Iole A. Apicella
OBJECTIVES
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1. To learn about the discovery of these islands.
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2. To learn about the history of these lands.
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3. To learn about important men and women in Haiti Martinique and Guadeloupe.
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4. To learn more about slavery.
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5. To learn about the fights that took place to abolish slavery from the islands.
This unit has been designed especially for the Junior-High level students who are learning about French culture and its expansionism. I believe that such unit will be very beneficial in increasing the geographical skills as well as the awareness of certain aspects of the discovery of the American Continent that created misery and pain.
In order to achieve my objectives I will include a brief background of each island as well as small autobiographies of the men and women who played an important role in the development and the freedom of the three islands. The different stages of the discovery will be examined and discussed as well as the rebellion of the natives and the final solution. Slavery will also be examined under the economic, political and the social aspect and the long term effects that it would play in the American Continent.
HAITY (Hayti or Haiti)
Located on the western third of the Caribbean Island Espanola. Name of the original Indians Arawaks who called the island Quisqueya or Hayti.
Map of the costs of Hispaniola taken from the world map by Juan de la Cosa (1500).
(figure available in print form)
On December 6, 1492 Columbus landed on the island that he would call Espanola. The natives of the island were called Arawaks. They had many gold objects and being very curious about what the Spaniards were wearing they overcame their shyness and were very willing to trade. The greediness of Columbus’ men was so evident that the Navigator himself decided to restrict the trading.
Columbus established a fort that he called the Natividad. The purpose of the fort would be to attend to all the problems connected with the taking over of the island as well as to house the Spaniards who would be left behind.
The following letter written by Columbus shows the first encounter with the natives:
“And as soon as I arrived in the Indies, in the first island which I found, I took by force some of them in order that they might learn [Castilian] and give me information of what they had in those parts; it so worked out that they soon understood us, and we them, either by speech or signs, and they have been verse serviceable. I stir have them with me, and these are still of the opinion that I come from the sky, in spite of all the intercourse which they have had with me, and they were the first to announce this wherever I went, and the others went running from house to house and to the neighboring towns with loud cries of, Come! Come! See the people from the sky!
Then all came, men and women, as soon as they had confidence in us, so that not one, big or little, remained behind, and all brought something to eat and drink, which they gave with marvelous love.”
Accounts of the conquest were also given by
Bartolomé
de la Casa who later realized how much the natives had been abused and, although he had fought the Indians previously he tried to help their cause by convincing their capturers to change their behavior.
“I have given them of all that I had, such as cloth and many other things, without receiving anything for it; but they are like that, timid beyond cure. It is true that after they have been reassured and have lost this fear, theta are so artless and so free with ad they possess, that no one would believe it without having seen it. Of anything they have, if you ask them for it, they never say no; rather they invite the person to share it, and show as much love as if they were giving their hearts; and whether the thing be of value or of small price, at once they are content with whatever little thing of whatever kind may be given to them. I for-bade that they should be given things so worthless as pieces of broken crockery and broken glass, and ends of straps, although when they were able to get them, they thought they had the best jewel in the world; thus it was ascertained that a sailor for a strap received gold to the weight of two and a half castellanos, and others much more for other things which were worth much less; yea, for new blancas, for them they would give all that they had, although it might be two or three castellanos’ weight of gold or an arrova or two of spun cotton; they even took pieces of the broken hoops of the wine casks and, like animals, gave what they had, so that it seemed to me to be wrong and I forbade it, and I gave them a thousand good, pleasing thongs which I had brought in order that they might be fond”
In 1516 Las Casa was appointed Protector of the Indians and started writing extensively about them in his first book History of the Indies.
By the end of the 16th century most of the 1.000.000 Indians had been wiped out. The French had initiated their infiltration of the island at the hands of the French Buccaneers from Tortuga Island. They were able to drive out the few Spaniards left on the Island and in 1664 Fort de Paix had been established.
In 1697 the Treaty of Ryswich recognized the French possession of the Western Third which the French called Saint Domingue. This island was at first very famous for the tobacco crop. This product was considered very beneficial by the natives who used it to relax. When the Spaniards tried it they found it intoxicating and immediately understood the value of such a discovery, They forced the natives to work as slaves to ensure a successful and continuous and plentiful crop. The combination of the inhuman conditions and their unwillingness to obey the tyrannical rulers drove the Arawaks to the edge of extinction. In order to cope with the lack of workers the French introduced African slaves as labourers and by the 18th century in addition to tobacco the island was also producing sugar, coffee, indigo cotton and cacao.
