History of the Independance Movement :: Essays Papers

History of the Independance Movement genius of the most important forces that governed the course of Cubas colonial history was the archetype of racism. From the moment that Christopher Columbus ignored the presence of indigenous peoples, and claimed the island for Spain on his source voyage in 1492, to the day Carlos Manuel de Cspedes began the first revolution to independence, in that location was a strong tradition of separation and objectification (Franklin 1,4). Diego Velzquez was appointed governor of Cuba in 1511 (Franklin, 1). He founded the first European settlement, Nuestra Senora de la Asuncin de Baracoa, on the northeasterly coast of the island. The European settlement of the Nuestra Senora de la Asuncin was established in the middle of a pre-existing indigenous settlement, from which it got the name Baracoa (La genus Rosa Corzo, 35). corresponding situations occurred in many of the other original settlements, such as the township of San Salva dor de Bayamo. Christian prefixes were added to the indigenous names of towns. Europeans settled the center of these villages and natives were moved to the outskirts (La Rosa Corzo). During the fist one hundred years of colonization, the Native American creation was greatly reduced, and gradually replaced by African workers (36). However, the pattern of settlement remained a constant. In a 1605 census two per cent of the total existence was considered Indian, and thirty-six percent were African slaves. Most of these Indians lived outside of major cities at a lower place the jurisdiction of their own tribal leaders (36). As the French, Dutch and British began their exploration of the Caribbean, Spain was encouraged expedite its settlement of its existing colonies. Rapid settlement, mate with Charles IIIs 1789 policy of free trade in African slavery, led to the development of plantations, and a slave society (Howard, 2). By the stemma of the nineteenth century t he stage was set for Cuba to become the biggest sugar producer in the world. The previous leading producer, San Domingue had almost lost its hold on the sugar trade altogether, due to the revolution. The United States was newly independent progress to European rules and looking for new trade partners there was an opening in the market.