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183-664: The Spanish colonization of the Americas began in 1493 on the Caribbean island of Hispaniola (now Haiti and the Dominican Republic) after the initial 1492 voyage of Genoese mariner Christopher Columbus under license from Queen Isabella I of Castile . These overseas territories of the Spanish Empire were under the jurisdiction of Crown of Castile until the last territory was lost in 1898 . Spaniards saw

366-400: A factor , who guarded weapons and supplies belonging to the king, and disposed of tribute collected in the province; and a veedor (overseer), who was responsible for contacts with native inhabitants of the province, and collected the king's share of any war booty. The veedor , or overseer, position quickly disappeared in most jurisdictions, subsumed into the position of factor . Depending on

549-527: A French fleet sailing towards Haiti forced General Christophe to withdraw from the east, leaving it in French hands. In 1808, a second revolution against France broke out on the island. Following Napoleon's invasion of Spain, the criollos of Santo Domingo revolted against French rule and, with the aid of the United Kingdom, returned Santo Domingo to Spanish control. France would never regain control of

732-588: A center of the shrimp industries, and also became a center for the cultivation of the “fresón de Palos” (Palos-grown garden strawberries ), which are now exported to the European Union . On June 22, 1926, the first hydroplane to cross the Atlantic, the Plus Ultra flying boat , took off from Palos. The journey, done in six stages, ended at Buenos Aires , Argentina . Alfonso XIII of Spain gave

915-477: A charter was passed in 1501, allowing the import of African slaves by Ferdinand and Isabel. The Spanish believed Africans would be more capable of performing physical labor. From 1519 to 1533, the indigenous uprising known as Enriquillo 's Revolt, after the Taíno cacique who led them, ensued, resulting from escaped African slaves on the island ( maroons ) possibly working with the Taíno people. Precious metals played

1098-461: A commercial firm. Upon the success of the expedition, the spoils of war were divvied up in proportion to the amount a participant initially staked, with the leader receiving the largest share. Participants supplied their own armor and weapons, and those who had a horse received two shares, one for himself, the second recognizing the value of the horse as a machine of war. For the conquest era, the names of two Spaniards are popularly known because they led

1281-714: A complex, hierarchical bureaucracy, which in many ways was decentralized. The crown asserted is authority and sovereignty of the territory and vassals it claimed, collected taxes, maintained public order, meted out justice, and established policies for governance of large indigenous populations. Many institutions established in Castile found expression in The Indies from the early colonial period. Spanish universities expanded to train lawyer-bureaucrats ( letrados ) for administrative positions in Spain and its overseas empire. The end of

1464-492: A crude fort built on his first voyage in 1492, had been abandoned by the time he returned in 1493. He then founded the settlement of La Isabela on the island they named Hispaniola (now divided into Haiti and the Dominican Republic ). Spanish explorations of other islands in the Caribbean and what turned out to be the mainland of South and Central America occupied them for over two decades. Columbus had promised

1647-487: A devastating impact on both mortality and fertility of the Taíno population over the first quarter century. Colonial administrators and Dominican and Hieronymite friars observed that the search for gold and agrarian enslavement through the encomienda system were deciminating the indigenous population. Demographic data from two provinces in 1514 shows a low birth rate, consistent with a 3.5% annual population decline. In 1503, Spaniards began to bring enslaved Africans after

1830-450: A different structure with larger rectangular walls and a porch. The Taíno village also had a flat court used for ball games and festivals. Religiously, the Taíno people were polytheists, and their gods were called Zemí. Religious worship and dancing were common, and medicine men or priests also consulted the Zemí for advice in public ceremonies. For food, the Taíno relied on meat and fish as

2013-492: A division of the world between them in the 1494 Treaty of Tordesillas . The deeply pious Isabella saw the expansion of Spain's sovereignty inextricably paired with the evangelization of non-Christian peoples, the so-called "spiritual conquest" with the military conquest. Pope Alexander VI in a 4 May 1493 papal decree, Inter caetera , divided rights to lands in the Western Hemisphere between Spain and Portugal on

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2196-471: A half following Columbus's voyages, primarily through the spread of infectious diseases . Practices of forced labor and slavery for resource extraction, and forced resettlement in new villages and later missions were implemented. Alarmed by the precipitous fall in indigenous populations and reports of settlers' exploitation of their labor, the crown put in place laws to protect their newly converted indigenous vassals. Europeans imported enslaved Africans to

2379-522: A high payment for compensation to slaveholders who lost their property, and Haiti was saddled with unmanageable debt for decades. By this point, both states were united under Haitian control. However, suppression of the Dominican culture would lead to the Dominican War of Independence and the establishment of the Dominican Republic in 1844. (This is one of the reasons for the tensions between

2562-470: A labor force. Spaniards continued to expand their presence in the circum-Caribbean region with expeditions. One was by Francisco Hernández de Córdoba in 1517, another by Juan de Grijalva in 1518, which brought promising news of possibilities there. Even by the mid-1510s, the western Caribbean was largely unexplored by Spaniards. A well-connected settler in Cuba, Hernán Cortés received authorization in 1519 by

2745-633: A large role in the history of the island after Columbus's arrival. One of the first inhabitants Columbus came across on this island was "a girl wearing only a gold nose plug". Soon the Taínos were trading pieces of gold for hawk's bells with their cacique declaring the gold came from Cibao . Traveling further east from Navidad, Columbus came across the Yaque del Norte River , which he named Río de Oro (River of Gold) because its "sands abound in gold dust". On Columbus's return during his second voyage, he learned it

2928-639: A largely hunter-gatherer lifestyle. During the 1st millennium BC , the Arawakan-speaking ancestors of the Taino people began to migrate into the Caribbean. Unlike the Archaic peoples, they practiced the intensive production of pottery and agriculture. The earliest evidence of the ancestors of the Taino people on Hispaniola is the Ostionoid culture, which dates to around 600 AD. The Taino represented

3111-639: A long campaign that took decades of fighting to subdue the mightiest empire in the Americas. In the following years, Spain extended its rule over the Empire of the Inca civilization . The Spanish took advantage of a recent civil war between the factions of the two brothers Emperor Atahualpa and Huáscar , and the enmity of indigenous nations the Incas had subjugated, such as the Huanca , Chachapoyas , and Cañaris . In

3294-520: A new colonial elite. The first major slave revolt in the Americas occurred in Santo Domingo during 1521, when enslaved Muslims of the Wolof nation led an uprising in the sugar plantation of admiral Don Diego Colon , son of Christopher Columbus . Many of these insurgents managed to escape where they formed independent maroon communities in the south of the island. Beginning in the 1520s,

3477-456: A phase of inland expeditions and conquest. In 1500 the city of Nueva Cádiz was founded on the island of Cubagua , Venezuela, followed by the founding of Santa Cruz by Alonso de Ojeda in the present-day Guajira Peninsula . Cumaná in Venezuela was the first permanent settlement founded by Europeans in the mainland Americas, in 1501 by Franciscan friars , but due to successful attacks by

3660-468: A port city so that inland settlements could be connected by sea to Spain. In Mexico, Hernán Cortés and the men of his expedition founded of the port town of Veracruz in 1519 and constituted themselves as the town councilors, as a means to throw off the authority of the governor of Cuba, who did not authorize an expedition of conquest. Once the Aztec Empire was toppled, they founded Mexico City on

3843-493: A primary source for protein. On the island they hunted small mammals, but also snakes, worms, and birds. In lakes and in the sea they were able to catch ducks and turtles. The Taíno also relied on agriculture as a primary food source. The indigenous people of Hispaniola raised crops in a conuco, which is a large mound packed with leaves and fixed crops to prevent erosion. Some common agricultural goods were cassava , maize, squash, beans, peppers, peanuts, cotton, and tobacco, which

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4026-519: A settlement in St. Augustine, Florida , lasting in one way or another until modern times. Permanent Spanish settlements were founded in New Mexico , starting in 1598, with Santa Fe founded in 1610. The spectacular conquests of central Mexico (1519–1521) and Peru (1532) sparked Spaniards' hopes of finding yet another high civilization. Expeditions continued into the 1540s and regional capitals founded by

4209-485: A source in Huancavelica (founded 1572), while Mexico had to rely on mercury imported from Spain. The Spanish founded towns in the Caribbean, on Hispaniola and Cuba, on a pattern that became spatially similar throughout Spanish America. A central plaza had the most important buildings on the four sides, especially buildings for royal officials and the main church. A checkerboard pattern radiated outward. Residences of

4392-463: A source of their own wealth, disappearing before their eyes. In the first settlements in the Caribbean, the Spaniards deliberately brought animals and plants that transformed the ecological landscape. Pigs, cattle, sheep, goats, and chickens allowed Spaniards to eat a diet with which they were familiar. But the importation of horses transformed warfare for both the Spaniards and the indigenous. Where

4575-528: A stark decrease from the country's 60% forest cover in 1925. The country has been significantly deforested over the last 50 years, resulting in the desertification of many portions of Haitian territory. Haiti's poor citizens use cooking fires often, and this is a major culprit behind the nation's loss of trees. Haitians use trees as fuel either by burning the wood directly, or by first turning it into charcoal in ovens. Seventy-one percent of all fuel consumed in Haiti

4758-497: A time when European demand for sugar was high. Slavery kept costs low and profit was maximized. It was an important port in the Americas for goods and products flowing to and from France and Europe. European colonists often died young due to tropical fevers, as well as from violent slave resistance in the late eighteenth century. In 1791, during the French Revolution , a major slave revolt broke out on Saint-Domingue. When

4941-541: Is Lope de Aguirre , who led a mutiny against Ursúa, who was murdered. Aguirre subsequently wrote a letter to Philip II bitterly complaining about the treatment of conquerors like himself in the wake of the assertion of crown control over Peru. An earlier expedition that left in 1527 was led by Pánfilo Naváez , who was killed early on. Survivors continued to travel among indigenous groups in the North American south and southwest until 1536. Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca

5124-672: Is a Hispanophone nation of approximately 11.3 million people. Spanish is spoken by essentially all Dominicans as a primary language. Roman Catholicism is the official and dominant religion and some Evangelicalism and Protestant churches and The Church of Jesus Christ and minority religions such as African religions, Afro-American religions, African diaspora religions , Haitian Vodou , Dominican Vodou , Dominican Santeria , Congos Del Espiritu Santo , Dominican Protestants , Pentecostals , Judaism , Islam and Baháʼí Faith , Hinduism , Buddhism , Unitarian Universalism , Jehovah's Witnesses , Pentecostalism and others also exist. Haiti

5307-421: Is a Creole-speaking nation of roughly 11.7 million people. Although French is spoken as a primary language by the educated and wealthy minority, virtually the entire population speaks Haitian Creole , one of several French-derived creole languages. Roman Catholicism is the dominant religion , practiced by more than half the population, although in some cases in combination with Haitian Vodou faith. Another 25% of

5490-483: Is a quarter moon, when it rains one or two days, all the other days have such a beautiful sunshine... Chile was explored by Spaniards based in Peru, where Spaniards found the fertile soil and mild climate attractive. The Mapuche people of Chile, whom the Spaniards called Araucanians , resisted fiercely. The Spanish did establish the settlement of Chile in 1541, founded by Pedro de Valdivia . Southward colonization by

5673-419: Is estimated that during the period 1492–1832, a total of 1.86 million Spaniards settled in the Americas, and a further 3.5 million immigrated during the post-independence era (1850–1950); the estimate is 250,000 in the 16th century and most during the 18th century, as immigration was encouraged by the new Bourbon dynasty . The indigenous population plummeted by an estimated 80% in the first century and

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5856-403: Is generally little rainfall outside hurricane season from August to October, and droughts are by no means uncommon when hurricanes do not come. On the northern coast, in contrast, rainfall may peak between December and February, though some rain falls in all months of the year. Annual amounts typically range from 1,700 to 2,000 millimetres (67 to 79 in) on the northern coastal lowlands; there

6039-518: Is much greater, around 3,100 millimetres (120 in) per year, but with a similar pattern to that observed in the central lowlands. The variations of temperature depend on altitude and are much less marked than rainfall variations in the island. Lowland Hispaniola is generally more hot and humid, with temperatures averaging 28 °C (82 °F). with high humidity during the daytime, and around 20 °C (68 °F) at night. At higher altitudes, temperatures fall steadily, so that frosts occur during

6222-481: Is no compelling evidence for an outbreak. The natives had no acquired immunity to European diseases, including smallpox . By May 1519, as many as one-third of the remaining Taínos had died. In the century following the Spanish arrival on Hispaniola, the Taíno population fell by up to 95% of the population, out of a pre-contact population estimated from tens of thousands to 8,000,000. Many authors have described

6405-464: Is now New Mexico. Like previous conquistadors, Oñate engaged in widespread abuses of the Indian population. Shortly after founding Santa Fe , Oñate was recalled to Mexico City by the Spanish authorities. He was subsequently tried and convicted of cruelty to both natives and colonists and banished from New Mexico for life. Two major factors affected the density of Spanish settlement in the long term. One

6588-489: Is probably much more in the Cordillera Septentrional , though no data exist. The interior of Hispaniola, along with the southeastern coast centered around Santo Domingo, typically receives around 1,400 millimetres (55 in) per year, with a distinct season from May to October. Usually, this wet season has two peaks: one around May, the other around the hurricane season. In the interior highlands, rainfall

6771-416: Is still heated debate over the population of Taíno people on the island of Hispaniola in 1492, but estimates range from no more than a few tens of thousands, according to a 2020 genetic analysis, to upwards of 750,000. A Taíno home consisted of a circular building with woven straw and palm leaves as covering. Most individuals slept in fashioned hammocks, but grass beds were also used. The cacique lived in

6954-765: Is under the sovereignty of the Dominican Republic occupying the eastern portion and 27,750 square kilometers (10,710 sq mi) under the sovereignty of Haiti occupying the western portion. The island of Cuba lies 80 kilometers (50 mi) to the west across the Windward Passage; to the southwest lie Jamaica , separated by the Jamaica Channel , the Cayman Islands and Navassa Island ; 190 km (120 mi) . Puerto Rico lies 130 km (81 mi) east of Hispaniola across

7137-427: Is wood or charcoal. Haiti's government began establishing protected areas across the country in 1968. These 26 areas today represent nearly 7 per cent of the country's land and 1.5 per cent of its waters. In the Dominican Republic, the forest cover has increased. In 2003, the Dominican Republic's forest cover had been reduced to 32% of its land area, but by 2011, forest cover had increased to nearly 40%. The success of

7320-555: The Casa de Contratación (House of Trade) in Seville. Ships and cargoes were registered, and emigrants vetted to prevent migration of anyone not of Old Christian heritage, (i.e., with no Jewish or Muslim ancestry), and facilitated the migration of families and women. In addition, the Casa de Contratación took charge of the fiscal organization, and of the organization and judicial control of

7503-402: The adelantado was a senior with material wealth and standing who could persuade the crown to issue him a license for an expedition. He also had to attract participants to the expedition who staked their own lives and meager fortunes on the expectation of the expedition's success. The leader of the expedition pledged the larger share of capital to the enterprise, which in many ways functioned as

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7686-553: The Audiencia of Bogotá , and comprised an area corresponding mainly to modern-day Colombia and parts of Venezuela . The conquistadors originally organized it as a captaincy general within the Viceroyalty of Peru . The crown established the audiencia in 1549. Ultimately, the kingdom became part of the Viceroyalty of New Granada first in 1717 and permanently in 1739. After several attempts to set up independent states in

7869-541: The Caribbean Sea was raided by increasingly numerous French pirates. In 1541, Spain authorized the construction of Santo Domingo's fortified wall, and in 1560 decided to restrict sea travel to enormous, well-armed convoys. In another move, which would destroy Hispaniola's sugar industry, in 1561 Havana , more strategically located in relation to the Gulf Stream , was selected as the designated stopping point for

8052-477: The French Republic abolished slavery in the colonies on February 4, 1794, it was a European first. The ex-slave army joined forces with France in its war against its European neighbors. In the second 1795 Treaty of Basel (July 22), Spain ceded the eastern two-thirds of the island of Hispaniola, later to become the Dominican Republic. French settlers had begun to colonize some areas in the Spanish side of

8235-791: The Greater Antilles of the Caribbean . Hispaniola is the most populous island in the West Indies , and the second-largest by land area , after Cuba . The 76,192-square-kilometre (29,418 sq mi) island is divided into two separate sovereign countries: the Spanish-speaking Dominican Republic (48,445 km (18,705 sq mi) to the east and the French and Haitian Creole –speaking Haiti (27,750 km (10,710 sq mi) to

8418-514: The Mona Passage . The Bahamas and Turks and Caicos Islands lie to the north. Its westernmost point is known as Cap Carcasse. Cuba, Cayman Islands, Navassa Island, Hispaniola, Jamaica, and Puerto Rico are collectively known as the Greater Antilles . Hispaniola is also a part of the Antilles and the West Indies . The island has five major ranges of mountains: The Central Range, known in

8601-763: The Philippines , which were all lost to the United States in 1898, following the Spanish–American War , ending its rule in the Americas. The expansion of Spain's territory took place under the Catholic Monarchs Isabella I of Castile and her husband Ferdinand II of Aragon , whose marriage marked the beginning of Spanish power beyond the Iberian Peninsula . They pursued a policy of joint rule of their kingdoms and created

8784-491: The Spanish Empire , serving as a headquarters for the further colonial expansion into the Americas . The colony was a meeting point of European explorers, soldiers, and settlers who brought with them the culture, architecture, laws, and traditions of the Old World . Spaniards imposed a harsh regime of forced labor and enslavement of the Taínos, as well as redirection of their food production and labor to Spaniards. This had

8967-462: The University of West Florida has confirmed the presence of Luna's expedition, which included 1,500 people and lasted from 1559 to 1561. The artifacts discovered at the site provide a direct link to Spain's early efforts to colonize the northern Gulf Coast. In the fall of 1528, Spanish explorer Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca landed on present day Follet's Island, Texas . In 1565, Spain established

9150-531: The Virgin of Miracles ( Virgen de los Milagros ). There is a station in the Madrid Metro named after this town. In 1850 the small town of Trenton, Illinois , located southwest of Chicago , changed its name to Palos . This recommendation was made by M. S. Powell, the local postmaster , whose ancestor Pedro Alonso Niño sailed with Christopher Columbus from Palos de la Frontera. When it incorporated as

9333-645: The War of the Castilian Succession , which became a war between Castile and Portugal , to challenge Portuguese domination of the Atlantic trade. Castilian naval forces always included natives of Palos, who were considered navigational experts: ...because only the men of Palos know the ancient sea of Guinea, and were used to fighting the Portuguese from the outset of the war, and to snatch from them

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9516-699: The conquest of the Incan Empire , which used similar tactics and began in 1532, was the conquest of the Aztecs matched in scale of either territory or treasure. In 1532 at the Battle of Cajamarca a group of Spaniards under Francisco Pizarro and their indigenous Andean Indian auxiliaries native allies ambushed and captured the Emperor Atahualpa of the Inca Empire . It was the first step in

9699-518: The indigenous peoples of the Americas , "Indians" ( indios ), lumping a multiplicity of civilizations, groups, and individuals into a single category. The Spanish royal government called its overseas possessions "The Indies" until its empire dissolved in the nineteenth century. In the Caribbean, because there was no integrated indigenous civilization such as found in Mexico and Peru, there was no large-scale Spanish conquest of indigenous peoples, but there

9882-522: The rain shadow of the mountains in the southern and western portion of the island, and in the Cibao valley in the center-north of the island. The Hispaniolan pine forests occupy the mountainous 15% of the island, above 850 metres (2,790 ft) elevation. The flooded grasslands and savannas ecoregion in the south central region of the island surrounds a chain of lakes and lagoons, the most notable of which are Etang Saumatre and Trou Caïman in Haiti and

10065-490: The 1535–36 settlement failed and was abandoned by 1541. Pedro de Mendoza and Domingo Martínez de Irala , who led the original expedition, went inland and founded Asunción, Paraguay , which became the Spaniards' base. A second (and permanent) settlement was established in 1580 by Juan de Garay , who arrived by sailing down the Paraná River from Asunción , now the capital of Paraguay . Exploration from Peru resulted in

10248-425: The 1550s. Among the most notable expeditions are Hernando de Soto into southeast North America, leaving from Cuba (1539–1542); Francisco Vázquez de Coronado to northern Mexico (1540–1542), and Gonzalo Pizarro to Amazonia, leaving from Quito, Ecuador (1541–1542). In 1561, Pedro de Ursúa led an expedition of some 370 Spanish (including women and children) into Amazonia to search for El Dorado. Far more famous now

10431-438: The 1810s, the kingdom and the viceroyalty ceased to exist altogether in 1819 with the establishment of Gran Colombia . Venezuela was first visited by Europeans during the 1490s, when Columbus was in control of the region, and the region as a source for indigenous slaves for Spaniards in Cuba and Hispaniola, since the Spanish destruction of the local indigenous population. There were few permanent settlements, but Spaniards settled

10614-592: The Andes to the east, Pacific Ocean to the west, and indigenous to the south. Between 1537 and 1543, six Spanish expeditions entered highland Colombia, conquered the Muisca Confederation , and set up the New Kingdom of Granada (Spanish: Nuevo Reino de Granada ). Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada was the leading conquistador with his brother Hernán second in command. It was governed by the president of

10797-584: The Argentine pampas. The introduction of sheep production was an ecological disaster in places where they were raised in great numbers, since they ate vegetation to the ground, preventing the regeneration of plants. The Spanish brought new crops for cultivation. (See Mission Garden for specific foods.) They preferred wheat cultivation to indigenous sources of carbohydrates: casava, maize (corn), and potatoes, initially importing seeds from Europe and planting in areas where plow agriculture could be utilized, such as

10980-829: The Atlantic. On August 3, 1492, the Pinta , Niña , and Santa María sailed from Palos. On board were the Spanish crew of Christopher Columbus and the Pinzón Brothers , who were natives of Palos. Palos is also the site of the Rábida Monastery where Columbus consulted with the Franciscans about his plans for organizing an expedition of discovery. The three Spanish ships landed in America on October 12, 1492. The Santa María foundered in American waters, but

11163-569: The Aztec Empire and the Spanish conquest of Peru , more stringent laws to control conquerors' and settlers' exercise of power, especially their maltreatment of the indigenous populations, were promulgated, known as the New Laws (1542). The crown aimed to prevent the formation of an aristocracy in the Indies not under crown control. Queen Isabel was the first monarch that laid the first stone for

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11346-467: The Aztec emperor Moctezuma II , by Cortés was not a brilliant stroke of innovation, but came from the playbook that the Spanish developed during their period in the Caribbean. The composition of the expedition was the standard pattern, with a senior leader, and participating men investing in the enterprise with the full expectation of rewards if they did not lose their lives. Cortés's seeking indigenous allies

11529-453: The Caribs. Christopher Columbus first landed at Hispaniola on December 6, 1492, at a small bay he named San Nicolas, now called Môle-Saint-Nicolas on the north coast of present-day Haiti. He was welcomed in a friendly fashion by the indigenous people known as the Taíno. Trading with the natives yielded more gold than they had come across previously on the other Caribbean islands and Columbus

11712-540: The Chichimeca demanded. "Peace by purchase" ended the conflict. In southern Chile and the pampas, the Araucanians (Mapuche) prevented further Spanish expansion. The image of mounted Araucanians capturing and carrying off white women was the embodiment of Spanish ideas of civilization and barbarism. Cattle multiplied quickly in areas where little else could turn a profit for Spaniards, including northern Mexico and

11895-400: The Columbus voyages, which were funded by the crown of Castile, were done at the expense of the leader of the expedition and its participants. Although often the participants, conquistadors , are now termed "soldiers", they were not paid soldiers in ranks of an army, but rather soldiers of fortune , who joined an expedition with the expectation of profiting from it. The leader of an expedition,

12078-402: The Comanche in the northern Great Plains and the Mapuche in southern Chile and the pampas of Argentina resisted Spanish conquest. For Spaniards, the fierce Chichimecas barred them for exploiting mining resources in northern Mexico. Spaniards waged a fifty-year war (ca. 1550–1600) to subdue them, but peace was only achieved by Spaniards' making significant donations of food and other commodities

12261-401: The Dominican Republic (Hispaniola), have become important. Dominican friar Antonio de Montesinos denounced Spanish cruelty and abuse in a sermon in 1511, which comes down to us in the writings of Dominican friar Bartolomé de las Casas . In 1542 Dominican friar Bartolomé de Las Casas wrote a damning account of this demographic catastrophe, A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies . It

12444-413: The Dominican Republic as the Cordillera Central , spans the central part of the island, extending from the south coast of the Dominican Republic into northwestern Haiti, where it is known as the Massif du Nord. This mountain range boasts the highest peak in the Antilles, Pico Duarte at 3,101 meters (10,174 ft) above sea level . The Cordillera Septentrional runs parallel to the Central Range across

12627-399: The Dominican Republic. The island has four distinct ecoregions . The Hispaniolan moist forests ecoregion covers approximately 50% of the island, especially the northern and eastern portions, predominantly in the lowlands but extending up to 2,100 meters (6,900 ft) elevation. The Hispaniolan dry forests ecoregion occupies approximately 20% of the island, lying in the rain shadow of

12810-474: The Dominican forest growth is due to several Dominican government policies and private organizations for the purpose of reforesting, and a strong educational campaign that has resulted in increased awareness by the Dominican people of the importance of forests for their welfare and other forms of life on the island. Hispaniola is the most populous Caribbean island with a combined population of 23 million inhabitants as of July 2023 . The Dominican Republic

12993-410: The Dutch Republic, took possession of territories initially claimed by Spain. Although the overseas territories under the jurisdiction of the Spanish crown are now commonly called "colonies" the term was not used until the second half of 18th century. The process of Spanish settlement, now called "colonization" and the "colonial era" are terms contested by scholars of Latin America and more generally. It

13176-565: The Fort of Santo Tomás, present day Jánico , leaving Captain Pedro Margarit in command of 56 men. On 24 March 1495, Columbus with his ally Guacanagarix , embarked on a war of revenge against Caonabo, capturing him and his family while "killing many Indians and capturing others." Afterwards, "every person of fourteen years of age or upward was to pay a large hawk's bell of gold dust", every three months, as "the Spaniards were sure there

13359-541: The German Welser and Fugger banking families. To satisfy his debts to the Welsers, he granted them the right to colonize and exploit western Venezuela, with the proviso that they found two towns with 300 settlers each and construct fortifications. They established the colony of Klein-Venedig in 1528. They founded the towns of Coro and Maracaibo . They were aggressive in making their investment pay, alienating

13542-549: The Habsburg dynasty in 1700 saw major administrative reforms in the eighteenth century under the Bourbon monarchy, starting with the first Spanish Bourbon monarch, Philip V (r. 1700–1746) and reaching its apogee under Charles III (r. 1759–1788). The reorganization of administration has been called "a revolution in government." Reforms sought to centralize government control through reorganization of administration, reinvigorate

13725-606: The Italian Peter Martyr d'Anghiera , and the Spaniards Bartolomé de las Casas and Gonzalo Fernández de Oviedo . Based on a comprehensive survey and map prepared by Andrés de Morales in 1508, Martyr reported that the island as a whole was called Quizquella (or Quisqueya ) and Ayiti referred to a rugged mountainous region on the western end of the island. Diego Álvarez Chanca , a physician on Columbus's second voyage, also noted that “Ayiti” or Haïti

13908-504: The Mexican Bajío . They also imported cane sugar, which was a high-value crop in early Spanish America. Spaniards also imported citrus trees, establishing orchards of oranges, lemons, limes, and grapefruit. Other imports were figs, apricots, cherries, pears, and peaches among others. The exchange did not go one way. Important indigenous crops that transformed Europe were the potato and maize , which produced abundant crops that led to

14091-639: The Plus Ultra to the Argentine Navy , in which it served as a postal service airplane; the Argentines donated to Spain a statue of Icarus , which is situated at La Rábida. Alfonso XIII also granted to Palos the status as a city during this time. John Paul II visited Palos on June 14, 1993, the only time a pope has visited the city. John Paul symbolically crowned the Palos's patron saint ,

14274-522: The Royal services to suppress their former buccaneer allies. In the 1697 Treaty of Ryswick , Spain formally ceded the western third of the island to France. Saint-Domingue quickly came to overshadow the east in both wealth and population. Nicknamed the "Pearl of the Antilles", it became the most prosperous colony in the West Indies , with a system of human slavery used to grow and harvest sugar cane during

14457-514: The Seven Cities in 1599–1604. This Mapuche victory laid the foundation for the establishment of a Spanish-Mapuche frontier called La Frontera . Within this frontier the city of Concepción assumed the role of "military capital" of Spanish-ruled Chile. With a hostile indigenous population, no obvious mineral or other exploitable resources, and little strategic value, Chile was a fringe area of colonial Spanish America, hemmed in geographically by

14640-403: The Spaniards had exclusive access to horses in warfare, they had an advantage over indigenous warriors on foot. They were initially a scarce commodity, but horse breeding became an active industry. Horses that escaped Spanish control were captured by indigenous; many indigenous also raided for horses. Mounted indigenous warriors were significant foes for Spaniards. The Chichimeca in northern Mexico,

14823-520: The Spanish re-captured Tortuga for the last time . In 1655 the island of Tortuga was reoccupied by the English and French. In 1660 the English appointed a Frenchman as Governor who proclaimed the King of France, set up French colours, and defeated several English attempts to reclaim the island. In 1665, French colonization of the island was officially recognized by King Louis XIV . The French colony

15006-503: The Spanish empire had a royal treasury controlled by a set of oficiales reales (royal officials). There were also sub-treasuries at important ports and mining districts. The officials of the royal treasury at each level of government typically included two to four positions: a tesorero (treasurer), the senior official who guarded money on hand and made payments; a contador (accountant or comptroller ), who recorded income and payments, maintained records, and interpreted royal instructions;

15189-633: The Spanish in Chile halted after the conquest of Chiloé Archipelago in 1567. This is thought to have been the result of an increasingly harsh climate to the south, and the lack of a populous and sedentary indigenous population to settle among for the Spanish in the fjords and channels of Patagonia . South of the Bío-Bío River the Mapuche successfully reversed colonization with the Destruction of

15372-463: The Spanish, to extract mineral wealth or produce another valuable commodity for Spanish enrichment. The labor of dense populations of Taínos were allocated as grants to Spanish settlers in an institution known as the encomienda , where particular indigenous settlements were awarded to individual Spaniards. There was surface gold found in early islands, and holders of encomiendas put the indigenous to work panning for it. For all practical purposes, this

15555-515: The alliance of the Nahua city-state of Tlaxcala against the Aztec Empire resulting in lasting benefits to themselves and their descendants. Patterns of the first Spanish settlements in the Caribbean were to endure there and had a lasting impact on the Spanish Empire. Until his dying day, Columbus was convinced that he had reached Asia, the Indies. From that misperception the Spanish called

15738-419: The area's geographic protection against pirates and storms. Álvar Pérez is considered the city's real founder. He was only fourteen when Juan I of Castile granted him the towns of Palos and Villalba del Alcor in 1379 to make up for the fact that Pérez de Guzmán was forced to give up Huelva and Gibraleón , which had become part of the county of Medinaceli . Álvar Pérez de Guzmán received from Juan I

15921-399: The behavior of Spanish settlers in the Americas, particularly with regards to treatment of native Indians in the institution of the encomienda . They forbade the maltreatment of natives, and endorsed the forced resettlement of indigenous populations with attempts of conversion to Catholicism. Upon their failure to effectively protect the indigenous and following the Spanish conquest of

16104-507: The coastal islands of Cubagua and Margarita to exploit the pearl beds. Western Venezuela's history took an atypical direction in 1528, when Spain's first Hapsburg monarch, Charles I granted rights to colonize to the German banking family of the Welsers . Charles sought to be elected Holy Roman Emperor and was willing to pay whatever it took to achieve that. He became deeply indebted to

16287-459: The colonial economy. In Peru, silver was found in a single silver mountain, the Cerro Rico de Potosí , which is still producing silver in the 21st century. Potosí (founded 1545) was in the zone of dense indigenous settlement, so that labor could be mobilized on traditional patterns to extract the ore. An important element for productive mining was mercury for processing high-grade ore. Peru had

16470-408: The conditions in a jurisdiction, the position of factor/veedor was often eliminated, as well. The treasury officials were appointed by the king, and were largely independent of the authority of the viceroy, audiencia president or governor. On the death, unauthorized absence, retirement or removal of a governor, the treasury officials would jointly govern the province until a new governor appointed by

16653-422: The conquest of central Mexico include accounts by the expedition leader Hernán Cortés, Bernal Díaz del Castillo and other Spanish conquistadors, indigenous allies from the city-states altepetl of Tlaxcala, Texcoco , and Huexotzinco. In addition, indigenous accounts were written by the defeated from the Aztec capital, Tenochtitlan , a case of history being written by those other than the victors. The capture of

16836-511: The conquests of two indigenous empires, Hernán Cortés , leader of the expedition involved in the conquest of the Aztec Empire , and Francisco Pizarro , leader of the conquest of the Inca in Peru. Spanish conquerors took advantage of indigenous rivalries to forge alliances with groups seeing an advantage for their own goals. This is most clearly seen in the conquest of the Aztec Empire with

17019-526: The conventional sense but were the rulers of a confederation of dozens of city-states and other polities; the status of each varied from harshly subjugated to closely allied. The Spaniards persuaded the leaders of Aztec vassals and Tlaxcala (a city-state never conquered by the Aztecs), to ally with them against the Aztecs. Through such methods, the Spaniards came to accumulate a massive force of thousands, perhaps tens of thousands of indigenous warriors. Records of

17202-453: The crown that the region he now controlled held a huge treasure in the form of gold and spices. Spanish settlers initially found relatively dense populations of indigenous peoples, who were agriculturalists living in villages ruled by leaders not part of a larger integrated political system. The Spanish saw these populations as a source of labor, there for their exploitation, to supply their own settlements with foodstuffs, but more importantly for

17385-402: The crown's position, and the expansion of Christianity to the exclusion of other religious traditions. In the extension of Spanish sovereignty to its overseas territories, authority for expeditions ( entradas ) of discovery, conquest, and settlement resided in the monarchy. Expeditions required authorization by the crown, which laid out the terms of such expedition. Virtually all expeditions after

17568-474: The dense populations of indigenous peoples as an important economic resource and the territory claimed as potentially producing great wealth for individual Spaniards and the crown. Religion played an important role in the Spanish conquest and incorporation of indigenous peoples, bringing them into the Catholic Church peacefully or by force. The crown created civil and religious structures to administer

17751-462: The discovery of large quantities of silver became the motor of the Spanish colonial economy, a major source of income for the Spanish crown, and transformed the international economy. Mining regions in Mexico were remote, outside the zone of indigenous settlement in central and southern Mexico Mesoamerica , but mines in Zacatecas (founded 1548) and Guanajuato (founded 1548) emerged as key hubs in

17934-495: The dominant group on the island during the period of European contact. Each society on the island was a small independent kingdom with a lead known as a cacique . In 1492, which is considered the peak of the Taíno, there were five different kingdoms on the island, the Xaragua, Higuey (Caizcimu), Magua (Huhabo), Ciguayos (Cayabo or Maguana), and Marien (Bainoa). Many distinct Taíno languages also existed in this time period. There

18117-626: The dry season on the highest peaks, where maxima are no higher than 18 °C (64 °F). There are many bird species in Hispaniola , and the island's amphibian species are also diverse. There are many species endemic to the island including insects and other invertebrates, reptiles, amphibians, fishs, birds and mammals (originally animals, native animals) and also (imported animals, introduced animals, not native animals or invasive species) just like farm animals, transport animals, house animals, pets and more. The two endemic terrestrial mammals on

18300-402: The early Caribbean period, particularly Frey Nicolás de Ovando , who was sent to investigate the administration of Francisco de Bobadilla , the governor appointed to succeed Christopher Columbus. Later ecclesiastics served as interim viceroys, general inspectors (visitadores), and other high posts. The crown established control over trade and emigration to the Indies with the 1503 establishment

18483-523: The early Caribbean settlements to replace indigenous labor and enslaved and free Africans were part of colonial-era populations. A mixed-race casta population came into being during the period of Spanish rule. In the early 19th century, the Spanish American wars of independence resulted in the secession of most of Spanish America and the establishment of independent nations. Continuing under crown rule were Cuba and Puerto Rico , along with

18666-598: The economies of Spain and the Spanish empire through changes in mercantile and fiscal policies, defend Spanish colonies and territorial claims through the establishment of a standing military, undermine the power of the Catholic church, and rein in the power of the American-born elites. The crown relied on ecclesiastics as important councilors and royal officials in the governance of their overseas territories. Archbishop Juan Rodríguez de Fonseca , Isabella's confessor,

18849-525: The entire island of Hispaniola from the 1490s until the 17th century, when French pirates began establishing bases on the western side of the island. The official name was La Española , meaning "The Spanish (Island)". It was also called Santo Domingo , after Saint Dominic . The island was called various names by its native people, the Taíno . The Taino had no written language, hence, historical evidence for these names comes through three European historians:

19032-469: The establishment of the Casa de Contratación at Seville in 1503, Palos suffered a decline. Natives of Palos emigrated to America or to Seville, and Palos soon had few sailing vessels of its own. By the 18th century, the town had only about 125 inhabitants. However, during the same century, Catalan investors established a viticultural industry centered at Palos, and the population slowly reached its pre-1492 levels. Palos also transformed itself into

19215-707: The expansion of populations in Europe. Chocolate and vanilla were cultivated in Mexico and exported to Europe. Among the foodstuffs that became staples in European cuisine and could be grown there were tomatoes, squashes, bell peppers, cashews , pecans and peanuts . The empire in the Indies was a newly established dependency of the kingdom of Castile alone, so crown power was not impeded by any existing cortes (i.e. parliament), administrative or ecclesiastical institution, or seigneurial group. The crown sought to establish and maintain control over its overseas possessions through

19398-479: The flora in this naturally protected area consists of 621 species of vascular plants, of which 153 are highly endemic to La Hispaniola. The most prominent endemic species of flora that abound in the area are Ebano Verde (green ebony), Magnolia pallescens, a highly endangered hardwood. Recent in-depth studies of satellite imagery and environmental analysis regarding forest classification conclude that Haiti actually has approximately 30% tree cover; this is, nevertheless,

19581-486: The following year when Columbus brought 1,300 men to Hispaniola in November 1493 with the intention of establishing a permanent settlement. They found the encampment at Navidad had been destroyed and all the crewmen left behind killed by the natives. Columbus decided to sail east in search of a better site to found a new settlement. In January 1494 they established La Isabela in present-day Dominican Republic . In 1496,

19764-534: The following years the conquistadors and indigenous allies extended control over Greater Andes Region. The Viceroyalty of Perú was established in 1542. The last Inca stronghold was conquered by the Spanish in 1572. Peru was the last territory on the continent under Spanish rule, which ended on 9 December 1824 at the Battle of Ayacucho (Spanish rule continued until 1898 in Cuba and Puerto Rico). [Chile] has four months of winter, no more, and in them, except when there

19947-580: The foundation of Tucumán in what is now northwest Argentina. Much of what is now the Southern United States was claimed by Spain, some of it at least explored by the Spanish starting in the early 1500s, and some permanent settlements established. Spanish explorers claimed land for the crown in the modern-day states of Alabama, Arizona, the Carolinas , Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, New Mexico, Texas, and California. Puerto Rico

20130-426: The funding came from the queen of Castile. The profits from Spanish expedition flowed to Castile. The Kingdom of Portugal authorized a series of voyages down the coast of Africa and when they rounded the southern tip, were able to sail to India and further east. Spain sought similar wealth, and authorized Columbus's voyage sailing west. Once the Spanish settlement in the Caribbean occurred, Spain and Portugal formalized

20313-470: The gold mines of Miguel Díaz and Francisco de Garay in 1504, as pit mines became royal mines for Ferdinand II of Aragon , who reserved the best mines for himself, though placers were open to private prospectors. King Ferdinand kept 967 natives in the San Cristóbal mining area, supervised by salaried miners. Under the royal governor Nicolás de Ovando , the indigenous people were forced to work in

20496-492: The gold mines. By 1503, the Spanish Crown legalized the allocation of private grants of indigenous labor to particular Spaniards for mining through the encomienda system. Once the indigenous were forced into mining far from their home villages, they suffered hunger and other difficult conditions. By 1508, the Taíno population of about 400,000 was reduced to 60,000, and by 1514, only 26,334 remained. About half resided in

20679-426: The government of Philip III ordered all inhabitants of Hispaniola to move close to Santo Domingo, to fight against piracy. Rather than secure the island, his action meant that French, English, and Dutch pirates established their own bases on the less populated north and west coasts of the island. In 1625, French and English pirates arrived on the island of Tortuga , just off the northwest coast of Hispaniola, which

20862-491: The governor of Cuba to form an expedition of exploration-only to this far western region. That expedition was to make world history. The Caribbean islands became less central to Spain's overseas colonization, but remained important strategically and economically, especially the islands of Cuba and Hispaniola. Smaller islands claimed by Spain were lost to the English and the Dutch, with France taking half of Hispaniola and establishing

21045-418: The governor, it could be joined the military ones, according to military requirements, with the rank of Captain general . The office of captain general involved to be the supreme military chief of the whole territory and he was responsible for recruiting and providing troops, the fortification of the territory, the supply and the shipbuilding. Beginning in 1522 in the newly conquered Mexico, government units in

21228-526: The highest point in Haiti, at 2,680 meters (8,790 ft) above sea level. A depression runs parallel to the southern range, between the southern range and the Chaîne des Matheux-Sierra de Neiba. It is known as the Plaine du Cul-de-Sac in Haiti, and Haiti's capital Port-au-Prince lies at its western end. The depression is home to a chain of salt lakes , including Lake Azuei in Haiti and Lake Enriquillo in

21411-660: The indigenous people, it had to be refounded several times, until Diego Hernández de Serpa 's foundation in 1569. The Spanish founded San Sebastián de Uraba in 1509 but abandoned it within the year. There is indirect evidence that the first permanent Spanish mainland settlement established in the Americas was Santa María la Antigua del Darién . Spaniards spent over 25 years in the Caribbean where their initial high hopes of dazzling wealth gave way to continuing exploitation of disappearing indigenous populations, exhaustion of local gold mines, initiation of cane sugar cultivation as an export product, and forced migration of enslaved Africans as

21594-640: The indigenous peoples. After the end of the period of conquests, it was necessary to manage extensive and different territories with a strong bureaucracy. In the face of the impossibility of the Castilian institutions to take care of the New World affairs, other new institutions were created. As the basic political entity it was the governorate, or province. The governors exercised judicial ordinary functions of first instance, and prerogatives of government legislating by ordinances. To these political functions of

21777-506: The indigenous population. From the Spanish viewpoint, their source of labor and viability of their own settlements was at risk. After the collapse of the Taino population of Hispaniola, Spaniards began raiding indigenous settlements on nearby islands, including Cuba , Puerto Rico , and Jamaica , to enslave those populations, replicating the demographic catastrophe there as well. The names of two indigenous leaders ( caciques ) who rebelled against Spanish colonization, Enriquillo and Hatuey in

21960-455: The indigenous populations and Spaniards alike. Charles revoked the grant in 1545, ending the episode of German colonization . Argentina was not conquered or later exploited in the grand fashion of central Mexico or Peru, since the indigenous population was sparse and there were no precious metals or other valuable resources. Although today Buenos Aires at the mouth of Río de la Plata is a major metropolis, it held no interest for Spaniards and

22143-833: The initial stage of a single Spanish monarchy , completed under the eighteenth-century Bourbon monarchs. The first expansion of territory was the conquest of the Muslim Emirate of Granada on 1 January 1492, the culmination of the Christian Reconquest of the Iberian Peninsula, held by the Muslims since 711. On 31 March 1492, the Catholic Monarch ordered the expulsion of the Jews in Spain who refused to convert to Christianity. Having departed from

22326-466: The island are the Hispaniolan hutia ( Plagiodontia aedium ) and the Hispaniolan solenodon ( Solenodon paradoxus ). There are also many avian species on the island, with six endemic genera ( Calyptophilus , Dulus , Nesoctites , Phaenicophilus , Xenoligea and Microligea ). More than half of the original distribution of its ecoregions has been lost due to habitat destruction impacting

22509-608: The island, and after some 12 years of Spanish dominion, the leaders in Santo Domingo revolted again, and eastern Hispaniola was declared independent as the Republic of Spanish Haiti in 1821. Fearing the influence of a society of slaves that had successfully revolted against their owners, the United States and European powers refused to recognize Haiti, the second republic in the Western Hemisphere . France demanded

22692-449: The king could take up his duties. Treasury officials were supposed to be paid out of the income from the province, and were normally prohibited from engaging in income-producing activities. The protection of the indigenous populations from enslavement and exploitation by Spanish settlers were established in the Laws of Burgos , 1512–1513. The laws were the first codified set of laws governing

22875-505: The largest gulf of the Antilles. The southern range begins in the southwesternmost Dominican Republic as the Sierra de Bahoruco , and extends west into Haiti as the Massif de la Selle and the Massif de la Hotte , which form the mountainous spine of Haiti's southern peninsula. Pic de la Selle is the highest peak in the southern range, the third highest peak in the Antilles and consequently

23058-652: The launching point for further expeditions. These were often led by secondary leaders, such as Pedro de Alvarado . Later conquests in Mexico were protracted campaigns with less immediate results than the conquest of the Aztec Empire. The Spanish conquest of Yucatán , the Spanish conquest of Guatemala , the conquest of the Purépecha of Michoacan, the war of Mexico's west , and the Chichimeca War in northern Mexico expanded Spanish control over territory and indigenous populations stretching thousands of miles. Not until

23241-443: The local fauna and some of the original animals either threat, threatened with extinction or totally extinct, because of climate change or because they have been hunted by humans or their habitats have been felled or changed for some reasons or have become some of the animals have been threatened by (introduced animals, not native animals or invasive species) or there are fighting for space to survive and perhaps some animals that feed on

23424-467: The merchant flotas , which had a royal monopoly on commerce with the Americas. In 1564, the island's main inland cities Santiago de los Caballeros and Concepción de la Vega were destroyed by an earthquake. In the 1560s, English privateers joined the French in regularly raiding Spanish shipping in the Americas. By the early 17th century, Hispaniola and its nearby islands (notably Tortuga ) became regular stopping points for Caribbean pirates . In 1606,

23607-495: The mining towns of Concepción, Santiago, Santo Domingo, and Buenaventura. The repartimiento of 1514 accelerated emigration of the Spanish colonists, coupled with the exhaustion of the mines. The first documented outbreak of smallpox , previously an Eastern hemisphere disease, occurred on Hispaniola in December 1518 among enslaved African miners. Some scholars speculate that European diseases arrived before this date, but there

23790-563: The most frequently used term in English-speaking countries for the island in scientific and cartographic works. In 1918, the United States occupation government, led by Harry Shepard Knapp , obliged the use of the name Hispaniola on the island, and recommended the use of that name to the National Geographic Society . The name "Haïti" was adopted by Haitian revolutionary Jean-Jacques Dessalines in 1804, as

23973-456: The mountains in the southern and western portion of the island and in the Cibao valley in the center-north of the island. The Hispaniolan pine forests occupy the mountainous 15% of the island, above 850 metres (2,790 ft) elevation. The flooded grasslands and savannas ecoregion in the south central region of the island surrounds a chain of lakes and lagoons in which the most notable include that of Lake Azuei and Trou Caïman in Haiti and

24156-473: The name to Española , and when Peter Martyr detailed his account of the island in Latin, he rendered its name as Hispaniola . Due to Taíno, Spanish and French influences on the island, historically the whole island was often referred to as Haïti , Hayti , Santo Domingo , or Saint-Domingue . Martyr's literary work was translated into English and French soon after being written, the name Hispaniola became

24339-613: The nearby Lake Enriquillo in the Dominican Republic, which is not only the lowest point of the island, but also the lowest point for an island country. Hispaniola's climate shows considerable variation due to its diverse mountainous topography, and is the most varied island of all the Antilles . Except in the Northern Hemisphere summer season, the predominant winds over Hispaniola are the northeast trade winds . As in Jamaica and Cuba, these winds deposit their moisture on

24522-494: The nearby Lake Enriquillo in the Dominican Republic. In Haiti , deforestation has long been cited by scientists as a source of ecological crisis; the timber industry dates back to French colonial rule. Haiti has seen a dramatic reduction of forests due to the excessive and increasing use of charcoal as fuel for cooking. Various media outlets have suggested that the country has just 2% forest cover , but this has not been substantiated by research. Also extremely important are

24705-749: The northern end of the Dominican Republic, extending into the Atlantic Ocean as the Samaná Peninsula . The Cordillera Central and Cordillera Septentrional are separated by the lowlands of the Cibao Valley and the Atlantic coastal plains, which extend westward into Haiti as the Plaine du Nord (Northern Plain). The lowest of the ranges is the Cordillera Oriental, in the eastern part of the country. The Sierra de Neiba rises in

24888-403: The northern mountains, and create a distinct rain shadow on the southern coast, where some areas receive as little as 400 millimetres (16 in) of rainfall, and have semi-arid climates . Annual rainfall under 600 millimetres (24 in) also occurs on the southern coast of Haiti's northwest peninsula and in the central Azúa region of the Plaine du Cul-de-Sac. In these regions, moreover, there

25071-551: The official name of independent Saint-Domingue, in tribute to the Amerindian predecessors. It was also adopted as the official name of independent Santo Domingo, as the Republic of Spanish Haiti , a state that existed from November 1821 until its annexation by Haiti in February 1822. The Archaic Age people arrived from mainland Central America or northern South America about 6,000 years ago, and are thought to have practised

25254-434: The officials and elites were closest to the main square. Once on the mainland, where there were dense indigenous populations in urban settlements, the Spanish could build a Spanish settlement on the same site, dating its foundation to when that occurred. Often they erected a church on the site of an indigenous temple. They replicated the existing indigenous network of settlements, but added a port city. The Spanish network needed

25437-679: The other two ships returned to Palos on March 15, 1493. Palos would play a pivotal role in the settlement and Christianization of the New World in succeeding centuries. La Rábida would play a central part in the Christian evangelization of the Americas. As La Rábida was a Franciscan monastery, that order would play a dominant role in this Christianization, and some of the first missionaries were natives of Palos, including Juan Izquierdo , Juan de Palos , Juan Cerrado , Pedro Salvador , Alonso Vélez de Guevara , Juan Quintero  [ es ] , Thomás de Narváez , and Francisco Camacho . With

25620-423: The participation of indigenous allies, the conquest of central Mexico was protracted and necessitated significant numbers of indigenous allies, who chose to participate in defeating the Aztec Empire for their own purposes. The conquest of the Aztec Empire involved the combined effort of armies from many indigenous allies, spearheaded by a small Spanish force of conquistadors. The Aztecs did not govern over an empire in

25803-460: The populace belong to Protestant churches. The ethnic composition of the Dominican population is 73% mixed ethnicity, 16% white and 11% black. Descendants of early Spanish settlers and of black slaves from West Africa constitute the two main racial strains. Palos de la Frontera The official date of foundation for Palos is 1322, when the town was granted to Alonso Carro and Carro's wife Berenguela Gómez by Alfonso XI of Castile , although

25986-529: The port of Palos de la Frontera on 3 August 1492, on 12 October 1492, Genoese mariner Christopher Columbus and his crew made landfall in the Western Hemisphere, and in 1493 permanent Spanish settlement of the Americas began. Castile and Aragon were ruled jointly by their respective monarchs, but they remained separate kingdoms. When the Catholic Monarchs gave official approval for the plans for Columbus's voyage to reach "the Indies" by sailing West,

26169-441: The protection of the indigenous peoples in her testament in which the Catholic monarch prohibited the enslavement of the indigenous peoples of the Americas. Then the first such in 1542; the legal thought behind them was the basis of modern International law . Hispaniola Hispaniola ( / ˌ h ɪ s p ə n ˈ j oʊ l ə / , also UK : /- p æ n ˈ -/ ) is an island between Cuba and Puerto Rico in

26352-556: The proviso that they spread Christianity. These formal arrangements between Spain and Portugal and the pope were ignored by other European powers, with the French, the English, and the Dutch seizing territory in the Caribbean and in North America claimed by Spain but not effectively settled. Portugal's claim to part of South America under the Treaty of Tordesillas resulted in the creation of Portuguese colony of Brazil. Although during

26535-400: The rarely mentioned species of Pinguicula casabitoana (a carnivorous plant), Gonocalyx tetraptera, Gesneria sylvicola, Lyonia alaini and Myrcia saliana, as well as palo de viento (Didymopanax tremulus), jaiqui (Bumelia salicifolia), pino criciolio) (pino criciol), sangre de pollo (Mecranium amigdalinum) and palo santo (Alpinia speciosa). According to reports in the Dominican Republic and Haiti,

26718-673: The right to tax the first fifty families who settled at Palos, and he began utilizing the lands around Palos for the cultivation of olive trees and production of olive oil . After the death of Álvar Pérez de Guzmán, his widow, Elvira de Ayala, daughter of the Chancellor of Castile, continued her husband's work until her death in 1434. Palos's Golden Age is considered to have occurred in the 15th century (especially between 1470 and 1479), when it increased its population to 2,500 inhabitants and its economy, based on fishing and seafaring expeditions to Guinea , flourished. Palos took advantage of

26901-1041: The ruins of the Aztec capital. Their central official and ceremonial area was built on top of Aztec palaces and temples. In Peru, Spaniards founded the city of Lima as their capital and its nearby port of Callao , rather than the high-altitude site of Cuzco , the center of Inca rule. Spaniards established a network of settlements in areas they conquered and controlled. Important ones include Santiago de Guatemala (1524); Puebla (1531); Querétaro (ca. 1531); Guadalajara (1531–42); Valladolid (now Morelia ), (1529–41); Antequera (now Oaxaca (1525–29); Campeche (1541); and Mérida . In southern Central and South America, settlements were founded in Panama (1519); León, Nicaragua (1524); Cartagena (1532); Piura (1532); Quito (1534); Trujillo (1535); Cali (1537) Bogotá (1538); Quito (1534); Cuzco 1534); Lima (1535); Tunja , (1539); Huamanga (1539); Arequipa (1540); Santiago de Chile (1544) and Concepción, Chile (1550). Settled from

27084-468: The rule of Charles V , the Spanish Empire was the first to be called " The empire on which the sun never sets ", under Philip II the permanent colonization of the Philippine Islands made it demonstrably true. The Spanish expansion has sometimes been succinctly summed up as being motivated by "gold, glory, God", that is, the search for material wealth, the enhancement of the conquerors' and

27267-408: The same plants or animals or just something like that. The island has four distinct ecoregions . The Hispaniolan moist forests ecoregion covers approximately 50% of the island, especially the northern and eastern portions, predominantly in the lowlands but extending up to 2,100 meters (6,900 ft) elevation. The Hispaniolan dry forests ecoregion occupies approximately 20% of the island, lying in

27450-420: The settlement of San Miguel de Gualdape in modern-day South Carolina in 1526. In 1559, Tristán de Luna y Arellano established the first multi-year European settlement in the United States in what is now Pensacola , Florida. This settlement predates the foundation of St. Augustine by six years, marking an important yet often overlooked moment in the history of Spanish colonization. Archaeological evidence from

27633-528: The slaves acquired in exchange for vile goods Nevertheless, the war ended in defeat for the Castilian forces, and Ferdinand and Isabella , in the Treaty of Alcáçovas (1479) gave up all rights to Atlantic and African lands and seas, with the exception of the Canary Islands , which remained Castilian. Many natives of Palos nevertheless violated the agreement and encroached upon Portuguese sea routes in

27816-477: The south were Buenos Aires (1536, 1580); Asunción (1537); Potosí (1545); La Paz, Bolivia (1548); and Tucumán (1553). The Columbian Exchange was as significant as the clash of civilizations. Arguably the most significant introduction was diseases brought to the Americas, which devastated indigenous populations in a series of epidemics. The loss of indigenous population had a direct impact on Spaniards as well, since increasingly they saw those populations as

27999-719: The southwest of the Dominican Republic, and continues northwest into Haiti, parallel to the Cordillera Central, as the Montagnes Noires, Chaîne des Matheux and the Montagnes du Trou d'Eau. The Plateau Central lies between the Massif du Nord and the Montagnes Noires , and the Plaine de l'Artibonite lies between the Montagnes Noires and the Chaîne des Matheux, opening westward toward the Gulf of Gonâve ,

28182-414: The sugar-producing colony of St-Domingue , as well as also taking other islands. With Spanish expansion into central Mexico under conqueror Hernán Cortés and the conquest of the Aztec Empire (1519-1521)Spanish explorers were able to find wealth on the scale that they had long hoped for. Unlike Spanish contact with indigenous populations in the Caribbean, which involved limited armed combat and sometimes

28365-422: The surviving 7,000 troops in late 1803, the leaders of the revolution declared western Hispaniola the new nation of independent Haiti in early 1804. France continued to rule Spanish Santo Domingo. In 1805, Haitian troops of General Henri Christophe tried to conquer all of Hispaniola. They invaded Santo Domingo and sacked the towns of Santiago de los Caballeros and Moca, killing most of their residents, but news of

28548-454: The territory, the king, as sovereign, and the appointed leader of an expedition ( adelantado ) agreed to an itemized contract ( capitulación ), with the specifics of the conditions of the expedition in a particular territory. The individual leaders of expeditions assumed the expenses of the venture and in return received as reward the grant from the government of the conquered territories; and in addition, they received instructions about treating

28731-407: The territory. Under Napoleon , France reimposed slavery in most of its Caribbean islands in 1802 and sent an army to bring the island into full control. However, thousands of the French troops succumbed to yellow fever during the summer months, and more than half of the French army died because of disease. After an extremely brutal war with atrocities committed on both sides, the French removed

28914-623: The town may have been occupied during earlier centuries by Paleolithic , Tartessian , Roman , Visigothic , and Muslim inhabitants. Palos's name is derived from the Latin word palus (“ lagoon ”). It acquired its “surname” as Palos de la Frontera in May 1642. At the time of its establishment as a town by Alfonso XI, Palos was part of the Almohad kingdom of Niebla , and was a small nucleus whose population subsisted on fishing and took advantage of

29097-475: The town of Nueva Isabela was founded. After being destroyed by a hurricane, it was rebuilt on the opposite side of the Ozama River and called Santo Domingo . It is the oldest permanent European settlement in the Americas. The island had an important role in the establishment of Latin American colonies for decades to come. Due to its strategic location, it was the military stronghold of conquistadors of

29280-471: The trade with the Indies. The politics of asserting royal authority to oppose Columbus resulted in the suppression of his privileges and the creation of territorial governance under royal authority. These governorates, also called as provinces, were the basic of the territorial government of the Indies, and arose as the territories were conquered and colonized. To carry out the expedition ( entrada ), which entailed exploration, conquest, and initial settlement of

29463-449: The treatment of Tainos in Hispaniola under the Spanish Empire as genocide. Sugar cane was introduced to Hispaniola by settlers from the Canary Islands , and the first sugar mill in the New World was established in 1516, on Hispaniola. The need for a labor force to meet the growing demands of sugar cane cultivation led to an exponential increase in the importation of slaves over the following two decades. The sugar mill owners soon formed

29646-527: The two countries today). After a brief return to Spanish rule, the Dominican Republic would win its final independence in 1865. Haiti would become one of the poorest countries in the Americas, while the Dominican Republic gradually has developed into one of the largest economies of Central America and the Caribbean . Hispaniola is the second-largest island in the Caribbean (after Cuba), with an area of 76,192 square kilometers (29,418 sq mi), 48,440 square kilometers (18,700 sq mi) of which

29829-668: The valuable metal silver. Spanish settlement in Mexico "largely replicated the organization of the area in preconquest times". However, in Peru the center of the Incas was too far south, too remote, and at too high an altitude for the Spanish capital, so the capital Lima was built near the Pacific coast. The capitals of both Mexico and Peru (Mexico City and Lima) came to have large concentrations of Spanish settlers and hubs of royal and ecclesiastical administration, large commercial enterprises with skilled artisans, and centers of culture. Although Spaniards had hoped to find vast quantities of gold,

30012-414: The vast territory. Spanish men and women settled in greatest numbers where there were dense indigenous populations and the existence of valuable resources for extraction . The Spanish Empire claimed jurisdiction over the New World in the Caribbean and North and South America, with the exception of Brazil, ceded to Portugal by the Treaty of Tordesillas . Other European powers, including England, France, and

30195-642: The west. The only other divided island in the Caribbean is Saint Martin , which is shared between France ( Saint Martin ) and the Netherlands ( Sint Maarten ). Hispaniola is the site of one of the first European forts in the Americas, La Navidad (1492–1493), as well as the first settlement La Isabela (1493–1500), and the first permanent settlement, the current capital of the Dominican Republic, Santo Domingo (est. 1498). These settlements were founded successively during each of Christopher Columbus 's first three voyages . The Spanish Empire controlled

30378-461: Was a typical tactic of warfare: divide and conquer. But the indigenous allies had much to gain by throwing off Aztec rule. For the Spaniards' Tlaxcalan allies, their crucial support gained them enduring political legacy into the modern era, the Mexican state of Tlaxcala. The conquest of central Mexico sparked further Spanish conquests, following the pattern of conquered and consolidated regions being

30561-430: Was all of the North American continent. However, the name was typically used to refer to the peninsula itself as well as the Gulf Coast , Georgia, Carolina, and southern Virginia . In 1521, Ponce de Leon was killed while trying to establish a settlement near what is now Charlotte Harbor, Florida . Another failed attempt was conducted by Lucas Vázquez de Ayllón , who set out with approximately 500 colonists and established

30744-499: Was also colonized by the Spanish during this era, occasioning the earliest contact between Africans and what would become the United States (via the free Black conquistador Juan Garrido ). Free and enslaved Africans were a feature of New Spain throughout the colonial period. One of the colonists who conquered Puerto Rico, Juan Ponce de León , is commonly given credit for being the first European to sight Florida in 1513. For political reasons, Spain would sometimes claim that La Florida

30927-427: Was given the name Saint-Domingue . By 1670 a Welsh privateer named Henry Morgan invited the pirates on the island of Tortuga to set sail under him. They were hired by the French as a striking force that allowed France to have a much stronger hold on the Caribbean region. Consequently, the pirates never really controlled the island and kept Tortuga as a neutral hideout. The capital of the French Colony of Saint-Domingue

31110-450: Was indigenous resistance to Spanish colonization. Columbus made four voyages to the West Indies as the monarchs granted Columbus vast powers of governance over this unknown part of the world. The crown of Castile financed more of his trans-Atlantic journeys, a pattern they would not repeat elsewhere. Effective Spanish settlement began in 1493, when Columbus brought livestock, seeds, agricultural equipment. The first settlement of La Navidad ,

31293-402: Was led to believe that much more gold would be found inland. Before he could explore further, his flagship, the Santa Maria , ran aground and sank in the bay on December 24. With only two smaller ships remaining for the voyage home, Columbus built a fortified encampment, La Navidad , on the shore and left behind 21 crewman to await his return the following year. Colonization began in earnest

31476-475: Was made in the cordillera central, which led to a mining boom. By 1501 Columbus's cousin, Giovanni Colombo, had discovered gold near Buenaventura. The deposits were later known as Minas Nuevas. Two major mining areas resulted, one along San Cristobal -Buenaventura, and another in Cibao within the La Vega -Cotuy- Bonao triangle, while Santiago de los Caballeros , Concepción , and Bonao became mining towns. The gold rush of 1500–1508 ensued, and Ovando expropriated

31659-403: Was more gold in the island than the natives had yet found, and were determined to make them dig it out." Gold mining using forced indigenous labor began early on Hispaniola. Miguel Díaz and Francisco de Garay discovered large gold nuggets on the lower Haina River in 1496. These San Cristobal mines were later known as the Minas Viejas mines. Then, in 1499, the first major discovery of gold

31842-418: Was moved from Tortuga to Port-de-Paix on the mainland of Hispaniola in 1676. In 1680, new Acts of Parliament forbade sailing under foreign flags (in opposition to former practice). This was a major legal blow to the Caribbean pirates. Settlements were made in the Treaty of Ratisbon of 1684, signed by the European powers, that put an end to piracy. Most of the pirates after this time were hired out into

32025-481: Was one of four survivors of that expedition, writing an account of it. The crown later sent him to Asunción , Paraguay to be adelantado there. Expeditions continued to explore territories in hopes of finding another Aztec or Inca empire, with no further success. Francisco de Ibarra led an expedition from Zacatecas in northern New Spain, and founded Durango . Juan de Oñate , is sometimes referred to as "the Last Conquistador ", expanded Spanish sovereignty over what

32208-401: Was originally settled by a few Spanish colonists. The pirates were attacked in 1629 by Spanish forces commanded by Don Fadrique de Toledo , who fortified the island, and expelled the French and English. As most of the Spanish army left for the main island of Hispaniola to root out French colonists there, the French returned to Tortuga in 1630 and had constant battles for several decades. In 1654,

32391-504: Was slavery. Queen Isabel put an end to formal slavery, declaring the indigenous to be vassals of the crown, but Spaniards' exploitation of indigenous labor continued. The Taíno population on Hispaniola went from hundreds of thousands or millions – the estimates by scholars vary widely – but in the mid-1490s, they were practically wiped out. Disease and overwork, disruption of family life and the agricultural cycle (which caused severe food shortages to Spaniards dependent on them) rapidly decimated

32574-473: Was tasked with reining in Columbus's independence. He strongly influenced the formulation of colonial policy under the Catholic Monarchs, and was instrumental in establishing the Casa de Contratación (House of Trade) (1503), which enabled crown control over trade and immigration. Ovando fitted out Magellan's voyage of circumnavigation, and became the first President of the Council of the Indies in 1524. Ecclesiastics also functioned as administrators overseas in

32757-436: Was the chief Caonabo who had massacred his settlement at Navidad. While Columbus established a new settlement the village of La Isabela on Jan. 1494, he sent Alonso de Ojeda and 15 men to search for the mines of Cibao. After a six-day journey, Ojeda came across an area containing gold, in which the gold was extracted from streams by the Taíno people. Columbus himself visited the mines of Cibao on 12 March 1494. He constructed

32940-415: Was the easternmost province of the island, an area in the Dominican Republic called " Los Haitises " national park. On the other hand, Oviedo and Las Casas both recorded that the entire island was called Ayiti by the Taíno. When Columbus took possession of the island in 1492, he named it Insula Hispana in Latin and La Isla Española in Spanish, both meaning "the Spanish island". Las Casas shortened

33123-415: Was the presence or absence of dense, hierarchically organized indigenous populations that could be made to work. The other was the presence or absence of an exploitable resource for the enrichment of settlers. Best was gold, but silver was found in abundance. The two main areas of Spanish settlement after 1550 were Mexico and Peru, the sites of the Aztec and Inca indigenous civilizations, and rich deposits of

33306-458: Was translated quickly to English and became the basis for the anti-Spanish writings, collectively known as the Black Legend . Las Casas spent his long life attempting to defend the indigenous populations and to enlist the Spanish crown in establishing protections for them, seen most prominently in the enactment of the New Laws of 1542, restricting Spaniards' inheritance of encomiendas . The first mainland explorations by Spaniards were followed by

33489-516: Was used as an aspect of social life and religious ceremonies. The Taíno people traveled often and used hollowed canoes with paddles when on the water for fishing or for migration purposes, and upwards of 100 people could fit into a single canoe. The Taíno came frequently in contact with the Caribs , another indigenous tribe. The Taíno people had to defend themselves using bows and arrows with poisoned tips and some war clubs. When Columbus landed on Hispaniola, many Taíno leaders wanted protection from

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