Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Santo Domingo: A Country with a Future.

1918; Duke University Press; Volume: 1; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês

10.2307/2505896

1527-1900

Mary Wilhelmine Williams, Otto Schoenrich,

Legal Systems and Judicial Processes

which proved justified when two days later they arrived at La Navidad and found the fort completely destroyed, the Indian village burnt to the ground, and the whole neighborhood silent and desolate.Guacanagari was found at a village further inland and according to his story and that of other Indians, a number of Spaniards had succumbed to disease, others were killed in brawls among themselves and the remain- der died at the hands of the inland caciques Caonabo and Guarionex and their warriors, who attacked and destroyed both the fort and the village of Guacanagari.At the same time it was stated that the Spaniards had made themselves hateful to the natives by their domi- neering disposition and their lewdness and covetous- ness.The rinding in some of the native huts of objects that had belonged to the colonists, as well as other suspicious circumstances, caused Father Boil and other companions of Columbus to doubt the chief's story and insist that sanguinary vengeance be taken.Columbus, however, affected to be satisfied with the explanation given and determined to take no further action, but to seek a new location for the colony.From this time forward discord divided not only the Spaniards and Indians but also the Spaniards themselves.As the fleet was sailing east the weather obliged it to put into an indentation of the coast fifty miles east of Monte Cristi.The place so charmed the Span- iards that it was decided to found a town here.The first city of the new world was therefore laid out and Columbus gave it the name of Isabela, in honor of his royal patron.During the construction of the city Columbus sent two expeditions to the Cibao mountains, both of which succeeded in collecting a large amount of gold.It soon became evident that the neighborhood of Isa- HISTORICAL SKETCH bela was not a healthy one.Fever invaded the colony; Columbus himself was not exempt.Discontent came and an uprising among the soldiers was nipped in the bud.On recovering from his illness Columbus re- solved to make an exploration of the interior; and with drums beating and flags flying a brilliant expedition left Isabela.The beautiful Royal Plain was soon reached and friendly relations established with its peaceful inhabitants, whose wonder at the Spaniards and terror at their horses knew no bounds.A fortress was founded on the banks of the Janico river and called Santo Tomas.Columbus then returned to Isabela to find the town in a state of excitement on account of petty quarrels and the general sickness.Picking out the principal malcontents he sent them to Santo Tomas, and ordered that another fortress be founded.On April 24, 1494, he left the island with three vessels for a voyage of exploration to the west, entrusting the gov- ernment of the colony to his brother Diego and an exec- utive council.But a short time elapsed before new dissensions broke out, followed by troubles with the Indians.A military expedition dispatched to the interior committed nu- merous depredations and drove the natives into the ranks of Caonabo, who was planning the expulsion of the strangers.The commander of the expedition, Moisen Pedro de Margarite, was called to account by Diego Columbus; but conspiring with Father Boil, the religious head of the colony, the two contrived to excite a popular insurrection against the governor, which may be regarded as the first Dominican revolu- tion.At this time Bartholomew Columbus, another brother of the admiral, arrived with provisions, and the insurrectionists, taking possession of the ships, returned in them to Spain where they lost no opportunity to 8 SANTO DOMINGO disparage the achievements of Columbus and to slander him and his brothers.The principal caciques of the island now formed an alliance and uniting their forces laid siege to Santo Tomas.Only Guacanagari refused to join them and hurried to Isabela to offer his services to the Spaniards.At this juncture, on September 29, 1494, Columbus, sick and weary, returned from his voyage, during which, after other discoveries, he had explored a portion of the south coast of the island.As soon as he had recovered sufficient strength he led an expedition into the interior, relieved Santo Tomas, won numerous victories over the natives and founded another fortress, La Concepcion, in the Vega Real, or Royal Plain.Caonabo, however, assembled a vast number of warriors and forced Columbus to renewed efforts.The Span- iards and Indians met where the ruins of the old city of Concepcion de la Vega now are, and the famous battle of the Royal Plain was fought on March 25, 1495.The natives are alleged by the Spanish historians to have numbered 100,000, while the Spaniards had but 200 men and 20 horses, besides the warriors of Guacanagari.In the battle, a bloody one, the Indians were completely beaten, their discomfiture being due principally to the superior arms of the Europeans and the fear inspired by the horses and by twenty blood-hounds brought into the fight by the Spaniards.On the oc- casion of this battle the miracle of the Santo Cerro, or Holy Hill, is said to have occurred, when, according to the Spanish chroniclers, the Indians captured an eminence on which the Spaniards had erected a wooden cross, but were unable to destroy the cross with fire or hatchet, and were finally frightened away by the apparition of the Virgin Mary.This one crushing defeat definitely broke the Indians' SANTO DOMINGO mind and declined to go, but they wrote letters to Spain bitterly complaining of the admiral and his brothers, and accusing them of oppression and des- potism.Columbus found himself obliged to agree to the most humiliating terms with the rebels, conceding a complete pardon, restoring them to their official posts, promising to pay their salary in arrears and distributing lands and Indians among them.Neverthe- less, other quarrels followed, Columbus was forced to take severe measures and the complaints against him HISTORICAL SKETCH 13 them franchises and lands.He made the slavery of the Indians more galling than ever, obliging them to labor in the fields and mines.Columbus' property and papers were confiscated and Columbus' friend, the explorer Rodrigo de Bastidas, was imprisoned and his property seized.The captain of the vessel bearing Columbus treated his distinguished prisoner with all possible deference and offered to take off the chains, but the Discoverer, whose heart was breaking under the indignities heaped upon him and the injustice of which he was the victim, proudly refused.When the vessel arrived in Spain the sovereigns, shocked at Bobadilla's proceedings, commanded the immediate release of Columbus, ordered that his property be restored and overwhelmed him with distinctions, though providing that his dignities as viceroy were to remain temporarily suspended; proba- bly because the calculating spirit of King Ferdinand believed that too much power had been vested in his subject.Bobadilla was removed from office, and Nicolas de Ovando, a member of the religious-military order of Alcantara, was appointed governor in his place.Ovando arrived in Santo Domingo on