During hurricane season, Cuba is known to have multiple hurricanes with catastrophic results. Louis A. Perez, the author of Winds of Change, recollects the impact of three major hurricanes which happened in 1842,1844, and 1846. He does this by using eyewitness and literary accounts. These catastrophic storms caused many people to lose their property but more importantly their lives. This gave Cubans the building blocks of what would become known as Cuba of today. The impacts that Cuba had in these hard times included an economic crash, infrastructural debilitations, and multiple slave rebellions.
During the 19th century, the Cuban economy was mainly made up of exporting goods. These goods included tobacco, coffee, sugar, and cacao. Although, during the hurricanes, a vast majority of plantations were damaged or destroyed. Between 1844 and 1845 total Cuban production declined by more than 45%. “Production of the populations most basic food staples, including corn, viandas, plantains, and beans, was obstructed.” (p111) Plantations that used to be produced coffee were not restored as coffee estates but were turned into sugar cane plantations.
Cuba then took enormous strides toward an economic dependence on sugar. On page 120, table 4.3 The Population of Cafetales and Ingenios, 1846 and 1862, shows the impact the hurricane in 1846 had on the coffee and sugar plantations in multiple cities. Matanzas experienced the highest drop in production in coffee but increased the amount of sugar by 1862. Meanwhile, Guines had the low drop in coffee production but had a substantial increase of sugar by a little more than double the amount they had in 1846.
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Tobacco production suffered a great impact. Perez recalls a letter that was published by Diario de la Marina two days before the 1844 hurricane hit. “It has rained without stopping a single moment for days and nights. The rivers have swollen to menacing proportions, the roads have become impassable. Tobacco farmers have lost almost everything.” (p68) Overflooding caused by the hurricane would prove to be enough to damage the production of Tobacco. Although tobacco production suffered short-term adversity, it soon recovered and made a dramatic increase in production.
Since the hurricanes caused major destruction all over the island, everything needed to be repaired. Approximately, over 3,000 homes were destroyed in the nation’s capital of Havana. Much of which consisted of barrio; where the poor lived. “Thousands of families wander aimlessly in search of a place of refuge in which to shelter themselves and in which to give thanks to the almighty for having spared them of the death that threatened the entire city for so many hours.” (p113) The poor already lived in very bad conditions before the hurricanes caused the destruction. The magnitude of the devastation in 1844 and 1846 created shortages of every type, including food supplies and clothing. As well as the materials necessary for rebuilding, including wood, nails, and tiles. After the hurricane of 1842, Cuba tried to rebuild homes
Which, coincidentally, meant Cubans had to improve the infrastructure. By improving this, it would prevent a mass destruction to happen again in the future. Some of the improvements that they needed to improve on were their ports. “In this capital, the port and its bay in particular present a painful sight; all the merchant ships and coastwise vessels have suffered considerable losses—some more, some less. Many have been totally lost.” (p71) By improving the city’s port, ships that were docked would be safer. Likewise, the ships would be able to export materials keeping the flow of production in and out of the city.
During the first half of the 19th century, the population of Cuba increased dramatically to a little over one million by 1841. Slavery population also increased even though Queen Isabel II agreed to the suppression of the slave trade in all Spanish realms because of British diplomatic pressure. It got to the point where the population of color exceeded the white population. “Almost 60 percent of the population of extramuro Havana consisted of people of color, both free and slave.” (p115) With such a huge amount of people of color in just one city, with most of them being mistreated, there was a breaking point to which they could not take it any longer.
Rebellions started to break out in some plantations due to the lack of resources the slaves were living from. Thus, the political aspect of the nation was at risk of being threatened. “The outcome was never in doubt, but the extent of the rebellion took planters and political authorities by surprise.” (p100) All over the nation, rebellions started to break out. In January of 1843, 200 slaves rebelled their sugar plantation near Matanzas, killing the mayoral. A few months later, several other hundred slaves rebelled in Sabanilla and eventually spreading to nearby cities such as San Lorenzo, San Miguel, and San Rafael. Within days, Sabilla was overcrowding with Spanish cavalry and infantry units.
The repression to keep things under control was not going so well and failed to keep the uprising from expanding too much or getting too extreme. “The blacks on this occasion, were not content with burning the cane fields and taking flight into the mountains, as they have customarily done in similar situations. Rather, they killed six whites and made their way to neighboring estates with the intention of inciting to rebellion the dotaciones of slaves and proclaiming liberty for the black race.” (p100) At this point, those in political power started to realize that these repeated rebellions had a different meaning now. The old rebellions were just to make a statement to get better treatment. Now, the uprisings meant freedom to all blacks. Which is extraordinary by which the means the slaves have taken up arms just because the hurricanes destroyed plantations causing little to no food. This ignited an uprising that led to people to be heard, even though there had to be blood spilled to do so.
In conclusion, the hurricanes of 1842,1844, and 1846 had an enormous impact on Cuba. These hurricanes destroyed plantations causing a lower exportation of goods. Also, Cubans realized they needed to improve their infrastructure in both housing and ports to reduce the amount of property being destroyed by such a catastrophic event. Lastly, the hurricanes caused lower food to be produced, which caused an uprising by slaves.
Hurricanes That Impacted Cuba in 19th Century. (2022, Feb 26). Retrieved from https://paperap.com/hurricanes-that-impacted-cuba-in-19th-century/
