of Salomé Ureña. Since 1916 it has been occupied by the Mercedarias nuns.

The original structure was replaced with the building that is there now. This newer temple, had its foundation laid in 1714 and was completed in 1722. It is one of the best preserved in the city. And also one of the most beautiful with its gothic style vaults and a ornamentation of the 17th century. Inside this beautiful church is a wall of silver near one of its alters.

The first female poets in the New World, Leonor de Ovando and Elvira de Mendoza, lived here also."

http://www.colonialzone-dr.com/sights10-churches2.html

Thus even when having to relocate to Cuba this institution, small as it might have been, came back to its origins in the Dominican Republic.

There are some Dominicans that unleash a torrent of angry rejection against Spain and Europeans alike, but there remain many Dominicans who understand that history is not black and white; that a vast grey tinge should guide our understanding of matters. Great cruelties have occurred and do so today, history has and will likely continue to offer us our daily take, but we have to balance these out and see the roads ahead, the ones yet unmarked and make our paths.

Peace out

Guarocuya previously said:


Atabey:

The beef this GATEKEEPER (who goes by the disguise of anthonyc) has, is that he claims that it was Spaniards who established the first university in Quisqueya. So, the credit is due to his people the Spaniards. Que canalla? What are we chopped meat? It really doesn't amaze me that this blabber mouth should take such a strange opposition to my placing this article on this medium; since I've observed his cynical and sarcastic remarks for a short while; What is baffling to me is that he would attempt to distance our people and me in particular from any association to our history. What audacity? He doesn't even know, or has ever seen me. My ancestors are all from Quisqueya, for many generations; And some even before the Columbus arrival. Any time this poster expresses his opinion on this forum it is either to demean our native land, its people, or an individual participant of DT. Why is he then hanging around for, if DR, its people, and its history offend him? To insult and aggravate? Who pays this guy to be a rampant sore on this forum? Constantly oozing contempt to domestic issues; Or, disparaging any one that recognizes our achievements.

I will continue to give merit to our people and its culture where it is due despite the objection of the ever present antagonist element. Quisqueya has faced more formidable foes than these snakes in the grass. Viva nuestro pueblo. Abajo los envidiosos.

HollandaLovesDR previously said:



To take pride in the fact that it was the start of colleges in latin america

Guarocuya previously said:

I think that the point is to remind some ethnocentric supremacists that their interpretation of things may not be the actual truth; That before they ever had a notion of let's say higher education as in this case of the first University in the western hemisphere, ours was first. Before their nations even existed as an established entity we had people studying professions that are used to advance a culture out of ignorance into enlightenment and progress. I think this is our claim to be the first. We may not be the greatest since look around the island is just a tiny spot in proportion to the rest of "the Americas" that have 'grown-up' surrounding this stepping stone (of a nation) to western civilization in the NEW WORLD. While most of North, South, Central America and the Antilles was mostly in the stone age, a new means of education was being forged in Quisqueya's soil; in spite of the decimation of its native people's, a new frontier was being conquered, and that boundary was ignorance; Something that would come back to haunt this institute of higher learning manifested by the several interruptions of its daily lfunctions by forces hostile to the edification of the criollo, and the nurture of his culture.

JEM237
Bravo Guarocuya!

Atabey

Truth be told, there are many people with an ambivalent attitude towards this topic. Even while having Hispanic cultural norms, some shared ethnic heritage with the Conquistadors and their descendents plus the scores of others from Europe that made their way into the island, some Dominicans-and AC is Cuban I believe-still have misgivings over the colonial experience and Spain. Often siding with the natives, the Tainos, over the Europeans, and Spanish especially. I've had spirited discussions with some Dominicans over this topic. Funny I say, that you have clearly Spanish features and are Hispanic in many taste yet you side with Tainos and other ethnic groups to the detriment of your own Spanish ethnicity Don't get me wrong, the Tainos were killed and died in massive numbers because of the European colonial experience. But in trying to balance this historical process, many have fallen for the victimization route as oppose to the grey tinge of historical evidence: Yes, terrible things happened to the Tainos and Aztecs and Mayans and Incas... But many of us are partly, if not substantially part of that waves from Europe and our own ancestors played a large part in what happened to these groups. So while not denying the wrong done, we should also not accept some victimhood or slave mentality when analyzing this historical process. Our Hispanic heritage is just as relevant and REAL as any other on the island. Finally, let me say that yes there are some people who would like to put down not only DR with its "Firsts" list of European institutions but all the Caribbean islands I once remember having an interesting conversation in Costa Rica over whether or not the Caribbean was a part of the Americas. To me it had never occurred that the Caribbean could not be so understood. But as the conversation continued the Costa Ricans main line of argument was that only territorial continuity established American status. Well, I said you can define it however you wish, but the historical evidence is very clear, the European history in the New World began in the Caribbean and from the Caribbean the Spainish launched their expeditions into the main land. Then it was over the language issue and how Caribbeans butchered the language of Cervantes. BTW, they viewed ALL CARIBBEANS the same way, Cubans-Dominicans_Puerto Ricans, etc. All where deficient and "nor true Americans" I had a nice laugh when they said that Costa Rica's eastern waters were the Atlantic Ocean and not the Caribbean Sea No use in debating with people with shallow historical references.

Another time I had a discussion with a friend from Mexico and now a Professor of Latin American History in Michigan. He of course noted all the "firsts" as it related to the island of La Espanola, but you could tell that it pained him just a tad that the Spaniards had not started their expeditions from Mexico. We had some drinks and given Mexico's vast and rich colonial heritage, we soon agreed that Mexico got a lot more out of its experiences than the DR. Mexico was never abandoned and offered as prize by Spain.