Access the Effects of the Spanish Settlement in Hispaniola on the Tainos During the 15th to 16th Century.

Columbus’s big plan for Hispaniola since the beginning was to take advantage of the natives and take their land, and the gold he believed was located there. He built the first fort in the Western Hemisphere, and left some of his men to find and store gold there. Columbus had to ask for a little more help from their majesties, he convinced them by saying he would take them “as much gold as they need ... and as many slaves as they ask” (Zinn,6 ) Columbus’s plans affected the natives, in many ways; first of all they were going to lose their land, and also they were going to be taken captive for slave labor.

A Spanish conquistador is that of a conqueror, and explorer, especially one of Mexico and Peru. The beginning of the 16th century was deemed the commencement of the Spanish conquistadors in which was named ‘The Age of Discovery’, where the conquistadors of places such as Spain and Portugal explored the new world and conquered various territories. Looking at military defenses, secrecy and disinformation, financing and governance, and their way of life people can begin to grasp a comprehension of the impact of the Spanish conquistadors. In searching for an understanding for the ways of the Spaniards and their conquests the lessons to be learnt for existing populations can be unraveled.

The history of the colonization of Americas is one written in blood. The Hispaniola is no exception, and the conflict can still be seen today. In 1492 Christopher Columbus sailed west. In doing so, he

The island of Hispaniola was founded by Christopher Columbus in 1842 and claimed for Spain. The island was neglected by its mother country due to the lack of minerals on the island. The French

This was a turning point in his life where renouncing the encomienda, or legal system justifying the occupation of natives under Spanish rule (Encomienda) became paramount. His political ventures began in the year 1515 where the Spanish government allocated him authority to establish a colony off the Venezuelan coast where the alleviation of the natives suffering and exploitation could begin (Baym 39). At this juncture in his fight to end slavery, some countermeasures were presented. One of which was the importation of African slaves to ease Indian suffering. This idea was not conducive to Casas’ cause and he soon redacted it. As stated in Casas History of the Indies, “black slavery was as unjust as Indian slavery, and was no remedy at all” (Las Casas). In this instance, Casas was aware of the injustice of slavery no matter the person.

As soon as Columbus met the native people of the Bahama Islands, he placed possessional value on them instead of valuing them as humans. He wrote, “They would make fine servants… With fifty men we could subjugate them all and make them do whatever we want.” Zinn page 1. The indigenous people showered these strangers with gifts, and what did they gain by doing so? They gained nothing and ended up losing their land, freedom and will to go on. The natives of the places Columbus claimed for Spain were subjected to inhumane conditions. Their living conditions were horrid, with the constant torment by the Spaniards. Las Casas’ accounts are horrifying and reveal the truth. Mentioned in his accounts is how the Spaniards treated them and valued them, “thought nothing of knifing Indians by tens and twenties and of cutting slices off them to test the sharpness of their blades.” This is just cruel and immoral. Also mentioned in Las Casas’ accounts is the working conditions. The men were nearly worked to death in the mines, with the futile task of unearthing what little gold there was. While the women were tasked with the laborious job of working the land. They were overworked, and as a result could not properly tend to the care of their children.

work on it on behalf of their Spanish master. In return, they were to be afforded the protection of

When Columbus first arrived he found the island populated by thousands of Taino Indians who made the mistake of showing Columbus gold nuggets in the river. This was all Spain needed to finance its crown. Differences between the Spaniards and the Taints began around two years later when Diego Salcedo was killed by the Indians. The Taino Indians revolt against the Spaniards was met with no success and many left the island or fled into the mountains where they began new lives.

During the span of four centuries, Spain went through thick and thin to spread their culture and sustain their colonies. This began when Christopher Columbus set out to the Caribbean in 1492 and changed history. The Chiboney (also known as Guanahuatebey), Taino Arawak, and the Caribs were the three types of people that made up the early societies in the Caribbean at the end of fifteenth century. During the late fifteenth century the Spanish set out for their first intrusion and were determined to establish a trading post in which they could base off of the Portuguese model. Christopher Columbus was not the first European to discover the New World, even though he did have a stronger outcome, giving the world insight of his discoveries in the

At his arrival on the island of Haiti, Columbus found the Taino Indian They were very hospitable toward Columbus and his men. However, Christophe Colombus and his men brutalized so much the Tainos, they became violent as a direct and implicit response to the intolerance and abuse of the visitors. Columbus left his men in the America and return to Spain with sample of richess of Saint Domingue.

This was a turning point in his life where renouncing the encomienda, or legal system justifying the occupation of natives under Spanish rule (Encomienda) became paramount. His political ventures began in the year 1515 where the Spanish government allocated him authority to establish a colony off the Venezuelan coast where the alleviation of the natives suffering and exploitation could begin (Baym 39). At this juncture in his fight to end slavery, some countermeasures were presented. One of which was the importation of African slaves to ease Indian suffering. This idea was not conducive to Casas’ cause and he soon redacted it. As stated in Casas History of the Indies, “black slavery was as unjust as Indian slavery, and was no remedy at all” (Las Casas). In this instance, Casas was aware of the injustice of slavery no matter the person.

When Columbus arrived in the Caribbean in 1492, he was greeted by the natives of what is currently Haiti and the Dominican Republic, on the island of Hispaniola. These people were the Taino Indians, who belong to the general group Arawak, which primarily describes the common language shared by the native people

In an attempt to reach Indian trade routes via a different direction, Columbus found himself in the Caribbean discovering an entirely new continent. Columbus uncovered much more underdeveloped civilizations in dramatic contrast to his idols discoveries of advanced societies. Each island Columbus visited uncovered a different way of life than the previous. The island of Juana’s inhabitants were fearful of Columbus which made conquering the land and claiming it as Spain’s rather simple. The next island which he named “Hispana” was much more advanced in terms of agriculture and resources than the previous island Juana. All the islands shared the commonality of the lack of more complex governance (besides a chief for example) and also did not have an established currency such as the one Polo encountered in

The crown started giving out the encomiendas in 1503. The encomenderos, or the recipients of the grant, were in-turn supposed to spread the Christian faith to the natives, protect them from enemy tribes, and teach them Spanish. The encomenderos then asked for ‘tributes,’ which were usually in the form of gold, silver, animals like pigs and llamas, crops, or anything else that was produced on the land. Though there were laws in place to prohibit this, the encomienda system in practice had very little difference from slavery. The majority of the natives were punished, or sometimes put to death, if they resisted extremely hard labor or did not give enough tribute.

Columbus’ exploitation of Mesoamerica and consequential enslavement of its people weakened the power of the empires in the New World and caused the power of the global world to be enhanced in Spain. When Columbus first set foot on Hispaniola, he encountered a population of native people called the Taino. The Taino’s were a peaceful and friendly group. Subsequently they willingly traded jewelry, animals, and supplies with the Spaniards. However, at the base of the relations between the two groups, were the malicious concepts, Columbus was waiting to enact.