Shade-Grown Slavery

William C. Van Norman

Description

Within the world of Cuban slave-holding plantations, all enslaved people had to negotiate a life defined by forces beyond their control, and indeed beyond the control of their masters. Slaves on coffee farms survived in ways that allowed them to marry, have children, and maintain and redefine cultural practices that they passed on to their children. Slaves were an important factor in creating a nascent Afro-Cuban culture and identity.

In this broad, interdisciplinary study, William Van Norman describes how each type of plantation and the amount of manual labor it required directly influenced the nature of slave life in that community. Slaves on coffee plantations lived in a unique context in comparison to that of their fellow slaves on sugar plantations, one that gave them greater flexibility in cultural and artistic creativity. To gain a deeper understanding of plantation slavery in Cuba, Van Norman explores what life and labor was like for coffee slaves and how it was different from what sugar slaves experienced. Shade-Grown Slavery reconstructs their world and in turn deconstructs the picture we now have of Cuba in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.

Ultimately, Shade-Grown Slavery reveals the lives of enslaved Africans on Cuban coffee plantations and shows how they were able to maintain and transform their cultural traditions in spite of slavery.

Sujets

• Latin American Studies
• Caribbean Studies
• Black Studies
• West Indies
• Economic History
• Histoire
• Africana studies
• Caribbean
• History

Informations

• Publié par: Vanderbilt University Press
• Date de parution: 15 juin 2013
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780826519160
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 2 Mo

Extrait

ShadeGrown Slavery

The Lives of Slaves on Coffee Plantations in Cuba

W I L L I A M V C . A N  N O R M A N  J R .

SHADEGROWN SL AVERY

ShadeGrown Slavery The Lives of Slaves on Coffee Plantations in Cuba

William C. Van Norman Jr.

VandeRbilt UniveRsity PRess Nashville

© 2013 by VandeRbilt UniveRsity PRess Nashville, Tennessee 37235 All Rights ReseRved FiRst pRinting 2013

This book is pRinted on acid-fRee papeR. ManufactuRed in the United States of AmeRica

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data on île

LC contRol numbeR 2012033921 LC classiîcation number HT1076.V36 2012 Dewey class number 306.3′6209729109033—dc23

ISBN 978-0-8265-1914-6 (cloth) ISBN 978-0-8265-1915-3 (paperback) ISBN 978-0-8265-1916-0 (e-book)

For the slaves of Cuba’s coffee plantations

and for Esther, Mariel, and Alison

CONTENTS

 Acknowledgments iX  IntRoduction: The CRop MatteRed 1

PArT I Roots: The Expansion of Coffee and the Slave Population 1 Café con azúcaR: The EXpansion  of the Slave Population and Plantations 7 2 TRansfoRmations: Building FRamewoRks and StRuctuRes 34

PArT II Branches: The Negotiations of Life on the Cafetal 63 3 Space Is the Place: Intentions and SubveRsion of Design 69 4 Under Cover of Night: Religious Practices 90 5 BuyeRs and SelleRs: WoRk and Economy of the Slaves 109 6 When Everyday Actions Escalate:  resistance, rebellions, and CultuRal CompleXity 121

PArT III Harvest Conclusion: PeRfoRming CultuRe and the  Appropriation of Identiîcations 139

AppendiX A. DemogRaphic Data 147 AppendiX B. Cafetales 149

 Notes 155  BibliogRaphy 191  IndeX 201

ACKNOWLEDGMENT S

his woRk began oveR a decade ago in the pRovincial aRchives of Matanzas, Cuba, when I was a gRaduate student at the UniveRsity of NoRth CaRolina in T Spain oveR many yeaRs, compiling the data and stoRies that went into the mak- at Chapel Hill. I worked in numerous archives and libraries in Cuba and ing of this study. As is always the case, the îrst book of any historian is shaped through countless interactions in many venues that all contribute to the înal out- come. I want to begin by asking foRgiveness foR any I have omitted heRe. Time and memoRy often conspiRe against us.  Louis A. PéRez JR. guided my woRk at UNC and was all I could have hoped foR as a mentoR. I wish to eXpRess my deep gRatitude and acknowledge my debt to him. He was always generous with his guidance and helped me înd resources on the island that weRe invaluable to this woRk. John Chasteen, KathRyn BuRns, Lisa Lindsay, and LaRs Schoultz offeRed tRemendous insights on pRepaRing this study foR publication. OtheR faculty at the UniveRsity of NoRth CaRolina and Duke UniveRsity have contRibuted to my pRogRess and success. I waRmly thank SaRah Shields foR heR encouRagement and heR eXample of integRity as a scholaR. I val- ued heR thoughtfulness and fRiendship duRing my yeaRs at UNC. Lloyd KRameR guided me from my îrst days at UNC and continued to be supportive through- out my time in Chapel Hill. John French and Barry Gaspar of Duke University helped me to become moRe RigoRous in my thinking and to see Cuba and slav- eRy on the island as paRt of a laRgeR system situated in the CaRibbean and Latin AmeRica.  SheRRy Johnson, of FloRida InteRnational UniveRsity, and I became fRiends while ReseaRching in Seville. OuR conveRsations oveR the yeaRs have enRiched my development as a scholaR and have bRoadened my knowledge of Cuba. She was geneRous with advice and in heR cRitiques of my woRk. I appReciate heR suppoRt and continued fRiendship.  K. Lynn StoneR was my mentoR in the histoRy depaRtment at ARizona State University during my undergraduate years. Her guidance drew me into the study

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