New World was established, may be taken as illustrating the point where
the island population had reached the most advanced standard of life.
It is true that in part of the island the Caribs had effected a landing
and were driving the less warlike Arawaks before them. But Hayti, when
the Spanish conquest began, was already an agricultural country. It
had no dense forests; there was an absence of larger game; the climate
was mild and equable, and there were broad open tracts of country well
adapted to cultivation. When the island was discovered, the population
was estimated to be above a million; a few years later, in 1508, when
under the cruel methods of the Spanish conquest the inhabitants must
have been very considerably reduced, there were still 60,000 males
left. The island was probably therefore more densely populated than
any part of the mainland. The natural food resources in the shape of
fish and small game could hardly support such a number. The growing of
maize was not unknown, but the evidence goes to prove that the natives
lived largely on the product of enormous manioc plantations. The root
of this plant was reduced to a pulp, the juice was pressed out, and
after being exposed to heat, the residue took the form of a meal that
could be turned into bread cakes. The preparation of a crop of manioc
was not difficult. The great savannah lands of the island, which were
covered with prairie grass, were burnt over; the soil was thrown up
with a pointed stick, hardened by fire, a few cuttings of the stem were
planted in, some slight weeding was done, and after twelve months,
without additional labor, there was ready a heavy crop of roots that
could be immediately converted into bread. According to Las Casas’
estimate the labor of twenty women working six hours a day for a month
was sufficient to provide bread enough to last three hundred persons
for two years. The ease with which the crop was grown is shown by the
naïve offer of a native chieftain to his Spanish masters to substitute
for the tribute of gold which his people had no way of providing, an
enormous field ready planted, which was to extend across the island
from Isabella in the north to Santo Domingo in the south. The bulk of
the natives including the males did not work at this primitive method
of tillage, nor did they share in the breadmaking, but apparently
their freedom from this kind of labor did not encourage other types of
industry. The only metal worked was gold, though the island contained
both copper and tin. For cutting they used stone implements, and for
fishing bone hooks. Owing to the mild climate little clothing was
necessary. The cotton plant was not artificially cultivated, both
cloths and hammocks being made out of the wild cotton. Little attention
was paid to housebuilding, though there were some large joint family
houses. There was no stone architecture, and even fortification in its
simplest form was not known.
For the purposes of warfare the island was divided into five
districts, each of which contributed several thousand warriors under
an independent chief, whose office was devolved upon him by hereditary
descent. The warlike equipment was inadequate, not equal to that used
by the aggressive Caribs, who had the training which comes from the
hunting of large game. The Arawaks were therefore completely at the
mercy of their savage assailants, unless they fought the Caribs with
overwhelming numbers on their side. When the Spaniards began the
conquest of the island the mild natives had, therefore, no chance of
withstanding even small numbers of Europeans.
As a further test of the stage of culture reached by these, the most
advanced of the islanders, we may take their religion, which proves
their affinity to the lowest peoples known. They practised a simple
form of fetichism combined with ancestor worship. There was a class of
wizards, both men and women, who were supposed to control the spirit
world. The multitude of spirits were embodied in the form of idols,
sometimes in human shape, made of various materials. There were also
idols consisting of the wooden figures of dead chiefs set up over
their places of burial. The most famous of this type of idol were the
images of the two first ancestors of mankind that were kept in the
cave from which they had emerged after the deluge. As worship to these
divinities, rude hymns were recited and manioc bread was used as a
sacrificial offering and afterwards distributed among the worshippers.
The backward condition of the islanders did not discourage the projects
of colonization which were inaugurated immediately on Columbus’ return
from his first voyage. In 1493 the new flotilla showed the expansion of
the hopes based on the discoverer’s success of the year before; there
were now seventeen ships carrying 1200 men: miners, artisans, farmers,
noblemen, all bent on the work of colonization. Twelve priests were
included in the party. The exploration of the interior of the island
was taken in hand by one of Columbus’ lieutenants, whose object was to
discover gold and to commence the systematic working of the mines.
It was nearly a year before the Admiral returned to Hayti. In the
meantime affairs in the nascent colony were in anything but a happy
condition. The colonists, dissatisfied probably because fortunes
were not coming quickly enough, were sending to the home government
petitions and complaints condemning Columbus’ administration. A royal
commissioner was soon sent out, whose personal inspection of the
island resulted in a most unfavorable report being despatched to the
Spanish sovereigns. Internal dissensions continued, due to quarrels
over questions of jurisdiction, but these difficulties were less
serious than the miseries occasioned by the oppression of the natives.
Though Las Casas describes them as “the most humble, patient, loving,
peaceful, and docile people, without contentions or tumults; neither
fractious nor quarrelsome, without hatred or desire for revenge, more
than any other people of the world,” the advent among them of colonists
and adventurers bent on introducing the advanced economic system of
Europe changed everything. A tribute was laid upon the whole population
of the island which required that each Indian above fourteen years of
age was to pay a little bell filled with gold every three months. In
all other provinces the natives were to pay an “arroba” of cotton.
It was soon found that these taxes could not be collected. Accordingly,
in 1496, a change was made; instead of gold and cotton, labor was
substituted. The Indians near the plantations were obliged to prepare
and work them. Such was the origin of the “repartimiento” system which,
applied to a population unused to regular toil, and administered by
harsh and unprincipled masters, transformed the larger Antilles into
virtual prison houses. The natives who resisted were treated as guilty
of rebellion and were sent to Spain to be sold as slaves. Oftentimes,
in order to escape this servitude, whole villages and even tribes would
take refuge in the forests. Regular raids were organized against those
who tried to evade the tribute; those who were captured were sent to
Spain. In 1498 the vessels of Columbus, fleet took home a consignment
of six hundred, one-third of whom were given to the masters of the
ships to cover the freight charges.
There were scruples on the part of the home government against
sanctioning such an arrangement, and on more than one occasion, in
applying his policy of “pacific penetration,” Columbus acted without
waiting for royal sanction. After the two years’ insurrection of
Roldon, the chief justice, had been brought to an end by mutual
agreement, Columbus, in order to institute an era of good feeling,
made a generous distribution of slaves and lands among Roldon’s
supporters. Each man was to receive a certain number of hillocks for
the purpose of manioc culture. The operation of tillage was placed in
the hands of an Indian chieftain whose people were obliged to dwell
on the land they cultivated. Those of the former rebels who chose to
return home received from one to three slaves apiece. Fifteen took
advantage of this last offer; but they soon found themselves confronted
by a royal proclamation which directed that all holders of slaves given
them by Columbus should return them to Hayti under pain of death. An
unfortunate exception was, however, made in the case of Indians who had
been taken as rebels.
Further indications of the attempt of the home government to curb the
economic exploitation of the island introduced by Columbus are seen in
the instructions given to Nicolas de Ovando, who succeeded Bobadilla as
royal governor in April, 1502. He was directed to convert the Indians,
not to maltreat them, nor to reduce them to slavery; to require them
to work the gold mines, but to pay for their work; to refuse to allow
Jews or Moors to have access to the island; to accept blacks as slaves.
The idle and the dissolute were to be returned to Spain, and all mining
concessions made by the previous governor were to be revoked. Ovando’s
rule was to extend over all of the West Indies, with his residence on
Hispaniola (Hayti).
The expedition conveying the new chief was of imposing size; there
were thirty ships and 2500 persons. On board was the famous Las Casas,
afterwards the apostle and champion of the Indians, who came now to
make his fortune in the New World like so many other adventurers. The
attraction of the reported mines of gold was irresistible, and it can
be imagined how great was the joy of the Spaniards when the first news
they heard in the colony was the report of the finding of a huge nugget
of gold thirty-five pounds in weight. This treasure was dug up by an
Indian girl not far from the settlement of San Domingo.
Equally reassuring as a foundation for the prosperity of the colony was
a second piece of news which recounted how, in a part of the island,
there had been an uprising of the natives which had been successfully
punished, and in which the victors had reaped the reward of turning
the captured rebels into slaves. It was well known that the feeling
in the home country was becoming distinctly unfavorable to a colonial
polity practised so ruthlessly on the natives. The Spanish sovereigns
had declared themselves to be the protectors of the Indians, and had
ordered them both to be treated mildly by the civil authorities and
to be prepared for Christianity by the representatives of the Church.
They were to be civilized, and taught the Spanish language and habits
of industry. No arms should be sold to them, nor strong drink; there
was to be cultivation of the soil, but it was not to be done under
duress. The Indian lands could be bought or sold, and the natives were
to be encouraged to adopt autonomous municipal institutions under the
direction of the priests. They were also to have the right of appearing
in court to act as witnesses or to institute suits. As to the mines,
they were permitted to work in them, but were not to be forced. Even
tribal customs were allowed to be continued, where they were not
contrary to the ethical obligations of a higher type of civilization.
It was an almost idyllic scheme for assuming the white man’s burden,
but it remained a paper reformation; as the testimony of Las Casas
shows. For some time before his ordination this untiring advocate of
the rights of the natives lived in Hispaniola the life of the ordinary
Spanish colonist. He acquired slaves; worked them in the mines, and
devoted himself with such assiduity to the control of the estates
previously acquired in the colony by his father that he declares they
turned in to him a yearly income of 100,000 castellanes, an enormous
sum, considering the purchasing power of money at the beginning of the
sixteenth century.
The gold fever caused terrible havoc among the colonists; they were
not used to manual labor, they knew nothing of the methods of mining,
they were poorly supplied with tools for the work. Often they rushed
to the mines without taking with them an adequate supply of food.
The tropical climate soon brought on a strange disease, probably
pernicious malaria. Under its ravages, in a short period, 2500 of
Ovando’s men met their deaths not long after they came to the colony.
The conditions of life were hard, even food being scarce in the
neighborhood of the mines, and, when the royal tax of one-fifth was
deducted from the small proceeds after the expenses were paid, the
colonist’s share was barely sufficient to cover his living expenses.
The few who were contented with agricultural pursuits were really
better off in every way, but in the mania for gold discovery no thought
was given to the magnificent resources of the soil.
Las Casas notes that the worst effects of this colonial policy began in
the year 1504, when Queen Isabella’s death became known. Ovando’s short
and easy methods with the natives are described with great vividness
by Las Casas, who took part in the warfare against one of the native
chieftains. It was, of course, a conflict in which the weaker race
could play their part only through ruse and stratagem, for, as Las
Casas says, “all their wars are little more than games with little
sticks such as children play in our countries.” Nor were the natives
well qualified even for this sort of hostilities, since they were “most
humble, most patient, most peaceful and calm, without strife or tumult;
not wrangling nor querulous, as free from hate and desire for revenge
as any in the world.” Even Columbus, in the hearing of Las Casas, bore
witness to their humane qualities. He said that he met with such gentle
and agreeable reception and such help and guidance when the ship in
which he sailed was lost there, that in his own country and from his
own father better treatment would not have been possible.
The escape of the natives to the mountains and their efforts to
retaliate started, according to Las Casas, the war of extermination.
When the governor Ovando arrived in the part of the island which
was ruled over by a woman chieftain, Anacaona, more than 300 chiefs
were brought together and assured of the pacific intentions of the
Europeans. “He lured the principal ones by fraud into a straw house,
and, setting fire to it, he burnt them alive; all the others,
together with numberless people, were put to the sword and lance; and
to do honor to the lady Anacaona, they hanged her.” Death by fire,
administered with the most exquisitely devised tortures, was the fate
of the Indian chieftains. “I once saw,” he continues, “that they had
four or five of the chief lords stretched on the gridiron to burn them,
and I think also there were two or three pairs of gridirons where they
were burning others.” The fugitives were hunted down by boar-hounds who
were taught and trained to tear an Indian to pieces as soon as they saw
him.
Although Cuba had been discovered by Columbus, no attempt was made to
occupy the island until 1511, when his son Diego, acting under the
powers conferred upon him by the home government, selected Velasquez,
one of the oldest and most respected colonists in Hispaniola, to
take charge of the enterprise. With only three hundred men he easily
occupied the island. Like the Indians of Hispaniola they were not able
to organize any effective resistance. There was a repetition of the
atrocities by which Hispaniola had been pacified. By 1521 the miserable
natives were so brought under control that they were turned into the
unwilling and inefficient instruments of the colonial policy of their
new masters.
Las Casas was present at the close of this expedition, and he speaks
of frequent burnings and hangings of the inhabitants. Many committed
suicide to escape the enforced working in the mines. The following item
in his indictment deserves to be reproduced: “There was,” he says, “an
officer of the king in this island to whose share 300 Indians fell,
and by the end of three months he had, through labor in the mines,
caused the deaths of 270; so that he had only 30 left, which was the
tenth part. The authorities afterwards gave him as many again, and
again he killed them; and they continued to give and he to kill.... In
three or four months, I being present, more than 7000 children died of
hunger, their fathers and mothers having been taken to the mines.” The
concentration of the conquerors on economic success may be gathered
from the experience of Las Casas himself, who, though he had done all
in his power to restrain the commission of cruel deeds, wherever he was
present, did not hesitate to take advantage, priest though he was, of
the “repartimiento” system, under which he received a valuable piece of
land and a number of Indians to work it, in recognition of the services
he had rendered in conciliating the natives.
Columbus, it must be remembered, received an authorization to deport
from Spain criminals under sentence of either partial or perpetual
banishment. Other delinquents had had their sentences remitted provided
they agreed to go to the Indies. The result among such a motley crowd,
released from the ordinary pressure of social obligations, was a laxity
and dissoluteness such as was seen in the nineteenth century among
frontier communities. Even Columbus spoke with no admiration of the
colonists. “I know,” he said, “that numbers of men have gone to the
Indies who did not deserve water from God or man.”
Despite the fact that the exploration and subjugation of the larger
Antilles went on with feverish energy, Puerto Rico and Jamaica both
being taken in 1509, the profits of the colonial system were most
disappointing. The expeditions were costly, there was no economy in
organization; at home and abroad, there were a host of officials who
had to receive salaries. The gold mines were poor in quality. The
native population, by war and disease, had been so much diminished
that labor became scarce. The smaller islands were then drawn upon to
keep up the supply of labor in Hispaniola, and as the death-rate still
continued excessively high, the place of the natives was filled by
negroes imported from the Portuguese colonies in Africa. Some negroes
were taken to Hispaniola as early as 1505. In 1517 the African slave
traffic was authorized by Charles V.
A more intelligent side of the colonial system was seen in the aim
of the government to acclimatize in America European plants, trees,
and domestic animals. From the time of the second voyage of Columbus
there had been detailed government orders, according to which each
ship that carried colonists should also be provided with specimens of
such seeds as might be useful. Though there were very few domesticated
animals in America, it was soon found that the European varieties would
flourish there. Las Casas often speaks of the astonishment caused
among the natives by their first sight of the horse. This animal soon
became an economic necessity, and in many places herds of wild horses
in unoccupied regions proved how fast the original stock multiplied
in the newly discovered countries. Cattle also soon became one of the
chief articles of internal trade between the colonies, and hides were
one of the staple goods carried on the fleets engaged in West Indian
trade. Sheep and European poultry also were introduced with great
success. As to plants, the vine was not encouraged because the mother
country produced more wine than was needed for home consumption, and
it was an article that could be transported easily to the colonists.
The introduction of the sugar-cane was a social benefaction, for it
set the settlers free from the burden of gold mining under unfavorable
conditions. The sugar industry was developed rapidly after the
introduction of negro labor.
With the prevailing ideas of state control of industry, colonial
autonomy was out of the question. The need of a central body with
supreme powers was suggested from the first by the dissensions caused
by the conflict of jurisdiction between the various officials, whose
spheres of action were not carefully distinguished. In 1509 the king
decided to establish at Hispaniola a supreme tribunal which could hear
appeals from the decisions of the governor. From this body grew the
committee called the Real Audiencia, or royal court of claims, which,
after 1521, governed most of the West Indies. The function of this
body was to look after the welfare of the natives, to watch over the
executive acts of the governor and other functionaries, and to put a
stop to abuses. An appeal from the committee lay to the Council of the
Indies in Spain. This body was given final jurisdiction in all civil,
military, ecclesiastical, and commercial affairs. With the consent of
the king it named the viceroys, the presidents of the Audiencia, and
the governors, and it had full control of the higher ecclesiastical
patronage.
There was also the Indian Chamber of Commerce, the so-called Casa de
Contratacion, which was intrusted with the supervision of the West
Indian trade. This body saw to the provision of ships, received all
goods, and had jurisdiction of all commercial questions between the
colonies and the home country. Through the “Casa” passed all the
enormous mineral wealth that came from the opening up of the mines on
the continent of America. In 1515, owing to the representations made
in Spain by Las Casas of the grievances of the native population,
Cardinal Ximenes sent three friars of the order of St. Jerome with
full authority to act on behalf of the Indians. Las Casas was
appointed protector. When the commission was under discussion, he
asked specifically for unconditional liberty for the natives and for
the suppression of the serf system in all its forms and provisions,
in order to enable the European proprietors to work their estates
profitably. These humanitarian efforts had little effect in arresting
the prevailing methods of exploitation. When the pearl coast near
Trinidad in the northeastern region of South America attracted
settlers, there was a fresh demand for enforced labor of a new type,
and the native tribes were raided in order to secure supplies of pearl
divers. Although through the voyages of explorers various widely
separated points on the mainland had been touched, no place had been
effectively occupied by settlement. Wherever efforts were made,
the native population, the Caribs, were found to have such warlike
qualities that no successful foothold could be secured. The climate
also proved fatal to Europeans. After Balboa made his celebrated
passage across the Isthmus, an expedition of 15 ships and 2000 men came
to occupy the land, but 600 of these died in a few months.
No point yet visited by European adventurers had offered examples of
native civilization higher than the primitive standards attained by
the Carib and the Arawak. But in the interior, in the thick forests
of Central America, were scattered about the relics of an ancient
culture. In a triangular space including some of northern Yucatan,
Mitla in Oaxaca, and Copan in Honduras, there are the remains of sixty
communities distinguished by temples, tombs, statues, bas reliefs,
fragments of buildings, and deserted palaces. These are relics of a
race who at the discovery of America had lost their supremacy for many
generations. According to some reckonings, at least as early as the
twelfth century these celebrated dead cities were founded.
The difficulty of historical research in reconstructing the records of
these aboriginal peoples is due partly to poor methods of transmission
and also to the fact that so many of the original documents were
lost at the time of the Spanish conquest and before. Chronological
reckonings were kept for the purpose of marking the days on which
tributes and sacrifices were due. To this were added the figures of
chieftains, the notices of tribal conquests, and such events as floods,
famines, and eclipses. All of this miscellaneous popular lore was
embodied in paintings, executed by a large class of artists, some of
whom were women, on paper or fiber rolls or on prepared skins. For
this picture-writing skins, oblong in shape and of great length, were
employed. Along with these “pinturas” there was handed down an oral
method of interpretation. Our knowledge of Mexican history has to be
derived from the surviving examples of these picture rolls and from the
traditional explanations which were taken down in writing at the time
of the entrance of the Spaniards into the country.