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114-513: In 1530 he was sent by Nuño Beltrán de Guzmán to the current Mexican states of Jalisco , Aguascalientes , Zacatecas and Sinaloa to explore the region, search for gold and silver, and subdue the Indians. He passed through the current town of Lagos de Moreno , Jalisco in March 1530 with a force of 50 Spanish soldiers and 500 Purépecha and Tlaxcaltec allies. This encounter was peaceful, but he

228-527: 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

342-477: 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

456-656: A degree. For a period he and his younger brother served as one of 100 royal bodyguards of Carlos V , and he accompanied the Emperor on a trip to Flanders in 1522, and undertook sensitive diplomatic missions, including one dealing with the Bishop of Cuenca (Spain) . In 1525 the Spanish crown appointed him governor of the autonomous territory of Pánuco on the Gulf Coast in what is now northeast Mexico, arriving to take up

570-487: 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

684-450: 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

798-587: A few days after the others. The first bishop of Mexico , Juan de Zumárraga , had arrived in the capital only a few days before the oidores. The instructions given to the Audiencia included a recommendation for good treatment of the indigenous people and a directive that the investigation into the conduct of Cortés and his associates Pedro de Alvarado , Alonso de Estrada , Rodrigo de Albornoz , Gonzalo de Salazar and Pedro Almíndez Chirino be concluded within 90 days. Most of these associates had participated in

912-590: 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

1026-633: 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

1140-696: 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

1254-472: A military force of 300 to 400 discontented conquistadors and between 5,000 and 8,000 indigenous Nahua allies, Guzmán set out on December 21, 1529, to the west of Mexico City to conquer lands and peoples who until then had resisted the conquest. Among the officers on this expedition was Pedro Almíndez Chirino . The campaign started with the torture and execution of the Purépecha cazonci Tangáxuan II ,

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1368-576: 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,

1482-622: A powerful indigenous ally of the Spanish Crown. Guzmán proceeded to launch a fierce campaign into the Chichimec lands in the province that was to become known as Nueva Galicia , reaching as far as Culiacán . Part of the purpose of the expedition was to find the fabled Cibola , the Seven Cities of Gold . This expedition has been described as a "genocidal enterprise". Typically, the conquistadors attacked an Indian village, stole

1596-493: 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

1710-680: A refined hypocrisy, great immorality, ingratitude without equal, and a fierce hatred for Cortés". 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 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

1824-571: A royal decree dated January 25, 1531, she supplied the name Reino de Nueva Galicia (Kingdom of New Galicia). This territory extended from the Rio Lerma to Sonora, with its capital at Compostela . New Galicia was a separate entity, not under the authority of the Audiencia of Mexico City (but still part of New Spain). One nineteenth-century chronicler of the Conquest referred to Beltrán de Guzmán as "the detestable governor of Pánuco and perhaps

1938-463: A small town near Nochistlán to which the name " Guadalajara " was given. Two years later Guzmán visited the city, and at the request of its inhabitants, who were fearful of Indian attacks and lacked sufficient water, he ordered it moved to Tonalá . This occurred on May 24, 1533. Later, after Guzmán had returned to Spain, it was moved again, to a site near Tlacotan (northeast of modern Zapopan ). This occurred probably between October 1541 and February of

2052-528: 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

2166-497: 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

2280-554: A treatise decrying Guzmán's 1529 campaign as unjust. Guzmán, who had by then made many enemies, fell out of favor with the authorities and the Second Audiencia. In 1533 he was removed from the Governorship of Pánuco and in 1534 of that of Nueva Galicia. In 1537 he was charged with treason, jailed and later expelled from New Spain. In 1529, Guzmán put Juan Ortiz de Matienzo in charge of the Audiencia. Then, gathering

2394-582: A woman Sabina de Guzmán, who had taken care of him in his illness. He also bequeathed belongings to the Franciscan Order , in spite of the conflicts he had had with its members in New Spain. He probably died in Valladolid in 1558 on October 16 or shortly thereafter. In posteriority and partly in his own time Nuño de Guzmán achieved a reputation as the worst villain of the conquistadors, in

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2508-631: 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 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

2622-672: 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

2736-465: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Nu%C3%B1o Beltr%C3%A1n de Guzm%C3%A1n Nuño Beltrán de Guzmán ( c.  1490  – 1558) was a Spanish conquistador and colonial administrator in New Spain . He was the governor of the province of Pánuco from 1525 to 1533 and of Nueva Galicia from 1529 to 1534, and president of the first Royal Audiencia of Mexico –

2850-421: 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

2964-403: 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

3078-518: 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

3192-426: 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

3306-489: 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

3420-416: 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

3534-473: 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

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3648-696: 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

3762-427: 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

3876-462: The Real Audiencia de México to take over the government of the colony. This Audiencia consisted of a president and four oidores (judges). Nuño Beltrán de Guzmán was named president. His oidores were Juan Ortiz de Matienzo , Diego Delgadillo , Diego Maldonado and Alonso de Parada; these two last fell sick during the voyage to New Spain and died shortly after arrival. At the time Guzmán

3990-541: 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

4104-477: 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

4218-514: 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

4332-554: 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

4446-703: The maize and other food, razed and burned the dwellings, and tortured the native leaders to gather information on what riches could be stolen there, or from nearby populations. For the most part, these riches did not exist. As an example, the Spanish were received peaceably in Tzintzuntzan by Tangáxuan II , the cazonci of the Tarascan state , which largely coincides with the modern state of Michoacán . Tangáxuan gave Guzmán presents of gold and silver and supplied him with soldiers and provisions. Nevertheless, Guzmán had him arrested and tortured, to get him to reveal

4560-522: 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

4674-543: The Audiencia and instead appointed governor of Nueva Galicia . As governor of Nueva Galicia he continued his politics of violent submission of the Indians of the Gran Chichimeca and came into conflict with church authorities such as Juan de Zumárraga , the Bishop appointed as Protector of the Indians, and Bishop of Michoacán Vasco de Quiroga . He also founded several cities that still exist such as Zacatecas , Querétaro and Guadalajara . In 1531 Zumárraga published

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4788-453: 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

4902-572: The Cortés faction. Guzmán's rule as a governor of Pánuco was stern against Spanish rivals and brutal against the Indians. He cracked down harshly on Cortés's supporters in Pánuco, accusing some of them of disloyalty to the Crown by backing Cortés's claim to the title of viceroy. Some were stripped of their property; others were tried and executed. He also incorporated territory from adjacent provinces into

5016-653: 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

5130-399: 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

5244-530: 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

5358-622: 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

5472-606: 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

5586-466: 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

5700-520: 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

5814-710: The appointment in May 1527. He traveled with Luís Ponce de Leon and arrived in Hispaniola in 1526, but here he fell sick and did not arrive in Mexico until May 1527, immediately assuming his post. Cortés had already extended his reach into Pánuco, so that Guzmán's appointment was a direct challenge. His appointment was opposed by the Pro- Cortés faction of the struggle for power in early colonial Mexico, who viewed him as an outsider with no military experience. But he had

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5928-540: The city of San Miguel de Culiacán on September 29, 1531. He returned to Tepic , where he set up his headquarters, sending out new expeditions from there. One of these founded the cities of Santiago de Galicia de Compostela and Purificación . Another traveled as far as the current Mexican state of Sonora . His violent expeditions into Chichimec lands were a main cause of the Mixtón rebellion . In 1531 (probably January), one of Guzmán's captains, Cristóbal de Oñate , founded

6042-541: The conquest of Central Mexico by Hernán Cortés , New Spain had been governed by a military government , generally with the objectives of maximizing personal economic gains by the Spanish conquistadors. Hoping to establish a more orderly government, to reduce the authority of Cortés, and secure the authority of the Spanish crown in the New World, on December 13, 1527 the metropolitan government of Charles V in Burgos named

6156-495: 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

6270-626: 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

6384-525: 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:

6498-479: 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,

6612-486: 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,

6726-410: The following year. Later the settlers began to complain to Antonio de Mendoza , then the viceroy of New Spain, about both the repeated relocations and Guzmán's cruelty. Nuño Beltrán de Guzmán gave the name "Conquista del Espíritu Santo de la Mayor España" to the territories he explored and conquered. However, the queen of Spain, Joanna of Castile , mother of Charles V, did not approve of the name. By

6840-470: 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

6954-429: 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

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7068-542: The government in the proceeding few years while Cortés was in Honduras, with a lot of in-fighting among themselves and injustices to the population, both Spanish and Indigenous. Cortés himself was now in Spain, where he was defending his conduct and appealing his loss of authority to Charles. Cortés had some success with his appeal, being named Marqués del Valle de Oaxaca and receiving some other honors. Nevertheless, Guzmán

7182-426: 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

7296-565: The governor of Cuba, Diego Velázquez and having been a sworn enemy of Cortés even before setting foot in New Spain. As governor Guzmán instituted a system of Indian slave trade in Pánuco. During a raid along Río de Las Palmas in 1528 he allowed every horseman to take 20 Indian slaves and each footman 15. In 1529 he gave out individual slaving permissions amounting to more than 1000 slaves. Initially Guzmán did not allow Spaniards to sell slaves for export except in exchange for livestock, but later he gave more than 1500 slave licenses (each permitting

7410-608: The high court that governed New Spain – from 1528 to 1530. He founded several cities in Northwestern Mexico , including Guadalajara . Originally a bodyguard of Charles I of Spain , he was sent to Mexico to counterbalance the influence of the leader of the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire , Hernán Cortés , since the King worried he was becoming too powerful. As Governor of Pánuco, Guzmán cracked down hard on

7524-526: 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

7638-461: The indigenous inhabitants of his territories, and he was sent to Spain in shackles. He was eventually released, dying in poverty in 1558. His subsequent reputation, in scholarship and popular discourse, has been that of a cruel, violent and irrational tyrant. His legacy has partly been colored by the fact that history was written largely by his political opponents such as Hernán Cortés, Juan de Zumárraga and Vasco de Quiroga . Nuño Beltrán de Guzmán

7752-409: The interdiction was a case of violation of sanctuary. The Audiencia had violently taken from the convent of San Francisco a servant of Cortés accused of grave crimes, and two religious, Cristóbal de Angulo and García de Llerena. Undeterred, Guzmán continued the violent suppression on the peoples of the present-day states of Jalisco , Zacatecas , Nayarit and Sinaloa . In the latter state, he founded

7866-466: 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

7980-671: 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

8094-401: 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

8208-423: The latter as governor of Pánuco. The later events made the two enemies. The Audiencia also banned direct communication with the court in Spain. This was so effective that Bishop Zumárraga felt the necessity of hiding a letter sealed in wax in a cask, to be smuggled to the Spanish authorities by a confederate sailor. In 1530, upon Hernán Cortés' return to New Spain, Guzmán was removed from the office of President of

8322-585: The legality of the taking of any slaves before branding. In 1529 the Crown began an investigation into the slaving enterprises of Guzmán. In spite of his lack of success as governor, in 1529 he was appointed President of the First Audiencia, which the Council of the Indies and the Crown instated to check the ventures of industrious private individuals, such as Cortés, in New Spain. In the years following

8436-443: 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

8550-476: The location of hidden stores of gold. Presumably there was no more gold, because Tangáxuan did not reveal it under torture. Guzmán had him dragged by a horse and then burned alive on February 14, 1530. Meanwhile, in Mexico City, the actions of the Audiencia attracted the attention of Juan de Zumárraga, bishop of Mexico, who put it under an ecclesiastical interdiction on March 7, 1530. The immediate cause of

8664-467: 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,

8778-495: 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

8892-605: The most depraved man ever to set foot in New Spain." Reports of Guzmán's treatment of the Indigenous had reached Mexico City and Spain, and, at Bishop Zumárraga's request the Crown sent Diego Pérez de la Torre to investigate. Guzmán was arrested in 1536. He was held a prisoner for more than a year and then sent to Spain in fetters. He was released from the Castle of Torrejón prison in 1538. In 1539 he returned to his position as royal contino bodyguard - court records show him on

9006-563: 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

9120-456: 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

9234-473: 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

9348-613: 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

9462-494: 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

9576-805: 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

9690-403: 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

9804-551: 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

9918-620: The payroll every year from 1539 to 1561 (in 1561 as "deceased"). In 1552 he wrote up a memorial containing his own version of the events leading to his fall. In his account he justified his execution of the Purépecha Cazonci as being necessary in order to bring a Christian rule of law to the area, and he assured that: "in truth no execution more just has been carried out in all of New Spain, and if I were deserving of any punishment it would be for having doubted some days about whether to carry it out." In 1558 he wrote his last will which

10032-527: The province of Pánuco. These actions brought New Spain on the verge of a civil war between Guzmán and supporters of Cortés' led by Governor of New Spain Alonso de Estrada , when Estrada sent an expedition to reclaim the lands expropriated by Guzmán. During the court case against Cortés in 1529, Guzmán accused Cortés himself of being a traitor and a rebel. Bishop Juan de Zumárraga , who had traveled with Guzmán to Hispaniola, in turn accused Guzmán of being allied with

10146-400: 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,

10260-408: 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

10374-771: 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 ,

10488-502: The support of the Council of Indies and the Spanish Crown who saw him as a counterbalance to the figure of Cortés whose aspirations to power worried the King of Spain. Guzmán's appointment gave heart to Spanish conquerors who had not received what they considered sufficient rewards from Cortés's distribution of encomiendas and to Spanish settlers who had not participated in the conquest but saw their paths to position and wealth blocked by

10602-440: The supporters of Cortés, stripping him and his supporters of property and rights. He conducted numerous expeditions of conquest into the northwestern areas of Mexico, enslaving thousands of Indians and shipping them to the Caribbean colonies . In the resulting power struggles where he also made himself an enemy of important churchmen, Guzmán came out the loser. In 1537, he was arrested for treason, abuse of power and mistreatment of

10716-422: 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

10830-619: The taking of between 15 and 50 slaves) in an eight-month period. The slaving operation in Pánuco expanded when Guzmán became President of the Royal Audiencia of Mexico and he had Indian slaves smuggled into Pánuco and shipped on to the Caribbean. Indian slaves were branded on the face. Taking Indian slaves was not explicitly outlawed in the period before 1528. Beginning in 1528, Indian slaving operations came under increased royal control but were not prohibited. The regulations of September 19, 1528, required slave owners to present proof of

10944-407: 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

11058-531: 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

11172-576: 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

11286-527: 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

11400-490: The words of his biographer Donald Chipman he has been depicted as the "personification of the Black Legend ". His contemporary Bernal Díaz del Castillo described him in the following terms: "... In all the provinces of New Spain there was not another man more foul and evil than [Guzmán] of Pánuco". His biographer Santana describes his personality as characterized by "cruelty of the highest order, ambition without limit,

11514-520: Was accused of a massacre in Mocorito (Sinaloa) in 1531, and in many places of destroying and burning everything he passed. "Mocorito" in the Cahita language signifies the place of the dead. The indigenous people named it for the Indians that Pedro Almíndez Chirino killed. This article about an explorer is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This Mexican biographical article

11628-655: Was born ca. 1485 in Guadalajara, Spain , to an old noble family. His father was Hernán Beltrán de Guzmán, a wealthy merchant and a High Constable in the Spanish Inquisition ; his mother was Doña Magdalena de Guzmán. The Guzmán family supported Prince Charles in the Revolt of the Comuneros and achieved gratitude of the later Emperor. Nuño Beltrán de Guzmán received some experience in law, but never finished

11742-490: 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

11856-460: 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

11970-581: 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

12084-464: 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

12198-526: 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

12312-408: Was now in charge in New Spain. Among his official acts was placing plaques bearing the royal coat of arms on the principal buildings of the capital, to stress that sovereignty resided in the king, not in Cortés. He had Pedro de Alvarado arrested for questioning the loyalty of Gonzalo de Salazar. There was already some animosity between Cortés and Guzmán, because the former had been reluctant to recognize

12426-401: 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,

12540-468: Was serving as governor of Pánuco, so Charles ordered the judges to assemble in Veracruz and from there make a joint entrance into the capital. The four from Spain, however, did not wait for the arrival of Guzmán, and proceeded directly to the capital. They arrived on December 8, 1528, taking over the government on the following day. They were given a splendid reception by the city government. Guzmán arrived

12654-436: 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

12768-415: 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

12882-427: Was uncovered in 1973, it shows him as a poverty stricken noble struggling to save his heirs from his debts, having had even to pawn his heirlooms to pay for medicine. In it, he requested some of the property that was confiscated from him to be returned to his heirs, and wages still due to him for his years as Governor and President be paid and turned over to his heirs. With affection he bequeathed most of his belongings to

12996-568: 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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