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The economies of Cuba and Puerto Rico are very similar during the 16 th, 17 th, and 18 th centuries. As Spain colonized these two islands in the 16 th century under the idea that gold was abundant. Thus in turn the islands became a safe port for Spain and her vessels. It also set out to be a huge migration from the Spain to the islands, because everyone was set to search for gold... This turned out to be short lived as the mining of gold peaked in 1517 till 1819.
By Spain using Cuba and Puerto Rico for mining gold they needed slave laborers as the local Indians. The Indians soon became unsatisfied with their new conditions of living, they became hostile and many not able to cope with being slaves committed suicide and genocide. By 1540 - 1550 silver was discovered in Mexico and Peru. As Spain found its' new source of income in Mexico and Peru, it left Cuba and Puerto Rico to literally fend for themselves. By the 1590 's their economy began to prosper by cattle breeding and farming as this lead to new jobs on the islands. This new slow and uneven growth led supplies to be more expensive.
By the 17 th century the caballos began to govern migration, basically they stopped migration. The Spanish government implemented regulation and restrictions, which in demand increased prices and taxes. As a result, many began to use the black market in order to purchase contraband. At this time agriculture also developed and farming expanded with sugar, coffee and tobacco crops. These new crops also served to encourage new settlements. No longer a remote military outpost, food shortages and inflated prices worsened.
Supplies did not increase and money was not sent from Spain. The cost of goods did not decline but contraband increased. In the 18 th Century, the English occupy Cuba in 1762 for 10 months, as it helped Cuba to see that they could be with better leadership and if they get the attention they needed. This occupation lead to free trade with England and the American Colonies, in turn it abolished trade tax. Vendors from England arrived offering Cuba consumer goods and industrial items.
The ports were open to maritime traffic, which increased markets and increased demands. The new markets also increased prices and stimulated sugar and tobacco production in the absence of Spain. Also in 1797 the English invaded Puerto Rico, which lead to the acquisition of Trinidad. Yes, I believe the islands were the "Victims of Mexico and Peru?" Since Mexico and Peru were filled with riches like silver, the mother country Spain totally turned their attention away from the islands. The islands no longer had anything of value for Spain to reap any profits, the gold ran out and the other industries had no significance. It seemed as though Spain never truly had any intentions of keeping these islands, because it will always consider the people of these islands as "second class citizens. " Supplies never arrived, if the money arrived they are a year past due wages for the soldiers and civil servants also fell short.
How can an economy survive if no one gets paid? Basically since supply ships were very late, many people and merchants had to use local resources or the black market to fulfill their needs. This helped create new opportunities in the black market as money was scarce and the workers needed to support themselves and their families. On one side of the island had a legitimate port while the other end had the contraband port. Thanks to illegal trade, the colony and its people were able to survive. To answer the question as to whether there are two societies present on the islands, I would say there are three.
The three groups are the Whites, People of Color and Slaves. The whites came from Spain. The whites first started out as military soldiers, to help secure the islands for economic gain. Then as the search for gold began a new set of settlers arrived and they were civil servants, priests, artisans, and farmers. By Spain allowing these people to migrate, they opened up the use of the encomienda and later through forced labor assignments called repartimiento. The Indians now called People of Color, were once free on their own land are now forced to cultivate it.
Although the original intent of the encomienda was to reduce the abuses of forced labor (repartimiento) employed shortly after the discovery of the New World, in practice it became a form of enslavement. As legally defined in 1503, an encomienda (from encomendero, "to entrust") consisted of a grant by the crown to a conquistador, soldier, official, or others of a specified number of Indians living in a particular area. The receiver of the grant, the encomendero, could exact tribute from the Indians in gold, in kind, or in labor and was required to protect them and instruct them in the Christian faith. The encomienda did not include a grant of land, but in practice the encomenderos gained control of the Indians' lands and failed to fulfill their obligations to the Indian population. Since the increase of settlers in islands, and the suicide of many of the Indians, resulted in Spain going to Africa to get slave's to mine and cultivate. The African slaves are the third society to merge on to the islands.
The People of Color and Slaves have outnumbered the whites significantly. As the years past, these three societies seem to merge into one society, with very big cultural significance in its food, music and arts.
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