1: Slavery, sugar and the formation of the Cuban nation

Slavery, sugar and the formation of the 

Cuban nation


Welcome to our course on the enigmatic and beguiling island of Cuba. In this, the first of our historical and cultural explorations we will be examining the link between the cultivation of sugar and the formation of the Cuban nation. In this session we will examine the early 19th Century and how the struggles of slaves against the plantation system preceded the rise of a Cuban nationalism based upon equality between the races.

Here below are some resources and activities that you can enjoy in anticipation of the session, or afterwards to extend and deepen your understanding. Use the comment function to the continue the discussion with the group and share other resources that you might find.

1.1 The Haitian Revolution

To understand the curious nature of Cuban nationalism, you have to understand how the island became influenced by revolutions elsewhere. Although Cuba was the first Spanish colony, it was one of the last to gain its independence. That has more than a little to do with the Haitian revolution. Watch this Crash Course video to get a handle on the Haitian revolution:



1.2 Documentary: Cuba in the Raw- A Story of Sugar

The Haitian Revolution caused the planters of Saint Domingue to flee to Cuba and set up plantations there. The prolonged conflict on Saint-Domingue meant that the price for its products rose, giving Cuba a massive boost to its wealth and growth in the early 19th Century. Cuba quickly became the world's biggest producer of sugar.
This documentary by a US scholar recalls the history of the island's sugar industry. Sugar, whether refined for export or distilled as the world's most sought-after rum, was a national phenomenon that impacted every aspect of Cuban life. It was the petroleum of its era, and nations went to war over it time and time again.
The journey is experienced through footage shot on location in Cuba, rare archival film, and a visually rich tapestry of historic lithographs, paintings, and drawings that bring to life Cuba's tenuous reliance on sugarcane and enduring struggle for self-determination.


1.3 Rethinking Slave Rebellion in Cuba


In this book, Professor Aisha Finch, discusses slave rebellions in Cuba and argues that the participants, inspired by the examples of Haiti and the Latin American revolutions, had a greater vision than merely escaping from their bondage. Click on the cover to read an interview with the author.



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Comments

  1. lesley andersonJanuary 13, 2021 at 4:31 PM

    Hi Stephen

    Thanks for Lecture One.
    I have two comments/questions

    1. Current population of Cuba is 11.33M, of which 64% are white, 26% mixed race (mestizo) and 9% Afro-Cubans. Do we know approx ratios for early to mid 1800's??

    2. I am sure this will be clarified further on, but I am interested in WHY Cuba had a communist revolution in the mid 20th century.
    From last night's lecture I can appreciate that Cuba had a different (and slower) path than the region to independence, but cannot yet see a path to communism.
    My best guess at the moment is that it was down to the personality of Fidel Castro????

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dr Stephen WilkinsonJanuary 17, 2021 at 12:04 PM

      Hi,
      For while in the 1830s the black population was greater than 50 per cent but the population was much smaller at around 1.25 million. Don't pay too much attention to those current figures since they are from the census report that is of people self identifying. This means that a lot of mixed race people self identify as white and a lot of black people self identify as mixed race. Cuban people are considerably darker than Spanish people. The gene pool in Cuba is very mixed. The proportion of black and mixed race Cubans is way much higher than those figures suggest.
      The Revolution of 1959 was primarily a nationalist revolution and was not declared socialist or communist until 1961. It is an interesting story and one we will come to in Week 3.

      Delete

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