Caribbean P-86 1 peso 1953 UNC RARE commemorative blue 100th anniv. birth of Μαrtί

Commemorative of 100th anniversary of José Μαrtί's birth on January 28, 1853

Color: Black and blue.

Front: José Μαrtί; bank seal; sword, book, rose, quill, and Manifesto de Montecristi scroll (1895). 

Back: dates; map of the country; coat of arms. 

No security thread.

Watermark: None.

Printer: American Bank Note Compay 

Size: 156 x 66 mm

José Μαrtί

José Μαrtί (1853–1895) was a poet, journalist, political theorist, and revolutionary organizer who became the intellectual architect of the country’s final struggle for independence from Spain. Exiled for much of his adult life, he wrote prolifically from Latin America and the United States, arguing for a sovereign republic built on racial equality, civic virtue, and protection from foreign domination. His essays fused romantic idealism with sharp geopolitical awareness, insisting that true independence required not merely the expulsion of colonial authority but the creation of a just, modern civil state. In 1895 he returned to join the armed uprising he had helped design and was killed in one of its first engagements, transforming him from political strategist into enduring national martyr and moral reference point.

Manifesto de Montecristi

The political and moral blueprint of the country’s final war for independence from Spain. It was signed on 25 March 1895 in the Dominican town of Montecristi by:

• José Μαrtί – intellectual architect of independence

• Máximo Gόmεz – seasoned military commander

It marked the formal ideological launch of the War of Independence (1895–1898) — the conflict that ended Spanish rule in the country.

Why Montecristi?

Μαrtί and Gόmεz met in exile in Montecristi (Dominican Republic) to coordinate the uprising that had already begun in the eastern provinces in February 1895. The document was meant to clarify — to residents, to Spain, and to foreign observers — what this war was and what it was not.

Μαrtί understood that revolutions collapse when their moral purpose is vague. So he defined it with precision.

Core Principles

1. The war was for independence — not revenge

It was not a racial uprising, nor a campaign of hatred against Spaniards. The manifesto explicitly stated that Spaniards residing in the country would not be persecuted if they did not resist independence.

After the brutal Ten Years’ War (1868–1878), Spain portrayed rebels as extremists. Martí reframed the struggle as lawful, modern, and ethically grounded.

2. Unity across race

Black and white citizens were to fight together. The future republic was envisioned as one “with all and for the good of all.”

Given the plantation past and persistent racial anxieties in the Caribbean, this clause was strategically decisive. It neutralized fears of social chaos.

3. A civilian republic

The objective was a constitutional republic — not permanent military rule. Gómez, though a general, accepted civilian supremacy. Martí feared the pattern of post-independence militarism seen elsewhere in Latin America.

4. Defense against external domination

Though diplomatically worded, the manifesto clearly sought to prevent foreign annexation. Independence was framed as necessary to secure full sovereignty and avoid outside control.

The geopolitical implications were obvious to careful readers.

Historical Consequence

The war that followed:

• Μαrtί died in battle in May 1895.

• Gómez led an aggressive guerrilla campaign across the island.

• Spain responded with harsh reconcentration policies.

• In 1898, the Spanish–American War intervened.

• Spain lost control of the country — but U.S. occupation followed.

The manifesto envisioned complete sovereignty. What emerged in 1902 was formal independence under significant U.S. influence through the Platt Amendment.

Μαrtί's caution about external power proved strikingly prescient.

Why It Matters

The Manifesto de Montecristi is the intellectual hinge between:

• The earlier 1868 uprising initiated by Cέspεdεs

• The military campaigns of Gómez

• The modern republican nationalism articulated by Μαrtί

It is less a revolutionary pamphlet than a constitutional thesis written before the constitution existed.