Soon after the Portuguese the Spaniards commenced the work of colonization. On 12 Oct. 1492, Columbus discovered the island of San Salvador. Haiti, or San Domingo, named by Columbus Espanola, was discovered in the course of the same voyage, December 1492, and immediately colonized. Porto Rico and Jamaica were colonized in 1509; Cuba in 1511. On the mainland a Spanish settlement was effected in Colombia (New Granada) in 1511. Mexico was conquered 1519-21; Ecuador, Venezuela, New Granada, Peru and Chile were occupied and subdued between 1524 and 1541; and Spain was raised to the first rank among the colonizing powers of Europe. The Span iards regarded their new possessions in vari ous respects. Some, animated by a zeal for re ligion, considered the conversion of the natives as the great end which Heaven had assigned to them. Others were inspired by the love of glory or the passion for gain and scrupled at no means by which it was possible to gratify their wishes. Owing to the degraded character of many of the first colonists, who were often mere adventurers and released criminals, the first settlements suffered much from internal strife and confusion. After many dissensions the government of the colonies, in its funda mental traits, was settled in 1532, during the reign of the Emperor Charles V. A council of the Indies in Europe, viceroys, at first two, afterward four, together with eight independent captains-general in America, were the heads of the administration. Cities were founded, at first along the coasts, for the salce of commerce and as military posts; afterward also in the in terior, especially in the vicinity of the mines; as Vera Cruz, Cumana, Porto Bello, Cartha gena, Valencia, Caracas; Acapulco and Panama on the coast of the Pacific; Lima, Concepcion and Buenos Aires. The whole ecclesiastical discipline of the mother country was trans ferred to the colonies, except that in them the Church was much more independent of the ldng. The intercourse with Spain was con fined at first to the single port of Seville, after ward to that of Cadiz, from which two squad rons started annually. Thus, although com merce was not expressly granted by law to a society, it remained nevertheless entirely in the hands of a few individuals. Spain took pos session of the Philippine Islands in 1565 and a regular intercourse was maintained from 1572 by the South Sea galleons between Acapulco and Manila; but owing. to the great restrictions on conunerce those islands, notwithstanding their advantageous situation, were an expense to the Crown. Spain proved to be the fore most of the colonizing powers of Europe in respect to the formation of new states; the most unfortunate of all in regard to the re tention of her possessions. The causes of the loss of her colonies differed from those which prevailed in the case of the Portuguese. Euro pean wars and the decline of her home power were the most important, but they did not so often lead to the colonies falling under other powers, as in the case of Portugal. They more frequently became the occasion of revolt and the opportunity for declarations of independ ence on the part of the colonies themselves. Thus were formed the republics of Mexico, of C,entral America, of Venezuela, New Granada, or Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile, etc.; but as the weak government of the mother country served to promote this early defection, few of the states formed in this un fortunate school have yet attained the repose of settled government. An insurrection beg-an in Cuba in 1895, and after Spain had in vain en deavored to suppress it the United States inter fered. War followed, with the result that after
a brief struggle not only Cuba, but also Porto Rico and the Philippine Islands were lost to Spain. See SPAIN.
The The Dutch, during the struggle for independence, first became the formidable rivals of the Portuguese, then sub ject to the Spanish yoke. They had already for some time carried on the trade in East In dia merchandise between Lisbon and the rest of Europe, but their intercourse with Lisbon was prohibited by Philip II in 1584. The pro hibition was revived in 1594 with the utmost severity, and a number of Dutch vessels in the harbor were seized. Excluded from the Eu ropean trade in the productions of India, they resolved to import directly from India the arti cles which were refused to them in Europe. Companies were formed, which were united into one by a charter granted 20 March 1602 to the Dutch East India Company, established in 1595. This charter, which was renewed after ward at different times, conferred not only the monopoly of the East India trade, but also sov ereign powers over the conquests which the com pany should make, and the colonies which it should establish in India. An entirely new colonial policy was thus introduced, which, in stead of political or ecclesiastical aggrandize ment, contemplated mercantile advantage as its main object. The Dutch colonies in the East Indies were thus corrunercial colonies; and the islands of the Malay Archipelago, being more easily defended than the continent of India, became the principal seat of the Dutch power. This was undoubtedly the chief cause of their colonies being so long in a flourishing condition, as they required only the dominion of the sea to maintain them. In 1619 the newly built Batavia was made the capital of the Dutch East Indies. About the middle of the 17th century the power of the Dutch reached its highest point. They effected the establishment of a colony at the Cape of Good Hope in 1652, which afforded an excellent bulwark for their East India posses sions, and took Ceylon from the Portuguese, after a long and sanguinary struggle in 1658. All the Dutch colonies in the East Indies were under the governor-general of Batavia. In 1621 the Dutch also established a West India Company, which at first made extensive con quests in Brazil, but soon lost them entirely (1624-62). Their settlements on some of the smaller West India Islands, as San Eustatia, Curacoa, Saba and San Martin (1632-49), were more permanent. On the continent Surinam, Paramaribo, Essequibo and Berbice were in the hands of the Dutch in 1667. In North America the Netherlands held the valley of the Hudson and pushed south at the expense of the Swedes, winning the present States of New Jersey and Delaware, only to lose them to England. The decline of the Dutch colonial power, partly caused by European wars and partly by the successful rivalry of the English, continued from the end of the 17th century till the French Revolution. On the recovery of its independ ence, the commerce and the colonial importance of Holland somewhat revived and though many of her colonies were lost the value of the re mainder was enhanced by improved adminis tration. The Dutch still possess numerous co lonial possessions in the East Indies, including Java, Sumatra, parts of Borneo, the Moluccas and part of New Guinea; several small islands in the West Indies and Surinam. See