The
country came to be known as the paradise of the West Indies and the
wealth of the planters became proverbial. The grave defect was that
this prosperity was built on the false foundation of slavery. In 1754
the population numbered 14,000 whites, 4000 free mulattoes and
172,000 negroes.
The Spanish colony on the other hand sank lower than ever. Practically
abandoned by the mother country, there was no commerce beyond a little
contraband and only the most indispensable agriculture, the
inhabitants devoting themselves almost entirely to cattle raising. The
ports were the haunts of pirates, and a number of Dominicans also
became corsairs. By the year 1730 the entire country held but 6000
inhabitants, of whom about 500 lived in the ruined capital and the
remaining urban population was disseminated among the vestiges of
Cotui, Santiago, Azua, Banica, Monte Plata, Bayaguana, La Vega, Higuey
and Seibo. Such was the poverty prevailing that a majority of the
people went in rags; and the arrival of the ship from Mexico, which
brought the salaries of the civil officials and the military, was
hailed with the joyful ringing of church bells.
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