José Antonio Saco Letters

José Antonio Saco, (1797-1879), was a significant Cuban intellectual figure. Well known for both his abolitionist and nationalist ideals, Saco criticized the Cuban slave trade through his essays and writings. His liberal principles clashed with the views and actions of the Spanish Crown. As a result, he was expelled from Cuba in 1834. The letters from this collection document his exile in Europe. There he continued to advocate his philosophies through his writings. These include Supresión del tráfico de esclavos en Cuba (1845) and Ideas sobre la incorporación de Cuba a los E. U. (1848). Both of these works were published during his residence in Paris.

Slavery was prominent in Cuba from the sixteenth century to its official abolishment in 1886. During the British occupation of the island in 1762, colonists expanded the practice of slavery as it provided a large labor force for the sugar plantations, the basis of the island's economy. Later on even amongst anti-slavery efforts, as seen with the 1792 slave revolt in Hispaniola and the 1807 ban on the Atlantic slave trade in the United States and Britain, Cuba still relied heavily on slavery. It wasn't until the end of the nineteenth century that the slave trade in Cuba ceased.