Pieces of Eight

Santo Domingo

Columbus arrived in Hispaniola in early December 1492, and made camp on the island. On Christmas Eve, his flagship ran onto a reef and sank. Though the crew, with the help of local Indians they had befriended, rescued much of her cargo, Columbus was forced to leave a small group of men behind when he departed. They founded Navidad, the first European colony on Hispaniola.

The settlers soon fell into fighting among themselves, and then with the Indians, who responded by slaughtering the Spanish. When Columbus returned with supplies, the settlement was a burnt ruin.

Undeterred, Columbus founded Isabella (named for the Spanish queen), and set about conquering the local tribes. Those who managed to survive the attacks and ravages of disease were put to work mining gold.

Columbus’ brother, Bartolomew, become the first governor, and founded Santo Domingo in the south near more seams of gold. As a foreigner (Bartolomew, like his brother, was Genoese), the governor attracted hostility from the Spaniards, who had him removed from power by accusing him of incompetence.

The new governor pacified the remaining tribes, murdering the chiefs and enslaving their people. Those who escaped fled to less hospitable parts, where they survived on a subsistence level diet. Those the sword or hard labor didn’t kill, smallpox and famine ravaged. One Indian chief still managed to wage a 14-year long guerilla war against the Spanish, who eventually signed a treaty with him and gave him land to build his own town.

When it became clear that the gold was running out, the Spanish moved their gaze to Mexico. Overnight, Hispaniola was nearly abandoned, and the settlers who remained were of mixed Indian-Spanish blood.

With the reduced population, cattle and pigs prospered, and the Spanish settlers did good business selling provisions to ships heading for Spain.

After the establishment of Tortuga as a pirate haven, mainland Hispaniola fell prey to constant attacks.

In 1610, the French, who were catching onto the idea of colonialism, settled northwest Hispaniola, which the Spanish had abandoned years earlier. In 1697, the French laid claim to the western third and named it Saint Dominique. Unlike the Spaniards, the French knew the value of sugar, and St. Dominique quickly become a rich territory.