<< The Fate of the Indians || The 17th Century >>
In 1498, Bartholomew Columbus, facing insurrection from Spanish settlers in La Isabella, founded the settlement of Santo Domingo along the southern coast, near the Ozama River. Santo Domingo grew to become the first permanent European city in the New World and the capital of the emerging Spanish Empire in the Caribbean. Christopher Columbus himself suffered a humiliating setback in the year 1500 when he was led back to Spain in shackles, accused of ruthless treatment of natives and colonizers alike, and of trying to usurp authority from the Spanish crown. Although he was soon released and continued exploring America, he never again wielded his previous clout in the new colony. He died in 1506, convinced he had been wrongly deprived of his rewards for discovering a new route to “Asia.” As he wrote in his will, “I presented [to Spain] the Indies. I say presented, because it is evident that by the will of God, our Sovereign, I gave them, as a thing that was mine.”
Nicolás de Ovando.
Columbus’ successor, Nicolás de Ovando, shown at right, appointed governor of the colony in 1502, became the driving force behind the construction of Santo Domingo. By 1503, the first city walls began to arise. Within the next few years, building would begin on the first fortress, first hospital, first church, first monastery, first stone house, and first paved road in the Americas. The first cathedral, university, and convent would follow. Explorers and conquistadors used Santo Domingo as a base for expeditions to Mexico, Peru, Cuba, Colombia, and Jamaica, all of which were claimed for the Spanish Crown.
Ovando also founded the north coast settlement of Puerto Plata in 1502, which served as a supply stop for Spanish galleons hauling silver from Mexico to Spain. To the west of Santo Domingo, Azua de Compostela was founded in 1504 and served as home for a time to such future conquistadors as Diego Velázquez (who conquered Cuba), Hernán Cortés (who conquered Mexico), and Juan Ponce de León (who later went off in search of the Fountain of Youth in Florida). By 1508, Ponce de León had constructed (using Indian labor, to be sure) a fortress-like house near the far southeastern tip of the island. The Spanish set up sugar plantations and cattle ranches in the area.
As the Indians succumbed to disease and harsh treatment, the Spanish began importing African slaves to Hispaniola to replace them; the first arrived around 1503. Some of these, called cimarrones, later escaped to live in the wild mountain valleys of the western part of the country, where many became small farmers. A number of their descendants survive today in outlying areas, especially near the Haitian border.
The Columbus family returned to power in 1509, when the admiral’s son, Diego, was appointed governor of the colony to succeed de Ovando. To keep Diego’s authority in check, however, the Spanish established the powerful Audiencia Real, a panel of judges that functioned as the unquestioned Supreme Court for the entire West Indies and Caribbean basin. The Audiencia was based in Santo Domingo, but the city’s glory days were short-lived. Mexico and Peru, rich in silver and gold, became far more precious to the Crown than Hispaniola, whose stores of mineral wealth never met expectations. Diego and his family eventually returned to Spain, while colonists who remained increasingly turned to growing sugar, raising livestock, and supplying provisions to the Spanish ships that passed by the island on their way to the richer colonies. By 1520 or so, both Santo Domingo and Puerto Plata were already in steep decline.
A series of natural and man-made disasters – earthquakes, hurricanes, and raiding parties – also befell the colony. In the early 1560s, Santo Domingo and Santiago were severely damaged by earthquakes. Then, in 1586, the English buccaneer Sir Francis Drake, right, pillaged and burned much of what remained of Santo Domingo. And as the 16th century ended, much of the north coast had become a haven for smugglers and pirates. Many residents turned to trading illegally with English privateers, in direct defiance of the Spanish crown.
<< The Fate of the Indians || The 17th Century >>
