Cubans

“ As more and more of these industrious foreigners, who might have been as good Spaniards as their own ancestors, settled on the island, the difference between them and the native Cubans manifested itself, not always to the latter's advantage. Women began to prefer them as husbands, and there was one more cause for antagonism between these scions of a common stock, whom different environment and conditions of existence had caused to drift apart, and become irreconcilably estranged. ”

“ The sentiment between the Cubans and the Americans is now most cordial, or, perhaps I should say, between the governing and more cultivated Cubans and ourselves; for among those whose knowledge of the United States is gathered chiefly from contact with a soldiery, not altogether courteous in enforcing order, there is little good feeling, but rather a sense of sharp antagonism, which, though usually suppressed, nevertheless now and then crops out. ”

“ For having dared to give utterances to principles and opinions, which, to other nations, constitute the foundation of their moral progress and glory, the Cubans most distinguished for their virtues and talents have found themselves wanderers and exiles. ”

“ While the Habanese have had the freest communication with the United States during the last three years of the revolution, Americans have had little opportunity to hear from the true white Cuban population. The Cubans are mostly found in the provinces and provincial cities, especially in Pinar del Rio and the eastern provinces of Santa Clara, Puerto Principe, and Santiago. Although of Spanish blood, the Cubans, through adaptation to environment, have become a different class from the people of the mother country, just as the American stock has differentiated from the English. ”

“ The Cubans are of mixed races, though they are not to be despised. Some have pure Castilian blood, some are from other European countries, and some are of pure African descent, many of the latter having once been in slavery; but many of the Cubans proper are of a mixed blood, including the Spanish, African, some Indian, and a general admixture of the people who early settled in the American tropics. ”

“ We Cubans have a thousandfold more reason in our endeavor to free ourselves from the Spanish yoke than had the people of the thirteen colonies, when, in 1775, they rose in arms against the British government. The people of these colonies were in full enjoyment of all the rights of man ”

“ About twenty-eight years ago many of the Cubans got together in the eastern part of the island, and thinking they could throw off the Spanish rule, they armed themselves and went into the mountains, where they fought against the Spanish rule for ten years. At that time the negroes of Cuba were still slaves, their masters buying and selling them as though they were cattle instead of human beings. As these black men were all strong and hardy fellows, the Cubans told them that if they would help them fight they would give them their liberty. ”

“ The constantly growing intercourse with the Old World, bringing them into touch with contemporary thought, was another leaven that began to work in the minds of the Cubans, and to encourage activities and interests held as being entirely without the range of a people whose chief pursuits for some centuries had been agriculture. Thus Cuba entered upon her first period of progress. ”

“ The population of the island is, in round numbers, 1,600,000, of which less than 200,000 are Spaniards, some 500,000 are colored Cubans, and over 800,000 white Cubans. Of the Spaniards, a small but not inconsiderable fraction, although not taking an active part in the defense of our cause, sympathize with, and are supporting it in various ways. Of the Cubans, whether colored or white, all are in sympathy with the revolution, with the exception of a few scattered individuals who hold positions under the Spanish government or are engaged in enterprises which cannot thrive without it. ”

“ Nor is there, nor has there been in Cuba, in the memory of the young and middle-aged, debate, or vote, or juries, or one of the least and most rudimental processes of self-government. The African and Chinese do the manual labor, the Cubans hold the land and the capital, and direct the agricultural industry; the commerce is shared between the Cubans, and foreigners of all nations; and the government, civil and military, is exercised by the citizens of Old Spain. ”

“ Although the natural resources of Cuba are remarkable, as will be demonstrated later, and more than sufficient for all her people, a large number of Cubans have, either of their own free will or by force become exiles.
Besides over forty thousand in the United States, there are a large number in the islands under British control, as well as throughout the West Indies and in the South American republics. ”

“ The commercial development of Cuba has come through centuries of disturbance, warfare, and oppression. A simple catalogue of all the evils with which the Cubans have had to contend would fill a volume. All that can be done here is to indicate briefly some of the more notable events in the history of the island after the British conquests and the relinquishment of the prize to the Spanish authorities upon the return of peace. Near the end of the last century there came a period which offered more encouragement to the hope of permanent prosperity in Cuba than had been offered before. ”

“ During the brief intervals in which a liberal spirit was manifested towards the colony by the home government, the Cubans gave proof of talent and energy, which, had they been permitted to attain their full development, would have given them a highly honorable name and distinguished character. ”

“ Seldom, indeed, has there been an era in the history of the world more strongly suited to cause the rise of a revolutionary spirit in such a people as the Cubans, than was the early part of the nineteenth century. We have already referred to the United States of America and its attitude toward Cuba and Cuban affairs. That country had achieved its independence in circumstances scarcely more favorable than would be those of a Cuban revolt ”

“ Periods of revolution are usually periods of intellectual activity, and such was the case in Cuba. While there was in the first quarter of the century little thought of a revolt against Spain, or of independence, the revolutionary spirit which was in the air inspired the minds of Cubans, not only with activity but also, largely, with thoughts and aspirations of freedom. There was indeed in particular a striking likeness between Cuba and the Thirteen Colonies in North America just before the Revolution in that country. ”

“ The whites comprise native Cubans, Spaniards, and foreigners; a certain proportion in the interior being Canary Islanders, who are fitted by constitution, habits, and tastes for farm work.
The native Cuban is usually bright, and is gifted particularly with a remarkable memory. Children are very precocious, and, when given educational advantages, they develop into men of no mean ability. ”

“ The Cubans had a particularly annoying practice of spreading reports that a large revolutionary force had assembled in a certain place, and enticing the Spaniards to that location, when the latter would only discover, to their chagrin, that the report had been "grossly exaggerated," and that in reality there was only a handful of men instead of the large number which they expected ”

“ With the exception of a handful of boatmen and a few fruit venders, not a person came to the piers to gaze at the new arrivals, and in the town the people scarcely gave themselves the trouble to look out of their open dwellings and shops at the colonists. This may have been inherent courtesy—for the Cuban is nothing if not courteous—but to us it seemed more like indifference. The Cubans are certainly an indifferent people, and at this port they appeared to have no object or interest in life. ”

“ The object of the Spanish government is, and ever has been, to derive as much revenue as possible from the island; and the exactions imposed upon the inhabitants have increased in proportion as other colonies of Spain, in the western world, have revolted and obtained their independence. The imposition of heavier burthens than those imposed upon any other people in the world has been the reward of the proverbial loyalty of the Cubans ”

“ They spent their time in athletic exercises, in dancing, hunting, fishing, and in fact, according to contemporary Spanish evidence, the aboriginal Cubans would seem to have discovered the real secret of life, and to have been far more philosophical than their restless and over-ambitious conquerors. ”

“ The opinion has very widely prevailed that the Cubans were grievously oppressed by their Spanish rulers, and that the severity of their oppression alone prevented them from making some effort to throw it off. The presence of an armed force in their midst, however small, it was supposed would summon them by thousands to the standard of revolt, and convert the colony into a free republic. ”

“ Men had flocked in from Galicia and Catalonia, with a spirit radically different from that of Andalusians and Estremadurans. To this day the contrast between Cubans and the people of any other Latin-American state is obvious and unmistakable. ”

“ There also were the examples of Mexico and Spanish South America, which had recently conquered with their blood their glorious emancipation from monarchy. Liberal ideas were largely diffused by Cubans who had travelled in Europe, and there imbibed the spirit of modern civilization. ”

“ When the French invasion of Spain in 1808 produced the constitution of 1812, Cuba was considered entitled to enjoy its benefits, and the year 1820 taught the Cubans the advantage to be derived by a people from institutions based on the principle of popular intervention in public affairs. ”

“ The United States had always taken a lively interest in Cuban affairs, and when the Cubans revolted in 1895 for the sixth time against the cruel domination of the Spaniards there was deep sympathy for them in this country, that continued to grow as the months went by. ”

“ While, therefore, we must believe that even without American intervention in the actual war the Cubans would have won their independence, we may doubt whether such would have been the case if the United States had not all along been dose at hand, a resourceful and hospitable country, in which Cuban political exiles could find secure asylum, in which a Cuban Junta could plan revolution, in which funds to aid the patriot cause could be raised, and which, in brief, could partly in secret and partly in the open be used as a base of supplies and operations. ”

“ In 1869 the insignificant population of Key West was greatly increased by Cubans who left their native island after an attempt at revolution; they engaged in the manufacture of tobacco, and Key West cigars were soon widely known. Towards the close of the 19th century this industry suffered from labour troubles, from the competition of Tampa, Florida, and from the commercial improvement of Havana, Cuba; but soon after 1900 the tobacco business of Key West began to recover. Immigrants from the Bahama Islands form another important element in the population. ”

“ NATURE designed Cuba for greatness. That salient fact is written large and clear upon every page of the island’s history. He must lack vision who can not discern it even in the annals of political, military and social development of the Cuban nation. Although one of the earliest lands in the Western Hemisphere to be discovered and colonized, it was actually the last of all to be erected into political independence and thus to enter into an opportunity for improving fully the incomparable opulence of its natural endowment. ”

“ In the ranks of independence we have to count all the free sons of Cuba, whatever may be the color of their race—the brave nations of South America, who inhabit our soil and who have already made trial of the strength and conduct of our tyrants—the sturdy islanders of the Canaries, who love Cuba as their country, and who have already had an Hernandez and a Monies de Oca, to seal with the proof of martyrdom, the heroic decision of their compatriots for our cause. ”

“ They were men who had at heart the interests of the island, who had inquired into the causes for its backwardness and who had thought deeply about the measures that might provide a means to rouse the whole population to the realization of the gigantic task before them. They were men of extraordinary intelligence, of thorough knowledge, of unblemished character and of wide experience. Never before had Cuba been able at any one period to point to such a galaxy of names as Las Casas, Arango, Romay, Montalvo, Pedro Espinola, Caballero, and others. ”

“ Native writers also dwell upon the good manners of the Havanese, calling them the most polite and social people of Spanish America, much given to imitating the French customs and manners, which were then in vogue at the Spanish court of Madrid, both in their dress and their conversation, as also in the furnishings of their houses and the good table they set their guests. These descriptions of Cuba and Cuban life tally well with those of the foreigners quoted by the author, and indicate the progress made by the island, and especially by Havana, in the sixth and seventh decades of the century. ”

“ A large number of families came to Cuba from the Spanish colonies of South America and Mexico, which had gained their independence from Spain, and from Florida and Louisiana when they came into the possession of the United States. These families were, of course, all intensely loyal to Spain, and of the arrogant disposition which naturally prevailed among men of such tendencies as led them to prefer the autocracy of Spain to American democracy. In spite of this increase in their number, the native white or Creole population of Cuba outnumbered the Spanish by more than 10 to 1. ”