The Great African Slave Revolt of 1825: Cuba and the Fight for Freedom in Matanzas

Manuel Barcia, The Great African Slave Revolt of 1825: Cuba and the Fight for Freedom in Matanzas (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 2012) hb 272pp. ISBN: 9780807143322Reviewed by Jeffrey R. Kerr-RitchieBetween January and June 1825, slaves on coffee plantations in the Coliseo region of Matanzas, Cuba, planned an uprising. At midnight on 15 June, rebels gathered at two plantations. The uprising began at the El Sabanazo estate under the leadership of Lorenzo Lucumi and Federico Carabali. Over the next several hours, the insurgents moved from plantation to plantation, killing whites, gathering arms, liberating slaves, and imbibing. At noon, they reached a tavern where they were faced-down by armed white residents and soldiers from Matanzas. The twelve-hour revolt cost the lives of forty rebels and ten whites. Over the next few weeks, the surviving insurgents were hunted down. Lorenzo was killed on 26 June, Federico on 27 June. Over the next few months, several new plots were unearthed; while groups of prisoners were executed for participating in the uprising. A total of 180 slave rebels were eventually implicated in the 1825 revolt. They included various West African ethnicities including the Carabalis, Gangas, Mandingas, and Lucumis.According to Manuel Barcia the 1825 slave revolt had two notable features. First, the uprising was extremely violent. He attributes this violence to the slaves' greater freedom of movement and their desire to succeed by killing as many whites as possible. He also suggests that such violence challenges the common view that life on coffee plantations was less harsh than in the sugar zone. The second aspect concerns the uprising's African dimensions. The post-revolt inquiry documented numerous descriptions of warlike clothing, respect for women, drumming, dancing, jumping, and the ruthless murder of victims. This connotes links to African warrior traditions that were implemented during the revolt.The 1825 slave revolt has not drawn much scholarly attention. It disappeared from public documents after 1844. Not until 1986 did a local historian in Matanzas write about it. Although some scholars have referenced it, they have invariably misunderstood the revolt's significance. Laird Bergad doubts the existence of a broader plot; while Gloria Garcia sees it as closing a cycle of slave resistance. Barcia challenges the silence by providing the first major examination of the 1825 slave revolt. He also points to its importance by situating it within a broader tradition of slave revolts in nineteenth century Cuba. Most scholars insist on the Creole nature of these revolts as exemplified by the Aponte conspiracy of 1812 and the La Escalera conspiracy of 1843-44. In contrast, Barcia insists on the African dimensions of the 1825 revolt in terms of leadership, a Pan-African ethnic solidarity, and the employment of West African war strategies. Indeed, he argues provocatively that this event represented an 'extension' of West African warfare into Cuba (p. 151). He adds, moreover, that the next two decades witnessed an outpouring of slave revolts in Cuba cast in the shadow of West African warfare. …