Description
Book SynopsisIn the early 19
th century, Cuba emerged as the world's largest producer of sugar and the United States its most important buyer. Barely documented today, there was a close commercial relationship between Cuba and the Rhode Island coastal town of Bristol. The citizens of Bristol were heavily involved in the slavery trade and owned sugarcane plantations in Cuba and also served as staff workers at these facilities.
Available in print for the first time is a diary that sheds light on this connection. Mr. George Howe, Esquire (17911837), documented his tasks at a Bristolian-owned plantation called New Hope, which was owned by well-known Bristol merchant, slave trader, and US senator James DeWolf (17641837). Howe expressed mixed personal feelings about local slavery work practices. He felt lucky to be employed and was determined to do his job well, in spite of the harsh conditions operating at New Hope, but he also struggled with his personal feelings regarding slavery
Trade ReviewThe book offers a deep dive into a little-known diary. It adds to the burgeoning literature on the dark and deep connection of slavery that bound Bristol, Rhode Island and Cuba together. -- C. V. Carrington-Farmer, Roger Williams University
Diarist, naturalist, poet, painter, and prolific letter writer, George Howe was a man of many parts. He was also the manager of a Cuban slave plantation at the height of the island’s sugar boom. In this work of historical recovery and literary analysis, Rafael Ocasio brings Howe and his long forgotten, utterly unclassifiable oeuvre back to life. -- James T. Campbell, Stanford University
Rafael Ocasio provides for us a thorough examination of the popular nineteenth century artistic travelogue opening our understanding of the critical relationship between Rhode Island and Cuba during the slaving era. Ocasio’s book will be the go-to book on slaving for all interested in the aesthetics of the nineteenth century bringing alive an otherwise hidden history. -- Autumn Quezada-Grant, Roger Williams University
Ocasio brings to life not only the American encounter with colonial Cuba, and the business practices of the ingenios, but also the labor demanded of the enslaved themselves and, through a close reading of this literary text, how a New Englander navigated the glaring contradictions between the highly profitable exploitation of enslaved labor (and the illegal slave trade closely tied to it) and complicity with that system’s inherent inhumanity and brutality. -- James DeWolf Perry, editor (with Kristin Gallas) of Interpreting Slavery at Museums and Historic Sites
Table of ContentsAcknowledgements
Note about Citations of George Howe’s Diary
Introduction: George Howe: A Testimonial Documentation of a Bristolian-Owned Ingenio in the Province of Matanzas
Chapter 1: Bristolian-Owned Ingenios in the province of Matanzas: George Howe’s Sugar Cane Plantation Diary
Chapter 2: Memorializing the Province of Matanzas: A Rural View of the Wildness
Chapter 3: A Plantation Diary: Work Sketches of a Bristolian-Owned Cuban Sugar Cane Ingenio
Chapter 4: The Embodiment of Slavery: Documenting the Work Underpinnings of an Enslaved Crew-Operated Cuban Ingenio
Chapter 5: Cuban Ingenios as an Artistic Inspiration: George Howe as a Writer and Painter of Plantation Work Customs
Conclusion: The Narrative of a Bristolian-Owned Cuban Ingenio: Silences and Intentional Omissions
Epilogue: Revolutionary Ideology and Afro-Cuban Icons: Representation of Racial Dynamics in Cuba Today
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