The History of Cuba, vol. 2

by Willis Fletcher Johnson

For a long time, Spain had paid but meagre attention to her American possessions, save to mulct them for revenue. They had no representation, and their messages to and requests of the mother country received but scanty attention. Spain herself was passing through stormy times. The country was in turmoil. Revolution was impending. Napoleon, whose greedy glance embraced almost the whole of Europe, had turned his attention to the Peninsula. In 1808 the royal family of Spain was abducted, and held virtually prisoners by Napoleon, while a new government was set up.

When the news of Napoleon's action reached Cuba, the Cabildo was in session. At once, each and every member took a solemn oath to make every effort to retain the island "for their lawful sovereign." Don Juan de Aguilar arrived in Cuba on the American ship Dispatch, and the government at once declared war against Napoleon and reaffirmed the loyalty of Cuba to Spain. On July 20, 1808, they proclaimed King Ferdinand VII as their lawful sovereign. This conduct, so little appreciated and so cruelly repaid by the mother country, won for Cuba the title of the "Ever-Faithful Isle."

The internal troubles in Spain naturally had a most disastrous effect upon the Cuban trade and prosperity. The exports to Spain fell off to an alarming degree. The products of the country had, for a time, lost their natural market. Only statesmen of vision were able to understand the causes of the trouble. The common people looked upon the results only, and a strong feeling of unrest was engendered. The colony was practically independent of the mother country at this time, so far as any guidance or aid was concerned. The King was exiled and Joseph Bonaparte held sway in the Spanish capital.

But now a new difficulty showed its head. Not all the French had returned to Santo Domingo or France. There were numbers of French settlers in the rural districts. The people were discontented, and soon a movement arose—on March 21, 1809, it came to a crisis—to endeavor to persuade the French colonists, who had been so easily disposed of by Someruelos, to return. This movement took on almost the aspect of a revolution. It seemed as if France, not content with obtaining control of Spain, was again stretching out a clutching hand to grab Cuba as well.

The heads of the Cuban government were thoroughly aroused. Summary measures were taken, and the uprising, which had bid fair to be so serious, was subdued in two days. It was due, probably, to the firmness, decision and resourcefulness of those at the helm of Cuba at that time, that Cuba did not then and there become the victim of a movement which might have resulted in her becoming subject to France instead of Spain. The attitude of the United States toward French aggression also lent Cuba moral support, as we shall see.

The encounters which took place in putting down this trouble were practically bloodless. Almost no lives were lost, but much property was destroyed. A more serious result was that dissatisfied colonists, some of them of the most desirable type, to the number of many thousands, were driven to seek their fortunes and find new homes away from Cuba.

Napoleon was not satisfied to leave Spain in possession of Cuba, but soon instigated another effort to get possession of the island for France. In 1810, a young man arrived in Cuba from the United States. He was Don Manuel Aleman. His mission was apparently private business of his own, but the Cuban government had confidential information to the effect that he was an emissary of Napoleon. He was not allowed to land unapprehended, but was arrested on the ship on which he had come, and he was thrust into a none too pleasant Cuban prison. A council of war was assembled, but this was merely a form. Aleman's fate was predetermined. On the following morning, July 13, 1810, he was taken to the Campo de la Punta and there publicly hanged as a traitor to Spain.

No account of events in Cuba at this time would be complete without some record of one whom Las Casas called "a jewel of priceless value to the glory of the nation, a protector for Cuba, an accomplished statesman for the monarchy," Don Francisco de Arango, the bearer of the "most illustrious name in Cuban annals."

Arango, to whom we have previously made reference, was born on May 22, 1765, at Havana. In early boy-hood he was left an orphan, but he managed the large estate which had been left him with all the skill and judgment of a mature mind. He studied law, and was admitted to practice in Spain, and he there acted, for a number of years, as agent for the municipality of Cuba. He was thoroughly familiar with the wrongs and needs of his country, and it is probable that no one of his time was more suited by nature, training and sympathies to act for Cuba. He succeeded in fact in obtaining from the crown some very valuable concessions for the island. In Cuba itself he worked hard to bring about an increase of staples. He exerted his influence among the planters to the end that the fertile soil should be worked to its utmost productiveness. It was necessary that not only should Cuba be self-supporting, and be able to pay her enormous taxes, but that there should be a large surplus to feed the royal exchequer. No one realized this more than Arango, whose years at the Spanish court had made him familiar with the greed of the Spanish government. His work was fruitful, and Cuban production at this period came almost up to the wild expectations of the Spanish government, which regarded Cuba as a land of inexhaustible riches. Arango was moreover a humanitarian at heart. The wrongs of the slaves and the evils of the slave trade appealed to his sense of justice. On the other hand, he saw very clearly the difficulty of obtaining the proper amount of labor for the Cuban plantations if the slave trade was abolished, and so his efforts on behalf of the slaves took the form of attempts toward their protection by wise laws.

The attitude of Spain toward her colonies was at this time, as indeed always, grossly illogical. She wanted to take everything and give nothing. She could not foresee that a present of constant depletion meant a future of want; that in order to produce in quality the proper facilities must be provided. Arango, who was a diplomat as well as a statesman, by persuasion and by constant but gentle pressure at last won some of those in authority at the court to his point of view. If Cuba was to be a source of wealth to Spain, she must be endowed with the most efficient equipment to produce that wealth. Through Arango's efforts machinery was allowed to be imported into the island, free of duty. This, of course, furnished the means for industrial expansion. He also obtained the removal of the duty on coffee, liquors and cotton, for a period of ten years.