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THE
HISTORY OF CUBA
BY
WILLIS FLETCHER JOHNSON
A.M., L.H.D.
Author of "A Century of Expansion," "Four Centuries of
the Panama Canal," "America's Foreign Relations"
Honorary Professor of the History of American Foreign
Relations in New York University
_WITH ILLUSTRATIONS_
VOLUME ONE
[Illustration]
NEW YORK
B. F. BUCK & COMPANY, INC.
156 FIFTH AVENUE
1920
Copyright, 1920,
BY CENTURY HISTORY CO.
_All rights reserved_
ENTERED AT STATIONERS HALL
LONDON, ENGLAND.
PRINTED IN U. S. A.
TO
THE REPUBLIC OF CUBA
CONCEIVED BY
JOSE MARTI
ESTABLISHED BY
THOMAS ESTRADA PALMA
VINDICATED BY
MARIO G. MENOCAL
PREFACE
It is my purpose in these volumes to write a History of Cuba. The title
may imply either the land and its natural conditions, or the people and
the nation which inhabit it. It in fact implies both, and to both I
shall address myself, though it will appropriately be with the latter
rather than with the former that the narrative will be most concerned.
For it is with Cuba as with other countries: In the last supreme
analysis the people make the history of the land. Apart from the people,
it is true, the Island of Cuba is of unusual interest. There are few
countries of similar extent comparable with it in native variety, charm
and wealth. There are few which contribute more, actually and
potentially, to the world's supplies of greatly used products. One of
the most universally used and prized vegetable products became first
known to mankind from Cuba, and there to this day is most profusely and
most perfectly grown and prepared; while another, one of the most
universally used and essential articles of food, is there produced in
its greatest abundance. There also may be found an immense number and
bewildering variety of the most serviceable articles in both the
vegetable and mineral kingdoms, in noteworthy profusion and perfection,
together with possibilities and facilities for a comparable development
of the animal kingdom.
Nor is the geographical situation of the island less favorable or less
inviting than its natural resources. Lying just within the Torrid Zone,
it has a climate which combines the fecund influences of the tropics
with the agreeable moderation of the Temperate Zones. It fronts at once
upon the most frequented ocean of the globe and upon two of the greatest
and most important semi-inland seas. It lies directly between the two
great continents of the Western Hemisphere, with such supremely
fortunate orientation that travel and commerce between them naturally
skirt and touch its shores rather than follow the longer and more
difficult route by land which is the sole alternative. A line drawn from
the heart of the United States to the heart of South America passes
through the heart of Cuba. A line drawn from the mouth of the
Mississippi to the mouth of the Amazon traverses Cuba almost from end to
end. Circled about the island and fronting on the narrow seas which
divide them from it are the territories of no fewer than fourteen
independent national sovereignties. It lies, moreover, directly in the
path of the world's commerce between the two great oceans, the Atlantic
and the Pacific, by the way of that gigantic artificial waterway which,
created largely because of Cuba, was the fulfilment of the world's four
centuries of effort and desire. There is scarcely a more suggestive and
romantic theme in the world's history than this: That Columbus made his
epochal adventure for the prime purpose of finding a passageway from the
Atlantic to the Pacific; or rather from Europe to Asia by way of the
Atlantic, since he assumed the Atlantic and the Pacific to be one; that,
failing to find that non-existent passageway, he found Cuba instead and
imagined that he had found therein the fulfilment of his dreams; that
four centuries later that passageway was artificially provided through
the enterprise and energy of a power which in his day had not yet come
into existence; and that this transcendent deed was accomplished largely
because of Cuba and because of the conflict through which that island
violently divorced herself from the imperial sovereignty which Columbus
had planted upon her shores.
Lying thus in a peculiar sense at the commercial centre of the world,
between North America and South America, between Europe and Asia,
between all the lands of the Atlantic and all the lands of the Pacific
and subject to important approach from all directions, we must reckon
it not mere chance but the provision of benevolent design that Cuba at
almost all parts of her peculiarly ample coastline is endowed with a
greater number of first-rate harbors than any other country of the
world. In recognition of these facts and of their gradual development
and application to the purposes and processes of civilization, is a
theme worthy to pique the interest and to absorb the attention of the
most ambitious historian, whether for the mere chronicling of conditions
and events, or for the philosophical analysis of causes and results.
All these things, however, fascinating as they are and copious as is
their suggestion of interest, are after all only a minor and the less
important part of the real History of Cuba, such as I must endeavor to
write. Without the Cuban people, Cuba would have remained a negligible
factor in the equations of humanity. Without the people of the island,
"what to me were sun or clime?" The genial climate, the fecund soil, the
wealth of mines and field and forest, the capacious harbors and the
encircling seas, all would be vanity of vanities. Nor is it for nothing
that I have suggested differentiation between the Cuban People and the
Cuban Nation. Without the development of the former into the latter, all
these things could never have hoped to reach their greatest value and
utility. The Cuban People have existed for four centuries, the Cuban
Nation in its consummate sense for less than a single generation. Yet in
the latter brief span more progress has been made toward realization of
Cuba's possibilities and destinies than in all those former ages. It is
a circumstance of peculiar significance that almost the oldest of all
civilized communities in the Western Hemisphere should be the youngest
of all the nations. It will be a task of no mean magnitude, but of
unsurpassed profit and pleasure, to trace the deliberate development of
that early colony into this late nation, and to observe the causes and
forces which so long repressed and thwarted the sovereign aspirations of
the Cuban People, and also, more gratefully, the causes and forces
which inevitably, in the slow fullness of time, achieved their ultimate
fulfilment in the secure establishment of the Cuban Nation.
The origin of the Cuban People presents a striking historical and
ethnological anomaly. The early settlers of the island, and therefore
the progenitors of the present Cuban people, were beyond question the
flower of the Spanish race at the very time when that race was at the
height of its marvellous puissance and efficience. The Sixteenth Century
was the Golden Age of Spain, and they were conspicuous representatives
of those who made it so who implanted the genius of their time upon the
hospitable soil of the great West Indian island. That rule has been,
indeed, common to the colonial enterprises of all lands. The best men
become the pioneers. Colonization implies adventure, and adventure
implies courage, enterprise, endurance, vision, prudence, the very
essential elements of both individual and civic greatness. Strong men,
not weaklings, are the founders of new settlements. Even in those lands
which were largely populated involuntarily, as penal settlements, the
same rule holds good; because many of the convict exiles were merely
political proscripts, who in fact were men of virtue, light and leading,
often superior to those who banished them.
There is fruit for almost endless thought and speculation in the
circumstance that so many of the early Cuban settlers, as indeed of all
the Spanish explorers and conquerors of the Sixteenth Century, came from
the two Iberian Provinces of Estremadura and Seville. They were, and
are, two of the most widely contrasting provinces of Spain. The one a
rude, rugged, half sterile region of swineherds and mountaineers,
poverty-stricken and remote; the other plethoric with the wealth of
agriculture, industry and commerce, and endowed above most regions of
the world with the treasures of learning and art. Yet it was from
barren, impoverished and uncultured Estremadura that there came Cortez,
Pizarro, Balboa, De Soto, and their compeers and followers. We might
speculate upon the questions whether great men were thus numerously
produced by nature in that region by way of compensation for the paucity
and poverty of other products; and whether it was because of their
innate genius or because of their desire to seek a better land than
their own, that they became the adventurers that they were. The other
province which most contributed to the founding of Cuba had from time
immemorial been noted for its wealth and culture. In the days of the
Caesars it had been the favorite colonial resort of the plutocracy and
aristocracy of Rome, and it had been the birthplace of the Emperors
Hadrian, Trajan and Theodosius. Under the Catholic Kings it was the
capital and the metropolis of Spain and the chief mart of her world-wide
commerce. Indeed it would not be difficult to establish the proposition
that it was with the removal of the capital from Seville to Madrid, and
the change of national and international policy which was inseparably
associated with that removal, that the decline of Spain began.
Cuba was thus in her foundation the fortunate recipient of the rugged
and masterful spirit of Estremadura, and of the elements of government
and of social grace and intellectual power which Seville could so well
and so abundantly supply; and these two contrasting yet by no means
incompatible elements became characteristic of the Cuban people;
complementarily contributing to the development of a national character
quite distinct from that of the Mother Country or that of any other of
her offshoots. For the Cuban people and their social organism, separated
far from Spain, though subject to her rule, retained largely unimpaired
their pristine vigor, and avoided sharing in the degeneracy and decline
which befell the Peninsula soon after the malign Hapsburg influence
became dominant in its affairs of state; a decline which in the
Seventeenth Century became one of the most distressing and pathetic
tragedies in the drama of the world.
It was an interesting and a significant circumstance, too, that while
Spain was resplendent and exultant in the Golden Age of the Sixteenth
Century, Cuba remained intellectually dormant and inactive, and that
when at the end of the Eighteenth Century Spain reached her nadir of
degradation, Cuba began to rise to intellectual puissance. While Spain
was great, it was to be said of Cuba _stat nominis umbra_; but when
Spain declined, Cuba arose to take her place, insistent that the race
and its letters, at least, should not universally fall into decay.
* * * * *
It is one of the anomalies of Cuban history that while the island was
denied the enjoyment of even those incipient and inchoate intimations of
potential nationality which were granted to other Spanish provinces,
such as Mexico, Venezuela, Colombia and Peru, it was nevertheless,
perhaps more than any other, involved from early times in the
international complications and conflicts of Spain. At least equally
with the mainland coasts Cuba's shores were ravaged by pirates and
freebooters, and were attacked or menaced by the commissioned fleets of
hostile powers. Her insular character and her geographical position
doubtless accounted for this in great degree, as did also the purblind
policy of Spain in failing to give her the care and protection which
were lavished upon other no more worthy possessions.
So it came to pass that for a time Cuba was actually conquered and
seized by an alien power and was forcibly separated from Spanish
sovereignty; and that for many years thereafter she was the object of
covetous desire and indeed of almost incessant intrigue for acquisition
by two of Spain's chief rivals and adversaries. For nearly half a
century Great Britain and France were frequently, almost continuously,
each planning to annex Cuba as a colonial possession, either by conquest
in war or through barter or purchase in time of peace. It was not until
a third great power arose and asserted in unmistakable terms its
paramount interest in the island, only a little while previous to our
own time, that such designs were reluctantly forsaken.
It was the interesting fortune of Cuba, therefore, not only to engage
the early and earnest diplomatic interest of the United States in her
behalf, but also to afford to that country occasion for the conception,
formulation and promulgation of perhaps the most important of all the
fundamental principles of its state policy in international affairs. We
have suggested, in anticipation of the narrative, that Cuba was largely
to be credited with the inception of the impulse for the prompt
construction of the Isthmian Canal. In a far more valid and direct sense
Cuba suggested the enunciation of the Monroe Doctrine. It is true that
in relation first to Louisiana and then to Florida there had previously
been preliminary hints at and approximations to that Doctrine. But those
were territories contiguous with our own and already marked by the
United States for eventual annexation and incorporation. Cuba, on the
contrary, was entirely detached from our domain, and while there were
then those who anticipated and desired her ultimate annexation, there
was no such confident and determined resolution to that effect that
there was in the case of the other regions named. Cuba was therefore the
first detached country, not destined for annexation, to which the United
States extended and applied the fundamental principle which was later
developed into the Monroe Doctrine. We may not doubt that the Monroe
Doctrine would have been put forward, even had it not been for Cuba. We
may not deny nor dispute that it was because of Cuba and concerning Cuba
that the first specific and indubitable intimation of that doctrine was
given.
The development of American policy toward Cuba is an important and
interesting part of the history of the United States as well as of Cuba.
The progressively significant utterances of the younger Adams, of Clay
and of Forsythe, culminating years afterward in those of Cleveland and
McKinley, form one of the most consistent, logical and convincing
chapters in American diplomatic history. It is marred, we must confess,
by some adventitious excrescences, chiefly contributed by Calhoun and
Pierre Soule. Yet even these, deplorable as they ever must be regarded,
fail to destroy the symmetry of the whole. It is a chapter, indeed,
which more than any other is comprehensive and expository of the whole
spirit and trend of American international transactions.
Cuba has also been intimately connected with three great issues of
American domestic politics, as well as with that supreme principle of
her foreign policy. The first of these was that of human slavery. From
the end of the second war with Great Britain to the beginning of the
Civil War that issue dominated American politics and therefore
determined largely the American attitude toward Cuba. The pro-slavery
influences, which were generally paramount at Washington, resisted all
efforts, which otherwise might have been successful, to draw Cuba into
the community of republics freed from Spanish rule in Central and South
America, because of unwillingness to have her become, like them, free
soil; and subsequently the same influences planned and plotted and
fought for Cuban annexation to the United States, either by conquest or
by purchase, in order that she might thus be added to the slave-holding
domain. On the other hand, the anti-slavery party, because of its
abhorrence of these schemes, opposed the manifestation of what would
have been a quite legitimate and benevolent interest in Cuban affairs.
For forty years Cuba was a pawn in the game between these contending
factions. Of course this issue was disposed of by the Civil War and the
consequent abolition of slavery in the United States.
Another issue was that of expansion. There was from the first a
considerable party in the United States that favored the widest possible
acquisition of territory, sometimes quite regardless of the means, and
it early fixed upon Cuba as what Jefferson and the younger Adams had
declared it to be, the most interesting and most natural addition that
could be made to the federal system. There was also a party that was
resolutely opposed to any further extension of American territorial
sovereignty, whether by conquest or purchase. Sometimes the one and
sometimes the other of these prevailed in American politics, and not
infrequently Cuba was the chief issue between them. Ultimately it was
over Cuba that their greatest conflict was waged; resulting in a
compromise, under which the United States on the one hand renounced all
designs of annexing Cuba, and on the other hand did annex other still
more extensive territories.
The third of these issues was that of the tariff. Commercial relations
between Cuba and the United States were naturally intimate and important
to both countries, and afforded scope for almost endless discussions
concerning and manipulations of tariff duties. It was in the power of
the United States to enhance or to depress the prosperity of Cuba, by
the adjustment of tariff rates. To admit Cuban sugar, not to mention
tobacco, freely or at a low duty, into the American market meant
prosperity for the island. To place a high tariff rate upon it meant
hard times if not disaster in Cuba. During the period between the Ten
Years' War and the War of Independence in Cuba, such tariff changes very
seriously affected the economic and also the political condition of
Cuba; and the final withdrawal of the reciprocity arrangement which had
opened American markets to Cuba was one of the chief provoking causes of
the final revolution in the island. That revolution would doubtless have
come, in any case, but it was measurably hastened and exacerbated by the
economic distress which was thus precipitated upon the island, and
against which it was realized there could be no assurance until Cuba was
an independent nation with full power to regulate and control her own
commerce and her own economic system. Even then, as we shall see, for a
time the island was involved in economic distress because of the
unwillingness of certain sordid interests in the United States to
perform the most obvious and indisputable moral duty of that country
toward its neighbor. There are few passages which the friendly historian
must more regret to record in the story of Cuban-American relations than
that of the delay of the American Congress to enter into proper
commercial reciprocity with Cuba as soon as the independence of that
island was established.
* * * * *
We shall see in these pages why it was necessary, from the very
beginning, for Cuba to be entirely freed and divorced from all political
connection with Spain, and why all the various proposals of autonomy
were essentially and inevitably unacceptable. Such proposals were
repeatedly made, by the Spanish government, but they were invariably
either consciously or unconsciously delusive. The story of Spain's
promises to Cuba is a story of broken promises, and of disappointed
hopes. Nor is that to be wondered at by those who take into
consideration the circumstances in which the promises were made. When
the impossible is promised, the promise is doomed to non-fulfilment.
Spain was in an impossible position. In order to pacify Cuba she had to
promise her reforms, autonomy, liberty. But in order to maintain herself
at home she had to repudiate those promises. Their fulfilment in the
West Indies would have been disastrous in the Iberian Peninsula. While
Spain was a reactionary monarchy at home, she could not practice liberal
and progressive democracy in her colonies. Even when her monarchy became
constitutional, and even during the brief periods of her republican
government, the full concession of Cuba's demands would have been
incompatible with her domestic status. There was an irreconcilable
conflict between the European system--even European republicanism--and
the American system. Spain was compelled for the sake of her Peninsular
integrity and tranquillity to adhere to the former, while Cuba would be
and could be contented with nothing short of the latter. Such were the
terms of the problem which arose in the early part of the Nineteenth
Century. Its only possible solution was in the complete separation of
the two countries, and the complete independence of Cuba.
We must not wonder, however, at the circumstance that this was not
universally recognized at first, but that year after year some of the
wisest and best of Cuban patriots strove merely for reforms in
government under continued and perpetual union with the Spanish crown,
and that they even deprecated and opposed all efforts at independence.
We must not wonder, even, that so late as the War of Independence some
of the foremost Cuban statesmen, who yielded precedence to none in
purity of purpose and in sincere devotion to what they regarded as the
best interests of the island, were willing and even proud to be known as
Autonomists and to essay the impossible task of trying to make an
Autonomist government successful. The Cubans of to-day, with vision
cleared of the red glare of war and of the mists of misapprehension,
doubtless understand what the conditions were at that time and
appreciate the motives, however mistaken they proved to me, of the
Autonomists. American readers, with less vision and comprehension of
Cuban affairs, should equally understand the matter when they are
reminded that the Cuban Autonomists were merely following the example of
some of the men whom Americans most delight to honor.
For precisely the same conditions prevailed, only to a much wider
extent, in the Thirteen Colonies at the beginning of the American
Revolution, when Washington and Franklin and Jefferson and Jay were
American Autonomists, inexorably opposed to independence. Lexington,
Concord and Bunker Hill were fought not for independence but for
autonomy under the British Crown and in perpetual union with the British
Empire. When the First Continental Congress met in the spring of 1774
there was no word, at least, of independence. On the contrary,
according to some of the very foremost members of that historic body,
the idea of independence, at least in the Middle and Southern colonies,
was "as unpopular as the Stamp Act itself." Not only did that Congress
complete its course without saying a word for independence, but it
adopted an address to the people of Great Britain declaring that the
reports which had got abroad that the Colonies wanted independence were
"mere calumnies," and that nothing was desired but equality of rights
with their fellow subjects in the British Isles. The Second Colonial
Congress met after Lexington and Concord and just before Bunker Hill.
John Adams and Thomas Jefferson were members of it. But they spoke no
word for independence. Instead, Jefferson drafted a declaration, which
Congress adopted, to the effect that the Colonies had "not raised armies
with designs of separating from Great Britain and establishing
independent states"; and in other addresses which the same Congress
adopted after the battle of Bunker Hill it was explicitly stated that
the Colonists were loyal to the British Crown, that they wished for
lasting union with Great Britain, and that they had taken up arms not to
find liberty outside of the British Empire but to vindicate and defend
liberty within that Empire. After the adjournment of that Congress in
August, 1775, less than a year before the Declaration of Independence,
so representative a man and so ardent a patriot as John Jay publicly
denounced the imputation that the Congress had "aimed at independence"
as "ungenerous and groundless," and as marked with "malice and falsity."
Not until the spring of 1776 was there any significant turning toward
independence as the inevitable resort.
If I have thus dwelt at length upon well-known facts which pertain to
the history of the United States rather than to that of Cuba, it is in
order to remind American readers, on the strength of a precedent which
they, at any rate, must regard with the highest respect, how reasonable
it was for Cubans even as late as in 1897 and 1898 to cling to a policy
and a hope substantially identical with those which were cherished by
the foremost representative American patriots in 1774 and 1775. We can
see now, they themselves can see now, that they were in error and that
their hopes were vain. But they were no more in error than were the
immortal American Autonomists of the beginning of the American
Revolution.
Similarly it was necessary that Cuba should not only be entirely
separated from Spain but also should be made independent, and not be
annexed to the United States. On that point, too, many good men were in
error. As we shall see, the first important Cuban
revolutionist--although not himself a native Cuban--had in view not
independence but annexation to the United States, and so did many
another sterling patriot after him. Probably the general feeling was
that the one thing supremely essential was to be sundered from Spain,
and since annexation to the United States seemed to promise the
effecting of that most promptly, most easily and most surely, it was to
be accepted as the best solution of the problem. Of course, too, the
annexation sentiment in Cuba was greatly encouraged and promoted by the
advocates of annexation in the United States, who were numerous, and
aggressive, and actuated by a variety of motives.
For three fundamental reasons, however, annexation would have been a
deplorable mistake, for both parties. One was, that the Cuban people at
heart wanted independence and would permanently have been satisfied with
nothing less. Every other Spanish colony in the Western Hemisphere had
attained independent sovereignty, and it would have been a reproach to
Cuba to have been satisfied with any less status than theirs. The second
reason was that Cuba and the United States were incompatible in
temperament, and could not have got on well together. That is to be said
without the slightest reflection upon either. The two countries were of
different racial stocks, different languages, different traditions,
different civic ideals. It was and is possible for them to be the best
of friends and neighbors, but that is quite different from being
yoke-fellows.
The third reason was, that Cuba would not have thought of annexation
without Statehood in the Federal Union, to which the United States would
not or at any rate should not have admitted her. Nor is that any
reflection upon Cuba. The principle was established by governmental
utterances, nearly half a century before Cuban independence was
achieved, and indeed before any important efforts were made by the
United States to purchase Cuba, that outlying territories not contiguous
with the continental Union of States, were not to be considered as
fitting candidates for statehood. Had Cuba been acquired by the United
States at any time it is certain that her admission as a State would
have been vigorously opposed on that historic ground. The sequel would
have been either that Cuba would have been excluded from the Union, to
her entire and intense dissatisfaction, or the United States would have
abandoned a highly desirable policy and would have established a
precedent under which grave abuses might thereafter have occurred.
The redemption of Cuba from Spanish rule was long delayed, for a number
of reasons. One was, obviously, the difficulty of achieving it alone.
The South and Central American provinces had revolted simultaneously, or
in rapid succession, so that each was of assistance to the others. But
at that time Cuba remained faithful to Spain; and when years afterward
she sought to follow the example of the others, she found that she had
to do so single-handed against the undivided might of the Peninsula.
Another very potent reason was, the strength of the pro-Spanish
sentiment and influence in the island, caused by the flocking thither of
many Spanish loyalists from the Central and South American states and
from Santo Domingo. Here, too, American readers may interpret Cuban
conditions through reference to their own history. At the close of the
American Revolution multitudes of British Loyalists left the United
States and settled in Upper Canada, with the result that that Province
of Ontario became proverbially "more British than Great Britain." We
shall see in our narrative how strong the Spanish loyalist party in Cuba
was, and to what extremes it went in its opposition to Cuban
independence. In that we may perceive simply a repetition of conditions
which prevailed at the close of the American War of Independence. It is
probable, too, that the insular position of Cuba, with her coastal
waters controlled by the Spanish fleet, and her central position, making
her an object of intense international interest and intrigue, also
contributed to the same end. Of course, too, since Cuba and Porto Rico
were her last remaining possessions in the Western World, Spain made
extraordinary efforts to retain them and to prevent the success of any
revolutionary movement.
One other influence must be noted, that of the United States. If at any
time the counsels of that country had been harmonious and united, they
would have had a powerful, perhaps a preponderating, effect upon Cuban
affairs. But as we have intimated, and as we shall more fully see in our
narrative, they were strongly, often violently, divided. Some were for
intervention, some were for non-intervention; some were for making Cuba
a free country, some were for preserving it as a slaveholding land; some
were for aiding it to become independent, some were for annexing it to
the United States. There was no unity of policy, and therefore there was
no assurance as to what the United States would do in any given
emergency. Cubans did not know what they could depend upon. If they
revolted, America might help them, and she might not. There can be no
question that this uncertainty was a potent factor in restraining Cubans
from radical action, and that it materially postponed the final crisis.
* * * * *
We shall see that more and more, however, the United States was forced
by the logic of irresistible events into adopting a united and
consistent policy toward Cuba, and that in the ultimate crisis that
country was inextricably implicated with the Cuban cause. This was
indeed a logical development. In each successive Cuban revolution,
beginning with that of Lopez, the United States had been increasingly
interested. Commercial and social relations between the two countries
were strong and intimate. For nearly three quarters of a century the
United States had maintained a quasi-protectorate over the island in
behalf of Spain for the time being, but--though unconsciously--in behalf
of Cuba itself for the greater time to come. The welfare of the United
States had become involved in the disposition of the island in only a
less degree than that of the Cuban people.
There can be no doubt that the United States was of very great service
and assistance to the Cuban patriots in the War of Independence. Nobody
has testified to that fact more earnestly or more comprehensively than
the Cubans themselves. They realized it. They appreciated it. They were
and are profoundly grateful for it. Their testimony to it is ample for
all time. America is relieved of the need of vaunting herself upon it.
It would, however, be of a great error and a great injustice to assume
that the intervention of the United States in April, 1898, was
indispensable to the achievement of Cuban independence, or indeed that
it was the United States that set Cuba free from Spain. That would be as
great a perversion of the truth of history as it would be to pretend
that the United States went to war with Spain over the sinking of the
_Maine_. For the United States to have done the latter would have been
one of the monumental crimes of history; and of course it was not done.
War was inevitable before the _Maine_ went to Havana Harbor, and would
have come just the same if the _Maine_ had not gone thither; perhaps
sooner than it did, perhaps not so soon. So Cuban independence would
have been won by the Cubans themselves if the United States had not
intervened. Possibly it would have come sooner than it did; probably it
would not have come so soon. But it would have come. Nobody who has
studied the condition of affairs as they then were in Cuba can
reasonably doubt it. Nor should recognition of that fact lessen in any
degree the propriety--indeed, the necessity--of the American
intervention or the grateful appreciation thereof which Cubans feel.
To draw once more upon American history for an example which should
convincingly appeal to Americans, the case may be likened to the
intervention of France in the American Revolution. There is no American
who does not remember that performance with sincere gratitude and with
deep appreciation of the undoubtedly great aid which France rendered to
the Thirteen Colonies. But I should doubt if there is a well informed
American willing to concede that the French aid was indispensable, or
that without it Washington and Greene would have been vanquished and the
Revolution would have failed. American independence would have been
achieved without French aid, though perhaps not so promptly and at
greater cost.
An immense service, also, which the United States rendered Cuba in the
War of Independence antedated the actual intervention, and consisted in
the aid in men, money and supplies which went from the United States to
Cuba. It is true that this aid was given largely by Cubans resident in
the United States, though many Americans also gave much in money, and
some were permitted by the Cubans to give themselves for service in the
army. It is also true that much of it was done in surreptitious
violation of the neutrality laws; a species of law-breaking at which
many United States officials were inclined to wink, and which by common
consent was to be regarded as culpable only when it was found out, and
then the finding out was more to be regretted than the act itself was to
be condemned! Such is the "unwritten law" of international relations in
cases in which the technical requirements of the law run counter to
generous and righteous human sympathies.
While, therefore, we must believe that even without American
intervention in the actual war the Cubans would have won their
independence, we may doubt whether such would have been the case if the
United States had not all along been dose at hand, a resourceful and
hospitable country, in which Cuban political exiles could find secure
asylum, in which a Cuban Junta could plan revolution, in which funds to
aid the patriot cause could be raised, and which, in brief, could partly
in secret and partly in the open be used as a base of supplies and
operations. It is to such aid that Cuba owes more than she does to the
achievements of the American army and navy in 1898, admirable and useful
as they were.
Comparably great, as we shall most notably see in the ensuing chapters,
were the services of the United States to Cuba after the War of
Independence. These were manifold. The first was diplomatic, in serving
as an intermediary between Cuba and Spain, in making the treaty of
peace, and in securing the Spanish withdrawal from the island. There is
no doubt that all those things were done more smoothly, more
satisfactorily and more expeditiously than they could have been had they
been left to direct settlement between Cuba and Spain. The services of
the United States during the last part of 1898 were more indispensable
than those of the spring and summer of that year. Indeed, it might
perhaps be claimed that the chief advantage in having the United States
intervene was that it enabled her to play that important part in the
making of peace and the post-bellum readjustment.
The second great service rendered by the United States was the
rehabilitation of the island. This was a manifold undertaking. It
comprised rehabilitation after many years of Spanish misrule and
neglect, and rehabilitation after the ravages of three years of
peculiarly destructive war. The civic maladies to be cured were thus
both chronic and acute. Moreover, the work was political, and sanitary,
and educational, and economic. Order was to be restored, law was to be
administered, government was to be organized, pestilence was to be
abated, schools were to be created, the whole work of civilization was
to be performed. Splendid as was the work of Sampson's fleet at
Santiago, still more beneficent was that of General Wood within the
precincts of that city and throughout the Province of Oriente. Nobly
memorable was the work of Shafter's army, but we shall read history to
little avail if we do not give higher credit to the work of the Military
Governor and his lieutenants.
A third service was in acting as guide, philosopher and friend in the
great task of organizing and installing the native Cuban government
which had been promised by the United States in the act of declaring war
against Spain. That self-abnegatory pledge was a noble thing, and noble
was the faithful fulfilment of it. I have heard of an eminent and
enlightened Cuban who regarded that pledge with incredulity, saying, "It
can never be fulfilled!" and who persisted in that incredulity until
that memorable noonday when the American flag came down from the Palace
and the Morro and the flag of Cuba Libre rose in its place; and then,
with tear-suffused eyes, exclaimed, "It can't be; but it is!" Never
before in the history of the world had such a thing been done, but it
was done and it was well done.
There followed a fourth service, which we may hope has now been
definitely completed, but which in the very nature of the case is a
potentially recurrent service, which may--_absit omen!_--be needed again
and again; and which the United States may be trusted to perform, if
necessary, as faithfully and generously and efficiently as it has
already performed it. For we shall see that after the Cuban government
had been established and had vindicated its existence by great good
service to the island, sordid and treacherous men unlawfully conspired
against it and sought to overthrow it by violence and crime. Their
success would have meant ruin for the island. Their partial success--for
such they had--meant immeasurable loss. But fortunately the United
States intervened as readily against Cuban crime as it had against
Spanish oppression, and the republic was saved, though "as through
fire."
It is this service, following the others which I have named, which
differentiates the Cuban Republic from most of the other states which
have been formed from the Spanish Empire in America. Of the two states
which at one time planned to wrest Cuba from Spain by force and make her
a part of their community of nations, Colombia was for half a century in
a chronic condition of revolution, and Mexico through the same evil
processes has given the word Mexicanize to the political vocabulary. It
was the intention of the United States that Cuba should not fall into
that category; but it is by no means certain that she would not have
done so had it not been for the guardianship of that country.
* * * * *
Our history will disclose more than all these things. These are the
records of achievement. But there are other records, even those of
conditions as they exist, and as they have been made to exist by virtue
of these achievements. Marvellous indeed shall we find them. The story
of Cuba's development from a neglected and oppressed colony to an
independent nation is stirring and impressive, adorned with the names
and deeds of brave men. The story of her development in civilization,
from a backward rank to the foremost, is no less impressive, and it is
adorned with the names and the labors of wise men, statesmen and
scholars, who gave of their best for the welfare of the insular republic
for which so many of their kin gave willingly their very lives.
The account which we shall have of the opulent charms and resources of
Cuba may be regarded as a volume of contemporary history. It will reveal
to us some of the consequences of that narrative of the past which
forms the major portion of our story. But it will be more and will do
more than that. It must serve as an intimation, a suggestion, almost
perhaps a prophecy, of what the future of the Pearl of the Antilles will
be. Grateful as is the work of recalling and rehearsing the story of the
past, from the days of Columbus and Velasquez to the present, the
historian finds it more pleasant and more welcome to dwell upon the
present scene. If these volumes, laboriously produced and with a
consciousness too often of falling short of the high merits of the
theme, shall serve their intended purpose of introducing Cuba, past and
present, more fully and most favorably to the knowledge of the world, I
shall be more than abundantly repaid. But the supreme and most enduring
satisfaction will come from some assurance that I have brought to the
appreciative attention of the world not merely the Cuba of four
centuries past, with all its legends of adventure and romance, and too
often of cruelty and crime, and with its fluctuating though still
persistent progress toward the "foremost files of time," but also and
still more the Cuba of this present moment and, we may hope, of
unmeasured future time. It is a Cuba that is beautiful for situation,
opulent in resources, entrancing in charm, illimitable in
potentialities; a land of "fair women and brave men," upon which
recollection fondly dwells; a land which justifies the latest writer
concerning it to repeat once more the estimate of the first who ever
wrote of it--"the most beautiful that the eyes of man have ever seen."
WILLIS FLETCHER JOHNSON.
New York, U. S. A., June, 1919.
CONTENTS
PAGE
CHAPTER I 1
"In Cuba the Annals of America Begin"--The First Landing Place of
Columbus--Theories Concerning Various Islands--His Expectation of
Reaching the Coast of Asia--Cuba Supposed to be Cathay--The Physical
History of Cuba--Character of the Aboriginal Inhabitants--A Race of
Amiable Savages Without Enduring Monuments.
CHAPTER II 11
Discovery of Cuba on Sunday, October 28, 1492--The First Landing Place
on the Island--Named for the Heir of the Spanish Throne--Appreciation of
the Beauty and Charm of the Island--First Contact with its
Inhabitants--Exploration of the Northern Coast--Cuba Supposed to be the
Country of the Great Khan--Further Explorations of the Coast--Departure
for Hispaniola--Second Visit to Cuba--Exploration of the Southern
Coast--Discovery of Jamaica--Navigating the Caribbean Sea--Some Inland
Excursions--Experiences with the Natives--Reaching the Western End of
the Island--Exhortation of a Native Sage--Columbus's Final Departure
from Cuba.
CHAPTER III 28
First Impressions of Cuba--Columbus's Observations of the People and
Resources of the Island--Native Villages and Boats--Negotiations with
the Natives--First Use of Tobacco by Europeans--Columbus's Meagre
Knowledge of the Island--His Death and Burial in Hispaniola--Removal of
His Remains to Havana--Disputes Concerning His Tomb--Final Return of His
Remains to Spain.
CHAPTER IV 37
Archeology of Cuba--The Oldest Rock Formation--Theory of Cuban
Continuity with Florida--The Eocene Age--Submersion in the Oligocene
Period--Miocene Uplift--Changes During the Pleistocene
Period--Topography of the Island--The Mountain Ranges--The Mountains of
Oriente--The Organ Mountains and Magotes--The Valley of the
Vinales--Plains and Valleys--Composition of the Soil--The Climate of
Cuba--Fortunate Situation of the Island--The Rainfall of a Land of
Sunshine.
CHAPTER V 53
Neglect of Cuba by Spanish Explorers and Conquerors--Rule of
Ovando--Ocampo Discovers Cuba to be an Island--First Attempts at
Colonization--Enciso's Story of Ojeda's Adventure--A Test Between
Christianity and Paganism--The Lust of Gold--Diego and Bartholomew
Columbus--Diego Velasquez Appointed Governor--His First Settlement at
Baracoa--The War with Hatuey--Narvaez and His Horsemen--Las Casas the
"Apostle to the Indies"--More Trouble with the Natives--Exploration of
the Island Throughout its Length.
CHAPTER VI 68
Marriage and Bereavement of Velasquez--Other Settlements Founded in
Cuba--Santiago Made the First Capital--System of
Government--Apportionment of the Natives to the Settlers--Appropriation
of the Land--Evils of the Repartimiento System--The Statesmanship of
Velasquez--Enslavement of the Natives--Famous Men in Cuba's Early
History--Gold Mines and Fertile Plantations--Beginning of the Mission of
Las Casas--Death of King Ferdinand and Accession of Charles I--Cardinal
Ximenes--The Order of St. Jerome--The Fate of the Natives.
CHAPTER VII 81
Gold Mining in Cuba--Political Organization of the Island--Relations
with the Spanish Crown--Development of the Slave Trade--Expeditions to
Yucatan--Exploration of the Mexican Coast--Failure of Grijalva's
Expedition--The Expedition of Christopher de Olid--Unmerited Fate of
Grijalva, the Discoverer and First Explorer of Mexico.
CHAPTER VIII 90
Hernando Cortez Commissioned by Velasquez to Explore Mexico--Some
Romantic Adventures--Why Cortez went to Cuba--His Relations with
Velasquez--A Crisis in Spain's American Affairs--Appointment of
Velasquez as Adelantado--Departure of Cortez--His Refusal to Return when
Summoned by Velasquez--Arrival in Mexico--Appointment of Cortez as Royal
Governor of New Spain--Preparations by Velasquez to Subdue
Cortez--Disastrous Fate of Narvaez's Expedition--Conspiracy to
Assassinate Cortez--Velasquez Removed from the Governorship of
Cuba--Zuazo, the Second Governor--Vindication of Velasquez and
Repudiation of Zuazo--Character and Work of First Cuban Governor.
CHAPTER IX 105
Administration of Manuel de Rojas--The Rise of Cuba's Proper
Interests--Development of Resources--Appointment of Altamarino--Post
Mortem Investigation of Velasquez--Violent Opposition to
Altamarino--Removal of a Discredited Governor--Accession of
Guzman--Controversies over Local Government--Injudicious Course of
Guzman--Protest Against the Tyranny of the Councils--"Cuba for the
Cubans."
CHAPTER X 115
Controversies Over the Treasurership--Appointment of Hurtado, the Honest
but Cantankerous--Fortunes of the Guzman Family--A Marriage for Money
and its Consequences--Services of Vadillo--Investigations and
Reforms--Heavy Sentences Against Guzman--An Appeal to the Council for
the Indies--Manuel de Rojas again Governor.
CHAPTER XI 122
Development of the Church Establishment in Cuba--The First Bishop--Early
Conflict Between Church and State--Transfer of the Cathedral from
Baracoa to Santiago--A Bishop in Politics--The Governor
Excommunicated--Insurrections and Raids of the Natives--Effective Work
of Rojas against the Cimarrones--Disposal of the "Tame" Indians--Further
Conflicts of Church and State--Intervention of the Crown--Practical
Extermination of the Natives--Reforms that Were not Made--Well Meant
Efforts of Rojas--Failure of Attempts to Civilize the Natives--A Good
Governor Ill Treated--His Resignation and Departure.
CHAPTER XII 137
Guzman's Second Administration--A Masterful Politician--Decline of Cuban
Welfare--An Interregnum in the Governorship--The Coming of De Soto--His
Imposing Arrival at Santiago--Progress Across the Island--Vasco Porcallo
de Figueroa Made De Soto's Lieutenant--Cuba a Stepping Stone to
Florida--De Soto's Removal from Santiago to Havana--Organization of the
Florida Expedition--Report of the First Scouts--Departure of De
Soto--Lady De Soto's Faithful Watch--Tragic Fate of the Explorer--Evil
Effects upon Cuba--Serious Trouble with the Indians--Intrigues of Guzman
and Bishop Sarmiento.
CHAPTER XIII 151
Governorship of Juan de Avila--Royal Order against Slavery in the
Mines--An Appeal to the Council for the Indies--Popular Revolt Against
the Council--De Avila's Marriage to a Rich Widow--Removal to
Havana--Appointment of Antonio Chaves--Scandalous Charges Against de
Avila--The Matter Carried to Spain for Settlement--Another Bad
Administration--Chaves Reprimanded by the King--His Persistence in
Slavery--Hurtado's Indictment of Chaves--Gonzalo de Angulo Made
Governor--Trial and Punishment of Chaves--Emancipation Proclamation.
CHAPTER XIV 165
A Bad Time in Cuban History--Santiago in 1550--Raid of a French
Privateer--The Founding and Rise of Havana--The Founding of Puerto
Principe--Baracoa, Trinidad and Other Settlements--Italians and Other
Aliens in Cuba--Efforts to Populate the Island--Importation of Negro
Slaves--Slaves Treated Humanely--Disappearance of the Native
Indians--The Early Industries of Cuba--Discovery of the Copper Mines of
El Cobre--Beginning of the Sugar Industry--Fiscal Policy of the Spanish
Government.
CHAPTER XV 177
A Turning Point in Cuban History--International Interest in the
Island--Raids of French Privateers--A Famous Fight in Santiago
Harbor--The Capture and Looting of Havana--First Building of La
Fuerza--Rise of Havana in Importance--The Governor's Residence in
Havana--Deposition of Angulo--Guarding Havana Against French
Attack--Inadequacy of the Defenses--Seizure of the City by Jacques
Sores--Flight of the Governor and Resolute Defense of Lobera--Attempt to
Destroy the French Conquerors--Destruction of the City.
CHAPTER XVI 191
Administration of Mazariegos--His Disastrous Voyage--Rebuilding of
Havana--Manners and Morals of a Soldier of Fortune--Defense of Havana by
a Military Governor--Improvement of the Fortifications--Rebuilding La
Fuerza--The Founding of Morro Castle--Complications in Florida--Osorio
Appointed Governor--His Care for the Defenses of the Island--The
Campaigns of Pedro Menendez--Conflict Between Osorio and
Menendez--Attempts at Mutiny--Disagreement over
Fortifications--Illegitimate Trade at Santiago--Menendez Appointed
Governor--A Succession of Lieutenants--Charting the Bahama
Channel--Codifying Municipal Ordinances.
CHAPTER XVII 208
Approach of the "Sea Beggars"--More Work on La Fuerza--Seeking Financial
Aid from Mexico--A Requisition for Slave Labor--Investigating Public
Accounts--The Downfall of Menendez--Investigation of His
Accounts--Succeeded by Montalvo--Increase of Smuggling--General Progress
of the Island--Havana the Commercial Metropolis.
CHAPTER XVIII 217
Governorship of Montalvo--Rehabilitation of Santiago--Disorder at
Havana--Conflict with the Rojas Family--Charges Made Against the
Governor--The Increase of Smuggling--Ravages of the French--Seeking
Naval Defenses for Cuba--Haggling Over the Building of La Fuerza--A
Badly Built Fort--Montalvo's Development of Insular Resources--Promotion
of Sugar Growing and General Agriculture--The Governor's Quarrel with
the Bishop.
CHAPTER XIX 228
Administration of Francisco Carreno--The First Cuban Governor to Die in
Office--A Record of Hard Work and Progress--The Problem of Free
Negroes--Features of the Slave System--Some Literally Constructive
Statesmanship--The First Custom House--Trying to Deal with the Land
Question--The Reforms Proposed by Caceres--Development of Stock
Raising--Bad Administration of Torres.
CHAPTER XX 236
Administration of Gabriel de Luzan--Controversies Among Officials--The
Quarrel Between Luzan and Arana--Questions of Official
Residence--Removal of the Royal Accountant--Charges Against the
Governor--Further Efforts to Complete La Fuerza--The Work of
Quinones--Unseemly Personal and Political Feuds--Investigation of the
Governor's Administration--Renewal of the Quarrel with
Quinones--Governor and Captain-General Brought into Accord Through Peril
of an Attack by the British--Desperate Preparations for Defense.
CHAPTER XXI 246
War Between Spain and England--Drake's Conquest of Hispaniola--An Attack
upon Cuba Anticipated--Raising Forces for Defense--Feuds Forgotten in
the Common Emergency--Plans for the Defense of Havana--Increase of the
Garrison--Admirable Unity of the People--Drake's Approach to Cuba--His
Landing at the Western End of the Island--Appearance of his Fleet off
Havana--Departure of Drake's Fleet without an Assault--His Doings at St.
Augustine and in the North--Reasons for Not Attacking Havana--Disaster
to Santiago--That City Destroyed by the French--Rebuilt by an Energetic
Patriot--Interest in Copper Mining.
CHAPTER XXII 260
Drake's Menace a Blessing to Cuba--Spanish Interest in Cuba for Its Own
Sake--The Governorship of Tejada--The Public Works of
Antonelli--Building Roads, Dams and Aqueducts--Havana Made a Real
City--Controversy with Bishop Salcedo--Appreciation of Tejada's
Services--Accession of Barrionuevo--Progress of Civilization in
Cuba--The First Theatrical Performance.
CHAPTER XXIII 267
Changes in European Nations--Rise of the Protectionist
Policy--Retaliation by Smugglers--Hostilities against Spain--Prevalence
of Piracy--Some Strong Governors of Cuba--Good Works of Maldonado and
Valdes--Invasions by Pirates--Division of the Island--Interest in
Religious Affairs--Successive Governors Working at Cross
Purposes--Building a Fleet--Protection of the Port of Havana--An Attack
by the Dutch--The Exploits of Oquendo--The Slave Market in Havana--Fall
of Cabrera.
CHAPTER XXIV 283
The Decline of Spain--Enterprise and Aggressions of the Dutch--The Dutch
West India' Company--Governors Who Saved Cuba for Spain--Warring with
Dutch Privateers--The Great Fight with Pie de Palo--Fiscal Reforms in
Cuba--Gamboa's Improvement of Fortifications--Sarmiento's Organization
of Cuban Troops--Ravages of a Great Pestilence--Noble Deeds of the
Religious Orders--Public Works Planned--The Walls of Havana--Aggressions
of the British--Conquest of Jamaica--Records of Piracy--Exploits of
Lolonois--Henry Morgan--British Capture and Plundering of
Santiago--Repairing the Fortifications--A Compact against Piracy.
CHAPTER XXV 304
British Designs against Spanish Possessions--Covetous Eyes Turned upon
Cuba by British Empire-Builders--Isolation of Cuba from Spain--France
Playing False--Cuban Reprisals--Further Attacks by
Freebooters--Controversy over British Prisoners--Disastrous
Earthquakes--Ecclesiastical Troubles--Spain at the Brink of
Bankruptcy--Cordova's Administration--Revised Code of Laws for the
Indies--Civil and Ecclesiastical Controversies--Some Ruthless
Work--Founding of the City of Matanzas--Official Disputes and Scandals.
CHAPTER XXVI 325
The War of the Austrian Succession--The Treaty of Utrecht--Reign of
Philip V--Renewed Conflicts in the West Indies--Settlement of
Pensacola--Aggressions of the French--Cuban Interests Affected by
European Affairs--Increased Protection of the Island--Two Local
Governors--Attacks upon Charleston--Raids of British
Warships--Speculation in Tobacco--More Fortifications in a Time of
Peace--Churches and Convents--Sanitary Measures--Official
Quarrels--Reorganization of the Tobacco Industry--Seeking Administrative
Stability--A Tobacco Insurrection--A Warning to the
British--Fortifications of Havana.
CHAPTER XXVII 345
Great Impetus Given to Discovery and Exploration Throughout the
World--Interesting Observations upon Cuba and the Indies--Some Quaint
Records--A Description of the Natives of Cuba--Something About the
Natural Resources of the Island from Ancient Authorities--Spanish and
Alien Descriptions of Cuba--Early Writings About Cuba in Various
Languages--Fra Vincente Fonseca--A Dutch Description of Cuba--Attention
Given to the Wealth of Cuban Forests--Reasons Given for the Rise and
Subsequent Decline of Spanish Power--Some Superstitions and Legends.
CHAPTER XXVIII 360
Cuba Neglected During an Era of Great Achievements--The Golden Age of
Spain--Culture at Home and Conquest Abroad--A Noteworthy Group of
Spanish Historians--The University of Santo Domingo--The First American
Books--Cuba's Lack of Participation in these Activities, and the Reasons
for it--A Turning Point in Cuban History at the End of the Sixteenth
Century--Cubans Beginning to Become Cubans and Not Spaniards--A
Significant Change in the Temper and Character of the People of the
Island.
ILLUSTRATIONS
FULL PAGE PLATES:
Columbus (Janez Portrait) _Frontispiece_
FACING
PAGE
The Havana Cathedral 36
La Fuerza 146
Morro Castle, Havana 180
San Francisco Church 226
Morro Castle, Santiago 298
TEXT EMBELLISHMENTS:
PAGE
Monument on Supposed First Tending Place of Columbus,
Watling's Island 3
Queen Isabella 13
Diego Velasquez 59
Baracoa, First Capital of Cuba 60
Panfilo de Narvaez 63
Bartholomew de las Casas 64
Ponce de Leon 72
Hernando Cortez 90
Hernando de Soto 140
San Lazaro Watch Tower, Havana 155
Pedro Menendez de Aviles 199
THE HISTORY OF CUBA
CHAPTER I
CUBA; America: America; Cuba. The two names are inseparable. The record
of each is in a peculiar sense identified with that of the other. Far
more than any other land the Queen of the Antilles is associated with
that Columbian enterprise from which the modern and practical history of
the Western Hemisphere is dated. In Cuba the annals of America begin.
This island was not, it is true, the first land discovered by Columbus
after leaving Spain. It was at least the fifth visited and named by him,
and it was perhaps the tenth or twelfth which he saw and at which he
touched in passing. But in at least three major respects it had the
unquestionable primacy among all the discoveries of his first, second
and third voyages, while in his own estimation it was not surpassed in
importance by the main land of the continent which he finally reached in
his fourth and last expedition. It was the first land visited or seen by
him of the identity of which there has never been the slightest
question. It was the first considerable land discovered by him, the
first which was worth while sailing across the ocean to discover, and it
was by far the most important of all found by him in his first three
adventures. It was, also, the first and indeed the only land which
caused him to believe that the theory of his undertaking had been
vindicated and that the supreme object of his quest had been attained.
Let us, in order to appreciate the transcendent significance of his
discovery of Cuba, briefly consider these three circumstances.
We must remember with respect to the first that the identity of
Columbus's first landing place has been much disputed, and indeed has
never been determined to universal satisfaction: We know that it was an
island of small or moderate size. Columbus himself called it in one
place "small" and in another "fairly large." It was level, low-lying,
well watered, with a large central lagoon, which may or may not have
been a permanent feature, seeing that his visit was in the rainy season,
when any depression in the land was likely to be flooded. It was
certainly one of the Bahama archipelago. But that extensive group
comprises 36 islands, 687 cays, and 2,414 rocks. Which of all these was
it upon which the Admiral landed, which was called by the natives
Guanahani, and which, with his characteristic religious fervor, Columbus
immediately renamed San Salvador, the Island of the Holy Saviour?
The distinction has been claimed, by authorities worthy of respectful
consideration, for no fewer than five. Down to the middle of the
Nineteenth Century the weight of opinion and tradition favored Cat
Island, and upon most maps and charts it was designated as "Guanahani,
or San Salvador." It is by far the largest and the northernmost of the
five islands in question. Next, to the southeast, lies Watling's Island,
to which the distinction of having been the scene of Columbus's landfall
has now for half a century been most generally given, and upon maps it
is generally named San Salvador. It is the only one of the five which
stands out in the Atlantic, beyond the generally uniform line of the
Bahamas, as a sort of advance post to greet the voyager from the east.
Samana, south by east from Watling's, also called Attwood's Cay, was
selected as the true Guanahani by some officers of the United States
Coast Survey. Mariguana, further in the same direction, was proclaimed
"La Verdadera Guanahani" by F. A. de Varnhagen in a scholarly treatise
published in 1864 at Santiago de Chili. Finally, Grand Turk Island, at
the southeastern extremity of the Bahama chain, and just north of the
coast of Hayti, was designated by Navarrete, in 1825, and by various
other authorities, chiefly American, at later dates.
[Illustration: MONUMENT ON SUPPOSED FIRST LANDING PLACE OF COLUMBUS,
WATLING'S ISLAND]
The chief interest of these speculations for present consideration in
this writing is their bearing upon the subsequent course of Columbus,
the identity of the next islands which he visited, and finally the point
at which he first touched the coast of Cuba. If the original landfall
was on Cat or on Watling's Island, then the second land visited, which
Columbus called Santa Maria de la Concepcion, was probably either the
tiny island now known as Concepcion or the larger Rum Cay; the third,
called by him Ferdinandina or Fernandina, was either Great Exuma or Long
Island; the fourth, Isabella, may have been either Long Island or
Crooked Island, according to whether Fernandina was Great Exuma or Long
Island; and the coast of Cuba was reached at some point between Punta
Lucrecia and Port Nuevitas. On the other hand, if Grand Turk Island was
first reached, the second land would naturally have been, as Navarrete
held, at Gran Caico; the third at Little Inagua; the fourth at Great
Inagua; and Cuba would have been reached somewhere between Cape Maysi
and Sama Point. To me it seems decidedly the more probable that the
former course was pursued, and I have accordingly adopted the theory
that Columbus first landed in Cuba in the region between Nuevitas and
Punta Lucrecia.
The second circumstance which I have mentioned scarcely requires
discussion. The first, second and third voyages of Columbus were
confined to discoveries and explorations of the West India Islands, and
of all of these, even including Hayti and Jamaica, there can be no
question of Cuba's primacy, whether in size, in wealth of resources, in
political and strategical importance, or in historical interest. It was
so recognized by Columbus himself, who indeed in one respect actually
esteemed it more highly than it deserved. For after long and careful
exploration he became convinced that it was not an island, but was the
mainland of the Asian continent--Mangi, or Cathay: that country of the
Great Khan of which Marco Polo had written and which Toscanelli had
indicated upon his map, and the visiting of which was the supreme object
of the Admiral's enterprise.
To understand this aright we must remember that Columbus was not seeking
a new continent. He had no thought that one existed. He held, with
Isidore of Seville, that all the lands of the world were comprehended in
Europe, Africa and Asia, and that there was only one great ocean, the
Atlantic, which stretched unbroken save by islands from the western
shores of Europe and Africa to the eastern coast of Asia and the East
Indies. Moreover, he considerably overestimated the extent of Asia and
underestimated the circumference of the earth. Years later, long after
the circumnavigation of the globe had been effected, Antonio Galvano,
learned historian and geographer though he was, computed the equatorial
circumference of the earth at only 23,500 miles, or about 1,400 miles
too little; while the best maps of the sixteenth century indicated the
Asian continent as extending far into the western hemisphere, and the
Pacific Ocean as a narrow strip not nearly comparable with the Atlantic
in extent. Schoener's globe, of 1520, which is still to be seen at
Nuremberg, represents the "Terra de Cuba" as integral with the whole
North American continent, with its western coast only five degrees of
longitude or 300 miles from the shore of Zipangu or Japan, and only 30
degrees or 1,800 miles from the mainland of Asia.
Columbus therefore expected to find the coast of Asia in about the
longitude in which he actually found America. When he reached the
Bahamas he confidently assumed them to be the group of islands which
Toscanelli had indicated as lying off the coast of Cathay; and when he
learned from the natives of a much larger island lying to the south,
which they called Colba, Cuba, or Cubanacan, he believed it to be none
other than Cipango, or Zipangu, which Toscanelli had shown as by far the
largest of the East Indian islands. It has been commonly assumed,
apparently with little dispute or attempt at investigation, that Cipango
was Japan. But the distance--1,500 miles--at which it was said to lie
from the coast of China, the southerly latitude assigned to it, and the
multitude of small islands which were clustered about and near it, are
circumstances which suggest that instead of Japan the island meant may
have been Luzon, the northernmost and largest of the Philippines.
However that may be, Columbus promptly decided to steer straight for
Cipango, with the result that he reached the northern shore of the
eastern part of Cuba.
The third circumstance which I have mentioned was then developed. It was
a great triumph, and a vindication of his enterprise, that he had
reached Cipango. But even that was not enough. He was in quest of the
mainland of Mangi or Cathay, the land of the Great Khan. He found in
Cuba no traces of the opulence and splendor of which Marco Polo had
written. Yet the natives frequently referred to "Cuba-nacan" as a great
place somewhere in the interior. The phrase merely meant the central
part of the island, but the final syllable was identified by Columbus
with "Khan," and, with the wish as father of the thought, he presently
conceived the notion that it was not the island of Cipango upon which he
had landed, but the shore of Cathay itself. Further explorations,
including coasting along the northern shore to within a few miles of the
western extremity, confirmed him in this belief, which became absolute
conviction. To the end of his life, therefore, he believed that Cuba was
the eastern extremity of the Asian continent, which indeed Toscanelli
had delineated upon his map as terminating in a long, narrow cape; and
it was upon the strength of this belief and report of Columbus that
Schoener in 1520 and Muenster in 1532 identified Cuba with the whole
North American continent, while various other cartographers of that time
made it integral with Cathay itself. The maps of La Cosa and Ruysch, in
1508, hinted at this. The Nancy Globe, and a notable map in the Sloane
MSS. in the British Museum, dated 1530, do, it is true, indicate Cuba to
be an island, but they also make India Superior and Tibet contiguous
with Mexico at the northwest, with the latter country fronting directly
upon the Indian Ocean. We know, of course, that during his second
voyage, in 1494, while off the southern coast of Cuba, Columbus required
his companions to sign with him a formal declaration that they were off
the coast of Asia. Such, then, was the Admiral's estimate of Cuba, in
which there is no reason to doubt he persisted to the end of his life.
He had achieved the object of his great adventure: He had reached the
country of the Great Khan.
Despite these delusions and vagaries, however, the facts remain that he
did discover and partly explore Cuba, and that it was the first land in
the Western Hemisphere of which that can confidently be said. Cuba is
therefore the starting point of the history of the Columbian discovery
and exploration and the subsequent colonization and civilization of
America. With Cuba the history of the New World begins.
Similarly, and with equal truth, we may say that the history of Cuba
begins with the Columbian discovery of America. That is not true of all
parts of the American continents. Some of them had already had important
histories. The northeastern coast of North America had been visited and
temporarily colonized by the Norsemen, and the northwestern coast by the
Chinese; and both of those peoples had left enduring traces of their
enterprise. The Iroquois and Algonquins had for centuries enjoyed a
degree of social, political and industrial development, the records of
which still survive. The Toltecs, the Mayas and the Incas had risen to a
height of culture not unworthy to be compared with that of Egypt,
Persia, Greece and Rome, the remains of which to this day command the
wonder and admiration of the world. But not so Cuba. Carlyle might well
have had this island in mind when he said, "Happy the people whose
annals are blank in history books."
The physical history of Cuba indicates that in some remote period the
two mountainous ends of the island were two separate and distinctly
different islands, separated by a considerable stretch of sea, and that
they were afterward united by a rising of the bottom of the sea, to form
the central plain of Cuba. It is observed that the two ends are unlike
each other on geological structure and composition, in soil, and in
indigenous flora. Indeed, they have ever differed from each other
radically in their cultivated crops. At what date the union of them
occurred, and by what means it was effected, we can only guess. But it
is a reasonable assumption that the raising of the sea-floor to form the
central plain of the island was caused by one of the seismic
disturbances to which this general region of the earth's surface has
from time immemorial been subject. There are, moreover, reasons for
suspecting that this occurred at a time subsequent to the creation of
man, and indeed after both of the original islands had become inhabited.
That is because the two ends of the island appear, in Columbus's day, to
have been occupied by different races. Of the inhabitants of the western
end we know comparatively little, save that they were more warlike and
adventurous than those at the east, and several authorities have likened
them either to the Caribs or to the Mayas of Yucatan. That they were
Mayas seems, however, doubtful, since they left no traces of the high
degree of civilization which formerly prevailed among that distinguished
race in Yucatan.
The people of the eastern end of Cuba, when the island was discovered by
Columbus, were doubtless of Antillan stock, or "Tainan" as some have
called them, with possibly a slight admixture of Carib, though not
sufficient materially to affect them in any respect. They were
physically a handsome, stalwart people, of a light reddish brown color,
somewhat lighter than the North American Indians. They wore no clothing,
with the exception of the married women, who wore breech clouts, and
confined their adornments to slight necklaces and bracelets. They lived
in neatly constructed cabins of cane or bamboo and thatch, rectangular
or circular in form and generally of two or three rooms each; equipped
with furniture of cane or of handsomely carved wood. For beds, however,
they used hammocks, of woven cotton or plaited grass; the name, hammock,
being of Antillan or Carib origin. These houses were, according to early
Spanish testimony, kept scrupulously clean and neat. They were grouped
in villages, around a central square which served as a market place and
playground.
They were agriculturists, tilling the ground with considerable skill and
producing yuca, corn, beans, peanuts, squashes, peppers and various
other crops, besides fruits and tobacco. They were singularly expert
fishermen, and for the purpose of that pursuit they constructed fine
canoes, of the hollowed boles of large trees, but unlike the Caribs they
do not seem to have resorted to navigation for any other purpose. They
also hunted game on the land, solely for food, but their hunting was
much restricted, since there were no large animals of any kind on the
island. Their manufactures were confined to primitive cotton weaving,
wood carving, basketry, pottery--of a pretty good quality of decorated
ware--and various stoneware implements.
In disposition and manners they were friendly, hospitable, courteous,
and confiding. Despite their nudity they had the unconscious modesty of
nature, and their morals were superior to those of most primitive
peoples. The tradition that venereal diseases prevailed among them and
were thus first made known to European peoples through their having been
acquired from the natives by Columbus's men, seems to be quite void of
foundation; indubitable proof exists of the prevalence of those diseases
in both Europe and Asia at an earlier date than Columbus's time. They
practised but recognized domestic, social and civic equality of the
sexes. They were almost universal tobacco smokers, and it was from them
that the use of that plant was first learned. They were pleasure loving,
much given to dancing, to games of ball, and to swimming.
Their form of government was patriarchal, though there seem to have been
chiefs of some sort over whole villages or even districts. The laws
were, however, mild and humane. In religion they presented a striking
and most grateful contrast to the Toltecs, Aztecs and other peoples of
the continent, having none of the human sacrifices and atrocious
tortures that disfigured their worship. They believed in a Supreme Being
and a future and immortal life. They had a form of worship in which the
use of idols as symbols, and the smoking of tobacco, largely figured.
They had a regularly constituted priest-hood, the members of which they
credited with powers of divination and of healing. There were none of
the revolting practises and superstitions, however, which have been
common to many primitive peoples. They were not warlike, and had no
military organization, but they certainly were not cowards, as some of
the early Spanish conquistadors had cause to know.
They had, it is obvious, nothing which could survive them as a memorial
of their existence. Their architecture, if so it may be called, was most
perishable. They had no art, save in pottery, and that was not highly
developed. They had no literature. The result was that when they
perished through unfavorable contact with a more powerful and aggressive
race they left scarcely a trace of themselves behind, save in the
records and testimony of their conquerors and destroyers. Some specimens
of their pottery have been preserved: the words "hammock" and "canoe"
come to us from them; and the use of tobacco is their universal
memorial.
Such were the aborigines, if not the absolute autochthones, of Cuba.
Their only history lives in the brief and scanty records of them made by
their destroyers. They left no enduring impress upon the island, save
its name. How many they were is unknown, and estimates which are mere
guesses differ widely. In a single generation they disappeared, partly
through slaughter and partly through such diseases as small pox and
measles, which were introduced to the island--of course, not
intentionally--by the Spaniards, and which the natives were unable to
resist. The only significant history of Cuba begins, therefore, with the
landfall of Christopher Columbus upon its shores.