When the authorities refused to consider freeing the Dominican slaves, as had been hoped, or fully implementing the Spanish Constitution of 1812, which would have granted Spanish nationality to free blacks, if not granting them the right to vote, slaves and free blacks conspired to end slavery and to join the region to Haiti. The conspiracy was discovered and many were sentenced to lashes and jail terms. The four principal leaders, Pedro Seda, José Leocadio, Pedro Henríquez and a person simply known as Marcos were executed.