Spanish West Indies

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Spanish West Indies
Las Antillas Occidentales
Las Antillas Españolas
1492–1898
Anthem: 
Alfonso XIII
Historical era
Spanish colonization
• Established
1492
1898
CurrencySpanish colonial real, Spanish dollar
ISO 3166 codeES
Preceded by		 Succeeded by
New Spain
Bay Islands
Colony of Jamaica
Cayman Islands
Saint-Domingue
Trinidad
Dominican Republic
United States Military Government in Cuba
Puerto Rico
Venezuela

The Spanish West Indies, Spanish Caribbean or the Spanish Antilles (also known as "Las Antillas Occidentales" or simply "Las Antillas Españolas" in

Viceroyalty of New Spain
in 1535, the islands of the Caribbean came under its jurisdiction.

The islands ruled by Spain were chiefly the Greater Antilles: Hispaniola (inclusive of modern-day Haiti and the Dominican Republic), Cuba, Jamaica, and Puerto Rico. The majority of the Taíno, the indigenous populations on these islands, had died out or had mixed with the European colonizers by 1520.[2] Spain also claimed the Lesser Antilles (such as Guadalupe and Dominica) but these smaller islands remained largely independent until they were seized or ceded to other European powers as a result of war, or diplomatic agreements during the 17th and 18th centuries. The only Caribbean country to successfully gain independence from Spain, the Dominican Republic, did so twice in the 19th century.

The islands that became the Spanish West Indies were the focus of the voyages of the Spanish expedition of

Portobelo (Panama), which were connected by galleon routes
.

Change of sovereignty or independence

Spanish Caribbean

Today, the term Spanish Caribbean or Hispanophone Caribbean refers to the

Spanish settlement and colonization influences culture, through religion, language, cuisine, and so on. The varieties of Spanish that predominate in this region are known collectively as Caribbean Spanish
.

The Spanish Caribbean (Cuba, Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico) can be considered a separate subregion of Latin America, culturally distinct from both continental Spanish-speaking countries and the non-Spanish -speaking Caribbean. Apart from culture, the Spanish Caribbean is different racially as well. In comparison to the predominantly black majority of the non-Hispanic Caribbean, but with similarities to the multi-racial continental areas of Latin America, mixed-race people are most dominant in this region. However, in the Spanish Caribbean, the majority of the mixed-race population is made up of

black people and a large amount of undeniably African cultural influences. The Spanish Caribbean also has higher Canarian influence compared to continental Latin America, making them the primary European ancestral group. French
ancestry is high, due to white French fleeing Haiti after independence to the surrounding Hispanic Caribbean. Around 18% of surnames in the Spanish Caribbean are of French origin, second highest after Spanish. This mixture of European (especially Canarian), West African, and Taino is heavily reflected in the culture.

The term is used in contrast to

Viceroyalty of New Spain
.

In a modern sense, the Caribbean islands of Colombia could be included in the Hispanophone Caribbean as well, due to the fact they are located in the Caribbean, but not in the Antilles.

Islands

Map of the West Indies published in 1899

Below is a list of islands belonging geographically to the Greater and Lesser Antilles and that were under Spanish rule in various stages of history, until it became independent from Spain. Several islands which were previously largely under Spanish rule, but since they were passed into the domain of France, England or the Netherlands, are no longer considered part of the Spanish Caribbean.[7][8]

In addition, the Colombian islands of San Andrés, Providencia and Santa Catalina are located in the Caribbean, but are not part of the Antilles. Under intermittent periods of Spanish rule, these islands were administered as part of the Spanish Main (initially Guatemala, later New Granada).

West Indian islands that were under Spanish rule
Political entity Islands of the West Indies Status
 Cuba Isla de Cuba —
Cayo Blanco
 Independent republic from Spain since 1898
 Dominican Republic Eastern
Alto Velo — Cayo Levantado
 Independent republic from Spain since 1821, independent from Haiti since 1844
 Puerto Rico Isla de Puerto Rico —
Isleta de San Juan — Cayo Santiago — Spanish Virgin Islands
 Commonwealth of the United States, independent from Spain since 1898
 Venezuela
Patos (ceded from British Trinidad in 1942,[9] form the Federal Dependencies of Venezuela
)		 Independent republic from Spain since 1811, recognized by Spain in 1845

See also

References

  1. ^ Mark A. Burkholder, "Council of the Indies" in Encyclopedia of Latin American History and Culture, vol. 2, p. 293. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons 1996.
  2. ISBN 978-0-544-94710-8
    .
  3. ISBN 978-1-60413-618-0. Archived
    from the original on 2022-04-07. Retrieved 2020-11-21.
  4. ISBN 978-1-135-45522-4
    .
  5. ISBN 978-1-56720-138-3. Archived
    from the original on 2022-04-07. Retrieved 2020-08-25.
  6. ^ Luis F. Pumarada O'Neill (July 31, 1994), National Register of Historic Places Multiple Property Documentation: Historic Bridges of Puerto Rico MPS (pdf), National Park Service, archived from the original on May 16, 2019, retrieved March 10, 2016
  7. ^ Simon Collier, "The non-Spanish Caribbean islands to 1815" in The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Latin America and the Caribbean, 2nd edition. New York: Cambridge University Press 1992, pp. 212-217.
  8. ^ "Las Antillas". Digital Library of the Caribbean (in Spanish). Librería de Antonio J. Bastinos. Archived from the original on 28 June 2019. Retrieved 28 June 2019.
  9. ISBN 9789802592579
    .

Further reading

External links

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