Cuban Emigre Communities in the United States and the Independence of Their Homeland, 1852-1895
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
CUBAN EMIGRE COfflUNITIES IN THE UNITED STATES AND THE INDEPENDENCE OF THEIR HOMELAND, 1852-1895 BY GERALD EUGENE POYO A DISSERTATION PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE COUNCIL OF THE UNIVERSITY OP FLORIDA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA 1983 ifill31262 08666 47/ i To Betty Kay, Jeremy, and Noel ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This study is the result of several years of research at the University of Florida, the University of Texas at Austin, the Library of Congress, and the Archivo Hacional de Cuba and Biblioteca Nacional Jose Marti in Habana. Funds for research in Cuba during January-June 1982 were generously provided by the Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad program sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education. Since this dissertation would not have been possible without the support and encouragement of many, I would like to express my gratitude to the following individuals and insti- tutions: * Dr. Andres Suarez, Dr. David Bushnell, and Dr. George Pozzetta of the University of Florida History Department who not only patiently read the manuscript and offered excellent comments, criticisms, and suggestions, but of- fered encouragement and backing when my continuation in the doctoral program seemed all but impossible. * Rosa Q. Mesa, Director of the Latin American Collection at the University of Florida, for her interest in my project and the great wealth of bibliographic information at her disposal that she readily shared with me. * Dr. Robert Glover, Director of the Center for the Study of Human Resources at the University of Texas at Austin, who granted me a six-month leave of absence from my job to return to Gainesville and complete my course requirements during 1979/1980. * Dr. Helen Safa, Dr. Franklin Knight, and Dr. Richard Sinkin for their recommendations on my behalf to the Fulbright-Hays program and the Cuban authorities. * Dr. L. Glenn Westfall and Dr. Louis A. Perez, Jr., for sharing research information with me over the years. * Dr. Julio Le Rive rend. Director of the Biblioteca Nacional Jose Marti, for taking time from his busy schedule to discuss my dissertation topic with me. His courtesies are greatly appreciated. * The staffs of the Biblioteca Nacional Jose Marti and the Archivo Nacional de Cuba, especially Luis Alpizar, Nieves Arencibia Martinez, Ramon de Armas, Israel Echevarria, and Tomas Fernandez. They helped me at every opportunity. * Instituto Cubano de Amistad con los Pueblos (ICAP) and Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores (MINREX) , which spon- sored my visit to Cuba. * Jorge Ibarra, Rafael Cepeda, Walterio Carbonell, Roberto Friol, Luis Toledo Sande, Diana Abad, Olga Cabrera, and Emilio Godinez. My conversations with these Cuban academics helped clarify my topic, locate important sources, and deepen my interest in Cuba and its history. Finally, I want to express special gratitude to my family. They, above all else, made this study possible. My wife, Betty K. Bradfield, and two children, Jeremy and Noel, were heroic in their patience and loving in their encouragement. My parents, Sergio and Gerry Poyo, were always there to provide much needed moral and financial support. Tom and Laura Bradfield shared their home and our poverty with us for six months. Lastly, none of this would have occurred without the influence of Sergia Alvarez y Rodriguez, my grandmother, who taught me to love Cuba and its history. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iii ABSTRACT vii INTRODUCTION 1 NOTES 6 CHAPTER 1: THE RADICALIZATION OF THE CUBAN SEPARATIST MOVEMENT IN THE UNITED STATES, 1852-1868., 7 NOTES 49 CHAPTER 2: TRADITIONAL SEPARATISM RESURRECTED: THE NEW YORK REVOLUTIONARY JUNTA, 1869-1870... 57 NOTES 90 CHAPTER 3: TRADITIONAL SEPARATISM CHALLENGED: FAC- TIONALIZATION AND OPPOSITION TO A DIPLOMA- TIC SETTLEMENT OF THE TEN YEARS WAR 97 NOTES 130 CHAPTER 4: THE NATIONALIST ALTERNATIVE DURING THE TEN YEARS WAR: ABSOLUTE INDEPENDENCE AND UN- CONDITIONAL REVOLUTION 136 NOTES 167 CHAPTER 5: THE CUBAN INDEPENDENCE MOVEMENT, THE 1880S: REVOLUTIONARY ACTIVISM AND POLITICAL DEBATES 172 NOTES 200 CHAPTER 6: CUBANS IN FLORIDA: DEMOGRAPHIC CHARACTER- ISTICS, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, AND SOCIAL TENSTIONS , 1870-1887 205 NOTES 239 CHAPTER 7: CHALLENGES TO THE INDEPENDENCE MOVEMENT, 1886-1890: ANARCHISM AND ANNEXATI ONI SM. 245 NOTES 279 CHAPTER 8: FORGING POLITICAL UNITY IN THE EMIGRE COM- MUNITIES, 1890-1895: EL PARTIDO REVOLU- CIONARIO CUBANO 284 NOTES 313 CHAPTER 9: WORKERS, BLACKS, AND THE REVOLUTIONARY MOVEMENT, 1890-1895 319 NOTES 350 CONCLUSION 354 NOTES 363 BIBLIOGRAPHY 364 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH 385 Abstract of Dissertation Presented to the Graduate Council of the University of Florida in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy CUBAN EMIGRE COMMUNITIES IN THE UNITED STATES AND THE INDEPENDENCE OF THEIR HOMELAND, 1852-1895 By Gerald Eugene Poyo August 1983 Chariman: Andres Suarez Major Department: History Throughout the final half of the nineteenth century, Cuban emigre communities in the United States served as guardians and propagandists for the Cuban separatist ideal. Between mid- century and 1895 the movement to eject Spain from Cuba underwent a radical political and social transformation. While Cubans rejected Narciso Lopez in the 1850s, they greeted enthusiastically Jose Marti, Maximo Gomez, and Antonio Maceo in 1895. Politically, emigre separatism evolved from a conserva- tive, annexationist, and diplomatically oriented thinking in the 1840s and 1850s, to a populist, pro-independence, and self-reliant force in the 1890s. This reflected a change in the social composi- tion of the movement. While during the forties and fifties expatriate vii separatism was led by Habana "aristocrats" and the island's liberal socioeconomic elite, during the eighties and nineties its leadership was of middle-class and working-class extraction. Also, for the first time, the movement reflected the racial composition of Cuban society. This transformation in the emigre movement, of course, did not occur without considerable conflict. Differences over separa- tist strategy and the slavery question caused rifts in the emigre communities during the 1850s and 1860s. Bitter polemics between annexationists and independentistas paralyzed exile efforts in support of the Revolucion de Yara during the 1870s. And, during the next decade, class and racial animosities reflected dn confrontations between Cuban anarchists and nationalists in, the Florida colonies kept the expatriate movement divided. Despite these bitter conflicts, groups of activists in New York and Florida reorganized the emigre colonies in the late 1880s, but only with the emergence of Jose Marti as the most effective separatist propagandist, was the movement's enthusiasm reignited. Founded in 1892, the new revolutionary organization, the Partido Revolucionario Cubano, relied on the working-class and military veterans in the Florida communities. Based on a populist and highly nationalistic ideology, Marti' s new movement succeeded in defusing the political and social tensions among emigres sufficiently to launch the final assault on Spanish authority in Cuba during 1895. viii INTRODUCTION A cursory survey of Cuban historiography reveals that a primary concern of historians has been with the independence process of the nineteenth century. Literally hundreds of published ma- terials, including studies, memoirs, diaries, correspondence, and other documentation, focus on the almost century long effort by Cubans to evict the Spanish from their homelandJ It is noteworthy, however, that few of these studies treat the emigre communities, which served as the organizing centers for the separatist movement throughout most of its history. The importance of the Cuban expa- triate centers in maintaining and developing the movement is noted in study after study, but the traditional research has examined them only briefly and very superficially, emphasizing their patriotism and commitment to Cuban separation from Spain while ignoring the colonies' ideological and socioeconomic character, diversities, and conflicts. 2 Throughout the final half of the nineteenth century, Cuban emigre communities in New York, New Orleans, Key West, Tampa, and numerous other cities in the United States served as guardians and propagandists for the separatist ideal. They maintained separa- tisms' political viability even when on the island the movement seemed inactive and unpopular. Most of the primary separatist leaders at one time or another travelled to or resided in the exile centers of the United States, and many of the movements' political ideas emerged from these communities. Since political conditions in Cuba throughout the century did not allow dissidents to air their grievances, they were expressed in a vigorous exile press that was active as early as the 1820s. Moreover, the various communities in the United States included all segments of Cuban society, providing the researcher with a unique opportunity not only to trace the development of separatist thinking over the years, but to examine the role of the socioeconomic forces within the movement and under- stand their attitudes toward the various political currents. This dissertation, then, seeks to increase our understanding of the Cuban independence process through studying the political, economic, and social dynamics of the Cuban communities in the United States from 1852 through 1895- In tracing the ideological evolution of separatism, existing literature