República de Cuba
Republic of Cuba
Flag
Cuba's flag dates to its independence from Spain in the early 19th century. The key represents the island's historic role as the "Key to the Americas." The red center stripe represents both the land of Cuba and the red blood of patriotism. The blue on either side represents the sea that surrounds the island.
History
Much of the material on Cuba's early history was developed together by me and Rebecca "Upvoteanthology".
Colonial Cuba
Cuba occupied a key place in the mature form of Spain's empire. From the second half of the 16th century, ships cruised into Havana harbor all year long bearing treasure - silver, gold, and emeralds - from Mexico and Peru, mined by indigenous laborers in hellish conditions. Other ships brought Chinese trade goods, bought in Manila with the same silver. Then once a year, before the start of the hurricane season, the treasure was loaded onto the galeones, those giants of the Age of Sail, and set off across the Atlantic. Fifty galleons and their escorts gliding toward the horizon made for an awe-inspiring sight, an undeniable sign of the power of Spain and its empire. It is the iconic image of colonial Cuba.
Since Havana was the treasury of the empire, Spain needed to protect it. A series of construction projects made it the most strongly fortified spot in the hemisphere. Walls, towers and cannon also rose up to protect Santiago at the opposite end of the island. Spanish power seemed as permanent as the mountains themselves.
Cuba's government was entirely imperial, top-down, and paternalistic. Nevertheless, the germs of a civil society were beginning to take shape. The notable civil institution of the colonial era was the cabildo.
The Mateísta rebellions
The first Mateísta rebellion
The rebel and pirate leader known as Mateo Cimarrón is honored as the first founder of a free Cuba. Mateo escaped bondage in Havana and fled to the cayos off Cuba's coast. From there he joined the crew of English pirates operating from the Bahamas. Mateo rose in their ranks, eventually captaining his own ship. He recruited other runaways and free Black people from as far away as New England, becoming something of a legend throughout the region. Mateo directed a network of free settlements in the cayos but could never organize a large-scale slave revolt. Nevertheless he endured as a symbol of resistance that all of Cuba's future leaders would draw on.
The second Mateista rebellion
The First Congress of the Indies
In the 1730’s, the Congress for the West Indies was founded after a large slave revolt, led by the son of famous former slave William Matthews. It was originally meant to be a cooperation between free blacks and other free Cubans
Imperial wars at the end of the 18th century
Wars of the late eighteenth century
Second Congress of the Indies: elites from the entire Spanish Caribbean
Third Congress of the Indies: began to grow into an alliance between the Spanish colonies and French Louisiana.
The rise of Cuban self-government
Miranda
The constitucionista rebellion
Self-government and Affiliation
Slaves and immigrants
The Republic
Building a mixed-race society
Abolition
Growth of the modern economy
The general strike of 1937 and the rise of democracy
Race politics and civil rights
Contemporary Cuba
Tourism and industrialization
Havana media
Contemporary Cuba
Colonial Cuba
Cuba occupied a key place in the mature form of Spain's empire. From the second half of the 16th century, ships cruised into Havana harbor all year long bearing treasure - silver, gold, and emeralds - from Mexico and Peru, mined by indigenous laborers in hellish conditions. Other ships brought Chinese trade goods, bought in Manila with the same silver. Then once a year, before the start of the hurricane season, the treasure was loaded onto the galeones, those giants of the Age of Sail, and set off across the Atlantic. Fifty galleons and their escorts gliding toward the horizon made for an awe-inspiring sight, an undeniable sign of the power of Spain and its empire. It is the iconic image of colonial Cuba.
Since Havana was the treasury of the empire, Spain needed to protect it. A series of construction projects made it the most strongly fortified spot in the hemisphere. Walls, towers and cannon also rose up to protect Santiago at the opposite end of the island. Spanish power seemed as permanent as the mountains themselves.
Cuba's government was entirely imperial, top-down, and paternalistic. Nevertheless, the germs of a civil society were beginning to take shape. The notable civil institution of the colonial era was the cabildo.
The Mateísta rebellions
The first Mateísta rebellion
The rebel and pirate leader known as Mateo Cimarrón is honored as the first founder of a free Cuba. Mateo escaped bondage in Havana and fled to the cayos off Cuba's coast. From there he joined the crew of English pirates operating from the Bahamas. Mateo rose in their ranks, eventually captaining his own ship. He recruited other runaways and free Black people from as far away as New England, becoming something of a legend throughout the region. Mateo directed a network of free settlements in the cayos but could never organize a large-scale slave revolt. Nevertheless he endured as a symbol of resistance that all of Cuba's future leaders would draw on.
The second Mateista rebellion
The First Congress of the Indies
In the 1730’s, the Congress for the West Indies was founded after a large slave revolt, led by the son of famous former slave William Matthews. It was originally meant to be a cooperation between free blacks and other free Cubans
Imperial wars at the end of the 18th century
Wars of the late eighteenth century
Second Congress of the Indies: elites from the entire Spanish Caribbean
Third Congress of the Indies: began to grow into an alliance between the Spanish colonies and French Louisiana.
The rise of Cuban self-government
Miranda
The constitucionista rebellion
Self-government and Affiliation
Slaves and immigrants
The Republic
Building a mixed-race society
Abolition
Growth of the modern economy
The general strike of 1937 and the rise of democracy
Race politics and civil rights
Contemporary Cuba
Tourism and industrialization
Havana media
Contemporary Cuba