A Speck from the Columbian Storm

Christopher Columbus's audacious voyage of conquest to the New World and subsequent Spanish plunder of the continent's gold generated intense protest by the Portuguese and inflamed the jealousy of several other European countries. Many of those powers — Italian city-states, France, and England — had failed to sponsor the now very lucrative adventure, a rejection they came to regret. Indeed, since the early 1430s the Portuguese had reached the outskirts of Africa. Within less than two decades hence, the West and East African trading networks had been disrupted and taken over by Portuguese merchants. In light of Christopher Columbus' 1492 voyage to the Americas, a second papal bull became necessary. Portugal pursued the papal decree without delay in order to force Spain to respect previous agreements reached regarding Portugal's right of ownership over lands south of Cape Bojador. This avenue was to be Portugal's only hope of curtailing Spain's giant gains, as announced by Columbus. Pope Alexander, himself a Spaniard, attempted to settle the dispute between Spain and Portugal by dividing the pagan world into two spheres of occupation. Portugal was to take all lands east of the Azores and the Cape Verde Islands, and Spain all lands to the west. In the compromise that followed the pope's judicious intervention, Spain ceded Brazil to Portugal.

This arbitrary division, however, was not applauded by all the other candidates who, in search of trading opportunities and raw materials, such as Spain enjoyed, had invested resources during these daring voyages of discovery. Had those been the only two contenders and coveters of the wealth of the nations and tribal lands in Asia, Africa, Australia, and the New World, the issue would probably have been resolved in the sixteenth century. Many future conflicts that were to follow, resulting in the deaths of millions of indigenous peoples, would have been averted. That was not the case. Britain, France, Holland, and Russia, to name a few, took their cases to the seas, seeking redress in the traditional way — war. The warrior people were not prepared to leave their futures up to chance, or in the hand of a universally benevolent arbiter, no matter their confession to the contrary: "Most Christian, defender of the faith or holy Emperors," as their sublime titles may indicate. In matters of warfare their God deferred to them. Never again would there be peace on earth. The strength of their arms represented a more dependable guarantee, one that would — at least, if all else failed — secure for them a say in how their collective future as nations and realms would be shaped. Indeed, aloofness while one power grabbed the entire wealth of a whole continent would have dire consequences — a lesson many nations and peoples around the world have learned only too late to have averted the most egregious inhumanity ever visited on earth.

Rivalry in Hispaniola

Spain's wish to be left alone to enjoy the loot her conquest of the American Indians had brought her was not to be honored. On the contrary, her hold on the western hemisphere invited hostility from all European rivals, countries that wanted the harvest of gold Spain now enjoyed. One way to wrestle the wealth from Spain was to set up pirate colonies in the new world from which to launch expeditions against Spanish fleet carrying ready wealth from the rich American colonies. Queen Elizabeth of England dispatched Francis Drake, her most lethal weapon, against Spain's interests in the Americas. Drake cruised the high seas, capturing Spanish ships and colonies. St. Domingo, St. Jago, and Carthagena, among other Spanish possessions in the Americas, were seized. By the time Spain ransomed the islands, the English had destroyed the infrastructure. The chaos that ensued left the islands wide open to those unwanted elements — the undesirable pirates. French filibusters infested the length and breadth of the American seas and oceans, pillaging Spanish ships. P. Pierre-Francois Xavier de Charlevoix was a French Jesuit traveler and historian of the French Empire. He wrote that the very name filibusters or freebooters smacked terror in the heart of Spanish residents in the Americas. The French pirates normally attacked ships leaving America loaded with gold, silver, and exotic merchandise of the New World, said Charlevoix. The pirates' favorite ship was the Spanish galleon, which they usually stalked till it sailed to the pirates' ambush at the Bahama canal; here in the most death-defying stunt, the fearless pirates unleashed attacks against ships far superior in tonnage, weaponry, and manpower. The quantity and quality of the Spanish cargoes alone could persuade the pirates to spare the ships' occupants. When the ships' contents were judged meager in the estimation of the pirates, the crew was indiscriminately drowned.

The Spanish colony of Hispaniola, for example, held particular attraction for the destitute filibusters and the buccaneers. They had unsuccessfully traveled most of the islands in search of a home base, which was often denied them until 1630, when they reached Ile de La Tortue (Tortuga Island), an empty island off the coast of Haiti. The filibusters settled down on the northwestern coast of the little island. Here, they divided themselves into several groups for the survival of the new community: a class of hunters or buccaneers, one of filibusters or pirates who specialized in evading Spanish ships, one of habitants or farmers, and one of engages to provide labor. Spanish ship captains harassed and slaughtered many of the unwelcomed residents. The tenacity of the survivors and continual assistance from St. Kitts allowed them to reach a state of relative stability and independence comparable in function to a contemporary colony. By the time Le Vasseur took control of the island from an English chief, the Spaniard don B. D. M. prepared a force of between five and 600 men to invade and reclaim the island. Le Vasseur had anticipated the point of attack and had installed a cannon, of which the Spaniards had no knowledge. A short battle followed and...