33.8 America: a.d. 1801 to 1900  (Page 28/31)

Elsewhere in Central America there was much confusion. For awhile there was a Confederation of Central America including Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, San Salvador and Quezaltango, although the first four soon declared themselves independent of the federal government. In the first half of the century the main road to Guatemala City was almost impassable even with mules. The people, even the whites, went about essentially naked, living on tortillas, corn, dark beans and cigars. Polygamy was common, even among nominal Catholics. There were many gigantic Catholic churches desolate and deteriorating in the jungle, evidence of an expiring people. When a cholera epidemic struck in 1838 the priests told the Indians that foreigners in San Salvador had caused it, leading to further political confusion. (Ref. 203 ) Stephens (Ref. 204 ) described the bull-fights in Yucatan about 1840 as "brutal".

Nicaragua was the seat of multiple incidents, involving British, U.S. and local revolutionaries and Latin America has been suspicious of U.S. activities ever since. President Polk obtained the right of transit across Panama by treaty with Colombia in 1840 and the Panama Railway was completed in 1855, with American capital. The old Mayan ruins in both Yucatan and what is now Honduras were investigated and publicized by John Stephens from the United States. Belize had 6,000 people, 4,000 of which were black, mahogany cutters, but there was complete integration of the races in that British settlement. The old Indian 40 feet long canoes with cabins still plied the rivers, but were now manned by Negroes. The previously fierce, cannibalistic Caribs of the coast were now civilized and most were Catholics, although they had not mixed with the Spanish conquerors. (Ref. 203 ) There were three main political parties in Central America, one lead by Morazan, former president of the Republic of San Salvador, a second by the mulatto Ferrara in Honduras and finally Carrera, an Indian of Guatemala. The latter's country, although dominated by dictators through most of the century did manage to supply the Spanish with sugar, cocoa and indigo.

Early in the century European introduced disease took a high toll throughout Mexico and Central America in general. The native population of Mexico had been seriously depleted and in some areas, such as Veracruz in particular, there was a human vacuum which was resettled by French and Italian farmers. A big step in the control of tropical disease was made in 1881 by the Cuban physician, Carlos Finlay, as he defined the Aedes aegypti mosquito as the insect vector in yellow fever. More complete details were then developed by a United States commission working in Cuba under Walter Reed, at about the turn of the century. (Ref. 125 )

In the Caribbean, Cuba remained under the control of Spain, even as most of the remainder of the Spanish Empire broke away. - This is not to say that there were not uprisings. A Ten Years War was initiated by Carlos Manuel de Despedes, but it was a revolt which was finally crushed. Cuba had 55 steam engines by 1860. It was the largest exporter of sugar and the richest colony in the world. (Ref. 213 ) But still the people were not happy and there was much bitterness which finally resulted in- 1895 with the brilliant poet Mose Marti becoming the chief spokesman for a new and stronger revolt. We have seen in a special segment above how the United States became involved in this uprising which terminated in the Spanish American War. Jamaica continued to have intermittent revolts against the white colonials. When slavery was abolished in 1833 the sugar industry declined. Overpopulation and the economic and social situations generated tension and unrest, leading to more severe riots. About 95% of the population was Negro or part-Negro and many left the island to seek employment elsewhere in the Caribbean or the United States.