José Antonio Saco: “The Color Line”

This text is a fragment of an essay written by José Antonio Saco (1797–1879) criticizing slavery in Cuba in 1832. Unlike most Latin American countries, Cuba remained a Spanish possession until the end of the nineteenth century. Originally, Cuba was a marginal colony of the Spanish empire, with an importance that was strategic rather than economic. In the second half of the eighteenth century, however, this started to change. By the early nineteenth century, changes in technology and global trade made Cuba an essential sugar producer. As a consequence, the number of enslaved Africans rose significantly on the island. Moreover, the creole elite began to criticize the corruption and inefficiency of the Spanish authorities while looking to the United States as an aspirational reference.