Provided by the author(s) and NUI Galway in accordance with publisher policies. Please cite the published version when available. Title Irish Migration to Cuba, 1835-1845: Empire, Ethnicity, Slavery and 'Free' Labour Author(s) Brehony, Margaret Publication Date 2012-03-16 Item record http://hdl.handle.net/10379/3181 Downloaded 2021-09-27T04:34:22Z Some rights reserved. For more information, please see the item record link above. Irish Migration to Cuba, 1835-1845: Empire, Ethnicity, Slavery and ‘Free’ Labour ________________________________________ Margaret Brehony Submitted for the Degree of Ph.D. to the National University of Ireland, Galway Centre for Irish Studies School of Humanities March 2012 Director of Centre: Dr. Louis de Paor Research Supervisor: Dr. Kathy Powell Table of Contents ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ........................................................................................................... I ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................................... IV LIST OF FIGURES AND ILLUSTRATIONS .................................................................................. V MAP OF THE HAVANA – GÜINES RAILROAD, C. 1837 ........................................................... VI CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................. 1 METHODOLOGICAL AND THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK ............................................. 7 THE ARCHIVAL FIELD ............................................................................................... 8 STRUCTURE OF THESIS ........................................................................................... 15 CHAPTER 2: THE RAILROAD CONTRACTS (1835-1837) .......................................................... 20 INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................... 20 COLONIAL DISCOURSE AND THE ARCHIVE ............................................................. 22 THE SUGAR RAILROAD ........................................................................................... 24 THE SEARCH FOR LABOUR ..................................................................................... 25 IRISH LABOUR NETWORKS IN NEW YORK (1830S) ................................................ 31 LOS IRLANDESES ...................................................................................................... 33 LABOURERS FROM THE CANARY ISLANDS ............................................................. 38 THE SYSTEM OF CONTRACT LABOUR ..................................................................... 41 DISCIPLINE AND CONTROL OF CONTRACT LABOURERS ......................................... 42 CHOLERA AND COMPANY PROFITS ........................................................................ 46 DESERTION AND DESTITUTION ............................................................................... 50 SKILLED WORKER ‘ELITE’...................................................................................... 61 IRISH LABOURERS AND RAILROAD HISTORIOGRAPHY ........................................... 64 THE END OF THE ‘FREE’ LABOUR EXPERIMENT ..................................................... 67 CONCLUSION ........................................................................................................... 73 CHAPTER 3: COLONIALISM, MIGRATION AND THE CHARMS OF LIBERTY ............................. 75 INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................... 75 SECTION ONE: SETTLER COLONIALISM IN IRELAND AND CUBA ............................ 76 The Reproduction of Irish Labour ................................................................................... 83 Caribbean Plantation Colony of Cuba ............................................................................ 89 SECTION TWO: MIGRATION AND LABOUR IN THE GREEN AND BLACK ATLANTIC 97 Irish Migration to the Caribbean (1600-1750) ............................................................... 97 Irish Mobile Proletariat (1800-1845) ........................................................................... 102 Irish Migration to Latin America .................................................................................. 105 North America .............................................................................................................. 107 SECTION THREE: THE TRANSITION FROM SLAVERY TO ‘FREE’ LABOUR ............. 115 The Test of Free Labour ................................................................................................ 115 The ‘Natural Wage’ ...................................................................................................... 119 Virtual Slavery – Nominal Freedom ............................................................................. 122 CHAPTER 4: THE IRISH AS WHITENING AGENTS IN COLONIAL CUBA .................................. 129 INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................... 129 SECTION ONE: THE IRISH-CUBAN CREOLE PLANTER CLASS ............................... 133 Creole Loyalties ............................................................................................................ 145 SECTION TWO: IMMIGRATION AND WHITE COLONISATION ................................. 150 Council for White Population and Irish Immigration (1818-1825) ............................... 153 Irish Settler Families (1818-1820) ................................................................................ 154 Frontier Colonies in Cienfuegos and Moa .................................................................... 157 The Racial Contract –Whiteness and Property............................................................. 163 SECTION THREE: SLAVERY, FREE LABOUR AND WHITENING (1835-1840) ......... 168 The Demographics of Slavery ....................................................................................... 168 ‘Free’ Labour Versus Slavery ........................................................................................ 171 Africanisation and Cuban Nationalism ........................................................................ 175 Discourse of Abolition and Blanqueamiento ................................................................ 177 ‘The Wages of Whiteness’ ............................................................................................ 183 Conclusion .................................................................................................................... 186 CHAPTER 5: REPERTOIRES OF RESISTANCE ....................................................................... 190 INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................... 190 SECTION ONE: THE AGRARIAN UNDERGROUND IN IRELAND (1761-1840) .......... 194 Whiteboys and Subversive Laws (1761-1790) ............................................................. 197 Pre-Modern Memories and Modern Coercions ............................................................ 204 SECTION TWO: THE DIALECTIC OF DISCIPLINE AND RESISTANCE ....................... 208 Irish Immigrant Labour in the United States ................................................................ 211 Irish Protest on the Cuban Railroad ............................................................................. 213 Multi-Ethnic Protest ..................................................................................................... 219 Protest and Desertion .................................................................................................. 221 Contagious Resistance ................................................................................................. 224 SECTION THREE: IRISH MIGRANTS AND THE CONSPIRACY OF LA ESCALERA ....... 229 British and Irish Abolitionists ....................................................................................... 231 The Irish Complication.................................................................................................. 241 CONCLUSION ..................................................................................................................... 249 APPENDICES ...................................................................................................................... 257 BIBLIOGRAPHY .................................................................................................................. 263 ARCHIVAL COLLECTIONS ..................................................................................... 263 LIBRARIES ............................................................................................................. 263 NEWSPAPERS ........................................................................................................ 264 PUBLISHED SOURCES ............................................................................................ 264 Acknowledgements Over the course of many visits to Cuba I became aware of a history of Irish-Cuban elites, slaveholders and military personalities going back to the eighteenth century. I was more than surprised to hear of other waves of ‘ordinary’ migrants at a seminar at the Centre for Irish Studies, NUI, Galway, from a visiting Cuban scholar, Felix Flores Varona, researching José Martí’s writings on Irish political and literary figures. My curiosity deepened and I owe special