De los ciclos de no especialización a la era del azúcar: Elementos de historia de cuba en un largo período (1492–1898) – Parte 1

Abstract

this article analyses the history of the Cuban economy over a very long period. Its first part, offered here (the second one will follow soon), is devoted to the period extending from 1492, when the island was "discovered", to 1898, when the War of Independence ended. the period of the conquest of Cuba, followed by the collapse of the indigenous society into chaos and the establishment of a racial division of labour, is presented first. then it is the turn of the island’s plunder and the insertion of its economy into the capitalist world system – an insertion which was characterised by a series of non-industrialisations. the reader’s attention then shifts to the period of capitalist slavery and sugar specialisation, up to the crisis of the slave system, the new flows of labour contracts and the transition to wage labour. Finally, Cuba’s economic dependence on the united States, beyond Spanish political domination, is studied.