The History of Cuba, vol. 2

by Willis Fletcher Johnson

Those who were conspiring for the liberation of Cuba were not cowed, however, but simply temporarily overcome. One of the first acts of Vives under the royal decree of May 25, 1825, was to use every means possible to suppress and to annihilate the secret societies, but he simply made them more wary. The desire for liberty which had sprung up in the breasts of so many Cuban patriots was destined never again to be extinguished, and the history of the island from this time down to the War of Independence, in the closing decade of the century, is that of one long struggle for separation from Spain—sometimes open, more frequently secret but always continuous.

When the uprising of 1823 failed so signally, a number of the refugees who escaped prosecution fled to Mexico and Colombia. There was a settlement of these people in Caracas. They turned to "The Liberator" for support, and soon the invasion of Cuba, by a force composed of Mexicans and Colombians, either under the personal leadership, or under the direction of Bolivar, was planned. The leaders of this movement also sought aid in the United States. Now the slaveholders of the South were at this time opposed to the separation of Cuba from Spain, because under the lead of Bolivar it would mean the doom of the slave trade, the abolition of slavery, and such an achievement in Cuba would be inimical to their own interests. So the attempt to procure assistance in the United States was really the cause of the failure of the proposed expedition. Spanish spies were quickly informed of the proposed plan, and such strenuous efforts were openly made to make such an attempt ineffective, that it was never made. Bolivar had all he could attend to in South America, and he was too intelligent a leader to attempt the impossible, and at the same time leave his plans for the liberation of South America to meet certain defeat in his absence.

But Spain did not easily overlook the conspiracy, and she seized the leaders in Cuba who were conspiring with those in Colombia and Mexico. Two young men of fine families, Don Francisco de Aguero Velasco and Don Bernabe Sanchez, were apprehended by the aides of the Captain-General, imprisoned and most cruelly treated, and when their spirit was not broken by torture and they refused to divulge the secrets of their leaders, they were condemned to die for treason, and paid the penalty of their patriotism with their lives.

Still the love of freedom grew and waxed stronger in Cuba. In 1828, a secret society known as El Aguila Negra (The Black Eagle) was inaugurated in Colombia and Mexico, by those patriots who were escaping the vengeance of Spain by remaining in exile. This movement was splendidly organized. It had branches, not only in Colombia and Mexico, but also in the United States, where recruiting offices were openly established, and in Cuba where its operations were secret. But the organizers of The Black Eagle could not make a move which Spanish spies did not report to their master, the Captain-General of Cuba. Every plan was known to him as soon as it was formulated. He made no secret of his determination to deal summarily with those who were plotting against the power of Spain, but he waited in hope that he might be able to seize the real brains of the expedition. Besides this, the declaration of Bolivar for the freedom of the slaves as one of the principles for which he was fighting, and the fact that he was so closely connected with these revolutionary movements in Cuba, excited at this time the fears and animosity not only of the slave owners in the United States, but also of the most selfish, greedy and powerful of this class—particularly those of Spanish birth and sympathies—in Cuba. Before the expedition could be actually started, the leaders were apprehended and a farce of a trial followed. The Captain-General was beginning to fear the new spirit which was abroad in the land. Perhaps he had discovered that cruelty and fierce opposition only fanned the flame. At any rate he commuted the sentence of death, and imprisoned the conspirators.

Since Mexico had conspired against the Spanish occupation of Cuba, General Vives retaliated by a military expedition against Mexico, in 1828. A force of three thousand and five hundred men was sent against Mexico—not a large army, but General Vives expected that large numbers of Mexicans would join his soldiers, once they set foot on Mexican soil. A landing was made at Tampico, in August, 1828. Instead of being received with acclamations by the people of Mexico, the movement met with the most strenuous opposition. The expedition was surrounded by the Mexican army, and its members were glad to surrender and to make terms with the Mexicans by which they were allowed to return to Havana. In March, 1829, the would-be conquerors of Mexico arrived in Havana with none of the honors with which it had been planned to crown the victors.

Vives, while a stern governor, did not actually play the part of a despot. He held his office until May 15, 1832, when he was succeeded by Don Mariana Ricafort, a tyrant of the most pronounced type. His rule left one continuous record of oppression and misgovernment. No better person to encourage in the hearts of thinking Cubans an eagerness to be rid of Spain could have been chosen, for he was thoroughly hated and despised. His rule continued two years, and then, in 1834, the reins of government were taken into the hands of General Don Miguel Tacon. The eastern department of the island was commanded at this time by General Lorenzo.

Tacon, one of the most famous of the nineteenth century Captains-General, was a man of small mind and great stubbornness, shortsighted, narrow and jealous. He was exceedingly vain, grasping for power, and a tyrant of the most pronounced type. He took many privileges from the wealthy inhabitants of the island, and he seized for himself the power, which had theretofore been a municipal function, of naming the under-commissaries of police in Havana.

Like all people of extremely arbitrary nature, Tacon was an arrant coward at heart. He was perpetually in terror of being assassinated, and upon the slightest pretext had anyone whom he considered dangerous to his rule thrown into prison. The life of no Cuban who happened to offend the Captain-General was safe at this time.

In 1836 there occurred in Spain the revolution of La Granja, when the progressive triumphed over the moderate party, and the Queen Regent was obliged to proclaim the old Constitution of 1812, granting Cuba representation in the Spanish Cortes, and to summon deputies from Cuba. The news of this triumph reached Santiago de Cuba before it did Havana, whereupon General Lorenzo, in command there, immediately proclaimed the Code of Cadiz, and ordered an election for deputies to the Cortes. He reestablished the constitutional ayuntamiento, declared the press free, reorganized the national militia and put his department on the same footing that it had been in 1823.

Tacon was furious when knowledge of this action reached him. He had no power to compel General Lorenzo to retract, but he summarily cut off all communications with his department and laid his plans to invade that territory, and by military force to restore his own absolute government and do away with representation for Cuba in the Spanish Cortes. Perhaps nothing that he could have done could have added more to his unpopularity. He was hissed in the streets, and plots were made against his life.