Pieces of Eight

Cuba

Columbus landed on Cuba in 1492, and it wasn’t until 1511 that the Spanish arrived in force to conquer the island. The native population was no match for the technologically superior Spanish, or the diseases they brought, and Cuba quickly become a Spanish territory.

Many settlers followed, and Cuba quickly developed a labor problem. As the Spanish and Indians intermarried, so slave labor became scarce. To make up for this shortfall, the Spanish began raiding other islands, transporting entire populations to work in Cuba’s tobacco and sugar plantations.

Spanish Caribbean policy has signed the death knell for Cuba. Spain has long had a tradition of preventing her colonies from trading with foreign powers, and has fallen behind the Dutch and English in the field of sugarcane technology.

Spain also preferred to get her slaves from the Caribbean, which gave the British a monopoly on African slavery. With most of the Caribbean islands now claimed by European powers, Cuba is finding herself lagging behind the non-Spanish colonies in terms of economic growth.