Produced by Chuck Greif, Broward County Library and the
Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
Etext transcriber's note:
Obvious typographical errors have been corrected; the original
orthography, including variation in the spelling of names, has been
retained.
The Index included at the end of this etext (which includes volumes 1
thru 4) appears at the end of volume four of The History of Cuba. It is
provided here for the convenience of the reader.
[Illustration: FRANCISCO DE ARANGO
One of the noblest names in Cuban history of a century and more ago is
that of Francisco de Arango y Parreño, advocate, economist and
statesman. He came of a family of noble lineage, and was born in Havana
on May 22, 1765. Among the great men of his day in Cuba, who were many,
he was one of the foremost, as the detailed story of his labors and
achievements in the chapters of this History abundantly attests. He
worked for the reform of the economic system of the island, for the
development of agriculture on an enlightened basis, for the extension of
popular education, and for the promotion of commerce. He urged upon King
Charles III plans for averting the evil influences of the French
Revolution, while securing the good results; and he set an example in
educational matters by himself founding an important school. Recognized
and honored the world over for his character, talents and achievements,
he died on March 21, 1837.]
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 TWO
[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.
CONTENTS
PAGE
CHAPTER I 1
Entering a New Era--The Freedom of the Seas--Progress of the
Slave Trade--Clandestine Commercial Operations and Political
Intrigues--The Genius of Governor Guazo--Attacking the
British and French--Close of a Notable Administration--Shipyards
at Havana--Havana Threatened by the British--Rivalries
in Cuban Politics--Foundation of the University of Cuba--Change
in Land Tenure--Copper Mining--Insurrections of the
Slaves--Glimpses of Social Life in Cuba.
CHAPTER II 18
The Administration of Guemez--Introduction of Reforms--Sanitation--Economic
and Fiscal Reforms--Monopolies in Trade--Further
Fortifications--Controversies Over the Slave Trade--Disputes
with Great Britain--Declaration of War--Conflicts in
Florida--Two British Expeditions--Admiral Vernon in the West
Indies--Attack upon Santiago--The War in Florida--Governorship
of Cagigal--Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle--Accession of Charles III--British
Plans for the Conquest of Spanish America--Some
Interesting Literature.
CHAPTER III 41
Some European Alliances--A Period of Peace for Spain--Reasons
for the British Attacks upon Cuba--The Family Pact Between
France and Spain--Spain's Break with Great Britain--Declaration
of War by George III--Havana Chosen as the Point
of Attack--The Albemarle-Pococke Expedition--Preparations at
Martinique--The Advance upon Havana.
CHAPTER IV 53
First Appearance of Yellow Fever in Cuba--Preparations to Resist
the British Attack--Divided Counsels--Arrival of the British
Fleet--Consternation of the Inhabitants--Velasco Chosen
as Commander of the Defense of Havana--Beginning of the Attack--Heroism
of the Spanish Commander--British Accounts of
the Fighting--Raids and Counter-Raids--British Reinforcements
from the American Colonies--British Tributes to Spanish Valor--Surrender
of the City--The Articles of Capitulation.
CHAPTER V 80
British Occupation of Havana--Attitude of the Cubans Toward
the British Conquerors--Departure of the Spanish Forces--British
Views of the Conquest of Cuba--A Controversy Over
Church Bells--Difficulties with the Spanish Clergy--Character of
Lord Albemarle's Administration--Troubles Over Taxation--Plots
Against British Rule--Corruption in Colonial Government--Political
Disturbances in England--The Making of Peace--Restoration
of Cuba to Spain.
CHAPTER VI 96
Far-Reaching Effects of British Rule in Cuba--A French Picture
of Life in Havana--A British Tribute to the City--Character
of the People--Economic Changes in the Island--The Commerce
of Havana--Defenses of the City--Not an Impregnable
Fortress.
CHAPTER VII 104
Departure of the British and Re-entry of the Spanish--The
New Spanish Governor--Antagonisms Between British and Spanish--A
Period of Reconstruction--Reclassification of Revenues--Military
Reorganization of Havana--New Provincial Administration--Establishment
of a Mail Service--End of a Noteworthy
Administration--Reform in Police Regulations--Expulsion of
Religious Orders--Suppressing Contraband Trading--Destruction
by Earthquakes--A Disastrous Hurricane--An Administration
Void of Complaints.
CHAPTER VIII 119
An Era of Peace in Cuba--Tribulations in Spanish Louisiana--Spain
Still Lagging Behind Other Colonial Powers--Fear of a
Republic--O'Reilly's Expedition from Cuba to Louisiana--His
Success--Effects of His Severity--The Tragic Prelude to Spanish
Rule--Louisiana an Appanage of Cuba.
CHAPTER IX 129
Administration of the Marquis de la Torre--One of Cuba's Best
Governors--Cleansing and Paving the Streets of Havana--New
Public Buildings--Harbor Improvements--The First Theatre--Trinidad,
Santiago and Puerto Principe also Renovated--Founding
of Pinar del Rio and Other Towns--Reforms in Government--Havana
a Beautiful and Prosperous City--Turgot's Warning
to Spain Unheeded--Interest in the North American Revolution--Tariff
Reform--The Currency--Jurisprudence.
CHAPTER X 145
Rise of the United States--Spanish Interests Involved--Negotiations
Over Florida--Alliance Between France and Spain--Cuba's
Intense Interest in the War Against Great Britain--Disaster
to an Expedition from Havana--Operations at Mobile--Cuban
Reconquest of Pensacola and Florida--An Early Prohibition
Decree.
CHAPTER XI 153
An Ill-Managed Armada--Neutrality Violated in Warfare upon
Commerce--An Orgy of Privateering--Rodney's Exploits--Cagigal's
Expedition to the Bahamas--Rodney's Menace to Havana--The
First Newspaper in Havana--Negotiating for General
Peace--Spanish Chagrin at American Independence--More
Liberal Trade Laws for Cuba--Insurrection in Peru--Peace and
Prosperity in Cuba--Wasteful Forestry--Visit of an English
Prince--Improvements and Reforms in Havana--Foundation of
the Sociedad de Amigos--Reign of Charles IV--Godoy, "Prince
of the Peace"--Ecclesiastical Changes in Cuba--Economic
Ills--Administration of Las Casas--A New Census--Disastrous
Hurricane--The Society of Progress--Advance in Commerce,
Agriculture, Literature and Education--Work of Francisco de
Arango--The Tomb of Columbus.
CHAPTER XII 186
Influence of the French Revolution in Spain--Toussaint Louverture--Cession
of Santo Domingo to France--The Peace of
Basle--Panic and Chaos in Spain--Advantages Gained by Cuba--A
Civic Awakening in the Island--Dr. Romay's Introduction
of Vaccination--Defense Against the Slave Revolt of Santo
Domingo--The Work of Santa Clara--British Capture of Trinidad--Fears
for the Safety of Cuba--Administration of Someruelos--Founding
of the Intendencia--Expansion of Commerce--The
Slave Trade--Extent and Conditions of Slavery--Rise of
the Emancipation Movement--Importance of Negro Labor to
Cuba.
CHAPTER XIII 215
The Land Problem in Cuba--Lands Withheld from the Real
Workers--Indolence Induced by Lack of Opportunity--Manners
and Customs of the Cuban People at the End of the
Eighteenth Century--Lawyers and Land Titles--Prices of Land--Live
Stock, Sugar and Tobacco--Primitive Sugar Factories--Progress
of Agriculture--Obstacles to Economic Progress--Restrictions
upon Commerce and Travel.
CHAPTER XIV 231
Conditions Accompanying the Rise of Wealth--Strange Mixture
of Immorality and Religion--Seclusion of Cuban Women--Amusements
and Entertainments--The Bull Ring--The Cock
Pit--The Beginning of Literary Activity and Intellectual Life--The
Drama in Cuba--Musical Culture--Dancing--Architecture--Home
Life--Backward State of Education--Printing and
Publishing--Suggestive Articles in the Press--The Beginning of
Cuban Literature.
CHAPTER XV 256
Rise of Relations Between Cuba and the United States--Early
Interest of the United States in Cuba--Action of Congress
in 1811--"The Ever Faithful Isle"--First Overtures for Annexation--George
Canning and British Policy Toward Cuba--Policy
of John Quincy Adams--Utterances of Jefferson and Clay--American
Attitude Toward British and French Designs--Mexico
and Colombia Restrained from Conquest.
CHAPTER XVI 267
Spain in Her Decline--The Napoleonic Wars--The Constitution
of 1812--Revolt of Spain's South and Central American
Colonies--Cuba the "Ever Faithful Isle"--Reasons for Her Loyalty
to Spain--Origin of the Cuban Spirit of Independence--An
Age of Intellectual Activity--The Rise of Cuban Literature and
Scholarship--Refugees in Cuba.
CHAPTER XVII 278
The First Cuban Census--The Second Census and Humboldt's
Comments Thereon--Distribution of the Population by Races--Effects
of the Slave Trade on Population--The Census of 1817--Subsequent
Enumerations--Discrepancies in Statistics--Character
of the Negroes of Cuba--The Birth Rate.
CHAPTER XVIII 290
Early Records of the Slave Trade--Participation by the Portuguese,
French and British--Statistics of Slave Importations--Illegality
No Bar--Relations Between Masters and Slaves--Efforts
to Ameliorate the Conditions of Slaves--Introduction of
Chinese Labor--Free Negroes--Religious Training of Slaves--Punishments
of Slaves--Fear of Servile Insurrections.
CHAPTER XIX 302
The Administration of Santa Clara--Someruelos--Great Fire
in Havana--Architectural Progress--Fear of Invasion--A French
Fiasco--Hostility to Napoleon--Loyalty to an Unworthy King--Napoleon's
Designs upon Cuba--The Aleman Episode--Arango
and the Chamber of Commerce--Conflict with Godoy--Arango in
the Cortes--Arbitrary Administration of Cienfuegos--Opposition
to Street Lighting--Political Changes--Cagigal's Diplomatic
Administration--Mahy the Reactionary.
CHAPTER XX 319
Good and Bad Deeds of Vives--A Royal Decree that Proved
a Boomerang--Dangers of the Slave Trade Perceived--Apprehension
of Intervention by Other Powers--A Subtle Appeal for
Patriotic Organization--Progress of the Spirit of Independence.
CHAPTER XXI 328
British Designs upon Cuba--Cuban Negotiations with the
United States--The Mission of Morales--Annexation Sentiment--Attitude
of the United States Government--Issuance of the Monroe
Doctrine--Its Effect in Europe and America--United States
Consuls to Cuba Rejected--Cuba Offered to England in Pawn--American
Objections to the Scheme--Increase of American Interest
in Cuba.
CHAPTER XXII 335
An Era of Revolution--Career of Simon Bolivar--His Observation
of the French Revolution--Liberation of Venezuela--Miranda
and His Work--Bolivar in Exile--Final Success of the Liberator--Influence
of His Career upon Cuba.
CHAPTER XXIII 343
The "Soles de Bolivar" in Cuba--Administration of Villanueva--Oppression
of the People--Vain Attempts to Suppress Patriotic
Societies--Conspiracies for Freedom--Early Martyrs to
Patriotism--The Black Eagle--Trouble with Mexico--The
Tyranny of Tacon--His Conflict with Lorenzo--Victims of Spanish
Despotism--Cuban Deputies Excluded from the Cortes--Manipulation
of the Police--Propaganda of Freedom by Cubans
in Exile--Tacon's Public Works--Dealing with Pirates and
Smugglers--Origin of the Havana Fish Market--Tacon as the
Champion of Virtue in Distress--End of a Bad Reign.
CHAPTER XXIV 366
Beginning of Slave Insurrections--David Turnbull's Pernicious
Activities--O'Donnell the Despot--Roncali the Ridiculous--Causes
of Slave Unrest--Story of One Uprising--Vacillating
Course of the Government--Systematic Propaganda Among the
Slaves--Some Serious Outbreaks--Savage Methods of Repression--A
Reign of Torture and Slaughter--White Victims as Well as
Black--An Appalling Record--Saco's Advocacy of Independence--Some
Advocates of Annexation to the United States--Spain's
Determination to Hold Cuba Fast.
Chapter XXV 385
Review of an Era in Cuban History--Progress in Inverse Order
from International to National Interests--Alienation from Spain--Contrasts
Between Cuba and Other Colonies, Spanish and English--Unconscious
Preparation for Independent Statehood--Cuban
Interest in the World and the World's Interest in Cuba--On the
Verge of a New Era--The Promise of Cuban Nationality.
ILLUSTRATIONS
FULL PAGE PLATES:
Francisco de Arango _Frontispiece_
FACING
PAGE
Laurel Ditch, Cabanas Fortress 58
Havana, from Cabanas 96
In Old Havana 130
Tomas Romay 192
Juan José Diaz Espada 272
José Antonio Saco 378
TEXT EMBELLISHMENTS:
PAGE
Old Espada Cemetery, Havana 52
Atares Fortress, 1763 103
Don Luis de las Casas 175
A Volante, Old-Time Pleasure Carriage 238
Monserrate Gate, Havana 244
George Canning 258
John Quincy Adams 259
Alejandro Ramirez 311
James Monroe 329
Simon Bolivar 334
Gaspar Betancourt Cisneros 380
THE HISTORY OF CUBA
CHAPTER I
When the Treaty of Utrecht was signed on the eleventh of April, 1713,
the Spanish colonies in America felt as if they were entering upon a new
era, an era of peace and unhindered growth and prosperity. They did not
realize until the first elation over the establishment of peace had
spent itself, that this treaty contained the seeds of future wars which
were bound to be quickened by the powerful spirit of commercial rivalry,
which had been awakened in the European nations and was alarmingly
dimming the justice and righteousness of their policies. By losing the
European possessions, the population of Spain had been so seriously
diminished that it was entirely out of proportion to the area of her
over-seas dominion. While the Bourbon king had nothing more to fear from
France, even her pirates having palpably decreased their operations
against the Spanish colonies in America, he had in England a rival and
enemy whose power he had reason to dread. For all the maritime and
commercial agreements of the treaty favored England.
George Bancroft justly characterizes the spirit of the period in the
second volume of his "History of the United States" when he says
(Chapter XXXV, p. 388):
"The world had entered on the period of mercantile privilege.
Instead of establishing equal justice, England sought commercial
advantages; and, as the mercantile system was identified with the
colonial system of the great maritime powers of Europe, the
political interest, which could alone kindle universal war, was to
be sought in the colonies. Hitherto, the colonies were subordinate
to European politics; henceforth, the question of trade on our
borders, of territory on our frontier, involved an interest which
could excite the world to arms. For about two centuries, the wars
of religion had prevailed; the wars for commercial advantages were
now prepared. The interests of commerce, under the narrow point of
view of privilege and of profit, regulated diplomacy, swayed
legislation, and marshalled revolutions."
Concerning the mooted problem of the freedom of the seas, discussed as
ardently and widely then as at the present time, Bancroft had this to
say in the same chapter (p. 389):
"To the Tory ministry of Queen Anne belongs the honor of having
inserted in the treaties of peace a principle which, but for
England, would in that generation have wanted a vindicator. But
truth, once elicited, never dies. As it descends through time, it
may be transmitted from state to state, from monarch to
commonwealth; but its light is never extinguished, and never
permitted to fall to the ground. A great truth, if no existing
nation would assume its guardianship, has power--such is God's
providence--to call a nation into being, and live by the life it
imparts."
The great principle first formulated by the illustrious Dutch historian
and statesman Hugo Grotius was touched upon in the treaty of Utrecht in
the passage saying,--"Free ships shall also give a freedom to goods."
The meaning of contraband was strictly defined; the right of a nation to
blockade another's ports was rigorously restricted. As to the rights of
sailors, they were protected by the flag under which they sailed.
But whatever credit belongs to England for her upholding of this
principle was obscured by her exploitation of a monopoly, created by a
special agreement of the same treaty. The "assiento," which established
that most ignominious traffic in negro slaves, was to have disastrous
effects, political, economic and racial, upon the American colonies,
whether British, French or Spanish. The agreement had been specially
demanded by the British representatives and had been approved by Louis
XIV, who saw in its acceptance not only an advantage for England, but
justly hoped his own colonies on the Gulf of Mexico to profit by it. It
was worded simply as follows:
"Her Britannic Majesty did offer and undertake by persons whom she
shall appoint, to bring into the West Indies of America belonging
to his Catholic Majesty, in the space of thirty years, one hundred
and forty-four thousand negroes, at the rate of four thousand eight
hundred in each of the said thirty years."
The duty on four thousand of these negroes was to be thirty-three and a
third pesos. But the assientists were entitled to introduce besides that
number as many more as they needed at the minor rate of sixteen and two
third pesos a head. However, no Frenchman or Spaniard or any individual
of another nation could import a negro slave into Spanish America.
This trade in human flesh was duly organized and carried on by a stock
company which promised enormous profits. King Philip V., sorely in need
of money with which to execute all his plans for the reconstruction of
his kingdom, anticipated great gains from such an investment and bought
one quarter of the stock. Queen Anne was the owner of another quarter
and the remainder was sold among her loyal subjects. Thus the sovereigns
of these two kingdoms became the leading slave-merchants in the world
and by the provisions of the agreement "her Britannic Majesty" enjoyed
the somewhat dubious distinction of being for the Spanish colonies in
the Gulf of Mexico, on the Atlantic and along the Pacific coasts, the
exclusive slave-trader.
No trade required as little outlay in capital as the slave-trade.
Trifles, trinkets and refuse stock of every possible kind of merchandise
including discarded weapons, were exchanged for the human cargoes on
the African coast; who, crowded into vessels, crossed the seas, and upon
their arrival in the New World were sold to the colonists who wanted
cheap labor and a cheaper service. A fever of speculation which had in
it no little touch of adventure, seemed to sweep over England and to
delude the people with visions of wealth to be acquired by a conquest of
the Spanish possessions from Florida south, including Mexico and Peru.
Wild schemes of colonization promised to open Golcondas on the fields of
sugar-cane and tobacco, and in the mines holding inestimable treasures
of gold and silver. For the realization of those plans negro labor was
needed. Even in the West Indies it was welcomed especially by those
settlements engaged in the raising of sugar cane.
That the Assiento opened the door to all sorts of clandestine commercial
operations, as also to insidious political intrigue was soon to become
evident. Agents of the Assiento had the right to enter any Spanish port
in America and from there send other agents to inland settlements; they
had the right to establish warehouses for their supplies, safe against
search unless proof of fraudulent operations, that is importations, was
incontestable. They could send every year a ship of five hundred tons
with a cargo of merchandise to the West Indies and without paying any
duty sell these goods at the annual fair. On the return trip this ship
was allowed to carry products of the country, including gold and silver,
directly to Europe. The assientists urged the American colonies to
furnish them supplies in small vessels. Now it was known that such
vessels were particularly favored by the smuggling trade. Hence British
trade in negro slaves was indirectly used to encourage smuggling and
thus undermine Spanish commerce.
To estimate the extent of the smuggling trade directly traceable to the
loop-holes which the Assiento offered, was impossible. Jamaica, the
stronghold of British power in the West Indies, and ever a hotbed of
political and commercial intrigue against the Spanish neighbors, became
a beehive of smuggling activities. In places formerly used as bases of
buccaneer operations a lively business was carried on with contraband
goods. The danger to legitimate commerce in and with the West Indies
became so great that the Cuban authorities were forced towards the end
of Governor Guazo's administration to adopt strenuous methods in dealing
with such offenders. D. Benito Manzano, Andrez Gonzales and other
mariners and soldiers of experience and known valor were sent out
against them and made important seizures in this service. The governor
was authorized to organize cuadrillos (patrols) of custom officers and
equip custom house cutters that watched for and descended upon all
vessels found without proper clearance papers or that had failed to
register their cargoes in conformity to the laws of the island. The
smugglers were tried and condemned to suffer various penalties, ranging
from loss of property, hard labor and imprisonment, to death.
Governor Guazo's reorganization of the military forces gave proof of his
extraordinary foresight and his executive power. He formed a battalion
of infantry composed of seven companies of one hundred men and besides
two other companies, one of artillery, the other of light cavalry, which
was later changed to mounted dragoons. Two more companies of seventy men
each were added some years later by order of the king. For the lodgment
of these troops Governor Guazo ordered built the rastrille (gateway of a
palisade), which became later part of the fortress and the quarters that
run along the southern part.
Governor Guazo was a man of action and enterprise, besides being endowed
with no little military genius. Never once during his administration did
he lapse into that passive attitude which was in a large degree
responsible for the slow pace at which the Spanish colonies progressed.
One of his first aims was to inflict an exemplary punishment upon the
outlaws of the seas that rendered insecure the coasts of the Spanish
island colonies, and interfered seriously with commerce in the Gulf of
Mexico. The militia of Havana had on previous occasions, when called
into service on the sea, proved its mettle and displayed so much bravery
and perseverance in the pursuit of its tasks that he had unlimited
confidence in its ability to do the work he planned. He conferred with
the governor of Florida, and they agreed upon concerted action against
the English colony of St. George in the Carolinas. He made it known that
he intended to dislodge the pirates on the island of the Bahamas called
New Providence and for some time settled by the British. For that
purpose he fitted out fourteen light vessels, ten bilanders (small
one-mast ships, one of them of fourteen pieces), two brigantines
(two-masted vessels with square sails) and other smaller ships with
munitions and sufficient stores. Then he gathered a force of one
thousand volunteers, one hundred veteran soldiers and a few of the
prominent residents of the city to whom he entrusted the command of some
of the ships. As head of the expedition he named D. Alfonso Carrascesa,
a dependable official, and as his assistant D. Esteban Severino de
Berrea, a native of Havana and the oldest captain of the white militia.
The story of this enterprise as related by Guiteras gives a somewhat
different version of the struggles between the French and the Spaniards
for the possession of Pensacola as that contained in the preceding
chapter. According to Guiteras the armada organized in Havana and placed
under command of Carrascesa sailed on the fourth of July, 1719. But it
had barely left the harbor, when it sighted two French warships. They
were coming from Pensacola, which the French had just captured, and had
on board as prisoners the governor and the whole garrison. Carrascesa
did not for a moment lose his calm assurance at this unexpected
intermezzo. He stopped the French when they turned to flee, and they
were in turn captured. With the rescued Spaniards from Pensacola he
returned to Havana, considering this easy victory of happy augury for
the expedition upon which he had set out. But Governor Guazo persuaded
him that the reconquest of Pensacola was of paramount importance.
Carrascesa yielded to Guazo's arguments and the entreaties of the
governor of Florida's stronghold and started upon his new task. He
succeeded in recovering Pensacola and reinstalling the Spanish governor
with his garrison. Of the ultimate defeat of the expedition Guiteras has
nothing to say.
Carrascesa, too, was a man of untiring activity and did not rest upon
the laurels of his victory over the French. He made several expeditions
to the ports of Masacra, Mobile and other places, laying waste rice
fields and sugar plantations. He captured a number of transports
carrying army provisions, and also took many negroes that had been
brought over by the company carrying on slave trade, prisoners. So
encouraged was he by his successes, that he planned another attack upon
Masacra, which was defended by four batteries mounted on the coast and
had a garrison of about two thousand Frenchmen and Canadians. But he
realized that his forces were numerically far inferior and he desisted
from carrying out this enterprise. He contented himself with turning
his attention to the improvement of the fortifications of Pensacola and
built a fort at the point of Siguenza for the defense of the canal.
While engaged upon this work he was surprised by the arrival of a French
squadron under the command of the Count de Champmeslin. There were six
vessels in all well equipped with artillery far superior in quality to
that of the Spaniards. A fierce and stubborn combat ensued, in which the
volunteers from Havana distinguished themselves by their valor, but the
French admiral succeeded in forcing the passage of Siguenza and
compelled Carrascesa to surrender. Pensacola fell for the second time
into the hands of the French, who, however, gave credit to the Cubans
for unusual bravery and declared that, had it not been for their
inferior numbers, and the inferior equipment of their ships and their
troops, they never would have been defeated. This is the story of the
fights for Pensacola as related by the Spanish historian Guiteras.
Governor Guazo's administration covered one of the most important
periods in the history of Cuba. One of his last acts was the
proclamation in Havana in March, 1724, of the ascension of King Luis I.
to the throne of Spain, his father, King Philip V., having abdicated.
But King Luis died on the thirty-first of August and King Philip V.
resumed the scepter. In the following month Governor Guazo retired from
office and on the twenty-ninth of September was succeeded by the
Brigadier D. Dionisio Martinez de la Vega. One of the first acts of
Governor Martinez was to raise the garrison to the number of two hundred
and fifty men. By decree of the court he also superintended the
construction of the arsenal which was to contribute much to the
improvement of the rather poorly equipped fleet. In order effectively to
pursue his predecessor's policy of prosecuting the smuggler bands, the
number of which was alarmingly multiplying on and about the island,
Governor Martinez suggested to the Minister of the Treasury the erection
of a shipbuilding plant to turn out vessels especially designed for that
purpose. He obtained the consent of the Minister and within a short time
the plan was realized.
This dockyard for the construction of ships primarily intended for
revenue service, was at first erected between the fort of la Fuerza and
la Contaduria (office of the accountant or auditor of the exchequer),
because that location offered great facilities to lower the vessels
directly from the rocks to the sea. But as soon as the superiority of
the ships built in Havana over those produced in Spain became manifest,
owing to the excellent quality of the timber used, it was at once
decided to extend the dockyard and it was moved to the extreme southern
part of the city where it occupied a space of one-fourth of a league,
near the walls with the batements and buttresses, which added much to
its solidity and beauty. There within a few years were built all kinds
of ships, from revenue cutters to warships intended to strengthen the
Armada. In time the plant turned out large numbers of vessels. According
to Valdes there were built between the years 1724 and 1796 forty-nine
ships, twenty-two frigates, seven paquebots, nine brigantines, fourteen
schooners, four ganguiles (barges used in the coasting-trade, lighters)
and four pontones (pontoons or mud-scows, flat bottomed boats, furnished
with pulleys and implements to clean harbors); in all one hundred and
nine vessels.
This shipyard and the fortifications which were being steadily improved
were found of invaluable service in the year 1726, when a break between
Spain and England occurred and a British fleet appeared in the Antilles.
So alarmed was King Philip V. by the news of the danger of British
invasion which threatened Cuba, that he immediately ordered D. Gregorio
Guazo, who had in the meantime been entrusted with the superior military
government of the Antilles and Central America, to adopt measures of
safety. Guazo accordingly sent the squadron of D. Antonio Gastaneta with
a force of one thousand men to assist in the defense of Cuba. The
historians Alcazar and Blanchet report that D. Guazo himself accompanied
the squadron, fell sick upon his arrival in Havana and died the same
month. But Valdes records that he died on the thirteenth of August of
that year in his native town of Ossuna. However, D. Juan de Andrea
Marshall of Villahemosa seems to have been appointed his successor.
The precautions taken were to be well rewarded. On the twenty-seventh of
April, 1727, the English squadron under the command of Admiral Hossier
came in sight and approached the entrance to the harbor of Havana. But
the population had so effectively prepared the defense of the city, that
the attack of the British failed. Besides seeing himself defeated by the
enemy, the Admiral saw with dismay that his crews were decimated by
fever. Gastaneta was at that time in Vera Cruz and Martinez alone
carried off the victory over the British forces which after a blockade
of a month had to retire. Admiral Hossier was so overcome with his
failure and the loss of his men that he himself died of grief shortly
after.
The following two years of the governorship of D. Martinez were
turbulent with the discord of rivals and their factions. The immediate
cause of these regrettable disturbances was Hoyo Solorzana, the governor
of Santiago de Cuba. He had some time before taken a prominent part in
the removal of the treasures lost in el Palmer de Aiz. The charge was
raised against him that he had appropriated a certain portion of these
treasures and he was suspended and proceedings were begun against him.
The case was pending when the accused, who enjoyed great popularity with
the people, suddenly without the knowledge of the Captain-General or the
Dominican Audiencia, took possession of the government office in which
he had formerly exercised his official functions. The authorities were
indignant and sent a complaint to his Majesty in Madrid. When the reply
arrived a few months later, it ordered his immediate removal from
office, annulled his earlier appointment and demanded that he be sent to
Madrid. The commander-in-chief took steps for his removal, but the
municipal government claimed that the cause could not be pursued as long
as an appeal was pending. Governor Martinez, too, waited with the
execution of the royal decree in order to learn what decision the
Ayuntamento of Havana would take. But the latter was kindly disposed to
Hoyo Solorzano, remembering the undeniable services he had rendered the
city.
Both sides held stubbornly to their opinions and the lawyers also could
not be swayed by any arguments. Suddenly there appeared in the harbor of
Santiago de Cuba a few galleons under command of the chief of the
squadron, Barlavente, and acting under orders of Fra D. Antonio de
Escudero. They were to apprehend the governor and his supporters, and
take them as prisoners to Vera Cruz on the Admiral's ship. True to his
character and antecedents, Solorzano bravely defended himself and with
the help of his adherents managed to elude his pursuers and to escape to
the country. After visiting places where many of his friends lived, he
ventured into Puerto Principe, whose inhabitants were such loyal
partisans of his that they decided upon protecting him arms in hand. A
detachment of troops had been sent from Havana and surrounded the house
in which Solorzano was staying. They succeeded in crushing the riotous
demonstrations in his favor and seized him. Manacled and chained he was
taken to el Morro and imprisoned. Although he was evidently the victim
of misaimed ambition, the court that tried his case condemned him to
death.
While these unpleasant events were agitating the official circles of the
island, the people saw in the year 1728 one of the most ardent desires
of the ambitious youth of Cuba attain fulfillment. This was the
foundation of the University. Hitherto, it was necessary for young men
desiring a superior and especially a scientific education to attend the
universities of Mexico, Santo Domingo or Seville. With the opening of
this institution of learning in the metropolis of the island, Havana,
the intellectual life received a strong impulse. The credit for having
secured the permission to open this university is due to the Dominican
order which was mainly instrumental in promoting the cause of education
in Latin America and especially the West Indies. The University was
opened in the convent of Havana by virtue of a bull issued by Pope
Innocent XIII. and in accord with the royal order of March fourteenth,
1732. The event was celebrated by brilliant decoration and illumination
of the principal thoroughfares and buildings of the city and by festive
gatherings and banquets, as also by dignified and solemn ceremonies in
the building itself.
The first rector of the University was Fra Tomas de Linares. According
to the custom of the period and the country the rector, vice-rector and
assistants were all selected from the clergy. The curriculum comprised
courses in grammar, rhetoric, mathematics, philosophy, theology, canons
of economic laws, jurisprudence and medicine. But it seems strange that
for a number of years no professor could be found to occupy the chair of
mathematics. The peripatetic system prevailed. After two years of
existence the university won such hearty approbation from the king that
it was granted by royal decree of the twenty-seventh of June, 1734, the
same concessions and prerogatives as were accorded to the University of
Alcala. In the year 1733 Cuba lost her most revered and beloved
spiritual leader, Bishop Valdes, who expired on the twenty-ninth of
March. He lived in the memory of many generations that followed not only
by the many parishes which he had founded in the smaller towns and rural
districts, and by the seminary of San Baulie el Magne, which he had
called into being, but also by his many personal virtues that had
endeared him to his people.
An important innovation was made at this period concerning land tenure.
The Ayuntamentos or municipal corporations started to rent lands, that
is to give them in usufructu for the pasturing of cattle, to swine
herds, for labor or as ground plots. The person receiving such a grant
paid to the propios (estates or lands belonging to the city or civic
corporation) six ducats annually for the first, four for the second, and
two for the others. The land-surveyor, D. Luis de la Pena, resolved to
give a plot of land in the radius of two leagues to the haciendas that
raised black cattle, called hatos, and to the raisers of hogs, cordos or
corroles (enclosures within which cattle is held). But there was such a
lack of precision in determining the boundaries of the lands covered by
these concessions, that one overlapped the others and caused innumerable
heated lawsuits. The abuses committed by the corporation concerned in
these land deals, finally caused the king to strip these bodies of the
power of renting the lands. This important royal decree was according
to the historian Pezuela dated 1727, according to La Torre 1729.
The copper-mines of Cuba which had during the second half of the
seventeenth century been totally abandoned, but had been reopened in the
year 1705 under the direction of D. Sabastian de Arancibia and D.
Francisco Delgado, once more disappointed those interested in that
investment and yielding little profit were closed. The result was very
disastrous for the men that had been employed in the mines. For when
they found themselves without work, they began to lead a sort of
unrestrained life, which caused unrest and disturbances. In the year
1731, the governor of Santiago de Cuba, D. Pedro Jiminez, decided to put
an end to this idleness and without warning imposed upon them hard
labor. This the men resented and rebelled. After considerable
difficulty, the gentle exhortations of the Canonicus Morrell of Santa
Cruz prevailed and succeeded in appeasing the men, who took up other
work.
In other parts of the island there occurred about this time uprisings of
the slaves, which required the use of force and led to no little
bloodshed before they could be suppressed. One of these revolts on the
plantation Quiebra Hache and some on other neighboring haciendas led to
the foundation of Santa Maria del Rosario. It was D. Jose Bayona Chacon,
Conde de Casa-Bayona, who conceived the idea that the existence of a
white population in the heart of the mutinous district might help to
keep the negroes submissive. He asked the king's permission to establish
a town on the land of said plantation and of the Jiaraco corral, which
were all his property, and asked for manorial grants, civil and criminal
jurisdiction, that is the right to appoint alcaldes (ordinary judges),
eight aldermen and as many other officials of the court as were needed.
King Philip, remembering the services D. Bayona Chacon had rendered the
island, granted this request in the year 1732, and D. Bayona or Conde
(count) Casa-Bayona settled thirty families on the place, which was
henceforth called Santa Maria del Rosario.
The last years of the governorship of D. Martinez were undisturbed by
strife either from within or without, and Cuba prospered during that
brief spell of peace and quiet. But he did not delude himself by
imagining Cuba safe from further disturbances, either of her internal
conditions or her relations to her enemies. Like his predecessors he
continued to add to the fortifications, as is proved by an inscription
on the gate of la Punta, which reads:
Reinando en Espana Don Felipe V. El Animoso y Siendo Gobernador y
Captan General de Esta Plaza E Isla de Cuba El Brigadier Don
Dionisio Martinez de la Vega, se Hiciron Estas Bovedas, Almacenes,
Terraplenes, Y Muralla Hasta San Telmo; Se Acabo La Murella Y
Baluartes Desde El Angel Hasta El Colateral De La Puerta de Tierra
Y Desde El Anguilo De la Tonaza Hasta El Otro Colatoral; Se Puso En
Estado y con Respeto La Artilleria; Se Hizo La Caldaza, Y En El
Real Artillero Navios De Guerra Y Tres Paquebotos, Con Otras Obras
Menores; Y Lo Gueda Continua do Por Marzo de 1731 Con 220 Esclavos
De S. M. Que Con Su Arbotrio Ha Puesto En Las Reales Fabrica.
(While King Philip V. the Brave reigned in Spain and the Brigadier
Don Dioniosio Martinez de la Vega was Governor of this place and
the island of Cuba, there were built three vaults, stores, terraces
and a wall as far as Telma, were finished the wall and bastions
from El Angel unto the Colateral of the Gate of Tierra, and from
the corner of the tenaillo unto the other collateral; was set up in
good condition the artillery; was constructed the high road and
were built in the royal dockyard war vessels and three packet-boats
and minor ships; and this was continued in March, 1730, with 200
slaves of his Majesty, who deigned to have them placed in the royal
shops.)
Accounts of foreigners that traveled in the West Indies and visited Cuba
during this period give glimpses of the cities and the life therein
which are interesting reading. John Campbell, the author of "The
Spanish Empire in America" and "A Concise History of Spanish America,"
published in London in the year 1747, says in the latter book, in the
description of Havana:
"The Buildings are fair, but not high, built of Stone and make a
very good appearance, though it is said they are but meanly
furnished. There are eleven Churches and Monasteries and two
handsome hospitals. The Churches are rich and magnificent; that
dedicated to St. Clara having seven Altars, all adorned with Plate
to a great Value; And the Monastery adjoining contains a hundred
Nuns with their Servants, all habited in Blue. It is not, as some
have reported, a Bishop's see, though the Bishop generally resides
there. But the Cathedral is at St. Jago, and the Revenue of this
Prelate not less than fifty thousand Pieces of Eight per Annum.
Authors differ exceedingly as to the Number of Inhabitants in this
City. A Spanish Writer, who was there in 1700 and who had Reason to
be well acquainted with the Place, computed them at twenty-six
thousand, and we may well suppose that they are increased since.
They are a more polite and sociable People than the Inhabitants of
any of the Ports on the Continent, and of late imitate the French
both in their Dress and their Manner."
The Spanish historian, Emilio Blanchet, also limns a picture of life in
Havana about this time. Always inclined to express their feelings of joy
or of sorrow in a rather demonstrative manner, every national event of
some importance gave occasion for festivities that lasted sometimes
several days, and in one instance almost a whole month. This
extraordinary example of Cuban delight in great public celebrations
occurred in the year 1735 in Villaclara. The recent victories of Spain
in Italy and the ascension of Carlos to the Neapolitan crown were
celebrated in that town from the first to the twenty-second of February.
Of course, the national sport of bull-fights figured largely in the
program of this month of festivities; but there were also equestrian
contests, military games, processions and cavalcades, and for the first
time in Cuban history, dramatic performances. Besides such unusual
occasions as the celebration of a victory, the numerous church festivals
also encouraged the people's love of more or less ceremonial display and
solemn public functions. The eyes of the people loved to feast upon the
processions on foot or on horseback which took place on various saints'
days, especially on the days of St. John, St. Peter, St. James and St.
Anna.
The British writer quoted above was right in saying that the Cubans
emulated the example and followed the models of the French in the dress
of the period. For Blanchet gives a description of the dress of the
Cuban women of that time, which evokes before the reader visions of the
elaborate costumes inseparable from the period of Louis XIV. The Spanish
historian dwells at some detail upon the gorgeous dresses of the wealthy
women of Cuba. There were gowns with long, sweeping trains, the material
of which was mostly a heavy brocade silk, interwoven with threads of
gold or silver, trimmed with taffeta in sky blue or crimson. Other
material was trimmed with gold or silver braids. The belt generally of
rose taffeta joined the waist to the skirt. The hair was adorned with a
large silver or gold pin which held the folds of a richly trimmed
mantilla, also either of brocade or some lighter tissue, gracefully
falling back over the shoulders. The undergarments were of silk taffeta,
all of these materials being flowered or checkered and interwoven with
threads of gold. Velvet was also used in the fashioning of vestees and
jackets. Cloaks, capes and redingotes were either of camelot or barocan,
or of some other fine cloth. Pink was the favorite color. Laces and
embroideries were used on the dress of both men and women. No cavalier
was without a frill. The use of powder for the face and hair was quite
common, and the powdered queue was as indispensable to the costume of a
cavalier as the buckled shoe.