The Spanish

The Spanish

The origin of European ethnicity in Jamaica began with the arrival of the Spanish in1494, when Christopher Columbus, in his geographical explorations made claim of the island on landing in St. Anns Bay, which later became the central location of the Spaniards. It was Columbus’s second voyage to the Caribbean and he had first learnt about Jamaica (then called Xamayca by the Tainos) through the inhabitants of Cuba, but the establishment as well as the destruction of a settlement at La Navidad in Hispaniola delayed his exploration of the West Indies. Nonetheless, in 1494, he continued such activities which led him to occupy Jamaica in 1509 (Sherlock and Bennett, 63).                         

Spain’s interest in Jamaica was primarily influenced by the search for gold, but finding this precious metal on the island proved futile. Consequently, not many Spaniards desired to settle in Jamaica at first, but the fertility of the land, which provided great yields in food production, and its strategic location, resulted in Spanish settlement in later years (Cundall, 2).

Settlers brought to the island not just plants and animals (cows, sugar cane and oranges), but also introduced to it a new way of life. They developed a thriving food supply system, which had been previously undermined by their introduction to the island, and they also implemented various structures such as bridges, roads, buildings and central towns such as Sevilla la Nueva, St. Ann and its successor, Villa de la Vega, now called Spanish Town.These developments, however, were accompanied by internal conflicts, imperialistic encounters, and more markedly, the enslavement and decimation of the Aboriginal population (Roberts, 30).

Remnants of Spanish settlement have become a part of Jamaica’s historical heritage, and comprise mainly place names and landmarks such as:

·         Seville, formerly Sevilla la Nueva—the first major town to be established by the Spanish in 1509 (Senior, 1983, p.145-46)

·         Spanish Town, formerly Villa de la Vega— the second major town to be constructed by the Spanish in 1534(Senior, 1983, 150-51)

·         Spanish Town Cathedral—located on the site of the Chapel of the Red Cross, which was one of the first Spanish Cathedrals to be constructed in the New World (Senior, 1983, p.151)

·         Names such as Ocho Rios, Rio Cobre, Rio Grande, Oracabessa and Rio Bueno

Sources

Cundall, Frank and Joseph Pietersz. Jamaica Under the Spaniards. Kingston: Institute of Jamaica, 1919.

Roberts, George W. The Population of Jamaica. Milwood, N.Y: Kraus Reprint Company, 1979.

Senior, Olive. A-Z of Jamaican Heritage. Kingston: Heinemann Educational Books (Caribbean) Limited and Gleaner Company Limited, 1983.

Sherlock, Phillip and Hazel Bennett. The Story of the Jamaican People. Kingston and Princeton: Ian Randle Publishers and Markus Wiener Publishers, 1998.