A Letter Home to Spain

My dearest sister Maria,

It is so strange to be away from home and in this foreign place of Cuba. I don’t quite know what to think of it here, there are many similarities to Spain, but at the same time this country is not at all similar. The first thing I can think to write about is the abundance of slaves. There are so many here! Everywhere I turn I see more and more slaves. And some of the conditions they are living in, its atrocious and appalling that they are allowed to live like that. You know I’ve always had doubts about slavery, and seeing the terrible treatment of the slaves here in Cuba, it just makes me really see how unjustified slavery really is. Just the other day I was walking around Havana and I saw a white man sitting with a group of black slave children around him, and while the children seemed to be having fun, some were smiling and dancing, it made me think about where those children came from and why they were in Cuba. Because as heartwarming as the man with the children around him seemed to be, at the end of the day those children were most likely slaves. They lived on plantations or worked for masters who probably beat, starved, and tormented them to make sure they did their work. All these questions kept creeping into my mind; were they born here or were they stolen from Africa? Had they been ripped away from their parents and sold to different masters? Had they ever met their parents, or is the only family they know the family that they work for and the other slaves that they work with? These children were so young, Maria! They could not have been older than 8 years old, just a little bit older than our younger sister Juanita. Could you imagine Juanita living on a plantation and working in sugar fields all day long, it’s a terrible thought.

And the amount of blacks here, it’s unbelievable! Everywhere I turn I see blacks, the majority of them are slaves, but I think some of them are freed. I heard someone say that they think there are more than 200,000 slaves in Cuba! Can you imagine how many that is? There are not that many slaves in Spain, and Cuba is so much smaller than Spain is. And all the different colors of the people here in Cuba, it is a sight to see. You have the lighter skinned Spaniards, and then the darker skinned Mulattoes and then all the different colors of the slaves. I would say it is like a rainbow, but a rainbow made up only of variations of black and white. I simply cannot get over the fact that there is such a strong slave presence here. I sound like such a young, naïve girl when I say these things, but it is true. I have heard stories about the number of slaves they bring over to the Americas, but to hear is one thing and to see is another. I feel so silly writing this letter because it makes me sound like I have never seen slaves before, which is not the case. It is just that when compared to Cuba, Spain has much fewer slaves. I did find out that the slave trade between Cuba and Africa has been stopped since the 1850’s, but apparently the slave trade in the rest of the Americas, except for Brazil, stopped in the 1820’s. Imagine how many more slaves there are here than elsewhere in the Americas with 30 extra years of slave trade. I would be worried if the slaves ever got together and formed some sort of army or rebellion against their masters, because they could very well win because of their numbers. That is how Haiti became independent from France, a slave rebellion. The world is changing, maybe one day there will no longer be any slavery, and we shall have to see what the future holds.

Please pardon my slightly morose and depressing letter. While I am lucky that Cuba is so beautiful and similar to Spain, it still is not home, and that is what I miss the most. Right now we are staying in Havana, but soon I believe we will be moving out to Mateo’s family plantation. I better get used to slavery because I will have slaves of my own to take care of, soon. Being married is wonderful; tell Papa am I happy with the man he picked for me to marry. I miss you all terribly and you shall have to come visit us in Cuba. Say hello to Mama, Papa and Juanita for me.

Your loving sister,

Isabella

17^th August, 1871

Image used: "NYPL Digital Gallery Detail ID 807792." NYPL Digital Gallery Home. Web. 28 Feb. 2011. .