http://www.gotrinidadandtobago.com/trinidad-tobago-history/
When it comes to the settlement of Trinidad it is a complex story to be told because the island switched hands between colonial powers numerous times over the years. The Spanish were the first to try and establish permanent settlements but were not able to accomplish this until around 1592. There were multiple attempts prior to 1592 with the idea that since the island "possessed no stores of precious metals or large groups of sedentary Indians to attract would-be conquistadores; its most significant role in the Empire was in the early years of conquest when attempts were made to establish a military base in the island from which expeditions in search of El Dorado could be mounted"(1). This idea of El Dorado goes along with what the Spanish had in mind while settling this island.....the thoughts of gold beyond anything that they had ever seen. The first governor of Trinidad, Antonio de Berrío, was the force behind the search for El Dorado and died without ever knowing that it did not exist. For years the Spanish searched for this kingdom but gold would have to be made in other ways after the expeditions yielded no such place.
http://www.caes.uga.edu/commodities/fieldcrops/tobacco/
Trading would seem to be the best alternative to making gold within this new settlement, but the trade would have to be involved with the English, Dutch, and the French. There seemed to be "definite evidence of an English presence [in Trinidad] . . .from 1569" (2) which only became known when the Spanish built their first settlement. So here we find tobacco coming into the picture through trade (when it could be done) and through smuggling (which would have been done more often ) with the Dutch and the English. The Spanish plantation owners also grew some sugar, cotton, and indigo but tobacco was the crop that they put most of their efforts into and was the livelihood of those on the island of Trinidad. As with everything concerning the colonies of the Caribbean, the politics of those in Europe would have an effect on those people that made this island their home. The reason behind the smuggling had to do with the reign of James I in which he chose to end hostilities with Spain by "upholding the important principle that Spain might rightfully claim a monopoly of trade only in those areas it effectively held" (3). Contraband trading went on for years from Trinidad with tobacco being the main export from the island in the hands of the Dutch and the English. It stands to reason that this trading was going on without the knowledge of the crown, but it also shows that there was a huge demand and a profit to be found in this commodity. It was enough to lure the different European powers to a small island in search of a way to make a living outside the rules and the regulations imposed on them from a far off monarch.
(1) Linda Newson, "Foreign Immigrants in Spanish America: Trinidad's Colonisation Experiment." Caribbean Studies, 19:1/2 (1979): 135.
(2) Joyce Lorimer, "The English Contraband Tobacco Trade in Trinidad and Guiana 1590-1617," in The Westward Enterprise: English Activities in Ireland, The Atlantic, and America, ed. K.R. Andrews et al. (Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1979), 124.
(3) Joyce Lorimer, "The English Contraband Tobacco Trade in Trinidad and Guiana 1590-1617," in The Westward Enterprise: English Activities in Ireland, The Atlantic, and America, ed. K.R. Andrews et al. (Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1979),126.
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