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“Constitutional Rights Foundation.” Www.crf-Usa.org, 2009, www.crf-usa.org/bill-of-rights-in-action/bria-25-1-the-columbian-exchange.

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“Constitutional Rights Foundation.” Www.crf-Usa.org, 2009, www.crf-usa.org/bill-of-rights-in-action/bria-25-1-the-columbian-exchange.

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Taino people were seafaring individuals who also used shifting agriculture to farm. Their staple foods were yams and cassava. They also grew corn, peppers, and beans. Small game and seafood was used as a main source of protein.
Tobacco and cotton was also grown on the islands. Smoking tobacco was used in many religious rituals. Cotton was used to make fishing lines and nets.

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This was used to separate the fibers in the cassava plant.

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“History.” Taino Museum, tainomuseum.org/taino/history/.

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Columbus, Christopher, et al. “Exploring the Early Americas Columbus and the Taíno.” Library of Congress, 12 Dec. 2007, www.loc.gov/exhibits/exploring-the-early-americas/columbus-and-the-taino.html#skip_menu.

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Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "Taino". Encyclopedia Britannica, 11 Aug. 2023, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Taino. Accessed 16 September 2023.

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Government structure consisted of hereditary chiefs and sub-chiefs and classes of nobles, commoners, and slaves. Hispaniola (modern day Haiti / Dominican Republic) had 5 chiefdoms while Cuba had 29 chiefdoms. The name Cuba comes from the Taino language.

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Traditional Taino settlements consisted of small family compounds up to groups of 3,000 people.
Their religious beliefs was polytheistic and included the worship of spirits. Zemis were carved representations of humans and animals on stone or wood which represented the spirits.

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The Taino people were conquered by Columbus for the Spanish Crown.
The people were made subjects of the King.
Quote from Columbus:
There I found very many islands, filled with innumerable people, and I have taken possession of them all for their Highnesses, done by proclamation and with the royal standard unfurled, and no opposition was offered to me.

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The Spanish converted the natives to Catholicism. Nearly all of the Taino culture became extinct.
Spaniards took Taino women as their common law wives. Sexual violence against women was also common. This resulted in mestizo (mixed race) children.
The Spanish brought smallpox to the islands and that resulted in the death of about 90% of the Taino. Harsh enslavement and warfare also resulted in many deaths.

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Columbus began to require the Taino adults (14 and older) to pay tribute in the form of gold or cotton. Those who could not perform this tribute were assigned as labor to the Spanish settlers. This was the beginning of slave labor for the natives.
Hispaniola was deforested and primarily used for cattle grazing. Cattle was brought over from the "Old World" along with sugarcane, wheat, grapes, pigs, chickens, sheep, and horses.