THIS IS FOR TUREY OR ANYONE WHO KNOWS:
I have read where the Spanish occupied the land (Jamaica) for 400 years, while one person wrote in a book that the Spanish lived in Ja for approximately 150 years. Could someone shed some light on this one?

They are recolonizing now- go watch Jamaica For Sale and see how they destroyed Pear Tree Bottom for a liitle money maybe the 400 years means they never left in a way

Hello History. Columbus landed in Jamaica for the first time on 4 May 1494. I'm not sure if he took possession of the Island for the Spanish Crown the same day.

The Treaty of Madrid or the Godolphin Treaty whereby Spain recognised English possessions in the Caribbean, was signed somewhere in the middle of 1670.

Thus the Spanish Crown had possession of Jamaica for 176 years.

Wonder what our Taino relatives at the time thought about the whole bangarang? Would make a good topic for schoolers.

Best.

Suggest you Google it. The Spanish were in Ja before the British and were responsible for the extinction of the Arawak Indians (Tainos) and the Island is full of Spanish place names - Ocho Rios, Savanna la Mar etc etc.

To learn more about the Spanish in Jamaica, I suggest you read Jewish Pirates of the Caribbean by Edward Kritzler. Many of these people were "marranos": Jews who coverted to Chirsitanity during the Spanish Inquisition, but continued to practice Judaism in secret.

There is a book recently written by Marilyn Delevante called The Knell of Parting Day that would interest you re the Spanish occupation in Jamaica.

Thanks everyone for such informative info. I have also googled prior to my posting and the results were the same as Turey's.

History, I always thought that Penn and Venables captured Jamaica after being thwarted by the Spanish in Cuba. Your inquiry led me to Google where I found out that it was in fact Hispaniola that Oliver Cromwell had sent them initially.

Here is a bit of humor on the Spanish story.
A group of us was having a few when one guy
ask what were the names of the three ships that
Columbus came with. Now I thinking I am the bright
boy said "yes man that's easy, they were the Pinta
the Nina and the Santa Maria".
I'm said "no man you wrong, they were (1) Hardship,
that one landed in Haiti, (2) Ginalship that one
landed in Jamaica and (3) Dictatorship that one
landed in Cuba.
And according to the type of people that CC was
given to make his crew this may not be factual
but actual.

The Western Design by S A G Taylor is a good source for details of the Penn and Venables expedition.

Still waiting on Ginalship to sail away again, he has overstayed his welcome.

GOOD...BAD...UGLY...RESPONSIBLE: SPAIN IN THE AMERICAS

In this era of a minor Re-Conquest of Jamaica by Spanish hotels and the beneficial awarding of grants for solar energy projects to Jamaican schools by the government of Spain, it's not entirely far fetched for a beach-side, mental exercise of what the evolution of this Island might have been, if the Spaniards had been the dominant colonizers beyond their 176 years of their formal occupation...

In law, culture, philosophy, literature, economy, urban planning, social and familial relations.

Perhaps in our Caribbean maritime neighbourhood, we could look primarily at the current Dominican Republic (Hispanolia in entirety), which was early brutally & cruelly exploited by the Columbus family and his ilk for gold and gems & other preciosas ...along with Cuba and Puerto Rico, different in specifics, but a unity in several directions.

One interesting aspect of Spanish rule was its instituting of the Law of the Indies in its "New World Colonies" to address serious injustices and imprint the Spanish way of life wherever they extended.

Many threads in this Forum deal with community planning and development and relationships of stratification, so it is fascinating to observe how, in the 16th century even zoning laws were codified sensitive to local conditions.

A good example relating to passive solar design was the layout of streets from central plazas, offset to the cardinal directions, wider in cooler climates so buildings could receive solar warmth and narrower in hot climates so that the mass and height of buildings would provide shading.

Here is an edited excerpt from Wikipedia:

The Laws of the Indies (Leyes de Indias in Spanish) are the entire body of laws issued by the Spanish Crown for its American and Philippine possessions of its empire. They regulated social, political and economic life in these areas. The laws included a myriad of decrees issued over the centuries and the important laws of the sixteenth century, which attempted to regulate the interactions between the settlers and natives, such as the Laws of Burgos (1512) and the New Laws (1542).

Throughout the five hundred years of Spanish presence in these parts of the world, the laws were compiled several times, most notably in 1680 under Charles II in the Recopilación de las Leyes de los Reynos de Indias (Compilation of the Laws of the Kingdoms of the Indies), which became the classic collection of the laws, despite the fact that later laws superseded parts of it and other compilations were issued. The 1680 compilation set the template by which the laws were organized.

History
With the often violent Spanish America conflict between Native American (Indian) communities and Spanish colonists arose. At the same time conflicts appeared between the colonists and the Crown. The laws also incorporated the ban against "New Christians" on settling in the Americas.

Two of the main sets of laws issued in the sixteenth century regulated Spanish contact with Indians, an issue about which the crown quickly became concerned soon after Christopher Columbus's first voyages. The Laws of Burgos (1512), signed by King Ferdinand II of Aragon, focused upon the welfare of the conquered Native Americans. The issue was revisited after Bartolome de las Casas brought attention to abuses being carried out by encomenderos (land-holders).

The Laws of Burgos were revised by the New Laws of 1542 issued by Charles I and quickly revised again in 1552, after the laws met resistance from colonists. These were then followed by the Ordinances Concerning Discoveries in 1573, which forbade any unauthorized operations against independent Native Americans..

To guide and regularize the establishment of presidios (military towns), missions, and pueblos (civilian towns), King Phillip II developed the first version of the Laws of the Indies, a comprehensive guide comprising of 148 ordinances to aid colonists in locating, building, and populating settlements.

They codified the city planning process and represented some of the first attempts at a general plan. Signed in 1573, the Laws of the Indies are seen as the first wide-ranging guidelines towards design and development of communities. These laws were heavily influenced by Vitruvius' Ten Books of Architecture and Alberti's treatises on the subject.

After some of the northern Spanish colonies became a part of the United States, the Laws of the Indies were influential in the creation of regulations that guided the development in the United States, particularly the Land Ordinance of 1785, which introduced townships and sections as organizing devices.

About the Laws
In Book IV of the 1680 compilation of The Laws of the Indies, plans were set forth for settlers in high detail on every facet of creating a community. Examples of the diverse range of rules include:
• Those [Colonists] who should want to make a commitment to building a new settlement in the form and manner already prescribed, be it of more or less than 30 neighbors, (know that) it should be of no less than twelve persons and be awarded the authorization and territory in accordance with the prescribed conditions.

• Having made the selection of the site where the town is to be built, it must, as already stated, be in an elevated and healthy location; [be] with means of fortification; [have] fertile soil and with plenty of land for farming and pasturage; have fuel, timber, and resources; [have] fresh water, a native population, ease of transport, access and exit; [and be] open to the north wind; and, if on the coast, due consideration should be paid to the quality of the harbor and that the sea does not lie to the south or west; and if possible not near lagoons or marshes in which poisonous animals and polluted air and water breed.

• They [Colonists] shall try as far as possible to have the buildings all of one type for the sake of the beauty of the town.

• Within the town, a commons shall be delimited, large enough that although the population may experience a rapid expansion, there will always be sufficient space where the people may go to for recreation and take their cattle to pasture without them making any damage.

• The site and building lots for slaughter houses, fisheries, tanneries, and other business which produce filth shall be so placed that the filth can easily be disposed of.

These regulations are included in a body of 143 others (totaling 148) configuring any settlement according to the rule of Spain and its colonies.
This continued as a precedent in all towns of Spanish control until the relinquishing of the land to others, as in the case of the American colonies and their growth; however, the Laws of the Indies still serve as an example to design guidelines for communities today.

Examples of cities implemented with The Laws
• Santa Fe, New Mexico[4]
• Álamos, Mexico