Episode 6: The Four Horsemen, Part II

Orígenes: A Cuban History Podcast

In this episode we finally cover the initial conquest and colonization of Cuba, from the aftermath of Christopher Columbus' death all the way to the early colonial period in the 1520s.

This is a story that you will probably not find anywhere else. Usually, when discussing the early colonial period at all, the processes of conquest and colonization are summarized in a few lines or at most a paragraph or two. This tends to leave readers with extremely vague and low resolution understandings of exactly how in the space of a few years Spain seized control of Cuba when it had taken two decades to take over Hispaniola. Instead, this episode tries to tell this story in more detail to understand how the specifics of the invasion and colonization of Cuba deeply shaped the colonial society that was to come, down to the locations of its most important cities.

This episode also covers key topics, like the massive legal slave trade in indigenous people in the Caribbean during these years as well as the key role of Cuba in the invasion and conquest of Mexico.

Perhaps most importantly, this episode finally brings us to the colonial era. It has taken a long time and a lot of work to get here. Instead of treating the pre-colonial era like something to skip over in order to get to the 16th century and beyond, I have attempted to show just how fascinating, tragic, and important it is in its own right.

This brings an end to 'season 1' of the podcast. In the near future episodes should come out much more frequently and easily as I move into early colonial Cuban history, hopefully wrapping up the 16th century by the end of the year. Enjoy and thanks for listening.