COLONIAL SPAIN
COLUMBUS--SIGHTING OF SAN SALVADOR--RETURN OF COLUMBUS--FOUNDING OF AN
EMPIRE--MEXICO AND PERU--THE WEST INDIES--GERMS OF REBELLION
In August, 1492, Columbus sailed on his voyage of discovery. In
September, 1898, his remains were conveyed from the New World to the
Old. Between those two dates an empire rose and fell. The causes which
led to the one and the effects which precipitated the other may now be
conveniently considered.
In earlier years Cadiz was a famous seaport. Her sons were immemorial
explorers. The presentiment of a land across the sea was theirs by
intuition. Constantly they extended their expeditions, and would have
extended them still further had not the Church interfered. The spirit of
enterprise, checked as heretical, revived centuries later in a
neighboring land. It was Portugal that it inspired. There the work of
exploration and discovery was resumed. The island of Madeira was reached
in 1420, the Azores annexed in 1431. But it was along the African coast
that Portuguese effort was mainly directed. Tradition asserted that the
entire continent had been circumnavigated centuries before by voyagers
from Phœnicia; but, as no details were recorded, the adventure was
regarded as something more than dubious. However, the west coast began
now to be systematically explored. Nuno Tristao entered the Senegal
River in 1445; a year later Diniz Dias, a fellow-navigator, sailed as
far as Cape Verd. The equator was not crossed until 1471; the Congo was
revealed in 1484; and in 1486 the crowning feat of all was accomplished,
when Bartholomew Diaz rounded the Stormy Cape, soon to become known as
the Cape of Good Hope, and opened up communication with the East by
water, instead of overland or by the indirect route of the Red Sea,
which necessitated the transshipment of all merchandise conveyed that
way.
The expedition to the west which Columbus ultimately directed was
conceived by him in 1474, and unfolded to John II., king of Portugal, by
whom, however, it was rejected; whereupon Columbus dispatched his
brother Bartholomew to enter into negotiations with Henry VII. of
England, and after assuring himself that neither Genoa nor Venice was
likely to lend him a willing ear, much less ready help, he repaired to
the south of Spain in 1485.
Had Bartholomew not fallen into the hands of pirates, and so been
prevented from reaching his destination for several years, it is more
than probable that the credit as well as the profit of the discovery of
America would have fallen at once to England, as Henry had both the
means and the inclination to indulge in some such venture, provided it
was not too costly, and showed any reasonable prospect of success. As it
was, Christopher was left to pursue his pleadings before the Spanish
Court.
It was an unfortunate time to put forward any proposals calculated to
divert the wealth and strength of the kingdom beyond its own borders;
for Ferdinand and Isabella were then in the very midst of the campaign
which ended in the final overthrow of the Moorish dominion, in the
Peninsula.
Ultimately, however, after the fall of Granada and eighteen years of
waiting, his proposals were accepted by Isabella and his hopes realized.
A royal edict constituted him perpetual and hereditary admiral and
viceroy of any territories discovered, together with a tenth of any
profits derived therefrom. With this edict and funds advanced by the
receiver of ecclesiastical revenues, Columbus hastened to the port of
Palos. There, two brothers by the name of Pinzon aiding, he got together
a crew of a hundred and twenty men, a scratch armada of three leaky
tubs--the “Santa Maria,” the “Pinta” and the “Nina”--and, on the 3d of
August, 1492, weighed anchor for pastures new.
Columbus, as admiral of the fleet, commanded the “Santa Maria”; the two
Pinzons, Martin Alonzo and Vicente Yanez, the “Pinta” and “Nina”
respectively. The expressed object of the voyage was to convert the
Grand Khan, supposed to be the great potentate of the Far East, to
Christianity; and Columbus never doubted but that in due course he would
arrive at Japan, or Zipangu, as it had been named by the Venetian
explorer, Marco Polo, who had reached it by an overland route more than
a century before, and had described its wonders, together with those of
Cathay or China, through which he passed on his way. The one condition
imposed was, that the squadron should not touch at any place on the
African continent, claimed to be under Portuguese jurisdiction, as that
would have led to immediate hostilities between the two countries.
The details of the voyage are sufficiently familiar to dispense with
narration here. It will suffice to note that after seventy days the
island of San Salvador, as it was then named, hove in sight; that on the
28th of October, sixteen days later, Cuba was discovered, and that on
the 6th of December Hayti was reached.
Several circumstances then made it advisable for Columbus to return to
Spain without further delay. He had seen enough to be convinced that a
much larger force than he had under his command would be necessary to
make the subjugation of these newly acquired territories effective; news
of the discovery might reach Europe before him, and be taken advantage
of by some other sovereign than the one to whom he was devoted; and he
had now sufficient treasure of various kinds to convince the most
skeptical of the complete success of his enterprise. After constructing
a small fort, and leaving a portion of the crew, at their own desire, to
garrison it until he should return, he set sail for home with the “Nina”
on the 4th of January, 1493.
Reaching Palos on the 13th of March, Columbus was immediately summoned
to Barcelona, where Ferdinand and Isabella were then domiciled, made a
triumphal entry into the city, and, on his arrival at the royal
residence, was welcomed by the king and queen in person, who commanded
him to be seated by their side, while he related the account of his
adventures.
Meanwhile the report of the discovery had spread. Portugal sought to
take advantage of it through the theory that all heathen countries were
in the gift of the Pope, which gift a Bull had already confirmed. But,
Spain protesting, a subsequent Bull confirmed the Portuguese in their
existing possessions, and granted them all territory that should be
discovered east of a line drawn from north to south, one hundred leagues
west of the Azores, while the Spaniards were to enjoy exclusive dominion
over everything west of it.
This was regarded as so unsatisfactory by Portugal that, at its
instigation, negotiations between the two countries were opened, and
resulted the following year in the conclusion of the Treaty of
Tordesillas, by which it was agreed to move the line three hundred and
seventy leagues west of the Azores; a most important change, because by
it Portugal subsequently established its claim to the Brazils, a portion
of which was found to fall east of the line of demarcation, while it
could urge the further plea of having been first in the field, through
the accidental deviation of Cabral. At any rate, the whole world outside
Europe was leased in perpetuity to Spain and Portugal; and had the
pretensions of the Holy See in things temporal as well as spiritual
continued to be recognized, neither England, France nor Germany could
to-day own a square yard of territory in the three greatest continents
of the world.
While the negotiations were in progress, preparations for a second
expedition on a vastly greater scale were rapidly pushed forward. The
direction of them was intrusted to a cleric named Fonseca, a capable man
of business, but who for some reason or other conceived a violent
dislike to Columbus, and threw every obstacle in his way. The eagerness
to embark on this second voyage was far more marked than the reluctance
exhibited in the first, and the best blood of Spain pressed into the
service. The number of adventurers was originally limited to a thousand;
but the applications were so numerous, from those who believed that
fortunes were waiting to be picked up in the New World, that this was
raised to twelve hundred, and fifteen hundred actually sailed in
seventeen vessels from the Bay of Cadiz on the 25th of September, 1493.
All was keen anticipation during the voyage, the disappointments only
commenced at its termination.
“Into these,” says Mr. R. J. Root, whose account we quote, “there is no
occasion to enter now. The main point of interest is, that a
sufficiently large force of Spaniards had taken part in the enterprise
to confirm the possession of the New World to their country, and defeat
any attempts that Portugal might be likely to make to filch it away.
After establishing a settlement at Isabella on the north of Hayti, or
Hispaniola, as it was then named, Columbus was free to prosecute further
explorations, the principal one being to sail along the southern shores
of Cuba; but, after continuing his voyage to within a few miles of its
western extremity, he arrived at the conclusion that it was the
mainland, and reported to that effect--nor was it until after his death
that it was proved to be an island. Everything was claimed for the
Spanish crown; and, as there were absolutely no competitors, it can well
be understood how the entire group of islands constituting the West
Indies became Spanish colonies.
“Various causes compelled Columbus to relinquish his exploration and
return, first to Hispaniola and then to Spain. For one thing, the two
vessels with which he set sail were ill-provisioned. With that
confidence in his own judgment which was so characteristic of the man,
he relied upon encountering at no great distance those civilized or at
least semi-civilized, nations of which he had come in search, but
instead he met only the fierce tribes of Cuba and Jamaica, who offered
resistance, not welcome, and arrows in lieu of food.
“On his return to the colony, affairs were in a most unsatisfactory
condition. The last thing most of the colonists dreamed of when they
left their native shores was work. They had gone out, as they fondly
imagined, to pick up the gold as it lay at their feet, and when they had
accumulated sufficient, meant to return and enjoy it. Though Columbus
had never promised, nor even suggested anything of the sort, his
brilliant descriptions and anticipations were undoubtedly responsible
for the ideas so freely indulged, and the indignation against him rose
just as rapidly as hopes were blasted. Complaints were finding their way
to Spain, and lest he should be prejudiced in the eyes of his
sovereigns, he determined to embark thence and render a personal account
of his stewardship.
“The voyage home was, if anything, more protracted, and entailed greater
hardships, than the previous one. Columbus arrived at Cadiz on the 1st
June, 1496, and met with a warmer reception than he had dared to hope
for. But intrigue was busy, and his arch-enemy Fonseca, who was by this
time in almost undisputed control of colonial affairs, threw numerous
and persistent obstacles in the way of his fitting out another
expedition. The stories told by returned colonists of the want and
suffering they had endured were not conducive to others volunteering
for the service, and it was only on the 30th May, 1498, that the admiral
was again able to set sail from San Lucar with a small fleet of six
vessels, manned almost entirely by convicts specially released.
“A more southerly course was taken than on either of the previous
occasions, and the first place touched was the island of Trinidad.
Sailing round it from the southwest, the ships were suddenly caught and
swept along by a mighty current, which Columbus discovered to be of
fresh water, and rightly judged to be poured out of some vast river. He
had, in fact, reached the coast of South America, and was in the waters
of the Orinoco as they rushed to mingle with the ocean. The natives
proved of a more friendly disposition as well as of superior type to
those encountered in many of the islands; and as they possessed gold,
and also something still more precious, pearls, every encouragement was
given them to trade. They were just as eager after the trumpery toys of
the Old World as the inhabitants of San Salvador had been the first time
they were ever exhibited in the New, and we may be sure the bargains
made were very profitable to the Spaniards. Still, these were not the
people Columbus had come in search of, and his inquiries and labors were
diligently directed to the discovery of a passage which should lead him
still further west to the dominions of the Grand Khan.
“After some time vainly spent in exploring the coast with this object,
an affection of the eyes compelled him to desist and make once more for
Hispaniola, where he had left his brother Bartholomew as governor during
his absence. A strange welcome awaited him, however. In response to the
continued complaints of the colonists, a commissioner had been
dispatched from Spain to inquire into their grievances, and certain
powers were intrusted to him to assume authority in the island in case
of necessity. Deeply impressed with a sense of his own importance,
Francisco Bobadilla, the officer appointed, immediately on his arrival
began to act in the most reckless and arbitrary manner; and the
discoverer of the New World, without any warning, found himself
arrested, loaded with chains, thrown into prison, and finally sent home
to Spain in this ignominious fashion.
“Great was the public, still greater the royal indignation, when he
arrived in this sorry plight; every effort was made to soothe the
feelings so deeply wounded by this dire insult, and Bobadilla would have
paid dearly for his temerity had he survived to answer for his misdeeds.
But news had reached Spain of the wonderful riches of the Gulf of Paria
some time before the arrival of Columbus, and the malignant and untiring
Fonseca, in direct contravention of the charter conveying the rights to
the admiral, stimulated private enterprise to follow in the track,
taking the utmost possible advantage of whatever information he had
gained in his official capacity, and imparting it to others. An
expedition was fitted out under Alonzo de Ojeda, one of the most
dare-devil adventurers who ever quitted the shores of his own or any
other country, and whose marvelous exploits in Hispaniola had already
excited the wonder and admiration of men long accustomed to feats of
skill and courage. Accompanying him was Amerigo Vespucci, a Venetian
navigator, who strangely enough was destined to give his name to the
whole of the vast continent which he was about to visit for the first
time, though he never accomplished anything of practical importance in
it. Several other ships were fitted out, including a caravel of fifty
tons’ burden by Pedro Alonzo Nino, which performed the most lucrative
voyage of any vessel or squadron equipped up to that time, and returned
home well freighted with pearls and other costly treasure. This was
quite sufficient to stimulate ambition as well as greed, and when
Columbus arrived he had the mortification of learning that others were
actively exploiting his preserves.
“While these events were happening, another enterprise was undertaken
quite beyond the cognizance of the Spanish authorities. Bartholomew
Columbus, it will be remembered, had proceeded on a mission to Henry
VII. some years previous; and when the English monarch learned that the
most sanguine anticipations had been realized, he was anxious to share
in the results. As early as 1495 he endeavored to equip and dispatch a
squadron of his own, but it was not until two years later that Sebastian
Cabot, despite the existence of the Papal Bull, set sail from Bristol.
Steering a direct westerly course, he struck the coast of Newfoundland,
and leisurely sailed south almost to the extreme point of Florida, ere
he resumed his homeward journey. The Spanish government naturally
protested against this infringement of its rights, and Henry found it
politic to listen, as he was then in close alliance, and engaged in
negotiating the marriage between his son and Katharine of Aragon, which
subsequently proved so pregnant to the religious and ecclesiastical
destinies of England. It was at a later period, and under totally
different circumstances, that the Anglo-Saxon race was to occupy and
overrun the northern continent.
“Columbus himself was spared to undertake one more voyage, and this time
it was to be confined exclusively to the continent, he being absolutely
forbidden to land at Hispaniola, where Nicolas Ovando, with a force of
all sorts and conditions of men, numbering two thousand five hundred,
had been installed as governor; and so jealous was he of any
interference with his prerogatives that, when the admiral was driven by
stress of weather to take shelter in the harbor of San Domingo, he was
ordered to quit instantly.
“This proved the most disastrous of all his voyages. After exploring the
coasts of Honduras and Central America generally, in search of the
non-existent channel, until the provisions were in such a state that
they could only be eaten in the dark, it was decided to land, despite
the fierce opposition of the natives, and plant a permanent settlement
under Bartholomew, who accompanied his brother. This, however, had to be
abandoned; and on the way back the only remaining vessel ran aground in
Dry Harbor in Jamaica, and became a total wreck, the most incredible
suffering, aggravated by constant mutiny, being experienced, until the
remnant of the crew was eventually relieved.
“Columbus having shown the way to the mainland, as well as the islands,
it was left to others to reveal the vast extent and natural wealth of
what he had discovered, and he died on the 20th May, 1506, in complete
ignorance of many of the most important facts which his genius and
tenacity permitted to be made known for the first time to the civilized
world.
“Columbus and his immediate followers hit upon the most unpromising part
of the American Continent, where the damp, hot atmosphere, with its
resulting rank and profuse vegetation, makes human existence intolerable
if not wellnigh impossible. As the land was known to contain gold,
however, the most persistent efforts were made to settle in it, and two
regular governments were established under Alonzo de Ojeda and Diego de
Nicuessa respectively. Nothing but disaster resulted for many a long
year, and the greatest difficulties were experienced in extending or
enlarging them in any direction but coastwise.
“Narrow as the isthmus is in the part selected, it appeared
impenetrable, until eventually the magic word gold encouraged a few bold
spirits to overcome every obstacle. Wherever the adventurers went inland
they heard of a great sea and vast abundance of the precious metal in an
unknown land beyond. After incredible hardships, Vasco Nunez de Balboa
and a handful of followers forced their way through the thickets and
swamps, scaled the mountain range which runs like a backbone along the
isthmus, and were rewarded for their pains when they reached the summit
by the sight of the great southern sea lying at their feet. This
occurred on the 26th September, 1513, and on the following day the party
descended the western slopes; Vasco Nunez, as its leader and commander,
taking possession of the Pacific Ocean on behalf of the King of Spain,
with all the ceremonies and formalities customary on those occasions.
“How to take advantage of it was the question. Far south, beyond where
vision could reach, lay the golden land. They were without ships or
means of conveyance of any sort, and the shore upon which they were now
stranded was dangerous as well as inhospitable. The observant and
ingenious mind of Nunez, inferior only to that of Columbus, evolved the
idea of transporting material across the isthmus for the construction of
a fleet to undertake the subjugation of all countries bordering on the
Southern Sea; and such was the work eventually accomplished, though not
by Nunez, who fell a victim to the jealousy and treachery of Pedrarias
Davila, a new governor dispatched from Spain. It was left to one of his
lieutenants, Francisco Pizarro, to set forth on a definite expedition
more than ten years later; and it was not until nearly twenty years had
elapsed that Peru was discovered, and the rich kingdom of the Incas
added to the spoils of the Castilian monarch.
“Meanwhile, exploration had been busy on the eastern side of the
continent. Cuba, realized at length to be an island, was regularly
colonized in 1511, and the governor, Diego Velasquez, being an
enterprising and ambitious man, dispatched an expedition westward. The
great peninsula of Yucatan was reached, and the officers of the little
squadron were struck by the much higher state of civilization exhibited
by the natives than by any others hitherto met with either in the
islands or on the mainland. The news of this led to the subsequent
expedition of Cortes, the story of whose conquest of Mexico reads more
like a fairy tale than the narrative of actual events and hard
realities.
“The years 1519, 1520 and 1521 were occupied by this, the greatest of
all the enterprises undertaken by Spain in the New World. Nor was there
any lack of activity in other directions. Juan Ponce sailed from Porto
Rico, in 1512, in search of a spring whose waters insured perennial
youth to whoever drank of them, and found and annexed Florida instead.
More than one navigator cruised southward as far as the Rio de la Plata,
and in 1520 Magellan reached the extremity of the southern continent,
and passed through the straits which bear his name. Nor was Cortes idle
after he had accomplished his great work. North and south he sought to
add to the territory of New Spain, until all the countries of Central
America on one side, and the peninsula of California on the other, were
brought under its sway. In less than half a century from the day
Columbus first set foot on San Salvador, the entire continent, from
Labrador to Patagonia, had been visited, and by far the greater part of
it annexed to, and nominally ruled by, the Castilian crown.
“To return, however, to Hispaniola. The rapid exhaustion which
mismanagement produced there, joined to the absence of gold, led to the
creation of other colonies. The discovery of the fisheries, first at
Paria, and then in the islands of the Pacific, opened up an unexpected
source of wealth; but it was not until Montezuma offered his munificent
gifts to Cortes, to induce the latter to quit the shores of Mexico, that
the first great reservoir of the precious metals was tapped. Still, it
must be remembered that the great stores of gold discovered, first in
Mexico, and subsequently in Peru, did not in themselves imply that these
countries were capable of continuing to produce unlimited quantities.
They were the accumulations of many years, possibly of many centuries;
for, as there was no foreign trade, everything produced which could not
be consumed had necessarily to be preserved or destroyed.
“It may be wondered what value gold possessed in the ideas of these
people. That it was held in nothing like the same esteem as by Europeans
is certain; but in Peru, at any rate, its production and preservation
were assured, from the fact that it was regarded as tears wept by the
sun, which was the god of the people, whose Incas, or rulers, were
called the Children of the Sun. In neither case, then, is it surprising
that the treasure was not clung to with more tenacity. Both Montezuma
and Atahualpa set a higher value upon many other things; and the
quantities seized by Cortes and Pizarro and their respective followers,
vast though it appeared in their eyes, and as it really was in those
days, was parted with, with scarcely a pang of regret. That secured by
Pizarro was by far the greater spoil, and was supposed to be the price
of the freedom of the Inca himself, who offered to fill a room 85 feet
by 17, and as high as a man could reach, with gold plate in exchange for
it. He did not quite succeed, because Pizarro treacherously put him to
death before the task was completed, yet the amount realized for
distribution was equivalent to something like three and a half millions
sterling ($17,500,000) of the money of to-day, and enriched the
commonest foot-soldier beyond the dreams of avarice.
“It was silver, not gold, moreover, which eventually made both countries
at once the wonder and the envy of the civilized world. The richest
mines were unknown to the Indians, having only been discovered after
the Spanish conquest. Those of Zacotecas in Mexico were first worked in
1532, while the more famous Potosi lode in Peru was laid bare in 1545,
by a native scrambling up the side of a mountain in pursuit of some
llamas which had strayed from his flock, and uprooting the shrubs to
which he clung for support.
“In the West Indies, meanwhile, the larger islands, like Porto Rico,
Cuba and Jamaica, were gradually colonized, but the smaller ones were
left alone; it can well be understood that in the absence of any proved
deposits of gold they were scarcely worth attention, and it was
sufficient to keep a watch over them to defend them from the incursions
of other nations. With the conquest of Mexico, however, the center of
gravity was moved further west, and still more so when followed by that
of Peru, because the only known route from the latter was by Panama and
across the isthmus.
“These territories were altogether too great for efficient oversight;
that of Mexico stretching from California in the north to Venezuela in
the south, and including not only the West Indies, but the far removed
Philippines, while that of Lima embraced the whole of South America both
east and west of the Andes. The great territories included in the
present Republics of Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay were looked upon as
of little value, as they contained neither gold nor silver; and as every
attempt made to settle them only seemed to end in failure, little
attention was given to their affairs. They became, indeed, a distinct
source of loss to Spain, as they were found useful for purposes of
contraband trade; and eventually the gold and silver, which could not
be safely smuggled through the ordinary ports of shipment, were conveyed
across the Andes and down the rivers to places of embarkation on the
Amazon or Rio do la Plata, where foreign ships awaited the spoil and
were ready to barter the coveted produce and manufactures of Europe in
exchange. When these two viceroyalties were eventually subdivided, it
was not into east and west, but north and south, and New Granada became
the center of one; while the territories now included in the United
States were separated from Mexico, and constituted the other.
“In Spain everybody, from the king in his palace to the peasant in his
hut, regarded the colonies simply as a source of revenue and profit to
himself, and when they ceased to be this, they would be useless. The
most stringent regulations were adopted, therefore, against trading or
even communicating among themselves, or of engaging in any industry,
manufacturing or agricultural, which was not indigenous to the country;
indeed, Spain insisted upon supplying everything it could grow or make
which would stand the sea voyage, at its own price. The cultivation of
neither the olive nor the vine was permitted in the New World, and
severe penalties were inflicted upon any one who had the temerity to
disobey. Peru and Chili, however, were specially exempted, owing to
their immense distance, and the damaged condition in which liquids
generally arrived there, but they were not allowed to export the produce
to any neighboring country, and must consume it themselves. The duties
of the colonists were, in fact, strictly limited to obtaining as much
gold and silver as they could, while the Spaniards at home were to take
care that they retained as little of it as possible. For all that, many
fortunes were realized, principally by bullion being smuggled out of the
country; and had there not been some such inducement, few men would have
cared to expatriate themselves, and live amid such uncomfortable
surroundings.
“Precisely similar principles were observed in all matters relating to
government. Every office of profit under the crown, almost every
emolument, however trivial, was reserved for persons of pure Spanish
birth. As a consequence, the official class was migratory, and remained
in the colonies no longer than was necessary to accumulate a fortune or
a competence, according to the taste of each individual member of it.
Though there were honest and honorable men to be found among them,
notably those filling the most exalted positions, that did not prevent
the vast majority from preying on the colonists, many of whom, by virtue
of the grants of territory they had received, attained to great
influence and wealth. Their descendants were, nevertheless, debarred
from all participation in either the legislative or executive functions
of government, though they might have nothing but the purest Spanish
blood flowing in their veins. Nor could they become dignitaries of the
Church without much difficulty. In the days when the Holy See found it
politic to be on good terms with the Spanish sovereign, the whole
ecclesiastical patronage of the New World was vested in him and his
successors; and though many Popes endeavored to get this privilege back
into their own hands, they always failed, and were compelled to confirm
the nominations of the secular ruler. Both Mexico and Peru were rapidly
overrun with clergy, secular as well as regular, and monastic
establishments sprang up everywhere like mushrooms, yet preferment was
always reserved for their brethren in Spain; and out of nearly four
hundred bishops and archbishops consecrated up to the middle of the
seventeenth century, scarce a dozen were taken from the Spanish-American
community known as Creoles.
“A system so rigid is bound to break. Federation is all very well and
may accomplish much that is beneficial to all concerned. But its first
condition is elasticity, so that every section within its embrace may
enjoy full freedom of expansion. There must be no jealousies, no
recriminations, and, above everything, no attempts to get all and give
nothing. These conditions are possible under an arrangement entered into
freely by all parties; they are unattainable when imposed by the strong
upon the weak. That is why Spain never won the gratitude of its
colonies, why each and every one eagerly seized the opportunity of
throwing off the yoke, and fought desperately for independence, and why,
to-day, her colonial power is ended.”