Page 46 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Cuba

44  INTRODUCING CUBA

Pirates and Buccaneers Drake and Henry Morgan) and the Dutch,
By the mid-1500s the population of Cuba who attacked Spanish galleons loaded with
had dwindled considerably because the treasure as well as the Cuban ports.
indigenous Indians had been virtually In order to deprive Spain of her colonies,
annihilated by forced labour and diseases, France, Britain and the Netherlands joined
and the Spanish had left for other parts in the “corsair war” – essentially state-
of the New World in search of gold. sanctioned piracy – by financing attacks
However, the island was still important, on Spanish merchant ships. The
strategically, as one of the defensive Spanish crown took several
bastions of the Spanish colonies in measures to defend its
America against the expansionist possessions, but to no avail.
policies of France, Britain and In 1697 the Ryswyk Treaty
the Netherlands. signed by Spain, France and
Havana, the chief dock for Britain finally put an end to this
vessels transporting treasure from unusual war in the West Indies.
America to Spain, soon drew the In the meantime Havana had
attention of pirates, who were plying Henry Morgan, the become the new capital of Cuba,
the Caribbean Sea by the second British buccaneer thanks to its well-protected bay,
half of the 16th century. In 1555, the and the constant ebb and flow of
French buccaneer Jacques de Sores sacked men and precious cargo imparted a vitality
and burned Havana, triggering the unknown to most of the other cities in the
construction of an impressive fortification New World. However, the rest of the island
system. Pirate raids became more and more was isolated from this ferment, even though
frequent in the 17th century. The first agriculture was developing rapidly as the
buccaneers were French, then came Spanish encouraged the large-scale cultiva-
the turn of the British (including Francis tion of sugar cane and tobacco, which soon
became desirable commodities in Europe
(see p36). Cuba, a major hub of maritime traffic,
was compelled to trade only with the parent
country, Spain. Within a short time the island
became a haven for smuggling, which was
a boost for the island’s economy, stimulating
the exchange of Cuban sugar and tobacco
for the products of the Old World.

The Brief British Dominion
Although in the 17th century the Cuban
population, concentrated around Havana,
The French buccaneers led by Jacques de Sores sacking the
city of Havana had increased with the arrival of Spanish

1586 Havana again risks The coat of arms of
being attacked by Francis Havana: the key of the
Drake’s British buccaneers Gulf, with its fortresses

1550 1600 1650
16th-century
Spanish galleon
1555 Havana sacked and
burned by French buccaneers 1607 Havana becomes
under Jacques de Sores the island’s capital

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