Atlas of Hispanic-American History

buccaneering and privateering was often

vague, with the British and French only

too happy to see their enemy Spain

harassed, even without official approval.

Some buccaneers were explicitly hired by

their governments to fight as privateers in

the War of the Spanish Succession

(1701–1714), in which Austria, England,

Denmark, the Dutch Republic, Portugal,

and several other European nations joined

forces against France and Spain. But

pirates also menaced the colonies of other

nations. The infamous English pirate

Blackbeard (Edward Teach, ca.

1680–1718) was killed by the British for

his attacks on Virginia, a British colony.

Even aside from the attacks of pirate

ships, Spanish control of the Caribbean

was greatly weakened by the mid-18th

century, for other nations had planted

colonies throughout the West Indies. The

Netherlands took possession of the

Leeward Islands in the 1630s, England of

the Bahamas in the 1640s. Jamaica, set-

tled by Spain in 1509, was ceded to

England in 1670. The western part of the

island of Hispaniola that was to become

Haiti was ceded to France in 1697. Just

52 ATLAS OF HISPANIC-AMERICAN HISTORY

Selected Settlements in the Spanish Southeast, 1565–1657

While the Spanish would in time expand Florida settlement southward during the 17th century, swamplands in southern Florida

slowed the pace of development. With the exception of a settlement at Tegesta, most of the earliest settlements were in the

north. In fact, although no precise borders existed, the Spaniards viewed what they called La Florida as extending northward into

the Carolinas.