Backing from Gregorio Luperón helps Ulises Francisco…

Backing from Gregorio Luperón helps Ulises Francisco Espaillat Quihones win election as Dominican president on March 24, 1876, after a period of infighting among the Blues.

Espaillat, a political and economic liberal and the first individual who is not a general to reach the presidency, apparently intends to broaden personal freedoms and to set the nation's economy on a firmer footing.

He never has the opportunity to do either, however.

Rebellions in the south and east force Espaillat to resign on December 20, 1876.

Buenaventura Báez, ever the opportunist, returns once more to power.

The most effective opposition to his rule comes from guerrilla forces led by a politically active priest, Fernando Arturo de Merino.

In February 1878, the unpopular Báez departs his country for the last time; he dies in exile in 1882.