Merengue today has come to be perceived as a child of the Dominican Republic for a number of reasons. But contrary to popular belief, merengue's early history locates it to multiple sites across the Caribbean:

In Puerto Rico, Cuban marching bands introduced the upa around 1842 which later became known as the merengue. A danza variant containing African elements, the different manner in which it was danced got it labelled as a “corrupting influence” by the local elite. Laws were quickly passed where people were fined and imprisoned for indulging in it. Under such extreme pressure, Puerto Rico's merengue died out within forty years. But it did have the last laugh - its shoes were eventually filled by the Dominican merengue.

Both Colombia and Venezuela developed their own versions, from the late 1800s through to a peak in the 1930s. They were performed more in the coastal areas which hints at an outside influence, but their precise origins remain unclear. The Haitian mereng sprang into existence as a local contredanse derivative in the 1850s, and is arguably one of the oldest forms of the merengue.

At this point it's important to note two of the three engines that power the development of Latin American music and dance:

The first is the inevitable hybridisation of African and European practices (creolisation) as a result of colonisation: witnessed in dance by pronounced hip movements while in ballroom (contredanse) hold; and in the merging of heavily syncopated rhythms with ensemble music.

The second is, quite simply, an obsession with food terms. Take for example, the French word “meringue” - a fluffy white confection of Swiss origin. Some etymologists believe that it became creolised in Haiti to the word “mereng” where it was used to describe a music and dance genre, and that it was via this route that the Spanish equivalent “merengue” came to describe the phenomenon it is today.

Historical limbo
If history was shaped by words alone, then French Haiti would have strong claim to being the birthplace of merengue. But as Paul Austerlitz puts it, “In the final analysis, no hard evidence links merengue's early history to any particular nation”. What we can say with certainty is: that the merengue is a truly pan-Caribbean genre, that it is comparable to the Cuban son in age, and that as such it predates salsa by more than a century.

Hispanola (alias Quisqueya)
Often regarded as the powerhouse of merengue, the island of Hispanola is split between Haiti (formerly French Saint-Domingue) and the Dominican Republic (formerly Spanish Santo Domingo). These two nations constitute a complex dipole divided by a “Sugar Cane Curtain” whose socio-political tensions have resulted in genocides numbering tens of thousands of people on one hand, and the rise to dominance of one of the most exuberant forms of music known to man on the other.

Although an appreciation of the history of Hispanola is invaluable to understanding the development of the merengue, it remains beyond the scope of this article. I direct you instead to Paul Austerlitz's excellent synopsis “Prologue to the Dominican Nation, 1493-1844” in his book (see Resources).

The problem with Haiti
Suffice to say that between Haiti becoming the first black independent nation in the Caribbean (in 1804), and the fear of a similar slave revolt occurring in Santo Domingo, the Spanish ruling elite was led to deny, demonise and suppress African culture within their sphere of influence. Dominicans became increasingly euro-centric and tended to ignore or downplay African influence because of anti-Haitian sentiment. Until as recently as the 1970s, some Dominican musicologists failed to acknowledge African contributions to the merengue genre.

When merengue first appeared in the salons of the Dominican Republic in the 1850s, it encountered heavy resistance from the intellectual elite. The prevailing dance of the time was the tumba - a stately contredanse derivative performed in groups. In contrast, the merengue was an individual couple dance executed with a “lascivious” swinging hip movement. Its music incorporated African syncopated rhythms similar to the Cuban danza, so much so that the words “danza” and “merengue” were used interchangeably. To the ruling classes, the merengue (danza) symbolised Cuban/Afro-Caribbean cultures whose African (read Haitian) aesthetics they abhorred. Consequently, the merengue found little hospitality in 19th century urban life.

Country music
But uptake of merengue by the rural population (which constituted 97% in 1880) was extremely rapid, possibly because they were already “steeped in African traditions” (Austerlitz, 1997). The physical geography of the Dominican Republic comprises of very distinct areas; their relative isolation and a willingness by their inhabitants to adapt music instrumentation to whatever was at hand, spawned a number of merengue variants that were regionally distinct e.g. merengue cibaeño, pri-prí (merengue palo echao) and merengue redondo.

The Cibao region at the centre of the Republic was economically the most important, had the highest population, and possessed the largest city - Santiago de Los Caballeros. It also held the top spot in the regional hierarchy because its population was predominantly white. Because of these factors, its variant the merengue cibaeño came to dominate all other rural merengues and is the version we recognise internationally today.

Accordion-based merengue cibaeño called “Perico Ripiao” [lit. ripped parrot] became prominent in the 1930s. It is uncertain how it received its name but two theories exist: a parrot is of little gastronomic substance and was used as a metaphor for the musical simplicity of early accordion-based merengue; alternatively Perico Ripiao, a double entendre referring to the male genitals, was the name of a popular brothel in Santiago where such music was often performed.

Entering the 1900s where this phase of merengue's evolution draws to a close, we see a sharp distinction between its acceptance by a poor rural majority, and its suppression by an urban minority (less than 4%) who controlled all education and communications in the Republic.

Merengue Moves Abroad
Puerto Rico has a history of adopting other Caribbean musics in preference to her own bomba and plena. It was the same with merengue cibaeño, which Puerto Ricans had been playing for years before the diaspora; well enough for some bands to have gained acceptance by the Dominicans themselves. Merengue eventually became part of Puerto Rican culture (as salsa did) establishing the island as a centre for the genre, creating a market that immigrating Dominicans could supply.

By the 1990s, nearly a million Dominicans lived in New York, making it the city with the second largest Dominican population in the world. Dominican York, as it was called, developed into another centre for merengue in parallel with Puerto Rico, but its contribution to the growing genre extended far beyond just providing a demand for merengue. The juxtaposition of hispanic and black communities saw a trading of ideas which spawned new movements in merengue-house and merengue-rap. New York also had the necessary musicians, recording facilities, mass media and distribution networks to help merengue overcome resistance from key figures in the music industry and salsa.

Source: Loo Yeo, Salsa & Merengue Society, UK