A Very Brief History of Cuba

To begin, it is important to know about the history of Cuba to fully comprehend how things came to be as they are today. Since the Conquest and Colonization Era (1492-1898), many of the prominent European countries and the powerful neighbor to the north of Cuba, the United States of America, have attempted to take control of the land. It first began with the Spanish conquistadors, specifically Diego Velázquez, who was the first to explore and settle the land. Up until the end of the 19th century, the Spanish monarch was the authoritative figure overseeing the land and

southeastern shoreline. Promptly around 1959, combating for many years. Castro gets to be distinctly ruler, his sibling, Raul, turns into his assistant. Fidel Castro dominated in regards to defeating the legislature of Cuban dictator. American sensitivity dissolved quit quick, Although, when Premier Castro started to act and sound like a communist dictator. He neglected to hold the free electoral polls, that he had guaranteed the Cuban citizens. He put to death several of his previous political competitors in nasty trials expected more as publication than as legal procedures. At that point he continued to fill Cuban prisons yet again with political commentators, including a large portion of Castro's previous acquaintances, against communist work pioneers, and other veteran opponents of the Batista administration. The press was strictly being watched. foreign claimed property was taken impulsively without reasonable pay, and maybe with no pay at all. only the communists came out unscathed from Castro's severe and vindictive

Cuba first gained importance in the 1560s, when the Spanish built Havana as a center to keep and build navy ships. During the 1700s, it primarily profited from sugar plantations, though it also made money from cattle farming, tobacco, and coffee. Cuba primarily exported the sugar it produced to Spain, but

Although both Cuba and Mexico have Spaniard influence that is the most they have in relation to each other historically. Not much of Cuba is known before the arrival of the Spaniards in 1492 by Christopher Columbus, upon arrival there were no indigenous peoples on the island. Where in Mexico there plenty of indigenous people from Aztecs, Mayans, to Tzotzil. When the Spaniards arrived in Mexico in 1529 there were natives roaming around everywhere. After the arrival of the Spaniards in Cuba, the island was being used as a slave stop before

Cuba was one of the biggest producers of sugar which was what the us wanted. Spain wanted to trade with other countries but since they were still part of Spain, they were not able to do that ( Brad Williford).Spain had really strict rules on who to trade with and that was one of the biggest problems they had and why they wanted to be independent.That is why they wanted independence so that no one is able to tell them anything and they trade with who they want, and do what they want as their own country.”Cuba's economy became even more closely linked with that of the United States than it had been earlier in the century” (José M. Hernandez). After Cuba became closer to the US, their sugar prices dropped and also their economy dropped and that was not good for Cuba. People started becoming poor after all that happened with the

Christopher Columbus reached Cuba on October twenty-eighth, 1492 (García, The Colonial Era). Twenty years later in 1510, the conquest of Cuba began (García, The Colonial Era). Then after one year of the Spanish exploring Cuba, Diego Velázquez was appointed as the governor of Cuba (García, The Colonial Era). He then crushed all indigenous resistances easily (García, The Colonial Era). The had much better weapons than the Cubans, like metal weapons and guns (García, The Colonial Era). The Spanish brutally killed thousands of native Cubans without hesitation.

The Cuban revolution had great domestic and international influences and reshaped Cuba’s relationship with the world, especially with United States, which continues an embargo against Cuba as of this very day. Immediately after the revolution, Cuban government started a program of nationalization and political consolidation, which ultimately transformed Cuba’s economy and society.

The island of Cuba has an abundant history in politics, religion and Politeness. Cuba is the largest island of the West Indies group is the same size of Pennsylvania, Cuba is west of Haiti and the Dominican Republic, and 90 miles south of Key West, Fla., Cuba’s island is at the entrance to the Gulf of Mexico. Arawak or Taino Indians were the indigenous land owner of Cuba before Columbus landed on the island 1492. Arawak or Taino Indians died from diseases brought by Columbus Sailors and settlers. By 1511, Spaniards under Diego Velásquez had established settlements.

Cuba and the United States fought Spain in what is known as the Cuban War of Independence from 1895 to 1898. Cuba attacked Spain with the aid of the United States. The purpose of the war was to bring new economic life to Cuba and give Cuba independence because Spain was not treating Cubans fairly. In the end, Spain lost, and gave up control of Cuba. Spain also lost control of The Philippines and Puerto Rico. To the United States.

Pre-Revolutionary Cuba was under rule of a dictatorship, Fulgencio Batista. Foreigners saw Cuba as a land enchantment and as paradise. People visited the casinos and there was a substantial amount of prostitution. For the native’s of Cuba, there was an economic imbalance between the social classes. Cubans had various reasons for disliking their current government. For example, they were under Batista’s rule and the United States had a large amount of influence on what happened in Cuba. This lead to a feeble economy and government, many would wonder why the economy was weak even though Cuba was a hot spot for tourism. With the thriving tourism market, there were large amounts of unequal distribution of wealth. With this Cuba had such a vast difference between social classes that eventually led to the now infamous Cuban Revolution.

The first inhabitants of the island, the Taíno, were a complexly structured, polytheistic society that upheld peace and nonviolence as tenants of their culture. Since the Taíno tribes almost exclusively occupied all of Cuba’s surrounding islands, aside from small skirmishes, the natives engaged in very little conflict, leading to a culture ingrained with peace. Bartolome de Las Casas, a crewmember and explorer with one of the first Spanish fleets in the Caribbean, illustrated a people who whose culture favored peace and benevolence, describing them as “neither exciteable nor quarrelsome” and remarkably “humble… and peaceable.” De Las Casas’ account further indicated that the Taíno’s original response to the Spanish as a whole was welcoming, as opposed to immediately violent and confrontational. Thus, when the first Spanish fleet arrived in Cuba 1492, the Taíno offered exotic gifts and willingly accepted the glass, beads, and other manufactured items from the Spanish conquistadors, symbolically cementing an initially friendly

Cuba’s early history is characterized by colonization, agricultural capitalism, the introduction of African slave labor, and a class system that divided the island (Mintz, 1971). Beginning in the 1800’s the Catholic Church ideology saturated Cuban society, which was the standard of Spanish-speaking Latin America at that time. Education at this time was an opportunity experienced by elite, white, males and centered on rigid Catholic tenets of philosophy. The base economy was agriculture, and African slaves

The economies of Cuba and Puerto Rico are very similar during the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries. As Spain colonized these two islands in the 16th century under the idea that gold was abundant. Thus in turn the islands became a safe port for Spain and her vessels. It also set out to be a huge migration from the Spain to the islands, because everyone was set to search for gold. . This turned out to be short lived as the mining of gold peaked in 1517 till 1819. By Spain using Cuba and Puerto Rico for mining gold they needed slave laborers as the local Indians. The Indians soon became unsatisfied with their new conditions of living, they became hostile and many not able to cope with being slaves committed suicide and genocide. By 1540 – 1550

In December 1898, Spain ceded control of the Philippines, Puerto Rico, and Cuba to the United States. The next sixty years of history on Cuba featured a strong U.S. presence. The U.S. Navy established the base at Guantanamo Bay, American tourists flocked to the casinos, hotels, and brothels of Havana, and U.S. interference in internal Cuban politics was the norm.

In this paper, the question of why did Cuban slavery collapse in the nineteenth century will be answered. In 1820s, some Spanish colonies rebelled and finally gain the independence, while Cuban was still loyal to the Spanish. It is partly because Cuba depends on Spain for trade and the need for continuous protection from pirates and slave rebellions. Although, at that period of time, they were unhappy about Spanish rules, they were more afraid of the rising power of United States. During that time, Cuba continuously conveys sugar, coffee and tobacco to Europe and American. And to do so, the economy of Cuba needs slaves, since slavery was the economic foundation for the farming and mining