Before its independence, while Spain exercised a perfunctory rule over the east side of Hispaniola, Núñez de Cáceres pioneered the use of literature as a weapon for social protest and anti-colonial politics.

García characterized his gifts: “Eloquent without affectation, quick in his conceptions, precise in the choice of terms, strong in argument and impetuous in attack, his speeches brought together the pomp that enchanted, the logic that persuades and the brilliance that fascinates.” This ability in oratory was not unrelated to his interest in literature, although it is not known that in those years he wrote poetic compositions.

In addition to efficient performance in the exercise of office and in the profession of lawyer, Núñez de Cáceres was recognized for his marked spirit of probity, earning him the esteem of the city's residents.

Núñez de Cáceres had a career as a Spanish civil servant in Cuba assured, but he decided to do without that rosy future as soon as he learned that Santo Domingo had been reincorporated into Spain in 1808.

Historian José Gabriel García collects the version that, shortly after returning, the calamitous state of the colony led him to consider the relevance of the break with Spain, to the point of having dared to suggest to the leader of the Reconquista that he join that position.

But he plotted with great care, since the governor was alert after a denunciation suffered by one of Núñez de Cáceres's associates, Antonio Martínez Valdés, a member of the Provincial Council.

[15] The insurrections were intended to integrate Santo Domingo into the territory of neighboring Haiti, an objective that became viable due to the collapse of the monarchy of King Henri Christophe at the end of 1820.

Jean Pierre Boyer, who in 1818 had replaced Alexandre Pétion as president of the southern republic, rushed to unify Haiti and, almost immediately, conceived the purpose of implementing the constitutional clause that stipulated that Haitian territory was limited by the island.

For this purpose, Boyer assigned several agents to the border areas, such as Desir Dalmasí, a major in the Haitian army, who claimed to carry out commercial transactions in livestock to spread the objective of union with Haiti.

[16] As he strengthened his internal power, Boyer expanded the devices aimed at achieving the incorporation of Santo Domingo, which for the Haitian leaders was nothing more than the Partie de l'Est (eastern part).

He took advantage of the deepening discredit of the Spanish administration among important portions of the Dominican population, as well as the advance of South American insurgents, who strengthened their presence in some coastal points of the country, sometimes in connivance with Haitian officials.

It can be deduced from the comparison of the documents that certain influential figures on the northern border leaned in favor of the union with Haiti, as a feasible means to end Spanish rule, which was unable to undertake any work of economic promotion.

The appearance of the “Pro-Haitian party” was in line with the strengthening of Boyer's power and the development of a progressive spirit among some Dominicans resulting from the resentment that the reestablishment of Spanish rule in 1809 had given rise to.

This points to the hypothesis that Diego Polanco and Andrés Amarante should not have acted out of fear of Haiti's military power; (It is notable that both belonged to the ruling sectors of the extreme northwest, which continued to depend on the border trade in cattle, since export agriculture had not yet been developed).

It must have been obvious to him that Boyer had planned his movement making it depend on an apparently spontaneous statement by the Dominican population that would grant it legality and equate it with what the independence forces on continental lands were carrying out.

The main companions of Núñez de Cáceres were among the members of the Provincial Council and high officials of the administration: Juan Vicente Moscoso, perhaps the most cultured man of the time; Manuel Carvajal, Sánchez Ramírez's main lieutenant; Juan Ruiz and Vicente Mancebo, “rich owners of the interior.” In those days, as conspiratorial preparations intensified, they managed to capture the support of Colonel Pablo Alí, a former African slave from Saint-Domingue, who turned out to be the military piece of the event as he commanded the African battalion, a battalion which consisted of former Dominican slaves.

The legal means that Núñez de Cáceres used to give legitimacy to independence was to relate it to Bolívar's project of a unified State of a part of the former Spanish possessions, Gran Colombia.

He tried to give it a liberal content as a means of gaining legitimacy among the people and contributing to the start of a modern style of progress that would leave behind what for him constituted a colonial order plagued by ignominy and oppression.

Núñez de Cáceres and the majority of his comrades, in accordance with their liberal position, aspired to abolish slavery, which is why he himself granted letters of manumission to all his slaves in the following days.

The dilemma must have been dramatic, since, as an enlightened man, he must have been aware of the need for a republican system to put an end to the disgrace of serfdom; Conversely, he was forced to accept the immediate interest of the members of his social sector, thereby ruining the possibility of the new order gaining the legitimacy that would allow it to resist Boyer's foreseeable attempt.

[25] The guidelines of the new order were expressed, also thanks to the pen of Núñez de Cáceres, in the Constitutional Act, a document of 39 articles that declared the institutional features and regulatory purposes of the nascent State.

In a letter sent to Santander, in charge of the government in Bogotá, Bolívar limited himself to ambiguously suggesting that attention should be paid to those who had expressed solidarity with Gran Colombia; but he also introduced a dark cloud in his reflection, by indicating that control over Santo Domingo could be used to benefit some future diplomatic negotiations.

However, instead of accepting this suggestion, Boyer responded, on January 11, 1822, that Haiti should govern the entire island, as a guarantee of its existence, and that, therefore, it would not hinder those who flew the Haitian flag in the former Spanish part.

But even a significant portion of the large Crele landowners did not hide their hostility towards the independent regime, surely because they felt Spanish and considered that there was no possibility of the country subsisting as an autonomous entity.

In the following days, the notables of almost all the towns located west of Santo Domingo signed documents rejecting Núñez de Cáceres, through which Boyer was called to enter the country to be incorporated into Haiti.

Based on the French phrases and grammatical imperfections that appear in the pro-Haitian proclamations, it has been assumed that they were apocryphal, made years later to legitimize Haitian sovereignty over Santo Domingo in the face of Spain's claims for return.

[29] When Núñez de Cáceres read Boyer's message, he realized that annexation with Gran Colombia would be impossible; the majority of the Dominican social and military elite preferred to ally with Haiti.

[13] Whether it was due to pressure and fear or because there was an effective pro-Haitian current, the truth is that the autonomous project was isolated and Núñez de Cáceres could not present opposition to the entry of Boyer, who was well received in the towns through which he went passing in front of his numerous troops.

Contrary to this erroneous assumption, he had the foresight to hint to Boyer, in the speech he gave at the formal transfer of command, that the differences in language and customs made assimilation between both peoples difficult.

[1] After de Cáceres' death, his disciple, Simon de Portes, gave a speech at his burial:[1] "Rare event: here, not far Padilla, which ceased to be the hero of Igualada, which sealed the independence of Mexico, Dominican gentleman dies almost hear the roar of the cannon of the unjust invading Anglo-time same as before his death this unfortunate hero rejoices with the nice idea that the inhabitants of Santo Domingo, after many battles, been driven from its territory to its oppressors ...