Captaincy General of Cuba

Cuba, 1607–1898. Draft, not yet reviewed

In 1607 Philip III created the Captaincy General of Cuba as part of larger plans to defend the Caribbean against foreign threats. Cuba became a sugar, coffee and tobacco exporting colony, and large numbers of slaves were imported into Cuba. Slavery in Cuba existed until being abolished in 1886. Cuba experienced three civil wars in thirty years: the Ten Years' War, the Little War and the War of Independence, which became the Spanish–American War.

Seat of power: Havana

Rulers

Francisco Dionisio Vives

Governor and Captain General of Cuba, 1823–1832

He was Captain General of Cuba during 1823–1832, when all Spanish possessions on the American continent had become independent. With few troops under his command, he managed to maintain order and preserve the island of Cuba for Spain. He favored the expansion of the sugar industry, liberalized foreign trade and protected the slave trade.

Miguel Tacón y Rosique

Governor and Captain General of Cuba, 1834–1838

From 1834 to 1838, he was Governor of Cuba. He governed the island well in daily matters and public works, especially in Havana, but this was overshadowed by his despotic style and his promotion of slave trade. The Tacón Theatre, Paseo de Tacón, Mercado de Tacón and Tacón Garden in Havana were named after him.

Portrait of Miguel Tacón y Rosique: Luis Carlos Legrand-Biblioteca Nacional de España, CC BY-SA 4.0, file

Joaquín Ezpeleta Enrile

Governor and Captain General of Cuba, 1838–1840

In 1837, he was appointed second-in-command to the Captain-General of Cuba and a year later he was promoted to Captain-General of Cuba until 1840, when he resigned for health issues. He organized a fire brigade and he promoted the establishment of savings banks and the laying of railway lines.

Portrait of Joaquín Ezpeleta Enrile: Eduardo Balaca, Public domain, file

Pedro de Alcántara Téllez-Girón

Governor and Captain General of Cuba, 1840–1841

He was the director of the Prado Museum between 1820 and 1823 and Captain General of Cuba, from January 1840 to March 1841.

Portrait of Pedro de Alcántara Téllez-Girón: Augusto de Burgos, Public domain, file

Jerónimo Valdés

Governor and Captain General of Cuba, 1841–1843

He served as governor of Cuba from 1841 to September 1843. He fought on the Liberal side in the First Carlist War.

Portrait of Jerónimo Valdés: Panorama Español, Public domain, file

Leopoldo O'Donnell, 1st Duke of Tetuan

Governor and Captain General of Cuba, 1843–1848

O'Donnell was sent to Cuba as Captain General in October 1843. O'Donnell was responsible for the 1844 massacre known as the repression of "La Escalera". Thousands of slaves and free-coloured people in Cuba were confined in dungeons, tortured and executed in what became known as the Year of the Lash.

Portrait of Leopoldo O'Donnell, 1st Duke of Tetuan: Raimundo de Madrazo y Garreta, Public domain, file

Federico de Roncali, 1st Count of Alcoy

Governor and Captain General of Cuba, 1848–1850

He served as Prime Minister of Spain between 1852 and 1853 and held other important offices such as Captain General of Cuba.

Portrait of Federico de Roncali, 1st Count of Alcoy: Unknown author, PD, file

José Gutiérrez de la Concha, 1st Marquis of Havana

Governor and Captain General of Cuba, 1850–1852

In 1851, while in command in Cuba, he defeated the Lopez Expedition, a filibustering attempt to seize the island.

Portrait of José Gutiérrez de la Concha, 1st Marquis of Havana: Rafael Benjumea, Public domain, file

José Gutiérrez de la Concha, 1st Marquis of Havana

Governor and Captain General of Cuba, 1854–1859

He served three times as Captain General of Cuba and once as the Prime Minister of Spain.

Portrait of José Gutiérrez de la Concha, 1st Marquis of Havana: Rafael Benjumea, Public domain, file

Francisco Serrano, 1st Duke of la Torre

Governor and Captain General of Cuba, 1859–1862

O'Donnell appointed Serrano as marshal in 1856 and captain-general of Cuba from 1859 to 1862. Serrano governed that island with success, and helped carry out the war in Santo Domingo. He was the first viceroy to advocate political and financial reforms in the colony.

Portrait of Francisco Serrano, 1st Duke of la Torre: Nadar, Public domain, file

Domingo Dulce, 1st Marquis of Castell-Florite

Governor and Captain General of Cuba, 1862–1866

He served two times as Captain General of Cuba. During his stay in America, he was noted for his clear commitment to abolish slavery, which earned him the enmity of the Spanish expatriates. On 9 January 1869 he decreed the freedom of the press for the first time on the island.

Portrait of Domingo Dulce, 1st Marquis of Castell-Florite: Fondo Antiguo de la Biblioteca de la Universidad de Sevilla from Sevilla, España, Public domain, file

Francisco de Lersundi y Hormaechea

Governor and Captain General of Cuba, 1866–1869

He served as Prime Minister of Spain in 1853 and held other important offices such as Captain General of Cuba from 1866 to 1869.

Portrait of Francisco de Lersundi y Hormaechea: Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain, file

Arsenio Martínez-Campos y Antón

Governor and Captain General of Cuba, 1876–1879

He was made captain general (governor) of Cuba in 1876. His reputation as a noble warrior allowed him to arrange a peace treaty (Paz de Zanjón) with the war-weary Cuban rebels in 1878. The treaty granted more autonomy to Cuba and freedom to rebels who had been slaves, and, a few years afterward, it led to the complete abolition of slavery on the island.

Portrait of Arsenio Martínez-Campos y Antón: Federico de Madrazo y Kuntz, Public domain, file

Ramón Blanco y Erenas

Governor and Captain General of Cuba, 1879–1881

He was sent to Cuba as captain-general in April 1879, and was involved in the Little War. He returned to Spain in November 1881.

Portrait of Ramón Blanco y Erenas: Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain, file

Camilo de Polavieja

Governor and Captain General of Cuba, 1890–1892

In 1890, he was sent to succeed José Chinchilla as captain general of Cuba. He resigned in 1892 as a protest against corruption. He was later known as the Butcher of Cuba.

Portrait of Camilo de Polavieja: Kaulak, Public domain, file

Culture

Havana was founded by the Spanish in 1519. It became a stopping point for the Spanish galleons on the crossing between the New World and the Old World.
In 1555 the French corsair Jacques de Sores plundered Havana and burned much of it to the ground. After the incident, the Spanish brought soldiers into the city and built fortresses and walls to protect it.
Between 1790 and 1821, 240,721 slaves were imported to Cuba from Africa. By the mid-19th century the slave population in Cuba was close to a half of a million with most working in the sugar industry.

Picture

Old Havana was inscribed in the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1982 because of its Baroque and neoclassical architecture, its fortifications, and its historical importance.

Image: Dэя-Бøяg, CC BY-SA 3.0, file

Sources

Text adapted from the Wikipedia articles listed as sources, CC BY-SA 4.0.