Pecuniary value of the slave-trade to Havana--The slave
clippers--First introduction of slaves into Cuba--Monopoly of the
traffic by England--Spain's disregard of treaty
stipulations--Spanish perfidy--Present condition of Spain--Her
decadence--Influence upon her American possessions--Slaves upon the
plantations--The soil of Cuba--Mineral wealth of the island--The
present condition of the people--The influences of American
progress--What Cuba might be.
Like Liverpool and Boston, in their early days, Havana has drawn an
immense wealth from the slave-trade; it has been the great commercial
item in the business for the capital year after year, and the fitting
out of ventures, the manning of vessels, and other branches of trade
connected therewith, have been the sources of uncounted profit to those
concerned. The vessels employed in this business were built with an eye
to the utmost speed. Even before the notion of clipper ships was
conceived, these crafts were built on the clipper model, more generally
known as Baltimore clippers. Over these sharp hulls was spread a
quantity of canvas that might have served as an outfit for a
seventy-four. The consummate art displayed in their construction was
really curious, and they were utterly unfit for any legitimate
commerce. Nor are these vessels by any means yet extinct. They hover
about the island here and there at this very hour; now lying securely in
some sheltered bay on the south side, and now seeking a rendezvous at
the neighboring Isle of Pines. The trade still employs many crafts. They
mount guns, have a magazine in accordance with their tonnage, with false
decks that can be shipped and unshipped at will.
It is well known that the Americans can produce the fastest vessels in
the world; and speed is the grand desideratum with the slaver,
consequently Americans are employed to build the fleet crafts that sail
for the coast of Africa. The American builder must of course know the
purpose for which he constructs these clippers; and, indeed, the writer
is satisfied, from personal observation, that these vessels are built on
speculation, and sent to Cuba to be sold to the highest bidder. Of
course, being in a measure contraband, they bring large prices, and the
temptation is strong to construct them, rather than to engage in the
more regular models. This reference to the subject as connected with the
commerce of the island, leads us to look back to the history of the
pernicious traffic in human beings, from its earliest commencement in
Cuba, and to trace its beginning, progress and main features.
It has been generally supposed that Las Casas first suggested the plan
of substituting African slave labor for that of the Indians in Cuba, he
having noticed that the natives, entirely unused to labor, sunk under
the hard tasks imposed upon them, while the robuster negroes thrived
under the same circumstances. But negro slavery did not originate with
Las Casas. Spain had been engaged in the slave trade for years, and long
prior to the discovery of America by Columbus; and Zuniga tells us that
they abounded in Seville. Consequently Spanish emigrants from the old
world brought their slaves with them to Cuba, and the transportation of
negro slaves, born in slavery among Christians, was sanctioned expressly
by royal ordinances. Ferdinand sent over fifty slaves to labor in the
royal mines: Las Casas pleaded for the further employment of negroes,
and consequent extension of the slave trade. "But covetousness," says
Bancroft, "and not a mistaken benevolence, established the slave trade,
which had nearly received its development before the charity of Las
Casas was heard in defence of the Indians. Reason, policy and religion
alike condemned the traffic."
Cardinal Ximenes, the grand inquisitor of Spain, protested against the
introduction of negroes in Hispaniola, foreseeing the dangers incident
to their increase; and three centuries later the successful revolt of
the slaves of Hayti, the first place in America which received African
slaves, justified his intelligent predictions and forebodings. England
embarked largely in the slave trade, and Queen Elizabeth shared in the
guilty profits of the traffic. In the year 1713, when, after a period of
rest, the slave trade was resumed, the English purchased of Spain a
monopoly of the trade with the Spanish colonies, and she carried it on
with great vigor and pecuniary success, until she had completely stocked
these islands with blacks. In the year 1763 their number was estimated
at sixty thousand. This fact will enable us to appreciate as it deserves
the extreme modesty of the British government in fomenting abolition
schemes in the island of Cuba, after contributing so largely to the
creation of an evil which appears almost irremediable. We say a
realizing sense of the circumstances of the case will enable us rightly
to appreciate the character of the British government's philanthropy. We
applaud England for her efforts at the suppression of the slave
trade,--a traffic which all the powers of Christendom, Spain excepted,
have united to crush,--but we cannot patiently contemplate her efforts
to interfere with the internal economy of other countries, when she
herself, as in the case of the Spanish colonies and of the United
States, has so weighty a share of responsibility in the condition of
things as they now exist; to say nothing of the social condition of her
own subjects, which so imperatively demands that her charity should
begin at home.
We have said that Spain alone, of the great powers, has not done her
part in the suppression of the slave trade.[52] She is solemnly pledged
by treaty stipulations, to make unceasing war against it, and yet she
tacitly connives at its continuance, and all the world knows that slaves
are monthly, almost weekly, landed in Cuba. Notorious is it that the
captains-general have regularly pocketed a fee of one doubloon or more
for every slave landed, and that this has been a prolific source of
wealth to them. The exceptions to this have been few, and the evidences
are indisputable. Within a league of the capital are several large
barracoons, as they are called, where the newly-imported slaves are
kept, and offered for sale in numbers. The very fact that these
establishments exist so near to Havana, is a circumstance from which
each one may draw his own inference. No one can travel in Cuba without
meeting on the various plantations groups of the newly-imported
Africans. Valdez, who strenuously enforced the treaty obligations
relative to the trade, without regard to private interest, was traduced
by the Spaniards, and by their management fell into disfavor with his
government at home. O'Donnell deluged the island with slaves during his
administration, and filled his coffers with the fees accruing therefrom.
Since his time the business has gone on,--to be sure less openly, and
under necessary restrictions, but nevertheless with great pecuniary
profit.
At the same time the Spanish authorities have, while thus increasing the
numbers of savage Africans reduced to a state of slavery, constantly
endeavored to weaken the bonds of attachment between master and slave,
and to ferment the unnatural hatred of races with the fearful design of
preparing another St. Domingo for the Cubans, should they dare to strike
a strenuous blow for freedom.
We have thus seen that the Spanish crown is directly responsible for the
introduction of slavery into Cuba, and that crown officers, invested
with more than vice-regal authority, have sanctioned, up to this day,
the accumulation and the aggravation of the evil. It is now clearly
evident that the slave-trade will continue so long as the island of Cuba
remains under the Spanish flag. The British government have remonstrated
again and again with Spain, against this long-continued infraction of
treaties; but the dogged obstinacy of the Spanish character has been
proof against remonstrance and menace. She merits the loss of Cuba for
her persistent treachery and perfidy, leaving out of the account a long
list of foul wrongs practised upon the colony, the enormous burthen of
taxes placed upon it, and the unequalled rigor of its rule. The time has
come when the progress of civilization demands that the island shall
pass into the hands of some power possessed of the ability and the will
to crush out this remnant of barbarism. That power is clearly designated
by the hand of Providence. No European nation can dream of obtaining
Cuba; no administration in this country could stand up for one moment
against the overwhelming indignation of the people, should it be weak
enough to acquiesce in the transfer of Cuba to any European power. The
island must be Spanish or American. Had it been the property of a
first-rate power, of any other European sovereignty but Spain, it would
long since have been a cause of war. It is only the imbecile weakness of
Spain that has thus far protected her against the consequences of a
continuous course of perfidy, tyranny and outrage. But the impunity of
the feeble and the forbearance of the strong have their limits; and
nations, like individuals, are amenable to the laws of retributive
justice.
The present condition of Spain is a striking illustration of the
mutability of fortune, from which states, no more than individuals, are
exempted. We read of such changes in the destinies of ancient
empires,--the decadence of Egypt, the fall of Assyria, and Babylon, and
Byzantium, and Rome; but their glory and fall were both so far distant
in the recess of time, that their history seems, to all of us who have
not travelled and inspected the monuments which attest the truth of
these events, a sort of romance: whereas, in the case of Spain, we
realize its greatness, and behold its fall! One reason why we feel so
deep an interest in the fate of the Castilian power, is that the history
of Spain is so closely interwoven with that of our own country,--discovered
and colonized as it was under the auspices of the Spanish government. We
owe our very existence to Spain, and from the close of the fifteenth
century our histories have run on in parallel lines. But while America
has gone on increasing in the scale of destiny, in grandeur, power and
wealth, poor Spain has sunk in the scale of destiny, with a rapidity of
decadence no less astonishing than the speed of our own progress. The
discovery of America, as before alluded to, seemed to open to Spain a
boundless source of wealth and splendid power; triumphs awaited her arms
in both North and South America. Cortes in Mexico and Pizarro in Peru
added vast territory and millions of treasure to the national wealth.
But we have seen how sure is retribution. One by one those ill-gotten
possessions have escaped the grasp of the mother country; and now, in
her old age, poor, and enfeebled, and worn out, she clings, with the
death-gripe of a plundered and expiring miser, to her last earthly
possession in the New World.
Moved in some degree by the same spirit that actuates the home
government, the Cubans have heretofore viewed anything that looked like
an attempt at improvement with a suspicious eye; they have learned to
fear innovation; but this trait is yielding, as seen in the introduction
of railroads, telegraphs, and even the lighting of the city of Havana by
gas,--all done by Americans, who had first to contend with great
opposition, and to run imminent risks and lavish energy and money; but
when these things are once in the course of successful experiment, none
are more ready than the Cubans to approve. This same characteristic, a
clinging to the past and a fear of advancement, seems to have imparted
itself to the very scenery of the island, for everything here appears
to be of centuries in age, reminding one of the idea he has formed of
the hallowed East. The style of the buildings is not dissimilar to that
which is found throughout the Orient, and the trees and vegetable
products increase the resemblance. Particularly in approaching Havana
from the interior, the view of the city resembles almost precisely the
Scriptural picture of Jerusalem. The tall, majestic palms, with their
tufted tops, the graceful cocoanut tree, and many other peculiarities,
give to the scenery of Cuba an Eastern aspect, very impressive to the
stranger. It is impossible to describe to one who has not visited the
tropics, the bright vividness with which each object, artificial or
natural, house or tree, stands out in the clear liquid light, where
there is no haze nor smoke to interrupt the view. Indeed, it is
impossible to express fully how _everything_ differs in Cuba from our
own country, so near at hand. The language, the people, the climate, the
manners and customs, the architecture, the foliage, the flowers and
general products, all and each afford broad contrasts to what the
American has ever seen at home. But a long cannon-shot, as it were, off
our southern coast, yet once upon its soil, the visitor seems to have
been transported into another quarter of the globe, the first impression
being, as we have said, decidedly of an Oriental character. But little
effort of the imagination would be required to believe oneself in
distant Syria, or some remote part of Asia.
But let us recur for one moment to the subject of the slaves from which
we have unwittingly digressed. On the plantations the slaves have some
rude musical instruments, which they manufacture themselves, and which
emit a dull monotonous sound, to the cadence of which they sit by
moonlight and sing or chant, for hours together. One of these
instruments is a rude drum to the beating of which they perform
grotesque dances, with unwearying feet, really surprising the looker-on
by their power of endurance in sustaining themselves in vigorous
dancing. Generally, or as is often the case, a part of Saturday of each
week is granted to the slaves, when they may frequently be seen engaged
at ball, playing a curious game after their own fashion. This time of
holiday many prefer to pass in working upon their own allotted piece of
ground and in raising favorite vegetables and fruits, or corn for the
fattening of the pig hard by, and for which the drovers, who regularly
visit the plantations for the purpose, will pay them in good golden
doubloons. It is thought that the city slave has a less arduous task
than those in the country, for he is little exposed to the sun, and is
allowed many privileges, such for instance as attending church, and in
this the negroes seem to take particular delight, especially if well
dressed. A few gaudy ribbons, and nice glass beads of high color are
vastly prized by both sexes of the slaves in town and country. In the
cities some mistresses take pleasure in decking out their immediate male
and female attendants in fine style with gold ornaments in profusion.
There was one beautiful sight the writer particularly noticed in the
church of Santa Clara, viz: that before the altar all distinction was
dropped, and the negro knelt beside the Don.
The virgin soil of Cuba is so rich that a touch of the hoe prepares it
for the plant, or, as Douglass Jerrold says of Australia, "just tickle
her with a hoe and she laughs with a harvest." So fertile a soil is not
known to exist in any other portion of the globe. It sometimes produces
three crops to the year, and in ordinary seasons two may be relied
upon,--the consequence is that the Monteros have little more to do than
merely to gather the produce they daily carry to market, and which also
forms so large a portion of their own healthful and palatable food. The
profusion of its flora and the variety of its forests are unsurpassed,
while the multitude of its climbing shrubs gives a luxuriant richness to
its scenery, which contributes to make it one of the most fascinating
countries in the world. Nowhere are the necessities of life so easily
supplied, or man so delicately nurtured.
The richest soil of the island is the black, which is best adapted to
the purpose of the sugar-planter, and for this purpose it is usually
chosen. So productive is this description of land that the extensive
sugar plantations, once fairly started, will run for years, without the
soil being even turned, new cane starting up from the old roots, year
after year, with abundant crops. This is a singular fact to us who are
accustomed to see so much of artificial means expended upon the soil to
enable it to bear even an ordinary crop to the husbandman. The red soil
is less rich, and is better adapted to the planting of coffee, being
generally preferred for this purpose, while the mulatto-colored earth is
considered inferior, but still is very productive and is improved by the
Monteros for planting tobacco, being first prepared with a mixture of
the other two descriptions of soil which together form the richest
compost, next to guano, known in agriculture.
Coal is fortunately found on the island, of a bituminous nature; had
this not been the case, the numerous steam engines which are now at work
on the plantations would have soon consumed every vestige of wood on the
island, though by proper economy the planter can save much by burning
the refuse cane. The soil is also rich in mineral wealth, particularly
in copper, iron and loadstone. Gold and silver mines have been opened,
and in former times were worked extensively, but are now entirely
abandoned. The copper mines near Sagua la Grande in 1841 yielded about
four millions of dollars, but the exactions of the government were such
that they greatly reduced the yield of the ore. An export duty of five
per cent. was at first imposed upon the article: finally the exportation
was prohibited altogether, unless shipped to old Spain, with a view of
compelling the owners to smelt it in that country. These arbitrary
measures soon reduced the profit of the business, and the working of
the mines from producing in 1841 four millions, to about two by 1845,
and finally they were abandoned.
And now is it to be wondered at that the Creoles should groan under the
load of oppressions forced upon them as depicted in the foregoing pages?
No! On the contrary we feel that they are too forbearing, and look to
the enervating influence of their clime as an excuse for their
supineness under such gross wrongs. Their lovely climate and beautiful
land are made gloomy by the persecutions of their oppressors; their
exuberant soil groans with the burthens that are heaped upon it. They
are not safe from prying inquiry at bed or board, and their every action
is observed, their slightest words noted. They can sing no song not in
praise of royalty, and even to hum an air wedded to republican verse is
to provoke suspicion and perhaps arrest. The press is muzzled by the
iron hand of power, and speaks only in adulation of a distant queen and
a corrupt court. Foreign soldiers fatten upon the people, eating out
their substance, and every village near the coast of the island is a
garrison, every interior town is environed with bayonets!
A vast deal has been said about the impregnable harbor of Havana, the
"Gibraltar of America" being its common designation, but modern military
science acknowledges no place to be impregnable. A thousand chances
might happen which would give the place to an invading force; besides
which it has been already twice taken; and though it may be said that
on these occasions it was not nearly so well garrisoned as now, neither
so well armed or manned, the reply is also ready that it has never been
besieged by such a force as could now be brought against it, to say
nothing of the vast advantage afforded by the modern facilities for
destruction.[53] Were not the _inaccessible_ heights of Abraham scaled
in a night? and how easily the impregnable fortress of San Juan de Ulloa
fell! Havana could be attacked from the land side and easily taken by a
resolute enemy. With the exception of this one fortress, the Moro, and
the fort in its rear, the Cabensas, the island is very poorly defended,
and is accessible to an invading force in almost any direction, either
on the east, west, or south coast. Matanzas, but sixty miles from
Havana, could be taken by a small force from the land side, and serve as
a depot from whence to operate, should a systematic effort be organized.
Cuba's boasted strength is chimerical.
Steam and the telegraph are revolutionizing all business relations and
the course of trade. A line of steamers, one of the best in the world,
runs between New York and Havana, also New Orleans and Havana. By this
means all important intelligence reaches Cuba in advance of any other
source, and through this country. By the telegraph, Havana is brought
within three days' communication with New York and Boston. All
important advices must continue to reach the island through the United
States, and the people must still look to this country for political and
commercial information, and to the movement of our markets for the
regulation of their own trade and commerce. New Orleans has become the
great centre to which their interests will naturally tend; and thus we
see another strong tie of common interest established between the island
of Cuba and the United States.
Naturally belonging to this country by every rule that can be applied,
the writer believes that Cuba will ere long be politically ours. As the
wise and good rejoice in the extension of civilization, refinement, the
power of religion and high-toned morality, they will look forward
hopefully to such an event. Once a part of this great confederacy, Cuba
would immediately catch the national spirit and genius of our
institutions, and the old Castilian state of dormancy would give way to
Yankee enterprise, her length and breadth would be made to smile like a
New England landscape Her sons and daughters would be fully awakened to
a true sense of their own responsibility, intelligence would be sown
broadcast, and the wealth of wisdom would shine among the cottages of
the poor.
In the place of the rolling drum and piercing fife, would be heard the
clink of the hammer and the merry laugh of untrammelled spirits. The
bayonets that bristle now on every hill-side would give place to waving
corn, and bright fields of grain. The honest Montero would lay aside
his Toledo blade and pistol holsters, and the citizen who went abroad
after sunset would go unarmed. Modern churches, dedicated to pure
Christianity, would raise their lofty spires and point towards heaven
beside those ancient and time-eaten cathedrals. The barrack rooms and
guard stations, in every street, town or village, would be transformed
into school-houses, and the trade winds of the tropics would sweep over
a new Republic!
[Illustration: CHARACTERISTIC STREET SCENE.]
FOOTNOTES:
[52] English authorities,--Sir F. Buxton in the van,--declare that the
extent of the slave trade has but slightly diminished, while the
restrictions under which it is now carried on renders it more fatal than
ever to the blacks.
[53] "It is as well secured as it probably could be against an attack
from the harbor, but could still be assailed with effect in the same way
in which the French succeeded against Algiers, by landing a sufficient
force in the rear."--_Alexander H. Everett._