Nationalism and Cuba

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The notion "nationalism to independence" is an ideology that must be critically viewed as a movement aimed at attaining and maintaining identity, unity and autonomy (through social cohesion and national self-determination) of a "nation," or a peoples united under a "Universal" banner. This is the most potent ideology for nation state building and consolidation-because it is a vehicle for disaffected ethnic or cultural communities to voice their dissatisfaction with the status quo. While, the cradles of discontent may be related to a variety of factors such as denial of cultural identity, political discrimination, repression, or economic deprivation. "Nationalism to Independence," was a movement by minority groups which sprang up in reaction to the policies or performance of the central state (against colonialism).

However, "the long history of Caribbean nation building [has] spans two difficult centuries. It began spontaneously with the unheralded independence of Haiti in 1804...[and] continues with the promised political independence of the former British colony of British Honduras and former Dutch colony of Surinam in the mid-1970's." As such, the twilight years of Caribbean nationalism and independence must be marked by the mobilization and high age of decolonization that swept across diverse geographical and social characters within the region. Therefore, this paper will be looking at the notion of "nationalism to independence" in Cuba and the British colonies (specifically Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago) by 1990.

Cuba flourished as a sugar colony while the British Caribbean colonies were in decline. With the fall of St. Domingue as a great sugar colony, Cuba was able to take over its market. In 1817, the Spanish government signed a treaty with Great Britain promising to end the slave trade by 1820-however this trade continued. Gradually, planters in the Spanish Caribbean realized that they would be operating at a loss if they agreed to emancipation. As such, there was little support for an abolition movement in the Spanish Caribbean because of the profits that was made from sugar and its by-products. Moreover the Roman Catholic Church did not take a stand to support abolition hence resulting in slavery lasting until 1886.

The work of the Spanish anti-slavery society was formed in 1865. Since 1843,