HISTORICAL DICTIONARY A–Z - Spain and Portugal: A Reference Guide from the Renaissance to the Present - page 237

J

Jamaica
“Discovered” by C HRISTOPHER C OLUMBUS in
1494, on his second voyage to the New
World, this island in the Greater Antilles
was named Santiago by him, after the Span-
ish saint. This name never came into gen-
eral use, however. Even the Spaniards
referred to it by the Amerindian name Xay-
maca more commonly spelled Jamaica, sig-
nifying “land of forest and water.” The
island became something of a stepchild
among the Caribbean colonies, for Spanish
settlers were reluctant to go there from the
larger and more prosperous islands of the
region, and those who did for the most
part were quickly lured away by the pros-
pect of gold on the continental mainland.
Formally “conquered” in 1509, the native
inhabitants were estimated at 60,000. They
offered relatively little resistance and were
soon subjected to forced labor, which along
with the spread of disease exterminated
them by the end of the century. In the
early 1600s the population was calculated
at approximately 1,500, evenly divided
between Spaniards and African slaves
imported to provide a new labor force. Nei-
ther the colonial administration nor the
home government took much interest in
Jamaica, either as an economic resource or a
strategic position. Warnings from local
authorities that the island was becoming the

resort of pirates and raiders were routinely
ignored. Several initiatives were made toward
the fortification of the principal harbors
between 1620 and 1640, but these came to
little. Warnings about the increasing interest
of England in the island were likewise dis-
missed. Virtually no precautions were taken,
therefore, against the inevitable attack. In
1655 English forces captured the island.
Belated attempts to hold Jamaica for Spain
were repulsed. A major expedition launched
from M EXICO proved equally unsuccessful.
By the late 1660s Spain had abandoned
Jamaica, although formal cession did not
take place until several decades later.

Japan, Portuguese presence in
Early in the 16th century, as Portuguese
traders and missionaries traversed the
Indian Ocean region and reached the Pacific
shore of East Asia, they became aware of
the commercial potential of Japan, hitherto
known only indirectly to Europeans. First
contacts were made in 1542-43, and mis-
sionary activities promoted by F RANCIS
X AVIER took place in 1549-51. Both com-
mercial activity by Portuguese traders and
the preaching of Christianity by Portuguese
Jesuits continued in Japan for the next 50
years. After 1571 Portuguese operations
were centered at the port of Nagasaki.

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