Mosquito Coast
Encyclopedia
The Caribbean Mosquito Coast (or Miskito Coast) historically consisted of an area along the Atlantic coast of present-day Nicaragua
and Honduras
, and part of the Western Caribbean Zone
. It was named after the local Miskito Indians and long dominated by British
interests. The Mosquito Coast was incorporated into Nicaragua in 1894; however, in 1960 the northern part was granted to Honduras by the International Court of Justice
.
Although its name sometimes applies to the whole eastern seaboard of Nicaragua — and even to La Mosquitia
in Honduras
, i.e. the coast region as far west as the Río Negro or Tinto – the Mosquito Coast more accurately consisted of a narrow strip of territory, fronting the Caribbean Sea
, and extending from about 11°45’ to 14°10’ N. It stretched inland for an average distance of 40 miles (64 km), and measured about 225 miles (362 km) from north to south. In the north, its boundary skirted the Wawa River
; in the west, it corresponded with the eastern limit of the Nicaraguan highlands; in the south, it followed the Río Rama. The chief modern towns are Bluefields
or Blewfields, the largest town and capital of Nicaragua's Región Autónoma del Atlántico Sur
, Magdala on Pearl Cay, Prinzapolka
on the river of that name, Wounta near the mouth of the Kukalaya, and Carata near the mouth of the coco River.
. Columbus
visited the coast briefly in his fourth voyage. Detailed Spanish accounts of the region, however, only relate to the late 16th and early 17th centuries. According to their understanding of the geography the region was divided between two "Provinces" Taguzgalpa
and Tologalpa
. Lists of "nations" left by Spanish missionaries include as many as 30 names, though careful analysis of them by Karl Offen suggests that many were duplicated and the regional geography included about a half dozen entities, speaking related by distinct dialects occupied the various river basins of the region.
" the region through missionary efforts. These included several attempts by Franciscan
s between 1604 and 1612; another one led by Fray Cristóbal Martinez in 1622, and a third one between 1667 and 1675. None of these efforts resulted in any lasting success.
Because the Spanish failed to have significant influence in the region, it was more or less independent of outside control. This allowed the indigenous people to continue as they were, and to receive visitors from other regions. As northern Europeans, particularly English and Dutch privateers entered the region, they found the Caribbean coast of Central America, particularly the Mosquito Coast, a good place to refit and rest, as well as serving for a base.
In subsequent years, the kingdom stood strongly against any Spanish incursions in their region, and were prepared to offer rest and asylum to any anti-Spanish groups that might come to their shores. At the very least English and French privateers and pirates did visit there, taking in water and food. A detailed account of the kingdom written by a bucaneer known only as M. W. describes its organization as being fundamentally egalitarian, with the king, and some officials (usually called "Captains" in that period but later being more elaborate) were primarily military leaders, but only in time of war.
chartered Providence Island Company
— of which the Earl of Warwick
was chairman and John Pym
treasurer — occupied two small cay
s and established friendly relations with the local inhabitants. Providence Island
, the company's main base, and settlement entered into regular correspondence with the coast during the decade of company occupation, 1631-41.
The Providence Island Company sponsored the Miskito's "King's Son" to visit England, during the reign of Charles I (1625–49). When his father died, this son returned home and placed his country under English protection. Following the capture of Providence Island by Spain in 1641, England did not possess a base close to the coast. However, shortly after the English captured Jamaica
in 1655, they recommenced relations with the coast, and Oldman
went to visit England. According to the testimony of his son Jeremy, taken around 1699 was received in audience by "his brother king," Charles II
and was given a "lac'd hat" and a commission "to kindly use and relieve such straggling Englishment as should chance to come that way."
In the late 17th and early 18th centuries, Miskitos Zambos began a series of raids that attacked Spanish held territories and still independent indigenous groups in the area. Miskito raiders reached as far north as the Yucatán, and as far south as Costa Rica. Many of the people they captured were sold as slaves to English merchants and carried to Jamaica. This raiding gradually put the Zambos in the more dominant position and the king's domain was inhabited primarily by Zambos. They also assisted government of Jamaica in hunting down Maroons in the 1720s.
M. W. mentioned titled officers in his account of 1699, but later sources define these superior offices to include the king, a Governor
, and a General
. In the early 18th century, the Miskitu kingdom became organized into four distinct clusters of population, centered on the banks of the navigable rivers, but integrated into a single, if loosely structured political entity. The northern portions were dominated by Sambus and the southern ones by Tawira Miskitos. The King, whose domain lay from the Wanks River south to the Rio Kukakalaya
, including the king's residence near Sandy Bay. was a Sambu, as was the General, who ruled the northern portions of the kingdom, from the Wanks River to nearly Trujillo. The Governor, who was a Tawira, controlled the southern regions, from the Cucalaya River to Pearl Key Lagoon. In the later 18th century, (post 1766) yet another title, Admiral
appeared, also a Tawira, controlling a region on the extreme south from Pearl Key Lagoon down to around Bluefields
.
concluded a formal Treaty of Friendship and Alliance
in 1740 and John Hodgson was appointed as Superintendent of the Shore. A protectorate
was established over the Miskito Nation, often called the Mosquito Coast.
Spain, which claimed the territory, objected to their presence, but did not act against them for many years. Finally, during the American Revolutionary War
, Spanish forces attempted to eliminate the British presence, seizing the settlement at Black River
, and driving British settlers
from the isle of Roatán
, however this ultimately failed when the Anglo Irish soldier Edward Despard with armed settlers retook the settlements
.
Following the 1786 Convention of London
, Britain evacuated settlers and their slaves from the Mosquito Coast to their colony in Belize, but continued to claim a protectorate over the Miskitos. Spain attempted to establish additional colonial outposts in the area, without much success. As Spain's former colonies in Central America gained their independence in 1821 and then began a series of wars to determine whether there would be a federalist, unitary union, or each former province would be independent, the potential of any regional power to threaten the Miskito kingdom declined. At the same time, the mahogany trade peaked in Europe, and Belize, a principal supplier of wood had deforested the easier stands of the wood. So the Miskito Kingdom, where there were still mahogany trees, became of interest to Britain which began to encourage British settlement there in 1837.
British influence persisted until 1860, and was disputed by Central American nations and by the United States operating under the Monroe Doctrine
. The opposition of the United States was due in large part to the fear that Britain would acquire a privileged position in regard to a proposed inter-oceanic canal. In 1848, the seizure of San Juan del Norte
, subsequently renamed Greytown by the Miskito supported by a British warship, aroused great excitement in the United States, and even involved the risk of war. In 1854, the American
ship USS Cyane
bombarded Greytown after failing to receive compensation for violence which had been directed against Solon Borland
, an American diplomat, and other US citizens. But through the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty
of 1850, both powers pledged themselves not to fortify, colonise or exercise dominion over any part of Central America; in November 1859, Britain delegated its protectorate to Honduras
.
This caused great dissatisfaction among the Miskito, who shortly afterwards revolted; and on 28 January 1860 Britain and Nicaragua concluded the treaty of Managua
, which transferred to Nicaragua the suzerainty
over the entire Caribbean coast from Cabo Gracias a Dios
to Greytown but granted autonomy to the Miskito in the more limited Mosquito Reserve (the area described above). King George Augustus Fredric II
accepted this change on condition that he should retain his local authority
, and receive a yearly subvention of £1000 until 1870. On his death in 1865, Nicaragua refused to recognize his successor, William Henry Clarence
.
The reserve nevertheless continued to be governed by an elected chief, aided by an administrative council, which met in Bluefields; and the Miskito denied that the suzerainty of Nicaragua connoted any right of interference with their internal affairs. The question was referred for arbitration to the Habsburg emperor of Austria
, whose award (published in 1880) upheld the contention of the Indians, and affirmed that the suzerainty of Nicaragua was limited by the Miskitos' right of self-government.
. The former Mosquito Coast was established as the Nicaraguan department
of Zelaya
. During the 1980s, the department disappeared, substituted by RAAN (Región Autónoma del Atlántico Norte
) and RAAS (región Autónoma del Atlántico Sur
), autonomous regions with a certain degree of self-government.
The first version of the Mosquito Coast flag
was adopted 1834. The second was adopted in 1860 when the Nicaraguan flag replaced the Union Flag
in the canton.
In 1847 Moravian Church missionaries from Herrnhut
, Kingdom of Saxony
in what is today Germany, began mission work among the Miskito Indians and Creoles. By the end of the century, almost the entire native population had been converted.
.
More recently dissident Miskito have created the Communitarian Nation of Moskitia.
has a population of 118,000 inhabitants, consisting of 57% Miskito
, 22% Creoles (Afro-Europeans) 15% Ladino
s, 4% Sumu
(Amerindian), 1% Garifuna (Afro-Indians), 0.5% Chinese
and 0.5% Rama
(Amerindian).
Nicaragua
Nicaragua is the largest country in the Central American American isthmus, bordered by Honduras to the north and Costa Rica to the south. The country is situated between 11 and 14 degrees north of the Equator in the Northern Hemisphere, which places it entirely within the tropics. The Pacific Ocean...
and Honduras
Honduras
Honduras is a republic in Central America. It was previously known as Spanish Honduras to differentiate it from British Honduras, which became the modern-day state of Belize...
, and part of the Western Caribbean Zone
Western Caribbean Zone
The Western Caribbean Zone is a historic region that formed in the late sixteenth century and includes the Caribbean coasts of Central America, from Yucatán in Mexico to northern Colombia, and also the islands west of Jamaica...
. It was named after the local Miskito Indians and long dominated by British
Kingdom of Great Britain
The former Kingdom of Great Britain, sometimes described as the 'United Kingdom of Great Britain', That the Two Kingdoms of Scotland and England, shall upon the 1st May next ensuing the date hereof, and forever after, be United into One Kingdom by the Name of GREAT BRITAIN. was a sovereign...
interests. The Mosquito Coast was incorporated into Nicaragua in 1894; however, in 1960 the northern part was granted to Honduras by the International Court of Justice
International Court of Justice
The International Court of Justice is the primary judicial organ of the United Nations. It is based in the Peace Palace in The Hague, Netherlands...
.
Although its name sometimes applies to the whole eastern seaboard of Nicaragua — and even to La Mosquitia
La Mosquitia
La Mosquitia refers to the northeastern part of Honduras along the Mosquito Coast. It is an underdeveloped region of tropical rainforest accessible primarily by water and air. Its population include indigenous groups such as the Miskito, the Pech, Rama, Sumo, and Tawakha. The Río Plátano Biosphere...
in Honduras
Honduras
Honduras is a republic in Central America. It was previously known as Spanish Honduras to differentiate it from British Honduras, which became the modern-day state of Belize...
, i.e. the coast region as far west as the Río Negro or Tinto – the Mosquito Coast more accurately consisted of a narrow strip of territory, fronting the Caribbean Sea
Caribbean Sea
The Caribbean Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean located in the tropics of the Western hemisphere. It is bounded by Mexico and Central America to the west and southwest, to the north by the Greater Antilles, and to the east by the Lesser Antilles....
, and extending from about 11°45’ to 14°10’ N. It stretched inland for an average distance of 40 miles (64 km), and measured about 225 miles (362 km) from north to south. In the north, its boundary skirted the Wawa River
Wawa River
Wawa River refers to two rivers:Wawa River located in Rodriguez, Rizal, Philippines is the name of the headwaters of Marikina River, a few kilometers north of the capital city Manila. The Wawa Dam was created during the American era to serve the water needs of Metro Manila. It used to be the only...
; in the west, it corresponded with the eastern limit of the Nicaraguan highlands; in the south, it followed the Río Rama. The chief modern towns are Bluefields
Bluefields
Bluefields is the capital of the municipality of the same name, and of Región Autónoma del Atlántico Sur in Nicaragua. It was also capital of the former Zelaya Department, which was divided into North and South Atlantic Autonomous Regions...
or Blewfields, the largest town and capital of Nicaragua's Región Autónoma del Atlántico Sur
Región Autónoma del Atlántico Sur
Región Autónoma del Atlántico Sur , sometimes shortened to RAAS, is one of two autonomous regions in Nicaragua. It covers an area of 27,407 km² and has a population of 382,100...
, Magdala on Pearl Cay, Prinzapolka
Prinzapolka
Prinzapolka is a municipality in the Región Autónoma del Atlántico Norte department of Nicaragua.Prinzapolka is also an important river basin in the Atlantic Region of Nicaragua 330km .- External links :...
on the river of that name, Wounta near the mouth of the Kukalaya, and Carata near the mouth of the coco River.
History
Before the arrival of Europeans in the region, the area was divided into a large number of small, egalitarian groups, possibly speaking languages related to Sumu and PayaPaya language
Paya or Pech is a Chibchan language spoken in Honduras. According to Ethnologue there were only 990 speakers in 1993. It is also known as Seco or Bayano. Specifically, it is spoken near the...
. Columbus
Christopher Columbus
Christopher Columbus was an explorer, colonizer, and navigator, born in the Republic of Genoa, in northwestern Italy. Under the auspices of the Catholic Monarchs of Spain, he completed four voyages across the Atlantic Ocean that led to general European awareness of the American continents in the...
visited the coast briefly in his fourth voyage. Detailed Spanish accounts of the region, however, only relate to the late 16th and early 17th centuries. According to their understanding of the geography the region was divided between two "Provinces" Taguzgalpa
Taguzgalpa
Taguzgalpa is a region or district located in northeastern Honduras, known historically through Spanish sources, and heir to a longer and richer archaeological tradition. It was usually called a "Province" in Spanish sources, and its internal social organization is unclear...
and Tologalpa
Tologalpa
One of two "provinces", the other being Taguzgalpa, mentioned in Spanish records of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, as lying on the Caribbean side of Central America. Tologalpa corresponded more or less to the northern part of modern day Nicaragua...
. Lists of "nations" left by Spanish missionaries include as many as 30 names, though careful analysis of them by Karl Offen suggests that many were duplicated and the regional geography included about a half dozen entities, speaking related by distinct dialects occupied the various river basins of the region.
Attempted Spanish settlement
During the 16th century, Spanish authorities issued various licenses to conquer Taguzgalpa and Tologalpa in 1545, 1562, 1577 and 1594, but there is no evidence that any of these licenses resulted in even brief settlements or conquests. The Spanish were unable to conquer this region during the 16th century and in the 17th century sought to "reduceIndian Reductions
Reductions were settlements founded by the Spanish colonizers of the New World with the purpose of assimilating indigenous populations into European culture and religion.Already since the beginning of the Spanish presence in the Americas, the Crown had been concerned...
" the region through missionary efforts. These included several attempts by Franciscan
Franciscan
Most Franciscans are members of Roman Catholic religious orders founded by Saint Francis of Assisi. Besides Roman Catholic communities, there are also Old Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, ecumenical and Non-denominational Franciscan communities....
s between 1604 and 1612; another one led by Fray Cristóbal Martinez in 1622, and a third one between 1667 and 1675. None of these efforts resulted in any lasting success.
Because the Spanish failed to have significant influence in the region, it was more or less independent of outside control. This allowed the indigenous people to continue as they were, and to receive visitors from other regions. As northern Europeans, particularly English and Dutch privateers entered the region, they found the Caribbean coast of Central America, particularly the Mosquito Coast, a good place to refit and rest, as well as serving for a base.
The Miskito Kingdom
Although the earliest accounts do not mention it, a political entity of uncertain organization, but probably not very stratified, which the English called the "Mosquito Kingdom" was present on the coast in the early seventeenth century. One of the kings of this polity visited England around 1638 at the behest of the Providence Island Company, and sealed an alliance with Great Britain.In subsequent years, the kingdom stood strongly against any Spanish incursions in their region, and were prepared to offer rest and asylum to any anti-Spanish groups that might come to their shores. At the very least English and French privateers and pirates did visit there, taking in water and food. A detailed account of the kingdom written by a bucaneer known only as M. W. describes its organization as being fundamentally egalitarian, with the king, and some officials (usually called "Captains" in that period but later being more elaborate) were primarily military leaders, but only in time of war.
Early English alliance
The first European contacts with the Mosquito country started around 1630, when the agents of the EnglishEnglish people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
chartered Providence Island Company
Providence Island Company
The Providence Company or Providence Island Company was an English chartered company founded in 1629 by a group of Puritans including Robert Rich, 2nd Earl of Warwick in order to settle Providence Island, off the Spanish Mosquito Coast of what became Nicaragua.Besides Lord Warwick, among the twenty...
— of which the Earl of Warwick
Robert Rich, 2nd Earl of Warwick
Robert Rich, 2nd Earl of Warwick was an English colonial administrator, admiral, and puritan.Rich was the eldest son of Robert Rich, 1st Earl of Warwick and his wife Penelope Devereux, Lady Rich, and succeeded to his father's title in 1619...
was chairman and John Pym
John Pym
John Pym was an English parliamentarian, leader of the Long Parliament and a prominent critic of James I and then Charles I.- Early life and education :...
treasurer — occupied two small cay
Cay
A cay , also spelled caye or key, is a small, low-elevation, sandy island formed on the surface of coral reefs. Cays occur in tropical environments throughout the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian Oceans , where they provide habitable and agricultural land for hundreds of thousands of people...
s and established friendly relations with the local inhabitants. Providence Island
Providencia Island
Isla de Providencia or Old Providence is a mountainous Caribbean island. Though it is closer to Nicaragua, it is part of the Archipelago of San Andres, Providencia and Santa Catalina, a department of Colombia, lying midway between Costa Rica and Jamaica...
, the company's main base, and settlement entered into regular correspondence with the coast during the decade of company occupation, 1631-41.
The Providence Island Company sponsored the Miskito's "King's Son" to visit England, during the reign of Charles I (1625–49). When his father died, this son returned home and placed his country under English protection. Following the capture of Providence Island by Spain in 1641, England did not possess a base close to the coast. However, shortly after the English captured Jamaica
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
in 1655, they recommenced relations with the coast, and Oldman
Oldman
Oldman , King of the Miskito Nation from c. 1650 until his death in 1687, was the son of a Miskito leader whose name is not recorded. This earlier king went to England, according to a memorial left in Jamaica by one of his descendants, during the reign of Charles I but during the time when the...
went to visit England. According to the testimony of his son Jeremy, taken around 1699 was received in audience by "his brother king," Charles II
Charles II of England
Charles II was monarch of the three kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland.Charles II's father, King Charles I, was executed at Whitehall on 30 January 1649, at the climax of the English Civil War...
and was given a "lac'd hat" and a commission "to kindly use and relieve such straggling Englishment as should chance to come that way."
The Emergence of the Mosquitos Zambos (Miskito Sambu)
While accounts vary, the Miskito Sambu originated from the survivors of a shipwrecked slave ship who arrived in the mid-seventeenth century. These survivors intermarried with the local Miskito people and produced mixed-race offspring. They also adopted the language and much of the culture of their hosts. The Miskito Sambu settled in the valley of the Wanks River, and by the late seventeenth century held the office of General with jurisdiction over the northern portions of the Miskito Kingdom. In the early eighteenth century, they managed to take over the office of King, which they held for at least the rest of the century.In the late 17th and early 18th centuries, Miskitos Zambos began a series of raids that attacked Spanish held territories and still independent indigenous groups in the area. Miskito raiders reached as far north as the Yucatán, and as far south as Costa Rica. Many of the people they captured were sold as slaves to English merchants and carried to Jamaica. This raiding gradually put the Zambos in the more dominant position and the king's domain was inhabited primarily by Zambos. They also assisted government of Jamaica in hunting down Maroons in the 1720s.
Sociopolitical system
Although English accounts call the area a "kingdom'" it was loosely organized. A description of the kingdom written in 1699 shows that it was discontinuously spread out along the coast and probably did not include a number of settlements of English traders. Although English accounts refer to the ruler as a "king" and subsequently to other noble titles, Miskito social structure does not appear to have been particularly stratified. The 1699 description noted that people holding titles such as "king" and "governor" were only empowered as war leaders, and did not have the last word in judicial disputes either. Otherwise, the author saw the population as living in an egalitarian state.M. W. mentioned titled officers in his account of 1699, but later sources define these superior offices to include the king, a Governor
Miskito Governor
The Governor, in the Miskito Kingdom, was an official who ruled the southern regions, from the Cucalaya River to Pearl Key Lagoon.-List of Governors:*Piquirin *John Hanibal *John Briton *William Briton...
, and a General
Miskito General
The General was an official in the Miskito Kingdom. The position appears to have been created in the early eighteenth century and was under the control of the Zambo segment of the kingdom...
. In the early 18th century, the Miskitu kingdom became organized into four distinct clusters of population, centered on the banks of the navigable rivers, but integrated into a single, if loosely structured political entity. The northern portions were dominated by Sambus and the southern ones by Tawira Miskitos. The King, whose domain lay from the Wanks River south to the Rio Kukakalaya
Kukalaya Lagoon Natural Reserve
Kukalaya Lagoon Natural Reserve is a nature reserve in Nicaragua. It is one of the 78 reserves which are officially under protection in the country....
, including the king's residence near Sandy Bay. was a Sambu, as was the General, who ruled the northern portions of the kingdom, from the Wanks River to nearly Trujillo. The Governor, who was a Tawira, controlled the southern regions, from the Cucalaya River to Pearl Key Lagoon. In the later 18th century, (post 1766) yet another title, Admiral
Miskito Admiral
The Miskito Admiral was an official in the Miskito Kingdom. His domain was the southernmost of the kingdom's territories, extending from Peal Key Lagoon down to Bluefields. The title emerged later than other Miskito titles.-List of Admirals:Dilly...
appeared, also a Tawira, controlling a region on the extreme south from Pearl Key Lagoon down to around Bluefields
Bluefields
Bluefields is the capital of the municipality of the same name, and of Región Autónoma del Atlántico Sur in Nicaragua. It was also capital of the former Zelaya Department, which was divided into North and South Atlantic Autonomous Regions...
.
Spain, Great Britain and the Miskito Kingdom
The Miskito king and the BritishBritish Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
concluded a formal Treaty of Friendship and Alliance
Treaty of Friendship and Alliance
The Treaty of Friendship and Alliance was signed on March 16, 1740 between King Edward I of the Miskito Nation and the British. Based on the terms of the treaty, King Edward relinquished his kingdom to King George II in return for British military protection. Moreover, the accord dictated that King...
in 1740 and John Hodgson was appointed as Superintendent of the Shore. A protectorate
Protectorate
In history, the term protectorate has two different meanings. In its earliest inception, which has been adopted by modern international law, it is an autonomous territory that is protected diplomatically or militarily against third parties by a stronger state or entity...
was established over the Miskito Nation, often called the Mosquito Coast.
Spain, which claimed the territory, objected to their presence, but did not act against them for many years. Finally, during the American Revolutionary War
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
, Spanish forces attempted to eliminate the British presence, seizing the settlement at Black River
Black River (settlement)
The Black River settlement was a British settlement on the Mosquito Coast of present-day Honduras. It was established in 1732 by a British colonist named William Pitt...
, and driving British settlers
Battle of Roatán
The Battle of Roatán was an American War of Independence battle fought on March 16, 1782, between British and Spanish forces for control of Roatán, an island off the Caribbean coast of present-day Honduras....
from the isle of Roatán
Roatán
Roatán, located between the islands of Útila and Guanaja, is the largest of Honduras' Bay Islands. The island was formerly known as Ruatan and Rattan...
, however this ultimately failed when the Anglo Irish soldier Edward Despard with armed settlers retook the settlements
Battle of the Black River
The Battle of Black River was a series of conflicts between April and August 1782 during the American War of Independence. They were fought between British and Spanish forces for control of the Black River settlement, located on the Caribbean coast of present-day Honduras. Spanish forces forced...
.
Following the 1786 Convention of London
Convention of London (1786)
The Convention of London, also known as the Anglo-Spanish Convention, was an agreement negotiated between the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Spain concerning the status of British settlements on the Mosquito Coast of Central America...
, Britain evacuated settlers and their slaves from the Mosquito Coast to their colony in Belize, but continued to claim a protectorate over the Miskitos. Spain attempted to establish additional colonial outposts in the area, without much success. As Spain's former colonies in Central America gained their independence in 1821 and then began a series of wars to determine whether there would be a federalist, unitary union, or each former province would be independent, the potential of any regional power to threaten the Miskito kingdom declined. At the same time, the mahogany trade peaked in Europe, and Belize, a principal supplier of wood had deforested the easier stands of the wood. So the Miskito Kingdom, where there were still mahogany trees, became of interest to Britain which began to encourage British settlement there in 1837.
British influence persisted until 1860, and was disputed by Central American nations and by the United States operating under the Monroe Doctrine
Monroe Doctrine
The Monroe Doctrine is a policy of the United States introduced on December 2, 1823. It stated that further efforts by European nations to colonize land or interfere with states in North or South America would be viewed as acts of aggression requiring U.S. intervention...
. The opposition of the United States was due in large part to the fear that Britain would acquire a privileged position in regard to a proposed inter-oceanic canal. In 1848, the seizure of San Juan del Norte
San Juan del Norte
San Juan de Nicaragua, formerly known as San Juan del Norte and known in English as Greytown, is a town and municipality in the Río San Juan department of Nicaragua.-Geography:...
, subsequently renamed Greytown by the Miskito supported by a British warship, aroused great excitement in the United States, and even involved the risk of war. In 1854, the American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
ship USS Cyane
USS Cyane (1837)
The second USS Cyane was a sloop-of-war in the United States Navy during the Mexican-American War.Cyane was launched 2 December 1837 by Boston Navy Yard. She was commissioned in May 1838, Commander John Percival in command....
bombarded Greytown after failing to receive compensation for violence which had been directed against Solon Borland
Solon Borland
Solon Borland was a newspaperman, soldier, diplomat, Democratic United States Senator from the State of Arkansas and a Confederate officer during the American Civil War.-Early life:...
, an American diplomat, and other US citizens. But through the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty
Clayton-Bulwer Treaty
The Clayton–Bulwer Treaty was a treaty between the United States and the United Kingdom, negotiated in 1850 by John M. Clayton and Sir Henry Lytton Bulwer, later Lord Dalling...
of 1850, both powers pledged themselves not to fortify, colonise or exercise dominion over any part of Central America; in November 1859, Britain delegated its protectorate to Honduras
Honduras
Honduras is a republic in Central America. It was previously known as Spanish Honduras to differentiate it from British Honduras, which became the modern-day state of Belize...
.
This caused great dissatisfaction among the Miskito, who shortly afterwards revolted; and on 28 January 1860 Britain and Nicaragua concluded the treaty of Managua
Treaty of Managua
The Treaty of Managua was an 1860 agreement between Great Britain and Nicaragua, in which Britain recognized Nicaraguan sovereignty over its present national territory, but reserved, on the basis of historical rights, a self governing enclave for the Miskito, an indigenous group in the area, citing...
, which transferred to Nicaragua the suzerainty
Suzerainty
Suzerainty occurs where a region or people is a tributary to a more powerful entity which controls its foreign affairs while allowing the tributary vassal state some limited domestic autonomy. The dominant entity in the suzerainty relationship, or the more powerful entity itself, is called a...
over the entire Caribbean coast from Cabo Gracias a Dios
Cabo Gracias a Dios
Cabo Gracias a Dios is a cape located in the middle of the east coast of Central America, within what is variously called the Mosquito Coast and La Mosquitia...
to Greytown but granted autonomy to the Miskito in the more limited Mosquito Reserve (the area described above). King George Augustus Fredric II
George Augustus Frederic II
George Augustus Frederic II was King of the Miskito kingdom from 1845 to 1864. He ruled at a time when the kingdom was subject to international rivalry.He was born around 1833, the son of King Robert Charles Frederic...
accepted this change on condition that he should retain his local authority
Authority
The word Authority is derived mainly from the Latin word auctoritas, meaning invention, advice, opinion, influence, or command. In English, the word 'authority' can be used to mean power given by the state or by academic knowledge of an area .-Authority in Philosophy:In...
, and receive a yearly subvention of £1000 until 1870. On his death in 1865, Nicaragua refused to recognize his successor, William Henry Clarence
William Henry Clarence
William Henry Clarence was Hereditary Chief of Miskito. He was educated privately at Kingston, Jamaica. He succeeded on the death of his uncle George Augustus Frederic II, 27 November 1865 and was crowned, circa 23 May 1866. He reigned under a Council of Regency until he came of age and assumed...
.
The reserve nevertheless continued to be governed by an elected chief, aided by an administrative council, which met in Bluefields; and the Miskito denied that the suzerainty of Nicaragua connoted any right of interference with their internal affairs. The question was referred for arbitration to the Habsburg emperor of Austria
Franz Joseph I of Austria
Franz Joseph I or Francis Joseph I was Emperor of Austria, King of Bohemia, King of Croatia, Apostolic King of Hungary, King of Galicia and Lodomeria and Grand Duke of Cracow from 1848 until his death in 1916.In the December of 1848, Emperor Ferdinand I of Austria abdicated the throne as part of...
, whose award (published in 1880) upheld the contention of the Indians, and affirmed that the suzerainty of Nicaragua was limited by the Miskitos' right of self-government.
Annexation to Nicaragua
When in 1894 Rigoberto Cabezas led a campaign to annex the reserve, natives responded with vigorous protest, an appeal to Britain to protect them, and more militant resistance — to little avail. The situation was such that, from July 6 to August 7, the US occupied Bluefields to 'protect US interests'. After enjoying almost complete autonomy for fourteen years, on 20 November 1894 their territory formally became incorporated in that of the republic of Nicaragua by Nicaraguan president José Santos ZelayaJosé Santos Zelaya
José Santos Zelaya López was the President of Nicaragua from 25 July 1893 to 21 December 1909.-Early life:He was a son of José María Zelaya Irigoyen, born in Nicaragua, and mistress Juana López Ramírez...
. The former Mosquito Coast was established as the Nicaraguan department
Department (subnational entity)
Department is the name given to the administrative and political subdivisions of many countries.As a territorial unit, "department" was first used by the French Revolutionary governments, apparently to emphasize that each territory was simply an administrative sub-division of the united sovereign...
of Zelaya
Zelaya (Nicaragua)
Zelaya is a former department in Nicaragua. The capital was Bluefields. In 1986 it was divided into two autonomous regions:* Región Autónoma del Atlántico Norte * Región Autónoma del Atlántico Sur...
. During the 1980s, the department disappeared, substituted by RAAN (Región Autónoma del Atlántico Norte
Región Autónoma del Atlántico Norte
Región Autónoma del Atlántico Norte , sometimes shortened to RAAN, is one of two autonomous regions in Nicaragua. It covers an area of 32,159 km² and has a population of 249,700 . It is the largest autonomous region or department in Nicaragua...
) and RAAS (región Autónoma del Atlántico Sur
Región Autónoma del Atlántico Sur
Región Autónoma del Atlántico Sur , sometimes shortened to RAAS, is one of two autonomous regions in Nicaragua. It covers an area of 27,407 km² and has a population of 382,100...
), autonomous regions with a certain degree of self-government.
The first version of the Mosquito Coast flag
Flag
A flag is a piece of fabric with a distinctive design that is usually rectangular and used as a symbol, as a signaling device, or decoration. The term flag is also used to refer to the graphic design employed by a flag, or to its depiction in another medium.The first flags were used to assist...
was adopted 1834. The second was adopted in 1860 when the Nicaraguan flag replaced the Union Flag
Union Flag
The Union Flag, also known as the Union Jack, is the flag of the United Kingdom. It retains an official or semi-official status in some Commonwealth Realms; for example, it is known as the Royal Union Flag in Canada. It is also used as an official flag in some of the smaller British overseas...
in the canton.
In 1847 Moravian Church missionaries from Herrnhut
Herrnhut
Herrnhut is a municipality in the district of Görlitz, in the Free State of Saxony, Germany.It has access to Bundesstraße 178 between Löbau and Zittau...
, Kingdom of Saxony
Kingdom of Saxony
The Kingdom of Saxony , lasting between 1806 and 1918, was an independent member of a number of historical confederacies in Napoleonic through post-Napoleonic Germany. From 1871 it was part of the German Empire. It became a Free state in the era of Weimar Republic in 1918 after the end of World War...
in what is today Germany, began mission work among the Miskito Indians and Creoles. By the end of the century, almost the entire native population had been converted.
Miskito Under Nicaragua
The Miskito continued to enjoy a certain autonomy under Nicaragua, and there was considerable tension between the claims of the government and that of the indigenous people. This tension was expressed quite openly during the Sandanista rule, which sought greater state control, and the Miskito were strong supporters of U. S. efforts to undermine the Sandanistas, as important supports of the ContrasContras
The contras is a label given to the various rebel groups opposing Nicaragua's FSLN Sandinista Junta of National Reconstruction government following the July 1979 overthrow of Anastasio Somoza Debayle's dictatorship...
.
More recently dissident Miskito have created the Communitarian Nation of Moskitia.
Miskito Kings
- c 1650–c 1687 OldmanOldmanOldman , King of the Miskito Nation from c. 1650 until his death in 1687, was the son of a Miskito leader whose name is not recorded. This earlier king went to England, according to a memorial left in Jamaica by one of his descendants, during the reign of Charles I but during the time when the...
- c 1687–1718 Jeremy IJeremy IJeremy I was king of the Miskito nation, who came to power following the death of his father, Oldman,in 1686 or 1687. according to an English visitor, W. M., in 1699, he was about 60 years old at that time, making his birth year about 1639....
- 1718–1729 H.M.MajestyMajesty is an English word derived ultimately from the Latin maiestas, meaning "greatness".- Origin :Originally, during the Roman republic, the word maiestas was the legal term for the supreme status and dignity of the state, to be respected above everything else...
Jeremy IIJeremy IIJeremy II was a King of the Miskito kingdom. The dates of his succession to the throne and death are uncertain. Spanish sources refer to him as Bernabé.Little is known about this king... - 1729–1739 H.M. Peter I
- 1739–1755 H.M. Edward IEdward I (Moskito)Edward I was king of the Moskito from about 1739 until 1755.He was the eldest son of Jeremy II, and was young when he took office. In 1740 the Anglo-Spanish "War of Jenkin's Ear" broke out and Great Britain was anxious to enlist the Miskito on their side and to use their enmity to Spain as a means...
- 1755–1776 H.M. George IGeorge I (Moskito)George I was king of the Miskito, 1755-1776. He was brother of King Edward and son of Jeremy II and was chosen king because Jeremy II's son was still too young to rule.-Divisions:...
- 1776–1801 H.M. George II FredericGeorge II Frederic-Youth and Education:As a young man, his father George I sent him to England to be educated. On his return voyage, in 1776, he met and was evangelized by the famous Abolitionist Olaudah Equiano , though Equiano did not think his preaching was very successful...
- 1801–1824 H.M. George Frederic Augustus IGeorge Frederic Augustus IGeorge Frederic Augustus I served as king of the Miskito, an indigenous people from Honduras from 1801-1824.-Succession and regency:He was quite young when his father and predecessor George II Frederic was murdered, according to the later visitor George Henderson, "attributed very openly to the...
- 1824–1842 H.M. Robert Charles FredericRobert Charles FredericRobert Charles Frederic was the King of the Miskito, 1824-1842.-Succession:In his youth he was educated in Jamaica along with George Frederick, his brother. He became king following the murder of his brother and predecessor, George Frederick by his wife, and was subsequently crowned in Belize on...
- 1842–1865 H.M. George Augustus Frederic IIGeorge Augustus Frederic IIGeorge Augustus Frederic II was King of the Miskito kingdom from 1845 to 1864. He ruled at a time when the kingdom was subject to international rivalry.He was born around 1833, the son of King Robert Charles Frederic...
- 1865–1879 H.E.ExcellencyExcellency is an honorific style given to certain members of an organization or state.Usually, people styled "Excellency" are heads of state, heads of government, governors, ambassadors, certain ecclesiastics, royalty, aristocracy, and military, and others holding equivalent rank .It is...
William Henry ClarenceWilliam Henry ClarenceWilliam Henry Clarence was Hereditary Chief of Miskito. He was educated privately at Kingston, Jamaica. He succeeded on the death of his uncle George Augustus Frederic II, 27 November 1865 and was crowned, circa 23 May 1866. He reigned under a Council of Regency until he came of age and assumed...
, Hereditary Chief of Miskito - 1879–1888 H.E. George William Albert HendyGeorge William Albert HendyGeorge William Albert Hendy, Hereditary Chief of the Miskito Nation was the grandson of H.M. George Frederic Augustus I, King of the Miskito Nation. He was elected by the Council of State to succeed after the death of his cousin William Henry Clarence on May 23, 1879. He died on November 8, 1888....
, Hereditary Chief of Miskito - 1888–1889 H.E. Andrew HendyAndrew HendyAndrew Hendy was a hereditary chief of the Miskito Nation on the Caribbean coast of what is now Honduras and Nicaragua from 1888 to 1889, when he abdicated in favour of his cousin. He died at Rayapura, Rio Wangki, some time after 1905.-References:...
, Hereditary Chief of Miskito - 1889–1890 H.E. Jonathan Charles FrederickJonathan Charles FrederickJonathan Charles Frederick, Hereditary Chief of the Miskito Nation, was the son of Princess Matilda, daughter of H.M. Robert Charles Frederic, King of the Miskito Nation, by a junior wife. He succeeded after the abdication of his cousin, 8 March 1889, but died from alcoholism, ca. 8 July 1890....
, Hereditary Chief of Miskito - 1890–1908 H.E. Robert Henry ClarenceRobert Henry ClarenceRobert Henry Clarence was Hereditary Chief of the Mosquito Nation. He was born at the Public General Hospital in Kingston, Jamaica. He was the last Hereditary Chief of Mosquito in 1890-1894 and briefly during July to August 1894....
, Hereditary Chief of Miskito
Inhabitants
The Mosquito Coast of NicaraguaNicaragua
Nicaragua is the largest country in the Central American American isthmus, bordered by Honduras to the north and Costa Rica to the south. The country is situated between 11 and 14 degrees north of the Equator in the Northern Hemisphere, which places it entirely within the tropics. The Pacific Ocean...
has a population of 118,000 inhabitants, consisting of 57% Miskito
Miskito
The Miskitos are a Native American ethnic group in Central America. A substantial number of them are mixed race, especially those in the northern end of their territory, where an African-Indigenous mixture was predominant. Their territory extends from Cape Camarón, Honduras, to Rio Grande,...
, 22% Creoles (Afro-Europeans) 15% Ladino
Ladino people
Ladino is a Spanish term used to describe various socio-ethnic categories in Latin America, principally in Central America.The term Ladino is derived from "latino" and usually refers to the mestizo or hispanicized population...
s, 4% Sumu
Sumo (people)
The Mayagna are a people who live on the eastern coasts of Nicaragua and Honduras, an area commonly known as the Mosquito Coast. Their preferred autonym is Mayagna, as the name "Sumo" is a deragatory name historically used by the Miskito people.Their language belongs to the Misumalpan language...
(Amerindian), 1% Garifuna (Afro-Indians), 0.5% Chinese
Han Chinese
Han Chinese are an ethnic group native to China and are the largest single ethnic group in the world.Han Chinese constitute about 92% of the population of the People's Republic of China , 98% of the population of the Republic of China , 78% of the population of Singapore, and about 20% of the...
and 0.5% Rama
Rama (people)
The Rama are an indigenous people of Nicaragua. The 900 ethnic Rama live within a thirty mile radius of the Rama Cay island on the Caribbean coastline.The Rama are hunters, fishers and agriculturalists growing mainly bananas and white cacao beans....
(Amerindian).
| Miskito | Creole | Ladino | Sumo | Garifuna | Chinese | Rama |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 57% | 22% | 15% | 4% | 1% | .5% | .5% |
Sources and references
- http://www.flag.de/FOTW/flags/ni-mc.html - Mosquito Coast flag
- RoyalArk-Mosquitos
- A Bibliography of the Mosquito Coast of Nicaragua by Courtney de Kalb, in Bulletin of the American Geographic Society., vol. xxvi. (1894)
- Studies of the Mosquito Shore in 1892 by the same author, and in the same publication, vol. xxv. (I893)
- A Forgotten Puritan Colony in No. 165 of Blackwood's MagazineBlackwood's MagazineBlackwood's Magazine was a British magazine and miscellany printed between 1817 and 1980. It was founded by the publisher William Blackwood and was originally called the Edinburgh Monthly Magazine. The first number appeared in April 1817 under the editorship of Thomas Pringle and James Cleghorn...
(Edinburgh, 1898), described the attempt at colonization made in 1630. - See also Der Streit um die Mosquito-Küste by J. Richter, in Zeitschrift f. Gesellschaft d. Erdkunde, No. 30 (Berlin, 1895).
- Mitla: A Narrative of Incidents and Personal Adventures on a Journey in Mexico, Guatemala and Salvador in the years 1853 to 1855 by G. F. Von Tempsky (London, 1858)
- Von Tempsky: Adventurer by W. T. Parham (Hodder & Stoughton, London, 1969) SBN 340 10798 7 (Chapters 2 & 6 are on the Mosquito Coast)
- The War in Nicaragua by W. Walker (New York, 1860)
- Charles Hale, 'Resistance and Contradiction: Miskitu Indians and the Nicaraguan State, 1894-1987'. Stanford University, 1994. 304 pgs.