Insurgent Cuba: Race, Nation, and Revolution, 1868-1898

288 Pages·1999·11.88 MB·English

by  Ada Ferrer

Insurgent Cuba

A D A F E R R E R
Insurgent
Cuba
Race, Nation, and Revolution, 1868-1898
The University of North Carolina Press Chapel Hill & London
0 1999 The University of North Carolina Press
All rights reserved
Set in hlinion and Franklin Gothic type by Keystone Typesetting, Inc.
hlanufactured in the United States of America
The paper in this book meets the guidelines for permanence and durability
of the Committee on Production Guidelines for Book Longevity of the Council
on Library Resources.
Portions of the introduction, chapters 3, 5, and 7, and the conclusion were
adapted from materials that first appeared in the following articles:
"Cuba, 1898: Rethinking Race, Nation, and Empire," Rudd History Review 73
(Winter 1999): 22-46. C'sed by permission of Cambridge University Press.
"Social Aspects of Cuban Natioi~alismR: ace, Slaver): and the Guerra Chiquita,
1879-1880," CUI~NSItuId ies 21 (lgyl):3 7-56 Original material reprinted by
permission of the LTniversitvo f Pittsburgh Press.
"Rustic hlen, Civilized Nation: Race, Culture, and Contention oil the Eve of
Cuban Independence," Hispamc American Historical Revicw 78 (November
1998): 663-86; "The Silence of Patriots: Racial Discourse and Cuban
Nationalism," in Jo,t Mnrti's "Our Atr~erlcn":F rom N['ntionnl to Hemispheric
Cultural Studies, edited by Jeffrey Belnap and Raul Ferndndez, 228-49.
Durham, N.C.: Duke University Press, 1998. Original material reprinted by
permission of Duke University Presa.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Ferrer, Ada.
Insurgent Cuba: race, nation, and revolution, 1868-1898 1 Ada Ferrer.
p. cm.
I~icludeab ibliographical references (p. ) and index.
ISBX o-8ojR-2500-x (alk. paper).-ISBN o-8078-4783-6 (pbk.: alk. payer)
I. Cuba-History-Insurrection, 1868-1878. 2. Cuba-Hiatory-1878-l8~j.
3. Cuba-History-Revolution, 1895-1898. 4. Racisnl-Cuba-History-19th
century. 5. Blacks-Cub't-Politics and government-History-19th century.
6. Cuba-Race relations-Political aspects. I. Title.
~1785.~361 999
972.91'oj-dczi 99-13684
CIP
cloth 06 oj 04 03 02 j 4 3 2 1
paper 06 05 04 03 02 7 6 j 4 3
12 my parents,
Ramon and Adelaida Ferrer
In memory of
Rita Blanco Garcia, 1888-1975

Contents
Acknowledgments, ix
Introduction. A Revolution the World Forgot, I
Part I. War
Chapter I. Slaves, Insurgents, and Citizens:
The Early Ten Years' War, 1868-1870,15
Chapter 2. Region, Race, and Transformation in the
Ten Years' War, 1870-1878,43
Chapter 3. Fear and Its Uses: The Little War, 1879-1880,70
Part II. Peace
Chapter 4. A Fragile Peace: Colonialism, the State,
and Rural Society, 1878-1895,93
Chapter 5. Writing the Nation:
Race, War, and Redemption in the Prose of Independence, 1886-1895,112
Part Ill. War Again
Chapter 6. Insurgent Identities:
Race and the Western Invasion, 1895-1896,141
Chapter 7. Race, Culture, and Contention:
Political Leadership and the Onset of Peace, 170
Epilogue and Prologue. Race, Nation, and Empire, 195
Notes, 203
Bibliography, 249
Index, 267
Illustrations, Maps, and Tables
ILLUSTRATIONS
Carlos Manuel de Cespedes, 27
Guillermo Moncada, 8j
Jose Marti, 124
Juan Gualberto Gomez, 125
Rafael Serra, 126
Manuel Sanguily, 127
Cuban Regiment, 1898,153
Ricardo Batrell Oviedo, 160
Insurgent camp of Jose Gonzalez Planas, 166
General Quintin Bandera, 175
Insurgent camp of Pedro Betancourt, 183
Mustering out the Liberation Army, 197
MAPS
1.1. Map of Cuba, 20
4.1. Plan for the Construction of the Poblado of La Yaba, 102
TABLES
1.1. Population of Selected Jurisdictions of Eastern Cuba in 1862, 21
2.1. Population of Selected Jurisdictions of Eastern and Central Cuba
in 1862, 55
Acknowledgments
I would not have wanted to attempt this project without the benefit ofworking
with Cuban colleagues and in Cuban archives, or without the pleasures and
challenges of being in Cuba. I am very grateful to many historians on the island
who talked to me about my project and who were willing to share ideas, refer-
ences, and encouragement. I am especially indebted to Jorge Ibarra, whose
work on Cuban nationalism helped shape my interest in this topic and whose
support and engagement were invaluable in writing this book. I thank also Jose
Abreu Cardet, Gisela Arandia, Carmen Barcia, Manuel Barcia, Walterio Car-
bonell, Yolanda Diaz, Tomas Fernandez Robaina, Reinaldo Funes, Orlando
Garcia Martinez, Oilda Hevia, Fe Iglesias, Maria1 Iglesias, Blancamar Leon,
Enrique Lopez, Fernando Martinez, Mayra Mena, Olga Montalban, Francisco
Pbez Guzman, and Oscar Zanetti for sharing their work, for offering sugges-
tions and references, and for talking about the topics treated here and about
many others as well. Thanks go also to Yolaida Duran, who shared with me the
experience of being Cuban American in Cuba, and to Ada Fernandez, who
offered me her home, her conversation, and her warmth. In Spain, I thank
Josep Fradera, Consuelo Naranjo Orovio, Luis Miguel Garcia Mora, and Jordi
Maluquer for giving me the opportunity to present very early versions of some
of this work in Madrid and Barcelona.
At the University of Michigan I benefited from the company of some truly
remarkable people. For their support and intellectual engagement I am es-
pecially grateful to Neil Foley, Charo Montoya, Karen Robert, Christopher
Schmidt-Nowara, Michael Schroeder, Sabina MacCormack, Roger Rouse, Earl
Lewis, and Ruth Behar. Fred Cooper, Fernando Coronil, Geoff Eley, and San-
tiago Colas deserve special thanks for their comments on an earlier version of
the manuscript. Rebecca Scott has read more drafts ofthe chapters in this book
than I can today reconstruct. She has been generous with her time and her
insights; and I have learned enormously from her work and from her questions
and comments on mine. I thank her for all the guidance, but also for her
friendship and example.
Many other people, too numerous to mention here, read either all or parts