Impact of the Europeans on the Tainos

Date: 11/01/2018

Student Name: Colin Ainsworth

Teacher’s Name: Mr. Josiah

Class: 5A3

Country: Antigua & Barbuda

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 Table of Contents
Table of Contents Pg: 2

Introduction Pg: 3

Rationale Pg: 4

Acknowledgement Pg: 5

Research Question Pg: 6

Thesis Statement Pg: 7

Taino Resistance Pg: 8

Social Impact Pg: 9

Economic Impact Pg: 10

Conclusion Pg: 11

Bibliography Pg: 12

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 Introduction
The Tainos were an indigenous people living in the greater Antilles but, by the time the
Europeans made contact their whole life was about to change . in chapter one we will discuss
the ways in which the Tainos resisted, in chapter 2 we will discuss the social impact and lastly in
chapter 3 we will look at economic impacts.

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 Rationale
The reason for this topic being by the research is to better analyze and interpret why so many
Tainos died whether from a traumatic outbreak of diseases or from a visit of what they saw as
gods. And lastly; the reason I chose this topic was to unfold the mystery of how these peaceful
dwellers were so brutally enslaved by the Spaniards.

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 Acknowledgement
I would like to give a special thanks to all those who assisted me in the completion of my SBA
because without them I could have never accomplished this great task. I would first like to
thank God, secondly I would like to thank my sister and lastly I would like to thank my teacher
Mr. Josiah who played an interval part in my SBA. Again I say thank you.

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 Research Question
How did the Europeans contact affect the Tainos?

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 Thesis Statement
The European contact affected the Tainos socially and economically.

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 Taino Resistance
Tainos resistance or clash with Europeans Las Casas estimated that at least 10,000 Taino rebels
died in a single day. Beckles and Shepard ( ) said the Tainos first established the Jamaican
Maroon heritage when they launched a long guerilla-style war against Spanish settlers. The
Taino constantly resisted their enslavement. Other types of resistance included destroying
crops, poisoning water supply and burning stores to starve the Spanish in Jamaica, Cuba, Puerto
Rico and the Bahamas. According to Yvette Taylor Kanarick (2010), the Tainos Columbus met on
his arrival displayed only friendliness to the newcomers. It was also said by the (Journal of the
First Voyage of Columbus), that the Tainos did not carry nor know anything of arms. The only
weapons they carried were darts with a fish’s tooth at the end. This of course made the Tainos
easy prey to the Spaniards or so they thought. On Columbus’s second voyage he stated that the
Fort built a year ago had been destroyed and all the Spaniards he left behind had been killed in
fights with the Tainos. According to the famous historians Claypole and Robottom, (2001) as
soon as Columbus was gone from Hispaniola, his men abandoned work on the buildings and
work on the farm, and began robbing the Tainos of their food, trinkets and women. This
aroused the anger of the Tainos, they now rallied together to defeat the Spaniards who had
made themselves unwelcome. A one- sided struggle followed. According to Claypole and
Robottom the Tainos were poorly armed with bows and arrows, stone clubs and wooden
spears against the Spanish forces that were armed with steel swords, metal tipped pikes and
crossbows. The Tainos suffered a miserable defeat and in a short time tens of thousands of
Tainos were killed. The Spaniards then forced the Tainos to pay taxes. Claypole and Robottom
stated that each male over fourteen had to hand over enough gold to fill a hawk’s bell and
every other Taino had to supply 12 kilograms of spun cotton. Many Tainos resisted the tax and
were sent back to Spain as slaves.

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 Social Impact
The social impact of the Europeans on the Tainos is one of great concern according to Davuluri
(2013) it was estimated that diseases and genocide wiped out 3 million of the 3.5 million
Tainos. It was also stated by Davuluri (2013) that Columbus made the land of the Tainos into a
living hell by grilling the Tainos, cutting them into pieces like sheep, have them run down by
dogs and torn to pieces and strung up and burned alive 13 at a time in memory of Jesus and his
twelve apostles. The Europeans even killed women and children, even babies; the Europeans
threw babies against rocks and into rivers. If a Taino killed one European, the Europeans would
kill 100 Tainos in return. Davuluri stated that after the killing spree the Europeans divided the
remaining Tainos among themselves to teach them the Christian faith. Under the encomienda
system Yvette Taylor Kanarick (2010) stated that; every European who holds Indians in trust will
build on his plantation a church, to which he will accompany them at down and at nightfall to
say prayers with them, taking care to correct their errors. The Indians will be given some time
off to rest before nightfall, and those who do not attend church will be deprived of this rest
period Claypole and Robottom (2001) also stated that in order for slaves to receive protection
under encomienda they had to accept the Christian faith as their main religion. As this went on
the Europeans were clearly destroying the Taino society both physically and religiously.

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 Economic Impact
When Columbus came to the Caribbean his main focus was wealth and he was determined to
satisfy this desire. When the Europeans first stumbled upon the Taino society they were
seemingly very disappointed with what they saw (poorly dressed people with only little trinkets
such as gold nuggets and earrings according to Yvette Taylor Kanarick) the Europeans were not
satisfied with this and therefore according to Claypole and Robottom (2001) forced the Tainos
to pay taxes which included enough gold to fill a hawk’s bell and 12 kilograms of spun cotton.
Tainos were now forced to work in the mines to supply the Europeans with taxes this caused
may Tainos to die and also sucked the land dry of all its natural resources. When the Crown
found out about the Europeans actions they were immediately asked by Queen Isabella to
desist from this form of cruelty. The Europeans thirst for wealth continued to drive them to
enslave the Tainos and since there was a labour shortage in Europe their proposals to enslave
the Tainos was accepted under one condition which according to Yvette Taylor Kanarick (2010)
stated that the Tainos could be used for labour purposes if they were taught the Christian faith.
The Taino men now had to work long hours in the fields planting produce such as (yam, cassava
and cotton) which was shown no regard to by the Europeans as they allowed their cattle to
wonder and devour the Tainos crops. The effect of this was catastrophic mainly because the
Taino men who worked in the fields were provided for but the family which he left at home
died from starvation. This began to lead to decline in the Taino population because Taino men
were needed for procreation and since they were so many Taino men dying from heat strokes
and overworking there were hardly any left for procreation. Sadly 3 million of the 3.5 million
Tainos eventually died trying to satisfy the Europeans dying need for prosperity.

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 Conclusion
The impact of the Europeans on the Tainos was catastrophic mainly because of their willingness
to lay down their weapons and accept the foreign European sailors. As a result of this their
population was drastically reduced from 60,000 to 500 at the end of the European invasion the
sudden drop in the population rate also led to high infant mortality rates since men were busy
working hard in the mines trying to produce gold for the Europeans.

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 Bibliography
Yvette Taylor Kanarick. Caribbean History Themes Volume 2 Caribbean Education Publishers.
2010.

Beckles .H & Shepard. A Liberty Lost Cambridge University Press. 2005.

Robottom J & Claypole W. Caribbean History Pearson Education Limited. 2009.

Davuluri N. Taino genocide abagong.wordpress.com 20/09/2013/

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