1Impact of Colonialism on the Caribbean

7/29/2019 1Impact of Colonialism on the Caribbean

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The Impact Of The Encounter Between Europeans And Indigenous People

In 1492, a Spanish expedition headed by Christopher Columbus reached the Americas, after

which European exploration and colonization rapidly expanded, at first through much of the

Caribbean Sea region (including the islands ofHispaniola, Puerto Rico and Cuba) and, since

the early 16th century, through the mainland of both North and South America.

The first conquests of the Caribbean were made by the Spanish and the Portuguese. In the

1494 Treaty of Tordesillas, ratified by the Pope, these two kingdoms divided the entire non-

European world between themselves, with a line drawn through South America. Based on this

Treaty, and the claims by Spanish explorerVasco Nez de Balboa to all lands touching the

Pacific Ocean.

The European colonization of the Americas forever changed the lives, bloodlines and cultures of

the peoples of the Caribbean. The population history of indigenous peoples postulates that

infectious disease exposure, displacement, and warfare diminished populations, with the first

the most significant cause.

The first indigenous group encountered by Columbus was the Tanos ofHispaniola who werethe dominant culture in the Greater Antilles and the Bahamas. In thirty years, about 70% of theTanos died. They had no immunity to European diseases, so outbreaks ofmeasles andsmallpox ravaged their population. The news of the riches offered by Hispaniola andsurrounding islands soon spread across Europe. The notion of fabulous wealth for the pickingwas like a magnet for other European Nations. Within a few years, harvesters from Spain andother European countries were travelling from island to island seeking artifacts, precious metals,spices, and human beings for enslavement. The cruel assault mounted by these people againstthe defenseless and non-aggressive Taino, who had numbered in the millions in 1492, was soeffective that forty years later they were virtually extinct."

The increased ignorance towards the practice of punishing the Tanos for revolting themselvesfrom forced labour, despite the measures brought by the Encomienda which included religiouseducation and protection from warring tribes, eventually helped conceived the last great Tanorebellion.

Mistreated, the Tanos began to adopt suicidal behaviors, with women aborting or killing theirinfants, men jumping from the cliffs or ingesting manioc, a violent poison.

The Laws of Burgos, 1512-1513 were the first codified set of laws governing the behavior ofSpanish settlers in America, particularly with regards to native Indians. They forbade the

maltreatment of natives, and endorsed their conversion to Catholicism.

A positive of the encounter is European and Asian animals were introduced into the Americas,

which had previously lacked animal power.

Colonial Patterns

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Comparisons between Spanish and English colonial patterns demonstrate that significant

differences existed. There were, however, notable similarities. Both nations used New World

colonies to further their mercantile goals. In the process of exploitation, both nations ravaged

native populations, charting a long course of cultural disruption and destruction. By the late 18th

and early 19th Centuries, both nations would lose their primary New World colonies as

independent communities emerged.

Causes of European actions in the Americas were many and changed as the dynamics of

colonization became more defined. European competitors, reflecting different cultures and

religions, attempted to imprint their identities on settlements established for a variety of reasons.

The earliest of the colonizers, Spain and Portugal, declined in the face of later competition from

England, France, and Holland. These nations exported manufactured goods in return for raw

materials to expand their profit margins. Relations with colonies were affected by the policies of

mercantilism, which were crafted to benefit the colonizers. Outside of the core region of Europe

lay areas that were economically dependent on the world trade system. These regions produced

commercial crops sugar, spices, tobacco, cotton, and slaves in return for the manufactured

products of Europe. The construction of core and dependent areas was critical the formation of

the world trade system.

The Spanish seizure of lands in the New World began with the Caribbean islands. Spaininitiated the colonization of the America with disastrous consequences for the Indians. While noFrench or English colonies were created in the 16 th century, they had developed a commercialcolonial encounter. More heavily settled than other areas, the British colonies were closer toEuropean models of government, religion, and political theory

Similarities and Difference between Spanish, French, and English colonization in the

Caribbean

ENGLAND: Arrogant, poor treatment of natives - concerned only with commerce - mostly cotton,

coffee and slave trade

FRANCE: Rather arrogant, however sought to make peaceful overtures to the Natives,

commercial activities were limited due to sites of colonial territories

SPAIN: Religious fanatics, ruled/conquered for the sake of religion - little involvement in

commerce until cocoa and sugar became profitable

The three nations have a definite contrast to them in terms of how they form colonies in theCaribbean. The Spanish tended to set up the equivalent of fiefdoms, where the ruler of aparticular area tended to be from Spain itself rather than one of the local residents. The Spanishalso had a higher instance of intermixing with the First Nations, resulting in the moderndistinction between Latinos and Spanish proper.Spain focused a great deal on converting the peoples in their empire to Christianity. This wasbecause of Queen Isabella's commitment to her catholic faith. While others concerned

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themselves with the potential riches of the new world, Isabella worried about the heathenIndians and their souls Hence an early penetration by the Catholic Church, and theestablishment of missions in all of Spain's territoriesThe Spanish were poor administrators. The audencia system was far too bulky to rule thecontinent effectively. Also, the Spainish system of ruling their empire was not flexible - all majordecisions were made in Spain, hundreds of thousands of miles away. When an official wrote foradvice in the audencia of Nuevo Espana (Mexico Honduras etc.,) the letter didn't reach Spain

for four months! By that time, the crisis was over. But officials had no authority to take initiative,and therefore could not govern properly.

The French were generally not into large scale colonization. For France, the key word is always"assimilation". The French did not aim to simply to convert people to Christianity. The aim wasto export France - the culture, the food and the language. Therefore, the French dealt with theircolonial subjects differently. They did their best make sure their colonies became outposts ofFrance, educating their subjects and encouraging them to think of themselves as French but thiswas greatly expensive.

The English formed large-scale colonies along the Atlantic seaboard, but unlike the Spanish,

they were for the most part home-ruled. That is, the leaders of the colonies generally came fromthose colonies instead of from Britain itself. The English colonies were also moreheterogeneous, having groups from Scotland (before the Act of Union), Germany, theNetherlands, and Sweden. They were also more religiously diverse as some colonies were

Anglican, but others tended to be refuges for Puritans, Separatists, Quakers, and EnglishCatholics.The British were always practical in their empire. Therefore they allowed limited self-governance in some countries. The British did not try to export their culture, but rather adoptedspecific aspects of it to help in the running of the empire, for example their British educationsystem. Most commonwealth countries have an education system very similar to Great Britain.But the idea that colonists were "British" was not encouraged. The result was the development

of strong national feeling in each colony, but not necessarily a dedication to the empire.

The English never really clashed with the Spanish in the Americas as they focused on differentregions. When England and France clashed, the numerical superiority of the English tended tobe a decisive factor

Impact of Colonialism on the Caribbean

The exploitation of the Caribbean landscape dates back to the Spanish conquistadors around

1600 who mined the islands for gold which they brought back to Spain. The more significant3
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development came when Christopher Columbus wrote back to Spain that the islands were

made for sugar development. The history of Caribbean agricultural dependency is closely linked

with European colonialism which altered the financial potential of the region by introducing a

plantation system. Much like the Spanish enslaved indigenous Indians to work in gold mines,

the seventeenth brought a new series of oppressors in the form of the Dutch, the English, and

the French. By the middle of the eighteenth century sugar was Britain's largest import which

made the Caribbean that much more important as a colony. The New World plantations wereestablished in order to fulfill the growing needs of the Old World. The sugar plantations were

built with the intention of exporting the sugar back to Britain which is why the British did not need

to stimulate local demand for the sugar with wages.

A system of slavery was adapted since it allowed the colonizer to have an abundant work force

with little worry about declining demands for sugar. In the 19th century wages were finally

introduced with the abolition of slavery. The new system in place however was similar to the

previous as it was based on white capital and colored labor. [ Large numbers of unskilled

workers were hired to perform repeated tasks, which made it very difficult for these workers to

ever leave and pursue any non farming employment. Unlike other countries, where there was anurban option for finding work, the Caribbean countries had money invested in agriculture and

lacked any core industrial base. The cities that did exist offered limited opportunities to citizens

and almost none for the unskilled masses who had worked in agriculture their entire lives. The

products produced brought in no profits for the countries since they were sold to the colonial

occupant buyer who controlled the price the products were sold at. This resulted in extremely

low wages with no potential for growth since the occupant nations had no intention of selling the

products at a higher price to themselves. The result of this economic exploitation was a

plantation dependence which saw the Caribbean nations possessing a large quantity of

unskilled workers capable of performing agricultural tasks and not much else. After many years

of colonial rule the nations also saw no profits brought into their country since the sugar

production was controlled by the colonial rulers. This left the Caribbean nations with little capital

to invest towards enhancing any future industries unlike European nations which were

developing rapidly and separating themselves technologically and economically from most

impoverished nations of the world.

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1Impact of Colonialism on the Caribbean