Spanish Dominions, in N. America

Title

Spanish Dominions, in N. America

Description

Map shows total center America

dated 1821

Artist

Maepherson

Historical Description

Central America includes Central America and the West Indies. On the land bridge, in addition to various indigenous languages, mainly Spanish is spoken due to the colonization. Exceptions are the English-speaking Belize and the east coast of Nicaragua, which is inhabited by English-speaking Creoles in addition to the indigenous peoples Miskito, Mayangna, Rama and Garifuna. There are also communities on the Caribbean coast of Guatemala, Honduras, Costa Rica and Panama in which mainly Creole English, similar to the Jamaican patois, is spoken. When Columbus landed on San Salvador (Bahamas) on behalf of the Spanish crown in 1492, he was primarily looking for gold and other riches. But the Arawak paid no attention to what Europeans viewed as wealth. So the Caribbean was settled, but the conquistadors were soon drawn to the American continent. Little by little the English, Dutch and French also settled. Even Denmark, Sweden and Courland owned a few colonies. St. Barthélemy was z. B. almost a century under Swedish rule. Most of the native Indians eventually fell victim to diseases or slavery that were brought in. The Caribbean was particularly active in the 17th and early 18th centuries for buccaneers and pirates (so-called golden age of piracy). The small islands offered the pirates, some of whom were freebooters on behalf of a king, numerous hiding places and the Spanish treasure fleets were a good and worthwhile target. Port Royal in Jamaica and the French settlement on Tortuga were downright pirate settlements.