Spanish West Indies

Spanish West Indies
Las Antillas Españolas
1492–1898
Anthem: Marcha Real
"Royal March"
Map of the Greater Antilles, under direct Spanish rule as part of the Viceroyalty of New Spain.
Map of the Greater Antilles, under direct Spanish rule as part of the Viceroyalty of New Spain.
StatusPossessions of the Spanish Empire
CapitalMadrid
Common languagesSpanish, Taino
Religion
Roman Catholicism
Demonym(s)Españoles Antillanos (Spanish Antillean)
Monarch 
• 1492–1504
Ferdinand II
• 1492–1504
Isabella I
• 1896–1898
Alfonso XIII
Historical eraSpanish colonization
• Columbus landed in San Salvador
12 October 1492
10 December 1898
CurrencySpanish colonial real, Spanish dollar
ISO 3166 codeES
Preceded by
Succeeded by
Viceroyalty of New Spain
Era de Francia
Captaincy General of Santo Domingo
Captaincy General of Cuba
Captaincy General of Puerto Rico
Today part of

The Spanish West Indies, Spanish Caribbean or the Spanish Antilles (also known as "Las Antillas Occidentales" or simply "Las Antillas Españolas" in Spanish) were Spanish territories in the Caribbean. In terms of governance of the Spanish Empire, The Indies was the designation for all its overseas territories and was overseen by the Council of the Indies, founded in 1524 and based in Spain.[1] When the Crown established the Viceroyalty of New Spain in 1535, the islands of the Caribbean came under its jurisdiction.

The islands ruled by Spain were chiefly the Greater Antilles: Hispaniola (inclusive of modern-day Haiti and the Dominican Republic), Cuba, Jamaica, and Puerto Rico. The majority of the Taíno, the indigenous populations on these islands, had died out or had mixed with the European colonizers by 1520.[2] Spain also claimed the Lesser Antilles (such as Guadalupe and Dominica) but these smaller islands remained largely independent until they were seized or ceded to other European powers as a result of war, or diplomatic agreements during the 17th and 18th centuries.

The islands that became the Spanish West Indies were the focus of the voyages of the Spanish expedition of Christopher Columbus in America. Largely due to the familiarity that Spaniards gained from Columbus's voyages, the islands were also the first lands to be permanently colonized by Europeans in the Americas. The Spanish West Indies were also the most enduring part of Spain's American Empire, only ending with Cuba and Puerto Rico being surrendered in 1898 at the end of the Spanish–American War. For over three centuries, Spain controlled a network of ports in the Caribbean including Havana (Cuba), Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic), San Juan (Puerto Rico), Cartagena de Indias (Colombia), Veracruz (Mexico), and Portobelo (Panama), which were connected by galleon routes.

  1. ^ Mark A. Burkholder, "Council of the Indies" in Encyclopedia of Latin American History and Culture, vol. 2, p. 293. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons 1996.
  2. ^ Reséndez, Andrés (2017). The other slavery: The uncovered story of Indian enslavement in America. ISBN 978-0-544-94710-8.