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154-573: The fortification system of San Juan is closely tied to the history of the city as it defended it from foreign and pirate attacks since its inception during the first half of the 16th century. The city walls are notable for being one of the three remaining of its kind in North America (the other two being Quebec City in Canada and Campeche in Mexico ). Three fourths of the walls remain today as

308-624: A National Historic Landmark in 1960 and, along with the San Juan National Historic Site, it has been a World Heritage Site since 1983. The palace is open to the public through 30-minute guided walking tours which are offered Monday through Friday between 8:15 am and 3:30 pm. The historic district of Old San Juan ( Viejo San Juan, officially Zona Histórica de San Juan ), listed in the National Register of Historic Places since October 10, 1972, and designated

462-534: A National Historic Landmark District since 2013, represents the oldest continuously inhabited settlement in Puerto Rico and the oldest historic colonial district under the United States jurisdiction. This historic district is often confused with or incorrectly referred to as the San Juan National Historic Site and it contains some of the oldest buildings under U.S. jurisdiction such as La Casa Blanca ,

616-573: A World Heritage Site under the name La Fortaleza and San Juan National Historic Site in Puerto Rico "because of its outstanding, universal cultural value." It quickly grew to become one of the biggest tourist attractions in Puerto Rico and the Caribbean, drawing more than 1,400,000 visitors in 2016. Together with the Great Smoky Mountains National Park this was the eleventh World Heritage Site to be designated in

770-530: A completely illegal remnant of a golden buccaneering age, and their choices were limited to quick retirement or eventual capture. Contrast this with the earlier example of Welshman Henry Morgan , who for his privateering efforts was knighted by the English Crown and appointed the lieutenant-governor of Jamaica . In the early 19th century, piracy along the East and Gulf Coasts of North America as well as in

924-664: A more pliable administrator. The English had established an early colony known as Virginia in 1607 and one on the island of Barbados in the West Indies in 1625, although this small settlement's people faced considerable dangers from the local Carib Indians (believed to be cannibals) for some time after its founding. The two early colonies needed regular imports from England, sometimes of food but primarily of woollen textiles. The main early exports back to England included sugar, tobacco, and tropical food. No large tobacco plantations or even truly organized defenses were established by

1078-537: A person or event, though unlike a National Historical Site, may or may not be placed at a specific historical location. Several national memorials are on the National Mall , such as the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial . National seashores and national lakeshores offer preservation of the national coast line, while supporting water–based recreation. Cape Hatteras National Seashore

1232-548: A popular smuggling port where European goods were plentiful and fairly cheap, and good prices were paid by its European merchants for tobacco. The English colonies on Saint Kitts and Nevis, founded in 1623, would prove to become wealthy sugar-growing settlements in time. Another new English venture, the Providence Island colony on what is now Providencia Island in the Mosquito Coast of Nicaragua , deep in

1386-547: A somewhat minor offense, only punishable if suspects and evidence were taken back to Europe for formal proceedings. Now, the British Parliament set the system of courts of Vice-Admiralty, appointing seven commissioners in the colonies to carry out the legal proceedings. These commissioners were chosen from naval and colonial officers who already contained a certain amount of bias towards the local pirates, instead of civilian judges. Pirates were given no representation in

1540-537: A special resource study of a site to determine its national significance and suitability to be part of the National Park System. The NPS uses over 20 different titles for the park units it manages, including national park and national monument . National parks preserve nationally and globally significant scenic areas and nature reserves. National monuments preserve a single unique cultural or natural feature. Devils Tower National Monument

1694-593: A surge in output from the silver mines due to increased availability of slave labor (the demand for sugar increased the number of slaves brought to the Caribbean) began a resurgence in the fortunes of Spanish America. England, France and the Dutch Netherlands had all become New World colonial powerhouses in their own right by 1660. Worried by the Dutch Republic 's intense commercial success since

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1848-548: A third was heavily damaged during the 1867 earthquake and was later demolished to make way for the construction of a railway and the urban expansion of the city. These fortifications quickly fell into disrepair after the bombardment of San Juan in 1898 during the Spanish–American War and, although modifications and improvements were made during the Second World War , the historic and architectural heritage of

2002-676: Is New Jersey Pinelands National Reserve at 1,164,025 acres (4711 km ). The smallest is Benjamin Franklin National Memorial at less than 0.01 acres (40 m ). While there are laws generally covering all units of the National Park System, they are subject to management policies of individual pieces of authorizing legislation or, in the case of national monuments created under the Antiquities Act , Executive Order . For example, because of provisions within their enabling legislation, Congaree National Park

2156-521: Is Wrangell–St. Elias National Park and Preserve , Alaska. At 13,200,000 acres (53,000 km ), it is over 16 percent of the entire system. The smallest unit in the system is Thaddeus Kosciuszko National Memorial , Pennsylvania , at 0.02 acres (80 m ). In addition to administering its units and other properties, the NPS also provides technical and financial assistance to several affiliated areas authorized by Congress. The largest affiliated area

2310-491: Is almost entirely a wilderness area devoid of development, yet Yosemite allows unique developments such as the Badger Pass Ski Area and the O'Shaughnessy Dam within its boundaries. Such irregularities would not be found in other parks unless specifically provided for with exceptions by the legislation that created them. Most NPS units have been established by an act of Congress, with the president confirming

2464-668: Is an agency of the United States federal government , within the US Department of the Interior . The service manages all national parks ; most national monuments ; and other natural, historical, and recreational properties, with various title designations. The United States Congress created the agency on August 25, 1916, through the National Park Service Organic Act . Its headquarters

2618-746: Is currently administered by the Government of Puerto Rico , a bill submitted by Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico Jenniffer González in May 2023 designated it as an affiliated area of the National Park System , which will uthorize the National Park Service to enter into cooperative agreements with the Institute of Puerto Rican Culture to provide technical and financial assistance for the fort’s preservation, without placing

2772-432: Is essential to a National Park Service that is science-informed at all organizational levels and able to respond with contemporary strategies for resource management and ultimately park stewardship." The "Revisiting Leopold" report mentioned climate change three times and "climate refugia" once, but it did not prescribe or offer any management tactics that could help parks managers with the problems of climate change. Hence,

2926-586: Is in Washington, D.C. , within the main headquarters of the Department of the Interior. The NPS employs about 20,000 people in 431 units covering over 85 million acres (0.34 million km ) in all 50 states , the District of Columbia, and US territories . In 2019, the service had more than 279,000 volunteers. The agency is charged with preserving the ecological and historical integrity of

3080-404: Is increasingly untenable, presenting practical and philosophical challenges for managers. As formerly familiar ecological conditions continue to change, bringing novelty, surprise, and uncertainty, natural resource managers require a new, shared approach to make conservation decisions.... The RAD (Resist-Accept-Direct) decision framework has emerged over the past decade as a simple tool that captures

3234-568: Is located at 501 Norzagaray Street next to Castillo San Cristóbal and in front of Plaza Colón at the former site of military headquarters built by the United States during World War II. It temporarily closed during the COVID-19 pandemic , but it is now open daily from 9AM to 5PM. Additional visitor information and interpretation is located inside the El Morro and San Cristóbal fortresses. Fortín de San Gerónimo de Boquerón , commonly known as

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3388-489: Is not a complicated site. National historical parks are larger areas with more complex subjects. Historic sites may also be protected in other unit types. National military parks , battlefield parks , battlefield sites , and battlefields preserve areas associated with military history. The different designations reflect the complexity of the event and the site. Many of the sites preserve important Revolutionary War battles and Civil War battlefields. Military parks are

3542-724: The Cape Verde Islands . This gave Spain control of the Americas, a position the Spaniards later reiterated with an equally unenforceable papal bull (The Inter caetera ). On the Spanish Main , the key early settlements were Cartagena in present-day Colombia , Porto Bello and Panama City on the Isthmus of Panama , Santiago on the southeastern coast of Cuba , and Santo Domingo on the island of Hispaniola . In

3696-746: The Church of San José and the San Juan Cathedral , and landmarks such as Capilla del Cristo , the Ballajá Barracks , the San Juan City Hall and a large number of historic squares, cobblestone streets and alleyways, museums, cafes and restaurants which cater to residents, locals and tourists alike. The Institute of Puerto Rican Culture owns and administers several museums and cultural institutions in Old San Juan such as

3850-582: The Low Countries ), the Dutch Republic had become the world's leader in mercantile shipping and commercial capitalism, and Dutch companies finally turned their attention to the West Indies in the 17th century. The renewed war with Spain with the end of the truce offered many opportunities for the successful Dutch joint-stock companies to finance military expeditions against the Spanish Empire. The old English and French privateering anchorages from

4004-667: The National Wilderness Preservation System , which consists of federally managed lands that are of a pristine condition, established by the Wilderness Act (Public Law 88-577) in 1964. The National Wilderness Preservation System originally created hundreds of wilderness zones within already protected federally administered property, consisting of over 9 million acres (36,000 km ). Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) began with Executive Order 13158 in May 2000, when official MPAs were established for

4158-527: The Parliament of Great Britain passed the 1717 Transportation Act , which established a regulated, bonded system to transport criminals to Britain's colonies in North America as indentured servants as a punishment for those convicted or attainted in England and Wales . Section seven of the act specifically concerned the suppression of piracy, affirming capital punishment for being found guilty for

4312-733: The Yucatán Channel to catch the westerly winds back to Europe. By the 1560s, the Dutch United Provinces of the Netherlands and England, both Protestant states, were defiantly opposed to Catholic Spain, the greatest power of Christendom in the 16th century; while the French government was seeking to expand its colonial holdings in the New World now that Spain had proven they could be extremely profitable. It

4466-607: The fluyt (a cargo vessel able to be operated with a small crew and enter relatively inaccessible ports) rolling out of the ship yards in Amsterdam and Rotterdam , new capitalist economic arrangements like the joint-stock company taking root and the military reprieve provided by the Twelve Year Truce with the Spanish (1609–1621), Dutch commercial interests were expanding explosively across the globe, but particularly in

4620-574: The 16th century in the Caribbean now swarmed anew with Dutch warships. In England, a new round of colonial ventures in the New World was fueled by declining economic opportunities at home and growing religious intolerance for more radical Protestants (like the Puritans ) who rejected the compromise Protestant theology of the established Church of England . After the demise of the Saint Lucia and Grenada colonies soon after their establishment, and

4774-502: The 16th century, pirate captains recruited seamen to loot European merchant ships, especially the Spanish treasure fleets sailing from the Caribbean to Europe. The following quote by an 18th-century Welsh captain shows the motivations for piracy: In an honest Service, there is thin Commons, low Wages, and hard Labour; in this, Plenty and Satiety, Pleasure and Ease, Liberty and Power; and who would not balance Creditor on this Side, when all

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4928-620: The 16th century, the Spanish were mining extremely large quantities of silver from the mines of Zacatecas in New Spain (Mexico) and Potosí in Bolivia (formerly known as Upper Peru). The huge Spanish silver shipments from the New World to the Old attracted pirates and French privateers like François Leclerc or Jean Fleury, both in the Caribbean and across the Atlantic, all along the route from

5082-650: The 17th century in the Caribbean was defined by the outbreak of the savage and destructive Thirty Years' War in Europe (1618–1648), which represented both the culmination of the Protestant-Catholic conflict of the Reformation and the final showdown between Habsburg Spain and Bourbon France. The war was mostly fought in Germany, where one-third to one-half of the population would eventually be lost to

5236-571: The 18th century the Bahamas had become the new colonial frontier for the British. The Republic of Pirates at the port of Nassau became one of the last pirate havens. A small British colony had even sprung up in former Spanish territory at Belize in Honduras that had been founded by an English pirate in 1638 . The French colonial empire in the Caribbean had not grown substantially by the start of

5390-532: The 18th century. The sugar islands of Guadaloupe and Martinique remained the twin economic capitals of the French Lesser Antilles, and were now equal in population and prosperity to the largest of the English's Caribbean colonies. Tortuga had begun to decline in importance, but France's Hispaniolan settlements were becoming major importers of African slaves as French sugar plantations spread across

5544-787: The 19th Century Puerto Rican Family House Museum ( Casa de la Familia Puertorriqueña del Siglo XIX ), while the Conservation Trust of Puerto Rico nonprofit unit of Para La Naturaleza , administers the Ramón Power y Giralt House ; both of these institutions also serve as interpretative centers for visitors of Old San Juan. Old San Juan is not part of the La Fortaleza and San Juan National Historic Site in Puerto Rico World Heritage Site, however, there have been multiple proposals for either expanding

5698-788: The 2021 report specific to the need for climate adaptation : "Resist-Accept-Direct (RAD): A Framework for the 21st-century Natural Resource Manager." This "Natural Resource Report" has ten authors. Among them are four associated with the National Park Service, three with the US Fish and Wildlife Service , and two with the US Geological Survey — all of which are government agencies within the US Department of Interior. The report's Executive Summary, points to "intensifying global change." "... The convention of using baseline conditions to define goals for today's resource management

5852-584: The Americas in the latter half of the 17th century and of similar mercenaries in Germany during the Thirty Years' War had taught the rulers and military leaders of Europe that those who fought for profit rather than for King and Country could often ruin the local economy of the region they plundered, in this case the entire Caribbean. At the same time, the constant warfare had led the Great Powers to develop larger standing armies and bigger navies to meet

6006-543: The Atlantic Coast, but was captured along the South Carolina coast in 1718. This early 18th century resurgence of piracy lasted only until the presence of European navies and coast guards in the Caribbean were enlarged to deal with the threat. Also crucial to the end of this era of piracy was the loss of the pirates' last Caribbean safe haven at Nassau . The famous pirates of the early 18th century were

6160-539: The Bahamas in 1648, though these settlements began like all the others as relatively tiny communities that were not economically self-sufficient. The French also founded major new colonies on the sugar-growing islands of Guadeloupe in 1634 and Martinique in 1635 in the Lesser Antilles. However, the heart of French activity in the Caribbean in the 17th century remained Tortuga , the fortified island haven off

6314-656: The Bourbon King Louis XIII (r. 1610–1642) and his able minister Cardinal Richelieu , religious civil war had been reignited between French Catholics and Protestants (called Huguenots). Throughout the 1620s, Huguenots fled France and founded colonies in the New World much like their English counterparts. Then, in 1636, to decrease the power of the Habsburg dynasty who ruled Spain and the Holy Roman Empire on France's eastern border, France entered

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6468-650: The Caribbean increased again. Jean Lafitte was a pirate/privateer operating in the Caribbean and in American waters from his havens in Texas and Louisiana during the 1810s. But the records of the US Navy indicate that hundreds of pirate attacks occurred in American and Caribbean waters between the years of 1820 and 1835. The Latin American Wars of Independence led to widespread use of privateers both by Spain and by

6622-411: The Caribbean to Seville . To combat this constant danger, in the 1560s the Spanish adopted a convoy system. A treasure fleet or flota would sail annually from Seville (and later from Cádiz ) in Spain, carrying passengers, troops, and European manufactured goods to the Spanish colonies of the New World. This cargo, though profitable, was really just a form of ballast for the fleet as its true purpose

6776-409: The Caribbean was again shaped by events in far-off Europe. For the Dutch Netherlands, France, Spain and the Holy Roman Empire , the Thirty Years' War being fought in Germany, the last great religious war in Europe, had degenerated into an outbreak of famine , plague and starvation that managed to kill off one-third to one-half of the population of Germany. England, having avoided any entanglement in

6930-453: The Caribbean, as well as among the richest French possessions because of their increasingly profitable sugar plantations. The French also maintained privateering strongholds around western Hispaniola , at their traditional pirate port of Tortuga , and their Hispaniolan capital of Petit-Goâve . The French further expanded their settlements on the western half of Hispaniola and founded Léogâne and Port-de-Paix , even as sugar plantations became

7084-405: The Caribbean, fueled by a great increase in immigration as people fled from the chaos and lack of economic opportunity in Europe. While most of these new immigrants settled into the West Indies' expanding plantation economy, others took to the life of the buccaneer. Meanwhile, the Dutch, at last independent of Spain when the 1648 Treaty of Westphalia ended their own Eighty Years War (1568–1648) with

7238-426: The Caribbean, many fled to areas of the world where piracy may still be a profitable trade. Black Bart, Bartholomew Roberts, perhaps the most successful pirate that had sailed in the Caribbean, eventually returned to Africa in 1722. Other, less successful pirates from the golden age in the Caribbean attempted to flee North to the Americas. Stede Bonnet, an accomplice of Blackbeard, supposedly began to plunder ships along

7392-430: The Caribbean, the arrival of European diseases with Columbus had reduced the local Native American populations; the native population of New Spain fell as much as 90% from its original numbers in the 16th century. This loss of native population led Spain to increasingly rely on African slave labor to run Spanish America's colonies, plantations and mines and the trans-Atlantic slave trade offered new sources of profit for

7546-401: The Caribbean, the other Western European states finally began to move in and set up permanent settlements of their own, ending the Spanish monopoly over the control of the New World. Even as the Dutch Netherlands was forced to renew its struggle against Spain for independence as part of the Thirty Years' War (the entire rebellion against the Spanish Habsburgs was called the Eighty Years War in

7700-439: The Caribbean, where Spain remained the dominant power until late in the century. As for the Dutch Netherlands, after decades of rebellion against Spain fueled by both Dutch nationalism and their staunch Protestantism, independence had been gained in all but name (and that too would eventually come with the Treaty of Westphalia in 1648). The Netherlands had become Europe's economic powerhouse. With new, innovative ship designs like

7854-442: The Dutch Republic, the various German states and Spain. In short, Europe was consumed in the final decades of the 17th century by nearly constant dynastic intrigue and warfare—an opportune time for pirates and privateers to engage in their bloody trade. In the Caribbean, this political environment created many new threats for colonial governors. The sugar island of Sint Eustatius changed ownership ten times between 1664 and 1674 as

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8008-462: The Dutch agreed to divide the prosperous island in half with the French. The late 17th and early 18th centuries (particularly between the years 1706 to 1726) are often considered the "Golden Age of Piracy" in the Caribbean, and pirate ports experienced rapid growth in the areas in and surrounding the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. Furthermore, during this time period there were approximately 2400 men that were currently active pirates. The military power of

8162-507: The Dutch in 1654, being helped by the involvement of the Dutch in the First Anglo-Dutch War . The Dutch fought for nine years, only surrendering when safe passage for the Jews was guaranteed by the Portuguese. This was known as the Insurreição Pernambucana ( Pernambucan Insurrection ). Most of the Jews fled to Amsterdam; others fled to North America, starting the first Jewish community of New Amsterdam (now known as New York City ). The Dutch spent most of their time trading in smuggled goods with

8316-472: The English and Dutch dueled for supremacy there. Consumed with the various wars in Europe, the mother countries provided few military reinforcements to their colonies, so the governors of the Caribbean increasingly made use of buccaneers as mercenaries and privateers to protect their territories or carry the fight to their country's enemies. Perhaps unsurprisingly, these undisciplined and greedy dogs of war often proved difficult for their sponsors to control. By

8470-472: The English on its Caribbean settlements at first and it would take time for England to realize just how valuable its possessions in the Caribbean could prove to be. Eventually, African slaves would be purchased through the Atlantic slave trade . They would work the colonies and fuel Europe's tobacco, rice and sugar supply; by 1698 England had the largest slave exports with the most efficiency in their labor in relation to any other European imperial power. Barbados,

8624-406: The European mainland's wars, had fallen victim to its own ruinous civil war that resulted in the short but brutal Puritan military dictatorship (1649–1660) of the Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell and his Roundhead armies. Of all the European Great Powers, Spain was in the worst shape economically and militarily as the Thirty Years' War concluded in 1648. Economic conditions had become so poor for

8778-421: The French justice system. They were later joined by the English and Dutch. The English were dubbed " sea dogs ". The Caribbean had become an important center of European trade and colonization after Columbus ' discovery of the New World for Spain in 1492. In the 1494 Treaty of Tordesillas the non-European world had been divided between the Spanish and the Portuguese along a north–south line 370 leagues west of

8932-450: The Habsburgs, made a fortune carrying the European trade goods needed by these new colonies. Peaceful trading was not as profitable as privateering, but it was a safer business. By the later half of the 17th century, Barbados had become the unofficial capital of the English West Indies before this position was claimed by Jamaica later in the century. Barbados was a merchant's dream port in this period. European goods were freely available,

9086-444: The Hazard that is run for it, at worst, is only a sower Look or two at choaking. No, a merry Life and a short one shall be my Motto. —Pirate Captain Bartholomew Roberts Piracy was sometimes given legal status by the colonial powers, especially France under King Francis I (r.1515–1547), in the hope of weakening Spain and Portugal's mare clausum trade monopolies in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. This officially sanctioned piracy

9240-508: The Interior Stewart Udall . This report came to be referred to in later years by its chairman and principal author, A. Starker Leopold . The Leopold Report was just fourteen pages in length, but it set forth ecosystem management recommendations that would guide parks policy until it was revisited in 2012. The Leopold Report was the first concrete plan for managing park visitors and ecosystems under unified principles. Park management issues and controversies addressed in this report included

9394-430: The Interior bureau or program. The NPS budget is divided into two primary areas, discretionary and mandatory spending. Within each of these areas, there are numerous specific purposes to which Congress directs the services activities. The NPS budget includes discretionary spending which is broken out into two portions: the direct operations of the National Parks and the special initiatives. Listed separately are

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9548-474: The NPS could not meet. In 1951, Conrad Wirth became director of the NPS and began to bring park facilities up to the standards that the public was expecting. In 1952, with the support of President Dwight D. Eisenhower , Wirth began Mission 66 , a ten-year effort to upgrade and expand park facilities for the 50th anniversary of the Park Service. New parks were added to preserve unique resources and existing park facilities were upgraded and expanded. In 1966, as

9702-472: The National Park Service, which have a wide variety of titles or designations. The system as a whole is considered to be a national treasure of the United States, and some of the more famous national parks and monuments are sometimes referred to as " crown jewels ". The system encompasses approximately 85.1 million acres (0.344 million km ), of which 2.6 million acres (0.011 million km ) remain in private ownership. The largest unit

9856-431: The Netherlands. Whenever a war was declared in Europe between the Great Powers the result was always widespread piracy and privateering throughout the Caribbean. The Anglo-Spanish War in 1585–1604 was partly due to trade disputes in the New World. A focus on extracting mineral and agricultural wealth from the New World rather than building productive, self-sustaining settlements in its colonies; inflation fueled in part by

10010-469: The New World and East Asia. However, in the early 17th century, the most powerful Dutch companies, like the Dutch East India Company , were most interested in developing operations in the East Indies ( Indonesia ) and Japan, and left the West Indies to smaller, more independent Dutch operators. In the early 17th century, the Spanish colonies of Cartagena , Havana , Panamá Viejo , Porto Bello , Santiago de Cuba , Santo Domingo , and San Juan were among

10164-409: The New World and break the Spanish monopoly on the Western Hemisphere . The reputed riches, pleasant climate and the general emptiness of the Americas all beckoned to those eager to make their fortunes and a large assortment of Frenchmen and Englishmen began new colonial ventures during the early 17th century, both in North America, which lay basically empty of European settlement north of Mexico, and in

10318-482: The Park Service turned 50 years old, emphasis began to turn from just saving great and wonderful scenery and unique natural features to making parks accessible to the public. Director George Hartzog began the process with the creation of the National Lakeshores and then National Recreation Areas . A 1963 report titled "Wildlife Management in the National Parks" was prepared by a five-member advisory board on Wildlife Management, appointed by United States Secretary of

10472-457: The San Gerónimo Fortress, is the remaining one of a pair of small fortresses located in the westernmost end of the Isleta de San Juan at the entrance of the Condado Lagoon and a small body of water named El Boquerón . It forms part of a larger fortification system called La Línea Avanzada established in 1609 to defend the connecting point between the islet and the main island of Puerto Rico from both terrestrial and maritime attacks. Although it

10626-457: The Spanish caste system , totaled no more than 250,000 people in 1600. At the same time, England and France were powers on the rise in 17th-century Europe as they mastered their own internal religious schisms between Catholics and Protestants and the resulting societal peace allowed their economies to rapidly expand. England especially began to turn its people's maritime skills into the basis of commercial prosperity. English and French kings of

10780-471: The Spanish Empire in the New World started to decline when King Philip IV of Spain was succeeded by King Charles II (r. 1665–1700), who in 1665 became the last Habsburg king of Spain at the age of four. While Spanish America in the late 17th century had little military protection as Spain entered a phase of decline as a great power , it also suffered less from the Spanish Crown's mercantilist policies with its economy. This lack of interference, combined with

10934-416: The Spanish by the middle of the 17th century that a major rebellion began against the bankrupt and ineffective Habsburg government of King Philip IV (r. 1625–1665) that was eventually put down only with bloody reprisals by the Spanish Crown. This did not make Philip IV more popular. But disasters in the Old World bred opportunities in the New World. The Spanish Empire 's colonies were badly neglected from

11088-419: The Spanish trading laws in the New World were violated with greater frequency by the merchants of other nations. The Spanish port on the island of Trinidad off the northern coast of South America, permanently settled only in 1592, became a major point of contact between all the nations with a presence in the Caribbean. In the early 17th century, expensive fortifications and the size of the colonial garrisons at

11242-399: The Spanish victory over the failed 1625 Dutch attempt to conquer the city . In addition to its purpose to defend San Juan from attacks coming by land it also contained a large dungeon, barracks, powder houses and tunnels that connect it to the rest of the city wall system. The National Park Service office in Old San Juan is located in the castle grounds. Although it is not open to the public,

11396-562: The Spanish. The Spanish, despite being the most powerful state in Christendom at the time, could not afford a sufficient military presence to control such a vast area of ocean or enforce their exclusionary, mercantilist trading laws. These laws allowed only Spanish merchants to trade with the colonists of the Spanish Empire in the Americas. This arrangement provoked constant smuggling against the Spanish trading laws and new attempts at Caribbean colonization in peacetime by England, France and

11550-675: The Tropic of Cancer and the eastern bound the Prime Meridian passing through the Canary Islands , is said to have been verbally agreed upon by French and Spanish negotiators of the Peace of Cateau-Cambrésis . South and west of these lines, respectively, no protection could be offered to non-Spanish ships, "no peace beyond the line." English, Dutch and French pirates and settlers moved into this region even in times of nominal peace with

11704-404: The United States and as of 2023 it is one of the nineteen designated World Heritage Sites in the Caribbean . The impacts of climate change on coastal communities and local community perspective are the topic of a 2015 thesis by Leslie Paul Walker, Jr. Castillo San Felipe del Morro is the most famous and most visited structure of the San Juan National Historic Site. This citadel is located at

11858-401: The action by signing the act into law. The exception, under the Antiquities Act , allows the president to designate and protect areas as national monuments by executive order. Regardless of the method used, all parks are to be of national importance. A potential park should meet all four of the following standards: Before creation of a new unit, Congress typically directs the NPS to conduct

12012-490: The best preserved section of the city walls and its famous sentry boxes ( garitas ). Castillo San Cristóbal , located on the easternmost end of the fortification system of the islet, is not only the largest fortress in the historic site but the largest fortification ever built in the New World. It was built in 1783 on a hill called Cerro de la Horca or the Cerro del Quemadero , later renamed San Cristóbal Hill to commemorate

12166-700: The cataclysm in Germany—on the Protestants' side. The Franco-Spanish War continued until the 1659 Treaty of the Pyrenees . Many of the cities on the Spanish Main in the first third of the 17th century were self-sustaining but few had yet achieved any prosperity. The more backward settlements in Jamaica and Hispaniola were primarily places for ships to take on food and fresh water. Spanish Trinidad remained

12320-515: The coast of Hispaniola for privateers, buccaneers and outright pirates. The main French colony on the rest of Hispaniola remained the settlement of Petit-Goâve, which was the French toehold that would develop into the modern state of Haiti . French privateers still used the tent city anchorages in the Florida Keys to plunder the Spaniards' shipping in the Straits of Florida , as well as to raid

12474-543: The colonial period, pirates in large numbers generally disappeared after 1730, chased from the seas by a new British Royal Navy squadron based at Port Royal , Jamaica and a smaller group of Spanish privateers sailing from the Spanish Main known as the Costa Garda (Coast Guard in English). With regular military forces now on-station in the West Indies, letters of marque were harder and harder to obtain. Economically,

12628-545: The colonists of every nation in the New World. A second Dutch-controlled free port had also developed on the island of Sint Eustatius which was settled in 1636. The constant back-and-forth warfare between the Dutch and the English for possession of it in the 1660s later damaged the island's economy and desirability as a port. The Dutch also had set up a settlement on the island of Saint Martin which became another haven for Dutch sugar planters and their African slave labor. In 1648,

12782-407: The colonists of the West Indies and the Spanish Main who were eager for a little touch of home. The Spanish governor of Trinidad, who both lacked strong harbor fortifications and possessed only a laughably small garrison of Spanish troops, could do little but take lucrative bribes from English, French and Dutch smugglers and look the other way—or risk being overthrown and replaced by his own people with

12936-684: The colonists, while the trade goods of the New World—tobacco, cocoa and other raw materials , were shipped back to Europe. By 1600, Porto Bello had replaced Nombre de Dios (where Sir Francis Drake had first attacked a Spanish settlement) as the Isthmus of Panama's Caribbean port for the Spanish Silver Train and the annual treasure fleet. Veracruz , the only port city open to trans-Atlantic trade in New Spain, continued to serve

13090-538: The concession-run campgrounds (1.42 million). In 2019, the NPS had an annual budget of $ 4.085 billion and an estimated $ 12 billion maintenance backlog. On August 4, 2020, the Great American Outdoors Act was signed into law reducing the $ 12 billion maintenance backlog by $ 9.5 billion over a 5-year period beginning in FY 2021. As of 2022, the NPS had the largest budget allocation of any Department of

13244-537: The course of the next twenty-five years. Meanwhile, King Louis XIV of France (r. 1642–1715) had finally assumed his majority with the death of his regent mother Queen Anne of Austria's chief minister, Cardinal Mazarin, in 1661. The "Sun King's" aggressive foreign policy was aimed at expanding France's eastern border with the Holy Roman Empire and led to constant warfare ( Franco-Dutch War and Nine Years' War ) against shifting alliances that included England,

13398-415: The creation of the NPS. On August 25, 1916, President Woodrow Wilson signed the National Park Service Organic Act that mandated the agency "to conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects and wildlife therein, and to provide for the enjoyment of the same in such manner and by such means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations". Mather became the first director of

13552-524: The crime of being a pirate. This act was in line with wider European policies regarding the suppression of piracy. Despite the increasing crackdowns against Caribbean pirates, piracy in the region saw a brief resurgence between the end of the War of the Spanish Succession in 1713 and around 1720, as many unemployed seafarers took to piracy as a way to make ends meet when a surplus of sailors after

13706-590: The decay of the Spanish Empire in the Americas. The settlements of the Spanish Main and the Spanish West Indies became financially weaker and were garrisoned with a much smaller number of troops as their home countries were more consumed with happenings back in Europe. The Spanish Empire's economy remained stagnant and the Spanish colonies' plantations, ranches and mines became totally dependent upon slave labor imported from West Africa. With Spain no longer able to maintain its military control effectively over

13860-521: The demands of global colonial warfare. By 1700, the European states had enough troops and ships at their disposal to begin better protecting the important colonies in the West Indies and in the Americas without relying on the aid of privateers. This spelled the doom of privateering and the easy (and nicely legal) life it provided for the buccaneer. Although Spain remained a weak power for the rest of

14014-611: The difficulties of managing elk populations in Yellowstone National Park and how "overprotection from natural ground fires" in California's Sequoia National Park , Kings Canyon National Park , and Yosemite National Park had begun to threaten groves of Giant Sequoia with catastrophic wildfires. The report also established a historical baseline that read, "The goal of managing the national parks and monuments should be to preserve, or where necessary to recreate,

14168-797: The early 17th century in the Bahamas . These settlements provided little more than a place for ships and their crews to take on some fresh water and food and perhaps have a dalliance with the local camp followers , all of which would have been quite expensive. From 1630 to 1654, Dutch merchants had a port in Brazil known as Recife . It was initially founded by the Portuguese in 1548. The Dutch had decided in 1630 to invade several sugar producing cities in Portuguese-controlled Brazil, including Salvador and Natal. From 1630 to 1654, they took control of Recife and Olinda , making Recife

14322-414: The early 17th century— James I (r. 1603–1625) and Henry IV (r. 1598–1610), respectively, each sought more peaceful relations with Habsburg Spain in an attempt to decrease the financial costs of the ongoing wars. Although the onset of peace in 1604 reduced the opportunities for both piracy and privateering against Spain's colonies, neither monarch discouraged his nation from trying to plant new colonies in

14476-413: The ecologic scene as viewed by the first European visitors." This baseline would guide ecological restoration in national parks until a climate change adaptation policy, "Resist-Adapt-Direct", was established in 2021. National Parks director Jonathan Jarvis charged the twelve-member NPS Advisory Board Science Committee to take a fresh look at the ecological issues and make recommendations for updating

14630-655: The entire decision space for responding to ecosystems facing the potential for rapid, irreversible ecological change." Here, the iconic species of Joshua Tree National Park is a leading example. The three RAD options are: The "Resist-Accept-Direct" Framework is first described in a July 2020 paper published in Fisheries Eighteen researchers from federal and state agencies and universities collaborated in this effort, which included short case studies of where and how this framework has already been applied. The National Park System includes all properties managed by

14784-555: The famous Devil's Sentry Box ( La Garita del Diablo ) is also located in Castillo San Cristóbal. El Cañuelo , officially called Fortín San Juan de la Cruz , is located across El Morro in Isla de Cabras , an islet located in the municipality of Toa Baja . It was built between 1630 and 1660 to guard the entrance to the bay together with El Morro. This small fortress is not open to the public but it can be admired from

14938-404: The first time. The initial listing of U.S. areas was presented in 2010, consisting of areas already set aside under other legislation. The NPS has 19 park units designated as MPAs. The National Park System received over 325 million recreation visits in 2023. Park visitation grew 64 percent between 1979 and 2015. The 10 most-visited units of the National Park System handle around 30 percent of

15092-440: The first truly successful English colony in the West Indies , grew fast as the 17th century wore on and by 1698 Jamaica would be England's biggest colony to employ slave labor. Increasingly, English ships chose to use it as their primary home port in the Caribbean. Like Trinidad , merchants in the trans-Atlantic trade who based themselves on Barbados always paid good money for tobacco and sugar. Both of these commodities remained

15246-430: The heart of the Spanish Empire, had become the premier base for English privateers and other pirates raiding the Spanish Main. On the shared Anglo-French island of Saint Christophe (called "Saint Kitts" by the English) the French had the upper hand. The French settlers on Saint Christophe were mostly Catholics, while the unsanctioned but growing French colonial presence in northwest Hispaniola (the future nation of Haiti )

15400-495: The island of Jamaica had been taken over by England and its chief settlement of Port Royal had become a new English buccaneer haven in the midst of the Spanish Empire. Jamaica was slowly transformed, along with Saint Kitts , into the heart of the English presence in the Caribbean. At the same time the French Lesser Antilles colonies of Guadeloupe and Martinique remained the main centers of French power in

15554-416: The island of Tortuga off the northwest coast of Hispaniola and had established the settlement of Petit-Goâve on the island itself. Tortuga in particular was to become a pirate and privateer haven and was beloved of smugglers of all nationalities—after all, even the creation of the settlement had been illegal. Dutch colonies in the Caribbean remained rare until the second third of the 17th century. Along with

15708-505: The island's sugar crop sold for premium prices, and the island's English governor rarely sought to enforce any type of mercantilist regulations. The English colonies at Saint Kitts and Nevis were economically strong and now well-populated as the demand for sugar in Europe increasingly drove their plantation-based economies. The English had also expanded their dominion in the Caribbean and settled several new islands, including Bermuda in 1612, Antigua and Montserrat in 1632, and Eleuthera in

15862-578: The key cash crops of this period and fueled the growth of the American Southern Colonies as well as their counterparts in the Caribbean. After the destruction of Fort Caroline by the Spanish, the French made no further colonization attempts in the Caribbean for several decades as France was convulsed by its own Catholic-Protestant religious divide during the late 16th century Wars of Religion . However, old French privateering anchorages with small "tent camp" towns could be found during

16016-497: The late 17th century and the early 18th century was a time of growing wealth and trade for all the nations who controlled territory in the Caribbean. Although some piracy would always remain until the mid-18th century, the path to wealth in the Caribbean in the future lay through peaceful trade, the growing of tobacco, rice and sugar and smuggling to avoid the British Navigation Acts and Spanish mercantilist laws. By

16170-419: The late 17th century, the great Spanish towns of the Caribbean had begun to prosper and Spain also began to make a slow, fitful recovery, but remained poorly defended militarily because of Spain's problems and so were sometimes easy prey for pirates and privateers. The English presence continued to expand in the Caribbean as England itself was rising toward great power status in Europe. Captured from Spain in 1655,

16324-612: The main recreational space of the historic site as it offers panoramic views of the bay and is very popular for activities such as picnics, stargazing and kite flying . Additionally, Paseo de la Princesa is a promenade connecting the lower walls of El Morro with the San Juan Gate ( Puerta de San Juan ), formerly known as the Water Gate ( Puerta de Agua ), and it offers panoramic views of the San Juan Bay and access to

16478-501: The major Spanish ports increased to deal with the enlarged presence of Spain's competitors in the Caribbean, but the treasure fleet's silver shipments and the number of Spanish-owned merchant ships operating in the region declined. Additional problems came from shortage of food supplies because of the lack of people to work farms. The number of European-born Spaniards in the New World or Spaniards of pure blood who had been born in New Spain, known as peninsulares and creoles , respectively, in

16632-465: The many English, Dutch and French traders who could violate the Spanish mercantilist laws with impunity. But the relative emptiness of the Caribbean also made it an inviting place for England, France and the Netherlands to set up colonies of their own, especially as gold and silver became less important as commodities to be seized and were replaced by tobacco and sugar as cash crops that could make men very rich. As Spain's military might in Europe weakened,

16786-432: The massive shipments of silver and gold to Western Europe; endless rounds of expensive wars in Europe; an aristocracy that disdained commercial opportunities; and an inefficient system of tolls and tariffs that hampered industry all contributed to Spain's decline during the 17th century. However, very profitable trade continued between Spain's colonies , which continued to expand until the early 19th century. Meanwhile, in

16940-437: The middle of the 17th century because of Spain's many woes. Freebooters and privateers, experienced after decades of European warfare, pillaged and plundered the almost defenseless Spanish settlements with ease and with little interference from the European governments back home who were too worried about their own problems to turn much attention to their New World colonies. The non-Spanish colonies were growing and expanding across

17094-532: The most important settlements of the Spanish West Indies . Each possessed a large population and a self-sustaining economy, and was well-protected by Spanish defenders. These Spanish settlements were generally unwilling to deal with traders from the other European states because of the strict enforcement of Spain's mercantilist laws pursued by the large Spanish garrisons. In these cities European manufactured goods could command premium prices for sale to

17248-492: The most popular areas do charge entrance fees. Fees vary site to site and are charged either on a per-vehicle or per-person basis, with most passes valid for 7 days. The America the Beautiful Pass series waives the per-vehicle fee or per-person fee for the holder and up to 3 other adults (children age 15 and younger are admitted for free at most sites). Annual passes for single areas are also available for those who visit

17402-524: The near-extinction of the English settlement of Jamestown in Virginia , new and stronger colonies were established by the English in the first half of the 17th century, at Plymouth , Boston , Barbados , the West Indian islands of Saint Kitts and Nevis and Providence Island . These colonies would all persevere to become centers of English civilization in the New World. For France, now ruled by

17556-457: The new capital of the territory of Dutch Brazil , renaming the city Mauritsstad. During this period, Mauritsstad became one of the most cosmopolitan cities of the world. Unlike the Portuguese, the Dutch did not prohibit Judaism. The first Jewish community and the first synagogue in the Americas – Kahal Zur Israel Synagogue – was founded with the help of Moses Cohen Henriques in the city. The Portuguese inhabitants fought on their own to expel

17710-403: The new courts and were, therefore, often sentenced to hang. Between 1716 and 1726 approximately 400 to 600 pirates were executed. Another major attitude change was the policy that if one's ship was attacked by pirates, then one must fight back and attempt to resist to the capture of their ship lest they receive six months imprisonment. With royal attitudes growing so harsh towards the pirates in

17864-671: The newly formed NPS. On March 3, 1933, President Herbert Hoover signed the Reorganization Act of 1933. The act gave the president the authority to transfer national monuments from one governmental department to another. Later that summer, new president Franklin D. Roosevelt made use of this power after NPS Deputy Director Horace M. Albright suggested that the NPS, rather than the War Department , should manage historic American Civil War sites. President Roosevelt agreed and issued two executive orders to implement

18018-616: The northwesternmost tip of the Islet of San Juan built onto a promontory ( morro in Spanish) which gives it its nickname of El Morro . Named after King Philip II of Spain , it was built at the site of a former smaller fortress between the 16th and 18th centuries to protect the entrance to the Bay of San Juan and to defend the city from maritime attacks. El Morro Esplanade is a large open area located between El Morro and Ballajá which serves as

18172-617: The original Leopold Report. The committee published their 23-page report in 2012, titled, "Revisiting Leopold: Resource Stewardship in the National Parks". The report recommended that parks leadership "manage for change while confronting uncertainty." "... New and emerging scientific disciplines — including conservation biology, global change science, and genomics — along with new technological tools like high-resolution remote sensing can provide significant information for constructing contemporary tactics for NPS stewardship. This knowledge

18326-433: The outside and, although it is administered by the National Park Service as part of the national historic site, its grounds together with the rest of the islet are part of the Isla de Cabras State Park (often referred to as Parque Nacional Isla de Cabras as state parks in Puerto Rico are called parques nacionales in Spanish). San Juan NHS Visitor Center , the main visitor center to the San Juan National Historic Site,

18480-400: The overall visits. The top 10 percent of parks (43) handle over 64 percent of all visits, leaving the remaining more than 380 units to accommodate around 36 percent of visits. (Note that only 380 sites recorded visitors during 2021 due to COVID-19-related closures). Most areas of the National Park System do not charge entrance fees and are completely supported by tax dollars, although some of

18634-543: The pirate threat in the West Indies. By the 1830s, ships had begun to convert to steam propulsion, so the Age of Sail and the classical idea of pirates in the Caribbean ended. Privateering, similar to piracy, continued as an asset in war for a few more decades and proved to be of some importance during the naval campaigns of the American Civil War . National Park Service The National Park Service ( NPS )

18788-533: The places entrusted to its management and with making them available for public use and enjoyment. Artist George Catlin , during an 1832 trip to the Dakotas, was perhaps the first to suggest the concept of a national park. Indian civilization, wildlife, and wilderness were all in danger, wrote Catlin, unless they could be preserved "by some great protecting policy of government   ... in a magnificent park   ... A nation's Park, containing man and beast, in all

18942-508: The precious cargo of gold and silver, in bullion or coin form. This made the returning Spanish treasure fleet a tempting target, although pirates were more likely to shadow the fleet to attack stragglers than to engage the well-armed main vessels. The classic route for the treasure fleet in the Caribbean was through the Lesser Antilles to the ports along the Spanish Main on the coast of Central America and New Spain, then northwards into

19096-424: The primary industry for the French colonies of the Caribbean. At the start of the 18th century, Europe remained riven by warfare and constant diplomatic intrigue. France was still the dominant power but now had to contend with a new rival, England ( Great Britain after 1707) which emerged as a great power at sea and land during the War of the Spanish Succession . But the depredations of the pirates and buccaneers in

19250-582: The reorganization. These two executive orders transferred to the NPS all of the War Department's historic sites as well as national monuments that the Department of Agriculture had managed and parks in and around Washington, D.C. that an independent federal office had previously operated. The popularity of the parks after the end of the World War II left them overburdened with demands that

19404-641: The revolutionary governments of Mexico, Colombia, and other newly independent Latin American countries. These privateers were rarely scrupulous about adhering to the terms of their letters of marque even during the Wars of Independence, and continued to plague the Caribbean as outright pirates long after those conflicts ended. About the time of the Mexican–American War in 1846, the United States Navy had grown strong and numerous enough to eliminate

19558-429: The same site often. Over 15 million visitors spent a night in one of the national park units during 2015. The largest number (3.68 million) were tent campers. The second largest group (3.38 million) stayed in one of the lodges, followed by miscellaneous stays (on boats, group sites—2.15 million). The last three groups of over-night visitors included RV campers (2.26 million), backcountry campers (2.02 million) and users of

19712-427: The shipping that plied the sealanes off the northern coast of Cuba . For the Dutch in the 17th century, the Caribbean island of Curaçao was the equivalent of England's port at Barbados. This large, rich, well-defended free port, open to the ships of all the European states, offered good prices for tobacco, sugar and cocoa that were re-exported to Europe and also sold large quantities of manufactured goods in return to

19866-629: The signing of the Treaty of Westphalia , England launched a trade war with the Dutch. The English Parliament passed the first of its own mercantilist Navigation Acts (1651) and the Staple Act (1663) that required that English colonial goods be carried only in English ships and legislated limits on trade between the English colonies and foreigners. These laws were aimed at ruining the Dutch merchants whose livelihoods depended on free trade. This trade war would lead to three outright Anglo-Dutch Wars over

20020-601: The site to include this historic district or, after its 2013 National Historic Landmark designation, for it to be listed as a new World Heritage Site by itself. Piracy in the Caribbean The era of piracy in the Caribbean began in the 1500s and phased out in the 1830s after the navies of the nations of Western Europe and North America with colonies in the Caribbean began hunting and prosecuting pirates. The period during which pirates were most successful

20174-601: The site under federal ownership. La Fortaleza , now known as Palacio de Santa Catalina , is the only fortification that is not administered by the National Park Service as it serves today as the official residence to the Governor of Puerto Rico (it is the oldest executive mansion in continuous use in the Western Hemisphere). It was listed in the National Register of Historic Places and designated

20328-460: The site was at risk by the end of the first half of the 20th century. A federal decree on February 14, 1949, established the historic site, and noted the need to protect the fortifications as monuments as well as preserve their historical and architectural value. The fortification system was further listed on the National Register of Historic Places on October 15, 1966. On December 6, 1983, the historic site and La Fortaleza were together designated

20482-425: The site. Big Cypress National Preserve and Big Thicket National Preserve were created in 1974 as the first national preserves. National reserves are similar to national preserves, but the operational authority can be placed with a state or local government. New Jersey Pinelands National Reserve was the first to be established in 1978. National historic sites protect a significant cultural resource that

20636-506: The sites of larger actions, such as Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park , Vicksburg National Military Park , Gettysburg National Military Park , and Shiloh National Military Park —the original four from 1890. Examples of battlefield parks , battlefield sites , and national battlefields include Richmond National Battlefield Park , Brices Cross Roads National Battlefield Site , and Antietam National Battlefield . National memorials are areas that officially memorialize

20790-455: The smaller Spanish colonies. Trinidad was the unofficial home port for Dutch traders and privateers in the New World early in the 17th century before they established their own colonies in the region in the 1620s and 1630s. As usual, Trinidad's ineffective Spanish governor was helpless to stop the Dutch from using his port and instead he usually accepted their lucrative bribes. The first third of

20944-568: The strains of the conflict, but it had some effect in the New World as well. The Spanish presence in the Caribbean began to decline at a faster rate, becoming more dependent on African slave labor. The Spanish military presence in the New World also declined as Madrid shifted more of its resources to the Old World in the Habsburgs' apocalyptic fight with almost every Protestant state in Europe. This need for Spanish resources in Europe accelerated

21098-551: The traditional privateering anchorages in the Bahamas and Florida, the Dutch West India Company settled a "factory" (commercial town) at New Amsterdam on the North American mainland in 1626 and at Curaçao in 1634, an island positioned right in the center of the Caribbean off the northern coast of Venezuela that was perfectly positioned to become a major maritime crossroads. The mid-17th century in

21252-612: The vast interior of New Spain as its window on the Caribbean. By the 17th century, the majority of the towns along the Spanish Main and in Central America had become self-sustaining. The smaller towns of the Main grew tobacco and also welcomed foreign smugglers who avoided the Spanish mercantilist laws. The underpopulated inland regions of Hispaniola and Venezuela were another area where tobacco smugglers in particular were welcome to ply their trade. The Spanish-ruled island of Trinidad

21406-482: The war led to a decline in wages and working conditions. At the same time, one of the terms of the Treaty of Utrecht that ended the war gave to Great Britain's South Sea Company a thirty-year asiento , or contract, to furnish African slaves to the Spanish colonies, providing British merchants and smugglers potential inroads into the traditionally closed Spanish markets in America and leading to an economic revival for

21560-516: The western coast of that island, forming the nucleus of the modern nation of Haiti . The decline of piracy in the Caribbean paralleled the decline of the use of mercenaries and the rise of national armies in Europe. Following the end of the Thirty Years' War the direct power of the state in Europe expanded. Armies were systematized and brought under direct state control; the Western European states' navies were expanded and their mission

21714-487: The whole region. This revived Caribbean trade provided rich new pickings for a new wave of piracy. Also contributing to the increase of Caribbean piracy at this time was Spain's breakup of the British logwood settlement at Campeche and the attractions of a freshly sunken Spanish treasure fleet carrying silver off the southern Bahamas in 1715. This last large resurgence of piracy saw a change in attitude of European colonial powers towards pirates. It had once been seen as

21868-451: The wild[ness] and freshness of their nature's beauty!" Yellowstone National Park was created as the first national park in the United States. In 1872, there was no state government to manage it (Wyoming was a U.S. territory at that time), so the federal government managed it directly through the army, including the famed African American Buffalo Soldier units. The movement for an independent agency to oversee these federal lands

22022-400: Was already a wide-open port open to the ships and seamen of every nation in the region at the start of the 17th century, and was a particular favorite for smugglers who dealt in tobacco and European manufactured goods. Local Caribbean smugglers sold their tobacco or sugar for decent prices and then bought manufactured goods from the trans-Atlantic traders in large quantities to be dispersed among

22176-420: Was created in 1937. Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore and Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore , created in 1966, were the first national lakeshores. National rivers and wild and scenic riverways protect free-flowing streams over their length. The riverways may not be altered with dams, channelization, or other changes. Recreational pursuits are encouraged along the waterways. Ozark National Scenic Riverways

22330-684: Was created in 1968 and consists of two major components: National scenic trails are long-distance trails through some of the most scenic parts of the country. They received official protection in 1968. The Appalachian Trail is the best known. National historic trails commemorate the routes of major historic events. Some of the best known are the Trail of Tears , the Mormon Trail , and the Santa Fe Trail . These trails are administered by several federal agencies. Wilderness areas are part of

22484-504: Was established in 1964. National recreation areas originally were units surrounding reservoirs impounded by dams built by other federal agencies, the first being Lake Mead National Recreation Area . Some national recreation areas are in urban centers, such as Gateway National Recreation Area and Golden Gate National Recreation Area , which encompass significant cultural as well as natural resources. The National Trails System preserves long-distance routes across America. The system

22638-487: Was extended to cover combating piracy. The elimination of piracy from European waters expanded to the Caribbean beginning as early as 1600 with the expansion of standing Royal Naval vessels in the Caribbean, numbering 124 by 1718. Other colonial powers soon followed suit and by the beginning of the nineteenth century, France, Spain, and the United States had all stationed ships in the Caribbean. Several European governments passed measures to attempt to combat piracy; in 1717,

22792-551: Was from the 1650s to the 1730s. Piracy flourished in the Caribbean because of the existence of pirate seaports such as Port Royal in Jamaica , Tortuga in Haiti , and Nassau in the Bahamas . Piracy in the Caribbean was part of a larger historical phenomenon of piracy , as it existed close to major trade and exploration routes in almost all the five oceans . Pirates were often former sailors experienced in naval warfare . In

22946-525: Was known as privateering . From 1520 to 1560, French privateers were alone in their fight against the Crown of Spain and the vast commerce of the Spanish Empire in the New World. The French privateers were not considered pirates in France as they were in the service of the king of France, they were considered combatants and granted a lettre de marque or lettre de course which legitimized any actions they took under

23100-504: Was largely made up of French Protestants who had settled there without Spain's permission to escape Catholic persecution back home. France cared little what happened to the troublesome Huguenots, but the colonization of western Hispaniola allowed the French to both rid themselves of their religious minority and strike a blow against Spain—an excellent bargain, from the French Crown's point of view. The ambitious Huguenots had also claimed

23254-401: Was spearheaded by business magnate and conservationist Stephen Mather . With the help of journalist Robert Sterling Yard , Mather ran a publicity campaign for the Department of the Interior . They wrote numerous articles that praised the scenic and historic qualities of the parks and their possibilities for educational, inspirational, and recreational benefits. This campaign resulted in

23408-404: Was the French who had established the first non-Spanish settlement in the Caribbean when they had founded Fort Caroline near what is now Jacksonville, Florida in 1564, although the settlement was soon wiped out by a Spanish attack from the larger colony of Saint Augustine . As the Treaty of Tordesillas had proven unenforceable, a new concept of " lines of amity ", with the northern bound being

23562-561: Was the first in 1906. While the National Park Service holds the most national monuments, a monument may be managed or co-managed by a different entity such as the Bureau of Land Management or the Forest Service . National preserves are for the protection of certain resources and operate similar to many National Parks, but allow limited resource extraction. Activities like hunting, fishing, and some mining may be allowed depending on

23716-560: Was to transport the year's worth of silver to Europe. The first stage in the journey was the transport of all that silver from the mines in Bolivia and New Spain in a mule convoy called the Silver Train to a major Spanish port, usually on the Isthmus of Panama or Veracruz in New Spain. The flota would meet up with the Silver Train, offload its cargo of manufactured goods to waiting colonial merchants and then load its holds with

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