The Historical Process

Migratory Movements refers to the periods of time in which people settled in the Caribbean. These movements began as early as 5000B.C. When the first group of Amerindians moved into the Caribbean and created settlements. The major migratory movements included Europeans, Africans, Asians and people from the Middle East.

Migratory movements and the establishment of patterns of settlement by different groups within the Caribbean from pre-Columbian times to 1838

It all started with the movement on foot of the ancestors of the Amerindians from Eurasia to the Western Hemisphere, through the Bering Strait between what are now Alaska and Russia. They left their homelands to migrate eastward during the fourth Ice Age, around 18,000 to 16,000 years ago, when most of Europe was frozen over. The Ice Age led to a shortage of vegetation for animals and thereby a shortage of meat for these nomadic, hunter/gatherer tribes, who then migrated eastwards in search of food, following the migration of the woolly mammoth, a main source of meat for them.

Amerindian Society and Culture

The Tainos

The Tainos of the Greater Antilles mostly settled in Cuba, Hispaniola, Jamaica and The Bahamas. It is generally believed that they migrated to the Caribbean from the Orinoco Valley basin of Venezuela around AD 600–700, because of the frequency of flooding and hurricanes in that region along with competition from other groups for territory, and that their later and eventual settlement in the Greater Antilles was possibly due to being pushed further northwards by the Kalinago. The Tainos, who were not as advanced in pottery-making technology as the Maya and Aztecs (who made large storage containers for food and water), settled along the coastal regions of these larger islands close to fresh water. They needed ready access to both fl at land, for the growing of cassava, and to the sea, for fish and other seafood. Strategically, they also preferred a commanding view of all incoming sea traffic because, unlike their mainland counterparts the Maya and Inca, they did not have a standing military and needed to be aware of incoming enemies to prepare for conflict and/or evasive action.

The Kalinagos

The Kalinagos mostly settled in the Lesser Antilles islands, which are even smaller than the Greater Antilles, and their generally hilly geography and rocky coastal regions provided less agricultural space. It is for this reason the Kalinagos posed such a great threat to the Tainos, whom they raided for agricultural produce and slaves. In fact, they spoke an Arawakian language, presumably derived from captives. The focus of their society was more on warfare and trading than the Tainos, and it was generally more fluid with elected rather than inherited leaders.

NB

Though it is generally said that the Tainos settled in the Greater Antilles while the Kalinagos settled in the Lesser Antilles, they in fact shared the islands of Puerto Rico and Trinidad. It should also be noted that the Tainos of the Greater Antilles were not homogenous, but different groups with varying cultural practices and distinctive histories.

The Maya and Inca

The Maya settled mainly on the interior areas of Central American territories, such as Mexico (the Yucatán Peninsula), Belize, Honduras and even Guatemala. Like the Inca, who settled in South American territories such as Peru, Ecuador, Central Bolivia and Colombia, the Maya had a standing army as a result of their larger population and territories they had to defend from other groups. Both Maya and Inca also had complex political systems, with the Maya choosing to elect their leaders while the Inca had a hereditary system where leaders rose to power based on family ties, supported by complex religious beliefs that validated leaders and their privileges. Both societies were also highly stratifi ed, with systems to protect individual ownership of property, and had economies based on large-scale agriculture that both groups had the land space to support.

European Migration and Settlement 1492–1700s

European Migration and Settlement 1492–1700s The European voyages of discovery of the late 15th and early 16th centuries, and the subsequent migration to the Americas from Europe, had a profound and irreversible effect on the Caribbean region and its indigenous population.

Reasons for the Migration

• The political, economic, cultural, technical and religious situation in Europe at the end of the 15th century and through the 16th century all contributed to the arrival and settlement of Europeans in the Americas.

The European culture of maritime exploration exploded into fierce rivalry between Spain and Portugal with each attempting to discover the fastest sea passage to the wealth of the Far East. This coincided with the Renaissance, which, among other things, helped bring about more advanced sea-faring technology that made long-distant voyages more viable.

• The Portuguese explored the possible southern and western route along the African coast and found a route around the tip of Africa in 1488, while Spain financed Christopher Columbus’ attempt to find an alternative route to the east by sailing westwards across the Atlantic.

• The internal politics and mindset of Spain also had a part to play. The Christian ‘Catholic Monarchs’ had recently succeeded in expelling the Muslim Moors from Spain in the reconquista. Further expansion and conquest were viewed as a necessity, as a means of increasing Spain’s wealth and power to ward off any future Moorish challenges and as a way to expand and export the missionary zeal sparked by this religious conflict.

• Unsure and doubtful that Columbus’ venture would prove successful, Spain sent three ships with limited human resources. This journey, in 1492, led to the first fateful encounter between the indigenous peoples of the Western Hemisphere and the Europeans.

• The Pope, worried that the discovery of a ‘New World’ would escalate Spanish–Portuguese rivalry into war, brokered the Treaty of Tordesillas between them in 1495.

• The discovery by Colombus of gold and precious stones in the Americas resulted in a rush of Spaniards to the region, including the Caribbean. These were mainly ordinary people fleeing poverty at home. At first, however, they came mostly to plunder and make their fortunes, not to settle. As the migration continued after the first spate of arrivals, Spaniards began to settle. Most Spanish settlement was in mainland South America, but in the Caribbean they settled mainly in the mineralrich, larger islands of the Greater Antilles, more suited to large-scale agriculture and strategically placed to contribute to Spanish expansion.

• The desire of other European countries to end the Spanish hegemony over the region and its wealth grew as the 16th and 17th centuries progressed because of Spain’s political rivalry with France and her political and religious rivalry with Protestant England and the Netherlands. As a result, these countries fi nanced expeditions, which were essentially illegal and contrary to the Treaty of Tordesillas, in an attempt to establish a foothold for themselves.

• In the Caribbean, for the most part, these other European states eventually managed to establish themselves and to settle in those areas (mainly the Lesser Antilles islands) of little or no interest to Spain because they lacked mineral wealth and vast tracts of agricultural land, or were not of strategic importance.

• Subsequent intense political and religious rivalry then went on to fuel a continued impetus behind colonization, settlement and economic development in the region as European states and their citizens vied for control.

• Many of the early European settlers were laborers displaced by war, famine, poverty and other hardships. They were contracted as indentured servants on farms growing tobacco and other cash crops.

Key Terms

The Renaissance – often dubbed ‘The Rebirth of Knowledge’, a period in 15th-century Europe when citizens developed a renewed interest in scientific knowledge and the arts. This was largely brought on as a result of the invention of the printing press.

The Treaty of Tordesillas – an agreement between Spain and Portugal in 1494 dividing the known and as yet unknown territories outside Europe between them by an arbitrary line through the Atlantic, with Spain receiving territory to the west of it. As the line dissected Brazil, this went to Portugal, with the rest of the Americas being apportioned to Spain.

Hegemony – the political, economic or military predominance or control of one state over others.

Indentured servant – a labourer who paid for their passage to the NewWorld by working for an employer for a fixed term of years.

Effects of the Migration

Cultural effects

• The Treaty of Tordesillas granted Spain almost unrestricted control over the Caribbean for over a century. This gave the Spanish freedom of choice of where to settle and establish their colonies. Thus, Spanish cultural influence (such as language, place names, Roman Catholicism and architecture) is most strong in the islands of the Greater Antilles, in particular Cuba, Santo Domingo and Puerto Rico.

• The subsequent changing and fluid political make-up of the region, with some territories changing hands over and again, often reflecting the changing balance of power in Europe, resulted in a diverse admixture of European cultural influences both across the region and within territories themselves. Trinidad, for example, has Spanish, French and British cultural influences, while Dominica passed from the French after many years of colonial rule to the British.

The decline of the indigenous populations

• One of the most devastating effects that the coming of the Spanish and then other Europeans had on the Americas was the genocide of various Amerindian groups. For example, the 1516 Spanish census in Hispaniola recorded only 12,000 indigenous people compared to 3 million in 1496.

• The Spanish introduced the encomienda system in which indigenous Amerindians were expected to pay tribute to the Spanish and to labour in their fi elds and mines, in exchange for ‘protection’ and instruction in Christianity (specifically Roman Catholicism). The overly harsh implementation of this system is thought to be one of the factors behind the decline in the indigenous population.

• Other factors behind the steep fall in the indigenous population were a declining birth rate, wars in which they attempted to expel Europeans from their territories and succumbing to diseases, such as smallpox and syphilis, which were brought by the Europeans. Some found it difficult to cope with the food shortages and the unsettled nomadic lifestyle they now had to adjust to and died of ensuing hardships. There is evidence that many Amerindians were also hunted and killed for sport.

The establishment of new systems of production and economic control

• The establishment of large-scale agriculture in the form of plantations, and its consequences, is arguably the most influential contribution of Europeans to the region. The plantation system formed the base of an economic system where all factors of production were owned and controlled by the Europeans and a social system where the European race and culture were established as superior to all others.

• In order to protect their interest in Caribbean economies, systems were established to ensure that only the metropole would benefit from its American holdings. The Spanish enlisted the mercantile system while the British enforced the Navigation Acts to ensure that all proceeds from colonial businesses benefitted their mother countries.

Key Term

Mercantile system – an economic system characterized by restrictions placed on trade between colonies and countries outside of the metropole.

The British Navigation Acts of 1651 were derivatives of mercantilism that were direct restrictions on the use of foreign trade ships for trade between British West Indian colonies and any other European nations. The French had instituted similar laws by 1644.

Political influences and legal systems

• The colonizing countries imported their own legal systems and institutions and systems of government. Some territories, such as Martinique, Guadeloupe and French Guiana, are still officially part of France and became départments in 1946.

• The ‘old representative system’ consisting of a governor supported by an elected assembly was widespread through the British Caribbean, as was the adoption of the principles of common law.

The introduction of slavery

• Slaves from West Africa were first introduced to the Caribbean to work in Spanish mines and on Spanish estates to replace the dwindling indigenous population.

• In 1518, Spain granted the Portuguese, whose legal rights in the territories of West Africa had been legitimized by the Treaty of Tordesillas and the Asiento, a license to trade in slaves to provide Spain’s growing colonies with much needed labour.