The 1812 Aponte Rebellion in Cuba and the struggle against Atlantic slavery /

This revised Univ. of Texas dissertation examines the central historical event in Afro-Cuban society. The Aponte Rebellion during the formative era of Cuban plantation culture has resonated through the subsequent political and literary history of Cuba. Childs (Florida State Univ.) begins each chapter with a case study of one of the "leaders" who was executed for the rebellion and illustrates a class or category involved in it. He then analyzes that group historically to show why its members would participate. These categories--urban slaves, free artisans, militia freemen, African-born rural slaves, etc.--illustrate the multiple roots of this revolt against the spread of slave institutions and the implementation of racially based legislation in what had previously been a more open society. Chapter 3 on the free black militia companies and the cabildos de nacion (African lodges or social centers) is particularly intriguing. The work is based on archival research in Cuba, Spain, and Great Britain, with an important appendix of demographic data on the 381 individuals arrested for participation in the rebellion. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above. R. T. Brown formerly, Westfield State College