The Split of Hispaniola

Hispaniola in the 17^th century underwent many changes. It started out under Spanish rule. Then after piracy became prevalent, the Spanish gave up a third of the island that was closest to the island of Tortuga a safe haven for pirates. The French saw their opportunity to gain a foothold in the new world. So, they came and inhabited the part of the island the Spanish had given up causing a split in Hispaniola that still exists today.   Who would think that all this conflict started over a few pirates and some cows?

The Spanish, through Christopher Columbus, claimed Hispaniola for themselves on his first voyage to the New World. The Spanish set up their Caribbean capital on Hispaniola, but they rarely paid attention to Hispaniola except to make sure that they kept a tight trade reign on the island. They ignored Hispaniola because, while it may have been the first settlement, it was not the most profitable.

Hispaniola served as an excellent stopping point for pirates on their way to Tortuga. The pirates, who roamed the Caribbean preying on the Spanish treasure ships, took advantage of the Spanish’s lack of attention and frequently stopped at Hispaniola to get supplies. The citizens of the island were farmers and breeders of livestock, especially cows. The pirates bartered with the citizens for supplies and livestock. The Spanish tried to keep the pirates off of the island but to no avail. So, the Spanish officials moved the citizens inland to towns where they could not have access to the coast to trade with the pirates and abandoned the western third of Hispaniola in 1603. This relocation caused the citizens to turn their cows loose to roam over the island because they would not have the land to let their cows graze properly in such close confinement.  Now with cows loose all over the island, the pirates had even easier access to beef, and they no longer had to purchase it.

Louis XIV of France also took advantage of the Spanish relocation to move in on the third of the island that the Spanish abandoned. The French also claimed the island of Tortuga, the pirate stronghold. The Spanish refused to recognize the French claim on part of the island. That changed with the Treaty of Rhyswick.

This map shows the different countries claims on Hispaniola with the western French claim in red and the eastern Spanish claim in gold. The Nine Years’ War, which was known as King William’s War in North America, settled the dispute between France and Spain over Hispaniola. The war was the result of France’s King Louis XIV territory grab in Europe. Most of the fighting occurred in Europe, but it did have repercussions in Hispaniola. The Treaty of Ryswick which ended the war in 1697 forced the Spanish to recognize French control over the western third of the island. Although the official border was not set until 1777 by the Treaty of Aranjuez, the events of the 17th century ensured that Hispaniola would continue to be a divided island.

Sources:

Guitar, Lynne. "History of Dominican Republic." Last modified 2010. Accessed September 25, 2011. http://www.hispaniola.com/dominican_republic/info/history.php.

O'Neil, Daniel. "Gold, cows, and pirates: the story of how the island of Hispaniola (or Quisqueya) ended up split into two countries: 1492-1777." Creating border Opportunities in Dominican Republic and Haiti (blog), September 02, 2009. http://nuestrafrontera.org/wordpress/2009/09/gold-cows-and-pirates-the-story-of-how-the-island-of-hispaniola-or-quisqueya-ended-up-split-in-two-countrie (accessed September 25, 2011).

Picture courtesy of http://www.google.com/imgres?q=map+hispaniola&hl=en&sa=X&biw=1024&bih=677&tbm=isch&prmd=imvns&tbnid=dqZJJtYlIALIpM:&imgrefurl=http://www.printsold

Misconceptions of the Spanish

In 1492 when Columbus sailed the ocean blue, he tried to find a new route to China. However, he did not consider there would be a landmass in between Eastern Europe and Western Asia. So when Columbus found land, he believed it was India and the outer lying islands of Asia. Columbus immediately claimed the new found land for Spain.

The island, soon to be known as Hispaniola, was already inhabited by a group of people now known as the Tainos. Columbus thought that these people were India natives so he called them Indians. To the Europeans, these people were primitive and were thrilled to meet the Europeans. 

  

As seen in this painting, the Tainos curiously watch as Columbus claims the land for Spain. The differences between the two groups are easy to see. The Europeans are portrayed with rich clothes and flags and even a priest, but the Tainos are naked, fewer in number, and mesmerized by the newcomers. This painting was created by Dioscoro Teofilo Puebla Tolin in the mid to late 1800s. So, it is a painting made of myth and legend rather than actual events.

Other Europeans who were alive when Columbus discovered the Caribbean also had misconceptions about the island natives. Allegretto Allegretti, who never actually went to the Caribbean, wrote, “The people were happy to see the king of Spain’s men and welcomed them with great honor, kindnesses, presents, and gifts. They hold our men to be gods.” What did happen was the Spanish attempted to replaced the Tainos gods, the zemis, with their God and Christianity. Many of the natives did convert because those who did not were killed, but even after they were converted many natives continued to practice their previous religion or even a hybrid of native religion and Christianity.

The Europeans also saw the Caribbean as the land of plenty. They were amazed at the abundance and lushness of the flora and fauna of the islands. They also thought that gold was everywhere. As Morelletto Ponzone said, “And under their rocks, by lifting them up one finds plenty of gold, which is beautiful, and it only needs to be refined.”  Peter Martyr wrote, “The gold had been collected with no great toil from the river sand.” In reality, there is little gold in the Caribbean. The Spanish were so concerned with finding riches in the new lands that they latched onto any glimmer of gold.

The Europeans also misunderstood the natives and believed that some of the natives on the other islands were cannibals. This was never proven to be true. The cannibal myth exploded in Europe and it was widely spread. The Europeans even believed the cannibals had rules like they were not allowed to eat women. As wild and troublesome as the Caribs were thought to be, they were supposed to be peaceful amongst themselves.

These examples just show how confused different cultures can be when they encounter a different culture with limited communication.    

Sources  

Symcox, Geoffrey, and Blair Sullivan.Christopher Columbus and the Enterprise fo the Indies. Boston: Bedford/St. Martian's, 2005.

Alaeddine, Joseph. "Not Spanish, Not Natuhal." Last modified 2006. Accessed September 18, 2011. http://scholarsbank.uoregon.edu/jspui/bitstream/1794/2924/1/alaeddine.pdf.

Picture courtesy of http://www.johnwilliamwaterhouse.org/painting-dioscoro%20teofilo%20puebla%20tolin-the%20first%20landing%20of%20christopher%20columbus%20in%20america-56254.htm

Origin of the Tainos

 Once upon a time, there was no ocean and all of the human race lived in a cave in the mountain of Cacibajagua on what is now the island of Haiti. Macocael was put in charge of watching over those leaving the cave at night and dividing them up over the land. The people could not get caught by the Sun and could only venture out of the cave under the cover of the night. One day, Macocael was late in returning from his job and the Sun caught him. The Sun turned Macocael into a stone statue at the entrance of the cave.  

Guaguyona became angry about the amount of people lost to the Sun. He convinced all the women to take their children and abandon the men in the cave to forge out on their own. The children were abandoned by a stream and eventually turned into frogs. Guaguyona eventually abandoned the women as well. 

The men who were left went in search of the women but found no sign of them. One day when the men went out of the cave, they found a creature that was neither male nor female. The men decided to catch the creatures and create new women. They used people who had the disease caracaracol, which made their hands rough, to catch the creatures because they were incredibly quick and slippery.

Once the creatures were caught, the men tied them up and set woodpeckers on them to turn them into women. After the creation of women, men and women no longer had to fear the Sun and were able to move freely in the sunlight.

After the creation of women, the world still did not have an ocean. A man, Yaya, had a son who wished to kill him, but Yaya was clever. He disowned his son and later killed the son. He put the bones of his son in a gourd and hung them up in his house.

Later when Yaya wanted to see his son he took down the gourd. Instead of his son’s bones, Yaya found fish in the gourd. One day when Yaya was out, some children went in the hut in search of food. The children found the fish in the gourd and started to eat them. They got scared and broke the gourd. Water started gushing out of the gourd along with the fish and from it the ocean was born.   

Fray Ramón Payé recorded these legends and many others during his time with the Tainos. Ramón was a friar who went with Columbus on his second voyage to the New World. He came along on the voyage because there had been no friar on the first voyage, and he knew how to speak the native language. Columbus wanted Pané to write down the native customs and religion so Columbus could better understand them. Pané’s records continue to be the best records of the Taino society culture.

Pons,Frank Moya. The Dominican Republic: a National History.Princeton, New Jersey: Markus Weiner Publishers, Inc., 1998.

Bourne,Edward Gaylord. Columbus, Ramon Pane and the Beginnings of American Anthropology. Kessinger Publishing, 2003.