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Vanessa Balazs
February 2, 2009
Caribbean Environments
Dr. Everham
History Essay: Dominican Republic
Located at the eastern two-thirds of the island of Hispaniola, the Dominican Republic’s
history has been marked by the impact of local indigenous and foreign conquistadors on the
natural environment. It is important first, to understand the significance of the geographic setting
of the island of Hispaniola in order to make sense of how its geographic location has impacted
the ways of life of not only the indigenous peoples, but how it in turn, was impacted by Spanish
settlement. The geology of the island, consisting of tropical soils, provided the early inhabitants
with root crops like manioc and potatoes, which became important to Spanish settlers. The
geology and natural resources of the island resulted in the settlement of the Taínos and later, the
Spaniards. These two settlements resulted in the introduction of various non-native plant and
animal species as well an alteration of the natural environment and ecological niches.
The pre-Columbian inhabitants of the island of Hispaniola are the descendents of
indigenous peoples from South America known as the Taínos. Although the Taínos from South
America were not the first human inhabitants on the island, their settlement there altered and
impacted the environment in very significant ways. When the South American Taínos moved to
Hispaniola in the last few centuries B.C., they brought with them the tropical forest horticultural
subsistence farming which was primarily based upon the cultivation of root crops and maize as
well as animal protein. The Taínos of South America lived in villages along productive river
terraces. When they moved to the island of Hispaniola, they brought with them agricultural
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methods similar to those used in South America. They relied on slash and burn agricultural
methods which was a relatively sustainable form of agricultural cultivation. Much of the
environmental impact of the Taínos on the island was a result of their daily communal,
economic, and cultural existence and the ways in which they interacted with the natural world
around them. They produced two types of gardens called guada (plants and herbs) as well as
conuco (unorganized cultivated forest areas for subsistence crops). They also harvested upwards
of 80 different plants for use in medicine, food, or as fibers for rope and nets. Fruit trees were
also cultivated for food use and tropical hardwood forests were sustainably cut down to make
canoas (canoes). One of the plants of importance to the daily lives of the Taíno was the cohoba
whose leaves were made into a powder. This plant became known as tobacco and would be an
important commodity cultivated by the Spaniards.
Due to the geology of Hispaniola, including its geographic location in the tropics, alfisols
soil type, and hydrologic processes, the slash and burn methods were utilized in an effort to
support even short-term cultivation. “The vegetation must be burned to release the nutrients and
fields must be allowed to fallow for decades before new gardens are planted,” (Keegan and
Carlson, 2008). The crops that they were successful in cultivating on Hispaniola became their
staple crops. These staple crops were primarily root crops like manioc and sweet potatoes. The
cultivation of subsistence crops would become highly important to the existence of the Spanish
conquistadors later in the 15th century. The geology of Hispaniola also determined the natural
resources that existed there which would be used by the native peoples as well as by the
Spaniards. Due to the topography, rainfall amounts, and temperature, salt was quite plentiful in
the Enriquillo basin of Hispaniola. The Taínos used the salt to cure and preserve meat. The
Taínos of Hispaniola also made use of its native flora and fauna as well as its surrounding water
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resources. They utilized the marine resources as well as land resources for their food sources.
For example, the southern stingray and various species of shark were hunted for their meat and
skin as well as for their usefulness in the production of tools and weapons. The Taínos also
introduced non-native plant and animal species to the island. This early Taíno intervention with
the environment coupled with the Spaniards’ introduction of various domesticated animals in
later years altered the environmental niches of the native plants and animals. One example of
this alteration can be found in the case of the introduction of large dogs to the island whose
population numbers skyrocketed because of the lack of larger predators on the island, resulting in
the devastation of smaller native mammal populations. The hutia, a small rodent, was introduced
to the island by the Taínos and later became an important source of food for foreigners like the
Spanish. The Taínos also had a highly developed material culture in which extremely valuable
goods (especially natural resources) would be traded from village to village and between
different Caribbean islands. Highly prized goods included sea turtles, iguanas, parrots, feathers,
raw and woven cotton, carved woods, gold, and guanin (an alloy of gold). The use of the natural
flora and fauna for trade or personal use often resulted in decreased availability of those
resources. Indeed iguanas, highly prized for their meat, were almost hunted to extinction.
The arrival of the Spaniards further affected the environment of Hispaniola. The
Spaniards were drawn to the Caribbean and South America as a whole, for various reasons.
They decided to settle and colonize for various reasons as well. The geological aspects of
Hispaniola were crucial in enticing the Spaniards to stay. The Spaniards who settled on
Hispaniola did so in an effort to exploit the valuable plant and mineral resources there. The
geographic position and geology (including trade winds and access to the sea) of the island of
Hispaniola made it an ideal settlement base for the Spaniards to colonize the entire Caribbean
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and South American region. The Spaniards, led by Christopher Columbus, landed on the eastern
portion of Hispaniola in 1493. The existing trading economy and culture of the Taínos gave way
to gifts of gold, parrots, and other resources as a result of their encounter with the Spaniards.
These trades provided the Spaniards with an inside look at the natural resources of the island and
resulted in their search for large deposits of gold beginning in 1494. Some of the Spanish
conquistadors went out in search for gold and found two sources- Niti and Cibao. From 1494 to
1498, the Spaniards utilized the labor force of the Taínos to mine for gold. The Spaniards
attempted to exploit this source of labor by establishing a tribute system in which the natives
would provide the Spaniards with gold and food. The cultivation techniques long established by
the Taínos, however, required a large labor force for the cultivation of subsistence food crops.
When the Taínos were used as labor to mine for gold, the cultivation of food crops was
dramatically decreased, resulting in a widespread famine from 1494-1498. The famine and
resulting unprofitability of the gold mines led the Spaniards to value food sources more than gold
sources.
The encounter with the Spaniards coupled with their interest in creating a triangle of trade
resulted in the “Columbian Exchange” in which the Spaniards introduced sugarcane and large
domesticated animals like cattle, goats, and pigs to Hispaniola and returned to Spain with maize,
manioc (cassava), beans, and potatoes from Hispaniola. The introduction of large domesticated
animals like cattle and pigs resulted in immediate ecological impacts. By the 1520s, hundreds of
cattle roamed freely, which impacted the local plants because of the animals’ diets. The
cultivation of the staple crop, manioc, by the Taínos interested the Spaniards. They saw the
usefulness of the crop for expeditions and it replaced hardtack. The Spaniards’ settlement and
impact on Hispaniola almost resulted in the extinction of various local plant and animal species
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as well as altered the environmental niches of the local animals. For instance, “the first postencounter mammalian extinction- that of the hutia- can be traced to 1550, only fifty-seven years
after the colonization of Hispaniola,” (Wilson, 32). The Spaniards’ search for gold and natural
resources in Hispaniola led to permanent settlement, introduction of non-native plant and animal
species, and long-term impacts on the environment.
Resources:
Blouet, Brian W. and Blouet, Olwyn M. (2006). Latin America and the Caribbean: A Systematic and
Regional Survey, 5th edition. Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley and Sons.
Cunningham, Richard L. (1997). The Biological Impacts of 1492. In Wilson, Samuel L (Ed.), The
Indigenous People of the Caribbean (pp. 31-35). Gainesville, Florida: University Press of Florida.
Highfield, Arnold R. (1997). Some Observations on the Taíno Language. In Wilson, Samuel L (Ed.), The
Indigenous People of the Caribbean (pp. 154-168). Gainesville, Florida: University Press of
Florida.
Keegan, William F. and Carlson, Lisbeth A. (2008). Talking Taíno. Tuscaloosa, Alabama: University of
Alabama Press.
Wilson, Samuel M. (1990). Hispaniola: Caribbean Chiefdoms in the Age of Columbus. Tuscaloosa,
Alabama: University of Alabama Press.