Portuguese mariners built an Atlantic empire by colonizing the Canary, Cape Verde, and Azores Islands, as well as the island of Madeira. Merchants then used these Atlantic outposts as debarkation points for subsequent journeys.
From these strategic points, Portugal spread its empire down the western coast of Africa to the Congo, along the western coast of India, and eventually to Brazil on the eastern coast of South America.
It also established trading posts in China and Japan. While the Portuguese didn’t rule over an immense landmass, their strategic holdings of islands and coastal ports gave them almost unrivaled control of nautical trade routes and a global empire of trading posts during the 1400s.
The history of Spanish exploration begins with the history of Spain itself. During the fifteenth century, Spain hoped to gain advantage over its rival, Portugal. The marriage of Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile in 1469 unified Catholic Spain and began the process of building a nation that could compete for worldwide power.
Their goals were to expand Catholicism and to gain a commercial advantage over Portugal. To those ends, Ferdinand and Isabella sponsored extensive Atlantic exploration. Spain’s most famous explorer, Christopher Columbus, was actually from Genoa, Italy.
Spain’s drive to enlarge its empire led other hopeful conquistadors to push further into the Americas, hoping to replicate the success of Cortés and Pizarro.
The exploits of European explorers had a profound impact both in the Americas and back in Europe. An exchange of ideas, fueled and financed in part by New World commodities, began to connect European nations and, in turn, to touch the parts of the world that Europeans conquered. (Lumen)
Over the centuries, there was a rivalry between Spain and Portugal, so it is not unexpected that the sailing of the Orteric in 1911 would include ‘The Battle of the Equator.’
The Orteric was carrying Spanish and Portuguese immigrants to Hawai‘i to work in the Islands’ sugar industry.
“The Orteric sailed from London on February 16 and at Oporto picked up a batch of immigrants, taking on 305 there. At Lisbon 260 people were taken on, and at Gibraltar 960 Spaniards were sent on the vessel.” (Hawaiian Gazette, April 14, 1911)
“The Spanish were easily distinguished from the Portuguese because of their headgear and corduroy clothing. The hats were wide brimmed, full crowned affairs and the corduroy of many colors ranging from dark brown to snuff yellow, showed hard and age in nearly every instance.”
“They all looked with a few exceptions to be people from agricultural districts. One or two were dapper as if they hailed from some city. Poverty was the badge of nearly all and their belongings did not amount to much.”
“The Spaniards are in a majority numbering over nine hundred. On the voyage here they and the Portuguese had many disagreeable clashes and had to be kept in separate portions of the ship … trouble began to brew and it was one-sided, for the Spaniards greatly outnumbered the Portuguese.”
“As usual the women were the cause of the pilikia of the men. The ladies differed and after a little hair pulling the men entered into the fray.” (Hawaiian Gazette, April 14, 1911)
“[A]bout 10 days after leaving Gibraltar there was a riot between the Portuguese and Spanish male passengers, resulting in a pitched battle with knives, clubs, cleavers, and pistols.” (American Marine Engineer, Jan 1912)
“To prevent further trouble the Portuguese passengers were placed aft, while the Spanish passengers were put in the forward part of the vessel.”
“That battle is now referred to among the ships officers as ‘The Battle of the Equator.’ It was quelled by Captain Findlay and the ships officers.” (Hawaiian Gazette, April 14, 1911)
