In 1537, the king appointed as captain-general Hernando de Soto, the picturesque adventurer, who was afterwards famous as the discoverer of the Mississippi and for his romantic search for the fountain of eternal youth.
All powers, both civil and military, were vested in the captain-general, the title bestowed upon the governors, although many of them were civilians.
Shortly after this appointment, Havana was reduced to ashes by a French privateer, and De Soto built for the city's protection the Castillo de la Fuerza, a fortress which still exists. But this precaution proved ineffectual, as in 1554, the city which had gained considerably in importance, as it had now become the capital, was again attacked and partially destroyed by the French. Two other fortresses were then constructed, the Punta and the Morro.
The discovery of Mexico and other countries drew away from the island the majority of its working population, and the government passed a law imposing the penalty of death upon all who left it.
Spain also imposed the heaviest trade restrictions upon Cuba. It was exploited in every direction for the benefit of the mother country and to the exclusion of every one else. All foreigners, and even Spaniards not natives of Castile, were prohibited from trading with the island or settling in it.
The consequence was that the increase of population was slow, the introduction of negroes, whose labor was most essential for prosperity, was gradual, and the progress and growth of the island were almost stopped.
Moreover, Spain was ruler of the greater part of the Atlantic, and a most despotic ruler she proved herself to be. Numerous tales are told of the atrocities committed upon navigators, especially those of England.
When Cromwell, who caused many liberal ideas to be introduced into England, tried to induce Spain to abolish the Inquisition and to allow the free navigation of the Atlantic, the Spanish ambassador replied:
"For my master to relinquish those prerogatives would be the same as to put out both his eyes."
One instance of Spain's cruelty, for which, however, she suffered a well-merited retribution, may be related here. In 1564, a party of French Huguenots settled in Florida near the mouth of the river St. John. A certain Menendez, who was sailing under orders to "gibbet and behead all Protestants in those regions," fell upon the colonists and massacred all he could find. Some of the settlers, who happened to be away at the time, shortly afterward fell into the hands of Menendez, who hanged them all, placing this inscription above their heads: "Not as Frenchmen, but as heretics." In 1567, however, a French expedition surprised a body of Spaniards who had undertaken to found St. Augustine, and in their turn hanged these settlers, "Not as Spaniards, but as murderers."