The islands of the Caribbean

The islands of the Caribbean have had been part of the history of the New World since the time of their discovery by Columbus, though most Americans know little of that history. Haiti and the Dominican Republic emerged from what was the first New World colony settled by Spain, the island then known as Hispaniola. The island served as the central base for the exploration and conquest of much of the Western Hemisphere. The island was first sighted by Christopher Columbus in 1492, and it played a role in Spanish history for as long as Spain has had important political and commercial interests in this Hemisphere.

Haiti would become the dominant force by the nineteenth century, and the Dominican Republic would not emerge from under Haiti's shadow until 1844. The island continued to be vulnerable to foreign incursion and was occupied by the United States military from 1916 to 1924. More recently, the United States has had a hand in trying to institute democratic reforms in Haiti. The history of this region has been such that the development of democratic institutions has been difficult, and first Hispaniola and then Haiti and the Dominican Republic have been under the control for much of their history either of foreign governments or local despots.

La Isla Espa�ola, or Hispaniola, was found by Columbus when his fleet crossed the Windward Passage and arrived at night near the Haitian harbor what would become San Nicolas, named for the patron sain

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ecentralized power structure that prevailed. Power was diffused because the capital city, Santo Domingo, also the seat of government for the entire Spanish Indies, oriented itself toward the continental Americas where gold was secured for the Crown, and toward Spain, which provided administrators, supplies, and immigrants. Local governments addressed local issues but were ineffective because there was little contact between the capital city and the distant regions of the island. The large landowners therefore ruled the countryside. As power was accrued by the governor, the crown established the audiencia, a new political institution intended to check the power of the governor. This was a tribunal composed of three judges, and the use of this approach spread throughout Spanish America. In 1524 the tribunal was designated the Royal Audiencia of Santo Domingo and given jurisdiction in the Caribbean, the Atlantic coast of Central America and Mexico, and the northern coast of South America. Charles V of Spain created the Council of the Indies in 1524 as the crown's main agency for directing colonial affairs. The Roman Catholic Church became the primary agency for spreading Spanish culture in the Americas, and the ecclesiastical

Category: History - T