Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
European Competition & Colonization
As Taíno civilization collapsed, so did the gold mines, and no amount of imported African
slaves could make up the shortfall. Spain dropped Hispaniola as quickly as it had found it,
turning its attention instead to the immense riches coming from its new possessions in
Mexico and Peru. Santo Domingo was reduced to a trading post for gold and silver con-
voys, but couldn't even hold onto that position with the opening of new trade routes via
Cuba. After the English admiral Sir Francis Drake sacked Santo Domingo in 1586, it was
effectively abandoned for the next 50 years, further signaling the decline of Spanish Hispa-
niola.
For the next three centuries, Europe was riven by war. Imperial Spain slipped into a slow
decline, and the English and French took advantage, competing not just in the Old World
but in North America and the Caribbean. Hispaniola was considered a great prize. The
colony was stagnating under Spanish rule. Both the English and French encouraged piracy
against the Spanish, even licensing the pirates as 'privateers,' and the rugged coast and
mountainous interior of Hispaniola made it an ideal base for operations. Although a few
captains became notorious raiders, most divided their time between hunting the wild cattle
and pigs that thrived on the island and plundering for booty. The lack of any governmental
control also made the island a haven for runaway slaves.
For security, the Spanish convoys sailed en masse once a year, a system that effectively
cut Hispaniola off from trade with the mother country - not only were visiting ships few
and far between, but the colonists were banned from trading with non-Spaniards. The
colony shrank to the area around Santo Domingo, leaving the rest of the island open for the
taking.
The English attempted to come in through the front door in 1655, but their army of
13,000 soldiers was repelled at the gates of Santo Domingo. Years of neglect meant the
125,000-person Spanish colony missed out on the sugar rush for now (Spanish investors
had preferred to put their money into booming Cuba), relying primarily on cattle ranching
for its lifeblood. Slave imports had never been high, as they simply couldn't be afforded,
and slaves made up less than 1% of the population.
French tobacco farmers grabbed more and more territory until France had formed a de
facto colony (which would become Haiti). The Spanish could do nothing, especially as
France was beating them on the battlefields of Europe. At the close of the 17th century,
France had managed to grab the western two-thirds of Hispaniola, christening them the
colony of Saint-Domingue. It was the richest colony in the world due to sugar and slavery
