CUBA'S EARLY STRUGGLES FOR LIBERTY.
It was in 1813 that the Bonapartist regime came to an end in Spain, and
Ferdinand VII. reascended the throne. In the very beginning he paid no
attention to the Constitution; he dissolved the Cortes and did his best
to make his monarchy an absolute one.
Again, as has been said, Cuba felt the yoke of his despotism, all
previous promises, when the aid of the island was to his advantage,
being as completely ignored as if they had never been made.
In Spanish America, revolutionary movements had been begun some three
years before, and after stubborn warfare, Buenos Ayres, Venezuela and
Peru finally succeeded in obtaining complete independence from Spanish
authority.
From all these countries, swarms of Spanish loyalists made their way to
Cuba, and were ordered to be maintained at the expense of the island.
Spain also desired to make of Cuba a military station, whence she could
direct operations in her efforts to reconquer the new republic. This
plan was vehemently opposed by the Cubans.
Discontent rapidly fomented and increased throughout the island.
Numerous secret political societies were formed, and there arose two
great opposing factions, the one insisting that the liberal
constitution granted by the Provisional Government of Seville at the
time the Bourbon king was deposed should be the fundamental law of Cuba,
while the other proclaimed its partisanship of rigid colonial control.
In 1821, Hayti declared its independence of Spain, and in the same year
Florida passed into the possession of the United States.
Both these events increased the feeling of unrest and discontent in
Cuba, and this was further augmented by the establishment of a permanent
military commission, which took cognizance of even ordinary offenses,
but particularly of all offenses against disloyalty.
An attempt at revolution, the purpose being the establishment of a
republic, was made in 1823 by the "Soles de Bolivar" association. It was
arranged that uprisings should take place simultaneously in several of
the Cuban cities, but the plans became known to the government and the
intended revolution was nipped in the bud, all the leaders being
arrested and imprisoned the very day on which it had been arranged to
declare independence.
In 1826 Cuban refugees in Mexico and in some of the South American
republics planned an invasion of Cuba to be led by Simon Bolivar, the
great liberator of Colombia, but it came to nothing, owing to the
impossibility of securing adequate support both of men and money.
A year or two later these same men attempted another uprising in the
interests of greater privileges and freedom. A secret society, known as
the "Black Eagle" was organized, with headquarters at Mexico, but with a
branch office and recruiting stations in the United States.
This invasion, however, also proved abortive, owing chiefly to the
determined opposition displayed by the slave-holders both in the United
States and Cuba. The ringleaders were captured and severely punished by
the Spanish authorities.
The struggles for freedom had attracted the attention of the people of
the United States and were viewed by them with ever-increasing interest
and sympathy.
After the acquisition of Florida, the future of the island of Cuba
became of more or less importance to the people of the United States and
has remained so to the present day. As President Cleveland said in his
message of December, 1896: "It is so near to us as to be hardly
separated from our own territory." The truth of this is apparent when it
is remembered that the straits of Florida can be crossed by steamer in
five hours.
It began to be feared that Cuba might fall into the hands of England or
France and the governments of those countries as well as that of Spain
were informed that such a disposition of it would never be consented to.
Its position at the entrance of the gulf of Mexico could not be
disregarded. The American government declared its willingness that it
should remain a Spanish colony, but stated it would never permit it to
become the colony of another country.
In 1825 Spain made a proposition that, in consideration of certain
commercial concessions the United States should guarantee to her the
possession of Cuba; but this proposition was declined on the ground that
such a thing would be contrary to the established policy of the United
States.
One of the most important consequences of Spain's efforts to regain
possession of the South American republics, the independence of which
had been recognized by the United States, was the formulation of what
has since been known as the "Monroe Doctrine." In his message of
December 2, 1823, President Monroe promulgated the policy of neither
entangling ourselves in the broils of Europe, nor suffering the powers
of the old world to interfere with the affairs of the new. He further
declared that any attempt on the part of the European powers "to extend
their system to any portion of this hemisphere" would be regarded by the
United States as "dangerous to our peace and safety," and would
accordingly be opposed.
Although since then there has been more or less friction with England
over the Monroe doctrine, at that time she greatly aided in its becoming
established as a feature of international law, and strengthened the
position of the United States, by her recognition of the South American
republics.
The Spanish slave code, by which the slave trade, which had formerly
been a monopoly, was made free, had given a great stimulus to the
importation of slaves. It was almost brought to an end, however, by the
energetic efforts of Captain-General Valdez. But the increased
consumption of sugar in Great Britain, owing to reduction of duty and
the placing of foreign and British sugars on the same basis gave a new
stimulus to the traffic; and, in their own pecuniary interest, ever more
prominent with them than any question of humanity, the Spanish relaxed
their efforts, and the slave trade attained greater dimensions than ever
before.
In 1844 there occurred an uprising which was more serious than any which
had preceded it. The slaves on the sugar plantations in the neighborhood
of Matanzas were suspected of being about to revolt. There was no real
proof of this, and in order to obtain evidence a large number of slaves
were tortured. It was evident that Spain was still ready, if in her
opinion occasion required it, to have recourse to the barbarities of the
old Inquisitorial days. By evidence manufactured by such outrageous
methods, one thousand three hundred and forty-six persons were tried and
convicted, of whom seventy-eight were shot, and the others punished with
more or less severity. Of those declared guilty, fourteen were white,
one thousand two hundred and forty-two free colored persons, and
fifty-nine slaves.
The project of annexation to the United States was first mooted in 1848,
after the proclamation of the French republic. The people of the slave
States, in view of the increasing population and the anti-slavery
feeling of the North and West were beginning to feel alarmed as to the
safety of the "peculiar institution," and there was a strong sentiment
among them in favor of annexing Cuba and dividing it up into slave
states. President Polk, therefore, authorized the American minister at
Madrid to offer one hundred million dollars for Cuba; but the
proposition was rejected in the most peremptory manner. A similar
proposal was made ten years afterward in the Senate, but after a debate
it was withdrawn.
The next conspiracy, rebellion or revolution (it has been called by all
these names according to the point of view and the sympathies of those
speaking or writing of it) broke out in 1848. It was headed by Narciso
Lopez, who was a native of Venezuela, but who had served in the Spanish
army, and had attained therein the rank of major-general.
This was of considerable more importance than any of the outbreaks that
had preceded it.
The first attempt of Lopez at an insurrectionary movement was made in
the centre of the island. It proved to be unsuccessful, but Lopez, with
many of his adherents, managed to escape and reached New York, where
there were a large number of his sympathizers.
Lopez represented the majority of the Cuban population as dissatisfied
with Spanish rule, and eager for revolt and annexation to the United
States.
In 1849, with a party small in numbers, he attempted to return to Cuba,
but the United States authorities prevented him accomplishing his
purpose.
He was undaunted by failure, however, and the following year, he
succeeded in effecting another organization and sailed from New Orleans
on the steamer Pampero, with a force which has been variously estimated
at from three to six hundred men, the latter probably being nearer the
truth.
The second in command was W. S. Crittenden, a gallant young Kentuckian,
who was a graduate of West Point, and who had earned his title of
colonel in the Mexican war.
They landed at Morillo in the Vuelta Abajo. Here the forces were
divided; one hundred and thirty under Crittenden remained to guard the
supplies, while Lopez with the rest pushed on into the interior.
There had been no disguise in the United States as to the object of this
expedition. Details in regard to it had been freely and recklessly
published, and there is a lesson to be learned even from this
comparatively trivial attempt to obtain freedom as to a proper
censorship of the press in time of warfare.
The Spanish government was fully informed beforehand as to all the
little army's probable movements. The consequence was that Lopez was
surrounded and his whole force captured by the Spanish.
The expected uprising of the Cuban people, by the way, had not taken
place.
Hearing no news of his superior officer, Crittenden at first made a
desperate attempt to escape by sea, but, being frustrated in this, he
took refuge in the woods.
At last he and his little force, now reduced to fifty men, were forced
to capitulate.
The United States Consul was asked to interfere in the case of
Crittenden, but refused to do so. It was said at the time that there
were two reasons for this: First, there was no doubt whatever as to the
nature of the expedition, and secondly, the consul, who does not appear
to have been particularly brave, was alarmed for his personal safety.
The trial, if trial it can be called, and condemnation followed with the
utmost, almost criminal, celerity.
In batches of six, Crittenden and his fifty brave surviving comrades
were shot beneath the walls of the fortress of Alara.
When the Spaniards ordered Crittenden, as was the custom, to kneel with
his back to the firing party, the heroic young Kentuckian responded:
"No! I will stand facing them! I kneel only to my God!"
It is stated that the bodies of the victims were mutilated in a horrible
manner.
There was no inconsiderable number of Cubans who sympathized with Lopez,
but, held as they were under a stern leash, they did not dare to
intercede for him.
He was garroted at Havana, being refused the honorable death of a
soldier. Some others of his comrades were shot, but most of them were
transported for life.
The sad fate of Crittenden aroused the greatest indignation and
bitterness in the United States, but the tenets of international law
forbade anything to be done in the case.
During the administration of President Pierce, there occurred an
incident which threatened at one time to lead to hostilities, and which
was one of the first of the many incidents that have embittered the
United States against Spain as regards its administration of Cuba.
This was the firing on the American steamer, Black Warrior, by a Spanish
man-of-war.
The Black Warrior was a steamer owned in New York, and plying regularly
between that city and Mobile. It was her custom both on her outward and
homeward bound trips to touch always at Havana. The custom laws were
then very stringent, and she ought each time to have exhibited a
manifest of her cargo. But still this was totally unnecessary, as no
portion of her cargo was ever put off at Havana.
She was therefore entered and cleared under the technical term of "in
ballast." This was done nearly thirty times with full knowledge and
consent of the Spanish revenue officers; and, moreover the proceeding
was in accordance with a general order of the Cuban authorities.
But in February, 1850, the steamer was stopped and fired upon in the
harbor of Havana. The charge brought against her was that she had an
undeclared cargo on board. This cargo was confiscated, and a fine of
twice its value imposed. The commander of the vessel, Captain Bullock,
refused to pay the fine, and declared that the whole proceeding was
"violent, wrongful and in bad faith."
But, obtaining no redress, he hauled down his colors, and, carrying them
away with him, left the vessel as a Spanish capture. With his crew and
passengers, he made his way to New York, and reported the facts to the
owners.
The latter preferred a claim for indemnity of three hundred thousand
dollars. After a tedious delay of five years, this sum was paid, and so
the matter ended.
The affair of the Black Warrior was one of the cases that led to the
celebrated Ostend Conference.
This conference was held in 1854 at Ostend and Aix-la-Chapelle by
Messrs. Buchanan, Mason and Soule, United States ministers at London,
Paris and Madrid, and resulted in what is known as the Ostend manifesto.
The principal points of this manifesto were as follows:
"The United States ought if possible to purchase Cuba with as little
delay as possible.
"The probability is great that the government and Cortes of Spain will
prove willing to sell it because this would essentially promote the
highest and best interests of the Spanish people.
"The Union can never enjoy repose nor possess reliable securities as
long as Cuba is not embraced within its boundaries.
"The intercourse which its proximity to our coast begets and encourages
between them (the inhabitants of Cuba) and the citizens of the United
States has, in the progress of time, so united their interests and
blended their fortunes that they now look upon each other as if they
were one people and had but one destiny.
"The system of immigration and labor lately organized within the limits
of the island, and the tyranny and oppression which characterize its
immediate rulers, threaten an insurrection at every moment which may
result in direful consequences to the American people.
"Cuba has thus become to us an unceasing danger, and a permanent cause
for anxiety and alarm.
"Should Spain reject the present golden opportunity for developing her
resources and removing her financial embarrassments, it may never come
again.
"Extreme oppression, it is now universally admitted, justifies any
people in endeavoring to free themselves from the yoke of their
oppressors. The sufferings which the corrupt, arbitrary and unrelenting
local administration necessarily entails upon the inhabitants of Cuba
cannot fail to stimulate and keep alive that spirit of resistance and
revolution against Spain which has of late years been so often
manifested. In this condition of affairs it is vain to expect that the
sympathies of the people of the United States will not be warmly
enlisted in favor of their oppressed neighbors.
"The United States has never acquired a foot of territory except by fair
purchase, or, as in the case of Texas, upon the free and voluntary
application of the people of that independent State, who desired to
blend their destinies with our own.
"It is certain that, should the Cubans themselves organize an
insurrection against the Spanish government, no human power could, in
our opinion, prevent the people and government of the United States from
taking part in such a civil war in support of their neighbors and
friends."
We have quoted thus largely from the Ostend manifesto, because it seems
to us, with one exception, to be so pertinent to the present status of
affairs.
The one exception is: We no longer desire the annexation of Cuba. The
present war is a holy war. It has been entered into wholly and entirely
from motives of philanthropy, to give to a suffering and downtrodden
people the blessings of freedom which we ourselves enjoy.
Moreover, the manifesto clearly shows that the causes of Cuban uprising
are of no recent date; and that, before the United States rose in its
wrath, it was patient and long-suffering.
Although the Senate debated the questions raised by the manifesto for a
long time, nothing resulted from the deliberations.
Questions of extraordinary moment were arising in our own country, from
which terrible results were to ensue, and for the time being, indeed for
years to come, everything else sank into insignificance.
Meantime, the question of independence was still being agitated in Cuba.
General Jose de la Concha, in anticipation of a rising of the Creole
population threatened to turn the island into an African dependency. He
formed and drilled black troops, armed the native born Spaniards and
disarmed the Cubans. Everything was got in readiness for a desperate
defense. The Cuban junta in New York had enlisted a large body of men
and had made ready for an invasion. Under the circumstances, however,
the attempt was postponed. Pinto and Estrames, Cubans taken with arms in
their hands, were executed, while a hundred others were either condemned
to the galleys or deported. General de la Concha's foresight and
vigilance unquestionably prevented a revolution, and for his services he
was created Marquis of Havana.
Then ensued a period of comparative quiet, but the party of independence
was only awaiting an opportunity to strike.
Long before this, Spain had entered upon the downward path. "A whale
stranded upon the coast of Europe," some one designated her. She had
been accumulating a debt against her, a debt which can never be repaid.
And she has no one to blame for her wretched feeble, exhausted condition
but herself--her own obstinacy, selfishness and perversity.
Truly, Spain has changed but little, and that only in certain outward
aspects, since the time of Torquemada and the Inquisition. She is the
one nation of Europe that civilization does not seem to have reached.
The magnificent legacy left her by her famous son, Christopher Columbus,
has been gradually dissipated; the last beautiful jewel in the crown of
her colonial possessions, the "Pearl of the Antilles" is about to be
wrested from her.
Her case is indeed a pitiable one, and yet sympathy is arrested when we
remember that her reward to Columbus for his magnificent achievements
was to cover his reputation with obloquy and load his person with
chains.