10 Things You Didn't Know About the Enslavement of Black People in Cuba

Life Expectancy of Enslaved People in Sugar Mills Was No Greater than Eight Years Working in sugar mills and on sugar plantations was incredibly hard work, and it often slashed the life expectancy of enslaved people dramatically. Based on harsh working conditions, deplorable living quarters, insufficient hours for rest and a variety of other factors, enslaved people who worked in the sugar mills were only expected to live for another eight years at most, according to materials provided by the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies at NYU. Once they passed away, their masters were quick to replace them without thinking twice about the life that was lost. Enslaved Pregnant Women Were Often Beaten on the Belly Cuban slave masters were particularly cruel when it came to pregnant women. While the owners of enslaved people in the Americas tended to punish women without any regards to their pregnancies, in Cuba their pregnancies were used as part of their punishment. According to "Freedom on My Mind: A History of African Americans," when enslaved women were being punished, some Cuban masters would beat them on the belly, which often caused miscarriages. Slavery Continued On Well After It Had Been ‘Abolished’ in 1817 According to the 1817 treaty that Spain joined with England, slave trade into Spanish colony Cuba was abolished. Unfortunately, this didn’t put an end to enslaved Black people being brought to the foreign land. Between 1821 and 1831, more than 300 expeditions continued to kidnap Africans for chattel slavery in Cuba. It is believed that these expeditions were responsible for forcing more than 60,000 Black people into captivity in Cuba. Slavery in Cuba Was Gendered Unlike slavery in America, Cuba’s slavery system was gendered, according to "General History of the Caribbean, Vol III." Enslaved women often had a different set of tasks and responsibilities than enslaved males. This was different from the slavery system in America where both men and women were required to carry the same workload, especially in the fields. Women were still worked just as hard as men were and often did work in the fields, but many enslaved women had the task of operating town taverns or taking on more domestic labor. The Haitian Revolution Boosted Demand to Enslave Black People in Cuba After the Haitian Revolution, slavery became even more profitable for slave traders and masters in Cuba. With the end of slavery in Haiti and a set of crippling embargoes imposed on it by Western powers after the former French colony's 1804 revolution, Cuba was left as the dominant supplier in the global sugar market. This encouraged more people to get involved in the trading of enslaved people so they could make even more profits from their sugar mills now that all eyes were on Cuba as the major exporter of sugar. Enslaved People Started to Outnumber the White Population in Cuba The population of enslaved people in Cuba started to grow so quickly that there was a serious fear that the number of enslaved people would outnumber the white population in the country. According to "A Companion to Latin American History," enslaved people comprised nearly 40 percent of the Cuban population. When this number was combined with the number of freed Black people in the country, they easily outnumbered the white population. Eventually, the Cuban government started lying about the actual population figures to prevent people from fearing a serious uprising. There Was a Spanish Flavor of 'Slave Codes' in Cuba Spanish rule actually created laws that would regulate the treatment of enslaved people. There were guidelines on everything from how many times an enslaved person could be whipped to how many hours they could be worked every day. Unfortunately, this set of rules, known as the Código Negro Español, or the Spanish Black Code, was largely ignored by those who enslaved people. Sugar mill owners insisted that enslaved people had to work at least 20 hours for a reasonable output and claimed that regulations on physical punishment would result in a massive uprising. Black Women Endured Rape by White Masters in Hopes of Gaining Freedom There were actually policies in place that would allow enslaved people to obtain their freedom, but they certainly weren't easy. Enslaved people had the option of buying their freedom, but it was a hefty price that many couldn't afford. Women, on the other hand, had another option. According to "General History of the Caribbean, Vol III," enslaved women who were raped by white men hoped that they would at least become pregnant after dealing with the traumatic experience because Cuban policies would grant freedom to some enslaved Black women who had a child by a white man. Spaniards Weren’t the Ones Who Introduced Cuba to Large-Scale Slave Trading While Spaniards kept slavery thriving in Cuba, they actually weren't the ones who introduced it on a major scale. Small groups of enslaved people had already been brought to Cuba before the British took control of the island in the 1760s, but it wasn't until the British imported thousands of enslaved people to Cuba that it became a major part of their economic foundation. At the end of the Seven Years' War, Britain agreed to return Cuba to Spanish rule, and by then the Spanish decided to keep the system of slavery that had already been established. Black People Were Enslaved Specifically for Their Superior Strength Both Africans and Chinese people were enslaved in Cuba, but Black people were chosen specifically for their supposed superior strength over other races. According to CubaHistory.org, Black people were often considered to be in much better physical condition than white people, which made them a target for those involved in the slave trade.

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