Eastern West Indies (1696–1707 CE): Territorial Consolidation and Colonial Warfare

Establishment of French Dominance in Hispaniola

Between 1696 and 1707, significant geopolitical shifts occurred in the Eastern West Indies. The Spanish withdrawal from the northern coastal region of Hispaniola had allowed French buccaneers from their base on Tortuga Island (Île de la Tortue), located off the northwest coast of modern-day Haiti, to establish settlements as early as the mid-seventeenth century.

In 1697, under the Treaty of Ryswick, Spain formally ceded the western third of Hispaniola to France, recognizing French sovereignty over Tortuga Island. The exact boundaries of this newly acquired territory, known as Saint-Domingue (modern-day Haiti), were left undefined, remaining a contentious issue until clearly delineated in 1929. The eastern two-thirds, remaining under Spanish control, became known as Santo Domingo.

Although Spain deliberately avoided explicit acknowledgment of French control in the treaty, they tacitly conceded this territory permanently, laying the foundations for Saint-Domingue to become France’s wealthiest colony.

Escalation of Colonial Conflict and Buccaneer Warfare

Intermittent warfare between French settlers in Saint-Domingue and Spanish settlers in Santo Domingo continued, exacerbated by ongoing European conflicts that prevented Spain from maintaining sufficient military garrisons on the island.

In 1706, French Canadian adventurer Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville, founder of French Louisiana, launched an invasion of the English-controlled island of Nevis to suppress piracy against French ships. French buccaneers, notorious for their ruthlessness following previous conflicts with Spanish territories, led the assault.

The English militia quickly fled, leaving behind vulnerable plantations. Some planters resorted to burning their estates rather than allowing them to fall into French hands, retreating into the island’s mountains.

Heroic Resistance by Enslaved Africans on Nevis

Remarkably, resistance against the French invasion was led not by European planters but by enslaved Africans. Poorly armed and untrained, approximately one thousand enslaved Nevisians defended their families and the island with what was described by contemporaries as "murderous fire." This valiant resistance stood in stark contrast to the retreat of many of their European masters.

Despite their bravery, around thirty-four hundred enslaved people were captured and forcibly relocated to Martinique, where they were resold. An English eyewitness account noted, "the slaves' brave behavior and defense there shamed what some of their masters did, and they do not shrink to tell us so" (Hubbard, Vincent K., Swords, Ships & Sugar: History of Nevis, 2002).

After eighteen days of intense fighting, the French invaders withdrew from Nevis, unable to secure complete control. Nonetheless, the invasion devastated the island’s sugar economy, leading to widespread hardship. In response, plantation owners were compelled to allocate small plots of land to enslaved families, mitigating starvation and stabilizing the population.

Conclusion

The era 1696–1707 in the Eastern West Indies saw France consolidate territorial gains on Hispaniola, laying the groundwork for economic dominance. Yet, the brutal realities of colonial warfare and the extraordinary resistance by enslaved communities highlighted deep social tensions and the complex interplay of power, resistance, and survival in the Caribbean colonies.

Eastern West Indies (1708–1719 CE): Decline and Economic Stagnation in Santo Domingo

Economic and Social Decline

Between 1708 and 1719, the Spanish colony of Santo Domingo experienced significant economic stagnation and decline. Wealthy landowners made little effort to develop their vast holdings, leaving large tracts of fertile land idle. The once-thriving sugar plantations along the southern coast were abandoned due to continuous harassment from pirates and privateers, severely crippling the colony’s agricultural production and export capacity.

Impact on Commerce and Trade

With the cessation of sugar cultivation and external threats severely disrupting maritime commerce, foreign trade nearly ceased. Domestic trade became highly centralized, with nearly all commerce conducted within the protective confines of the capital city of Santo Domingo. This concentration further exacerbated economic disparities between urban and rural areas, deepening social inequalities.

Security Challenges

Pirate activities along the southern coast not only destroyed economic infrastructure but also weakened overall colonial security. The inability of Spanish authorities to maintain adequate military protection further contributed to the colony’s isolation and economic vulnerability.

Conclusion

The era 1708–1719 marked a period of economic hardship and stagnation for Santo Domingo, as persistent piracy, declining agricultural production, and isolation significantly hampered development. The colony’s dependence on the capital city for limited internal commerce underscored broader vulnerabilities that would persist into subsequent decades.

Eastern West Indies (1708–1719 CE): Decline and Economic Stagnation in Santo Domingo

Economic and Social Decline

Between 1708 and 1719, the Spanish colony of Santo Domingo experienced significant economic stagnation and decline. Wealthy landowners made little effort to develop their vast holdings, leaving large tracts of fertile land idle. The once-thriving sugar plantations along the southern coast were abandoned due to continuous harassment from pirates and privateers, severely crippling the colony’s agricultural production and export capacity.

Impact on Commerce and Trade

With the cessation of sugar cultivation and external threats severely disrupting maritime commerce, foreign trade nearly ceased. Domestic trade became highly centralized, with nearly all commerce conducted within the protective confines of the capital city of Santo Domingo. This concentration further exacerbated economic disparities between urban and rural areas, deepening social inequalities.

Security Challenges

Pirate activities along the southern coast not only destroyed economic infrastructure but also weakened overall colonial security. The inability of Spanish authorities to maintain adequate military protection further contributed to the colony’s isolation and economic vulnerability.

Conclusion

The era 1708–1719 marked a period of economic hardship and stagnation for Santo Domingo, as persistent piracy, declining agricultural production, and isolation significantly hampered development. The colony’s dependence on the capital city for limited internal commerce underscored broader vulnerabilities that would persist into subsequent decades.

Eastern West Indies (1708–1719 CE): Decline and Economic Stagnation in Santo Domingo

Economic and Social Decline

Between 1708 and 1719, the Spanish colony of Santo Domingo experienced significant economic stagnation and decline. Wealthy landowners made little effort to develop their vast holdings, leaving large tracts of fertile land idle. The once-thriving sugar plantations along the southern coast were abandoned due to continuous harassment from pirates and privateers, severely crippling the colony’s agricultural production and export capacity.

Impact on Commerce and Trade

With the cessation of sugar cultivation and external threats severely disrupting maritime commerce, foreign trade nearly ceased. Domestic trade became highly centralized, with nearly all commerce conducted within the protective confines of the capital city of Santo Domingo. This concentration further exacerbated economic disparities between urban and rural areas, deepening social inequalities.

Security Challenges

Pirate activities along the southern coast not only destroyed economic infrastructure but also weakened overall colonial security. The inability of Spanish authorities to maintain adequate military protection further contributed to the colony’s isolation and economic vulnerability.

Conclusion

The era 1708–1719 marked a period of economic hardship and stagnation for Santo Domingo, as persistent piracy, declining agricultural production, and isolation significantly hampered development. The colony’s dependence on the capital city for limited internal commerce underscored broader vulnerabilities that would persist into subsequent decades.

The British ships now sail to the neutral Dutch port of Batavia in what is now Indonesia, where Rogers undergoes surgery to remove a musket ball from the roof of his mouth, and the expedition disposes of the less seaworthy of the two Spanish prizes.

Dealing with the Dutch here constitutes a violation of the British East India Company's monopoly.

A legal battle ensues when the ships of the Rogers expedition finally drop anchor in the Thames River on October 14, 1711, with the investors paying the East India Company six thousand pounds (about six hund4red and sixty-six thousand pounds at 2009 values) as settlement for their claim for breach of monopoly, about four percent of what Rogers has brought back.

The investors have approximately doubled their money, while Rogers has gained sixteen hundred pounds (today perhaps one hundred and seventy-six thousand pounds) from a voyage which has disfigured him and cost him his brother, who had been killed in a battle in the Pacific.

The money is probably less than he could have made at home, and is entirely absorbed by the debts his family has incurred in his absence.

However, the long voyage and the capture of the Spanish ship make Rogers a national hero.

Rogers is the first Englishman, in circumnavigating the globe, to have his original ships and most of his crew survive.

Woodes Rogers writes an account of his journey, titled A Cruising Voyage Round the World.

While Edward Cooke, an officer aboard the Duchess, also writes a book, and beats Rogers to print by several months, Rogers' book is much more successful, with many readers fascinated by the account of Selkirk's rescue, which Cooke had slighted.

Among those interested in Selkirk's adventure is Daniel Defoe, who seeks out Selkirk, and will fictionalize the story as Robinson Crusoe.

While Rogers' book enjoys financial success, it has a practical purpose—to aid British navigators and possible colonists.

Much of Rogers' introduction is devoted to advocacy for the South Seas trade.

Rogers notes that had there been a British colony in the South Seas, he would not have had to worry about food supplies for his crew.

A third of Rogers' book is devoted to detailed descriptions of the places that he had explored, with special emphasis on "such [places] as may be of most use for enlarging our trade". (Little, Brian (1960). Crusoe's Captain. Odhams Press.)

He describes the area of the River Plate in detail because it lies "within the limits of the South Sea Company", whose schemes have not yet burst into financial scandal.

Rogers' book will be carried by such South Pacific navigators as Admiral George Anson and privateering captains John Clipperton and George Shelvocke.

Rogers has encountered financial problems on his return.

Sir William Whetstone has died, and Rogers, having failed to recoup his business losses through privateering, is forced to sell his Bristol home to support his family.

He is successfully sued by a group of over two hundred of his crew, who stated that they had not received their fair share of the expedition profits.

The profits from his book are not enough to overcome these setbacks, and he is forced into bankruptcy.

His wife gives birth to their fourth child a year after his return—a boy who dies in infancy—and Sarah and Woodes Rogers soon permanently separate.

Rogers decides the way out of his financial difficulty is to lead another expedition, this time against pirates.

He leads in 1713 what is ostensibly an expedition to purchase slaves in Madagascar and take them to the Dutch East Indies, this time with the permission of the British East India Company.

Rogers' secondary purpose, however, is to gather details on the pirates of Madagascar, hoping to destroy or reform them, and colonize Madagascar on a future trip.

Rogers has collected information regarding pirates and their vessels near the island on Madagascar.

Finding that a large number of the pirates have gone native, he has persuaded many of them to sign a petition to Queen Anne asking her for clemency.

While Rogers' expedition is profitable, when it returns to London in 1715, the British East India Company vetoes the idea of a colonial expedition to Madagascar, believing a colony is a greater threat to its monopoly than a few pirates.

Accordingly, Rogers turns his sights from Madagascar to the West Indies.

His connections include several of the advisers to the new king, George I, who had succeeded Queen Anne in 1714, and Rogers is able to forge an agreement for a company to manage the Bahamas, which are infested with pirates, in exchange for a share of the colony's profits.

The Bahamas are at this time, according to the Governor of Bermuda, "without any face or form of Government" and the colony is a "sink or nest of infamous rascals". (Little, Brian (1960). Crusoe's Captain. Odhams Press.)

The islands have been nominally governed by absentee Lords Proprietor, who have done little except appoint a new, powerless governor when the position falls vacant.

The Lords Proprietor, under the agreement that underlies Rogers' commission, lease their rights for a token sum to Rogers' company for twenty-one years.

The Dutch East India Company collects a tax in coffee in the Priangen region of west Java and earns vast profits through sales in Europe and America.

Soon becoming the globe's greatest coffee broker, the Dutch company gains thereby a substitute for its substantial share of the China opium trade lost to Britain after 1720.