Carlos Manuel de Céspedes
Encyclopedia
Bayamo
Bayamo is the capital city of the Granma Province of Cuba, and one of the largest cities in the Oriente region.The community of Bayamo lies on a plain by the Bayamon River...
, Oriente – February, 1874 San Lorenzo, Oriente) was a Cuban planter who freed his slaves and made the declaration of Cuban independence in 1868 which started the Ten Years' War
Ten Years' War
The Ten Years' War , also known as the Great War and the War of '68, began on October 10, 1868 when sugar mill owner Carlos Manuel de Céspedes and his followers proclaimed Cuba's independence from Spain...
.
The Ten Years' War
Céspedes was a landowner and lawyer in eastern Cuba, near BayamoBayamo
Bayamo is the capital city of the Granma Province of Cuba, and one of the largest cities in the Oriente region.The community of Bayamo lies on a plain by the Bayamon River...
, who purchased La Demajagua, an estate with a sugar
Sugar
Sugar is a class of edible crystalline carbohydrates, mainly sucrose, lactose, and fructose, characterized by a sweet flavor.Sucrose in its refined form primarily comes from sugar cane and sugar beet...
plantation, in 1844 after returning from Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
. On October 10, 1868, he made the Grito de Yara (Cry of Yara
Yara, Cuba
Yara is a small town and municipality in the Granma Province of Cuba, located halfway between the cities of Bayamo and Manzanillo, in the Gulf of Guacanayabo...
), declaring Cuban independence, which began the Ten Years' War. That morning, after sounding the slave bell
Slave bell
The Slave Bell was used to punctuate the day at the Cape Colony during the days when slavery was still practised there. In Cuba the slave bell was rung before the slaves who had reported for duty were freed....
that indicated to his slaves
Slavery
Slavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to demand compensation...
it was time for work, they stood before him waiting for orders, and Céspedes announced they were all free men, and were invited to join him and his fellow conspirators in war against the Spanish government of Cuba. He is called Padre de la Patria (Father of the Country). In April 1869 he was chosen President of the Republic of Cuba in Arms.
The Ten Years' War was the first serious attempt to achieve independence from Spain, and to free all slaves. The war was fought between two groups. In the East of Cuba the tobacco planters and farmers, joined by mulatto
Mulatto
Mulatto denotes a person with one white parent and one black parent, or more broadly, a person of mixed black and white ancestry. Contemporary usage of the term varies greatly, and the broader sense of the term makes its application rather subjective, as not all people of mixed white and black...
s and some slaves, fought against the West of Cuba, with its sugarcane
Sugarcane
Sugarcane refers to any of six to 37 species of tall perennial grasses of the genus Saccharum . Native to the warm temperate to tropical regions of South Asia, they have stout, jointed, fibrous stalks that are rich in sugar, and measure two to six metres tall...
plantations (which required many slaves) and the forces of the Spanish Governor-General. Hugh Thomas
Hugh Thomas
Hugh Thomas , is a British historian and life peer.Hugh Thomas may also refer to:* Hugh Thomas , American choral conductor, pianist and educator* Hugh Thomas , Australian rules football coach...
summarises thus: The war was a conflict between criollos
Criollo people
The Criollo class ranked below that of the Iberian Peninsulares, the high-born permanent residence colonists born in Spain. But Criollos were higher status/rank than all other castes—people of mixed descent, Amerindians, and enslaved Africans...
(creoles, born in Cuba) and peninsulares
Peninsulares
In the colonial caste system of Spanish America, a peninsular was a Spanish-born Spaniard or mainland Spaniard residing in the New World, as opposed to a person of full Spanish descent born in the Americas or Philippines...
(recent immigrants from Spain). The Spanish forces and the peninsulares, backed by rich Spanish merchants, were at first on the defensive, but in the longer run their greater resources told.
Céspedes was deposed in 1873 in a leadership coup. Spanish troops killed him in February 1874 in a mountain refuge, as the new Cuban government would not let him go into exile and denied him an escort. The war ended in 1878 with the Pact of Zanjón
Pact of Zanjón
The Pact of Zanjón was the treaty that ended the Cuban Ten Years' War. Slaves who had fought against Spain were given freedom. The Maceo brothers refused to sign the treaty and kept on fighting until they took to exile to return later. Calixto Garcia was released from Spanish prison....
. The pact did make concessions: liberation of all slaves and Chinese
Chinese Cuban
A Chinese Cuban is a Cuban of Chinese ancestry who was born in or has immigrated to Cuba. They are part of the ethnic Chinese diaspora .-History:...
who had fought with the rebels, no action for political offences; but not freedom for all slaves, and no independence. The Grito de Yara had achieved something, though not enough; but it had lit a long-burning fuse. Lessons learned there were later put to good use in the Cuban War of Independence
Cuban War of Independence
Cuban War of Independence was the last of three liberation wars that Cuba fought against Spain, the other two being the Ten Years' War and the Little War...
.
Personal life
Céspedes was married twice. The first to Maria del Carmen de Cespedes y del Castilo and they had Maria del Carmen, Oscar, and Carlos Manuel de Cespedes y Cespedes. He married the second time to Ana Maria de Quesada y Loinaz (1842–1910) and they had 3 children, Gloria (1871–?), Oscar and Carlos Manuel de Céspedes y QuesadaCarlos Manuel de Céspedes y Quesada
Carlos Manuel de Céspedes y Quesada was a Cuban writer, politician, diplomat, and President of Cuba.-Biography:...
(1871–1939), who was briefly President of Cuba
President of Cuba
--209.174.31.28 18:43, 22 November 2011 The President of Cuba is the Head of state of Cuba. According to the Cuban Constitution of 1976, the President is the chief executive of the Council of State of Cuba...
after Gerardo Machado
Gerardo Machado
Gerardo Machado y Morales was President of Cuba and a general of the Cuban War of Independence...
was deposed in 1933. In San Lorenzo before he died, Carlos Manuel met a widow, Francisca (Panchita) Rodriguez. Carlos Manuel and Panchita became lovers and produced a son, Manuel Francisco de Cespedes y Rodriguez.
He named Oscar, his fifth son, after his late second child Oscar, who was shot by a Spanish firing squad. The Spanish authorities wanted to exchange Oscar's life for Céspedes' resignation as President of the Republic of Cuba. He famously answered that Oscar was not his only son, because every Cuban who had died for the revolution he started, was also his son.
He had been, before the conflict, something of a musician, and he was part-composer of a romantic song called La Bayamesa.
His portrait was on the 10 pesos bills in Cuba until 1960 when it was moved to the 100 pesos bill. A municipality in Camagüey Province
Camagüey Province
Camagüey is the largest of the provinces of Cuba. Its capital is Camagüey. Other towns include Florida and Nuevitas.-Geography:Camagüey is mostly low lying, with no major hills or mountain ranges passing through the province...
, Carlos M. de Cespedes
Carlos M. de Cespedes, Cuba
Carlos M. de Cespedes is a municipality in the Camagüey Province of Cuba. The municipal seat is located in the town of Cespedes. It is located in the western part of the province, along the Carretera Central highway....
was named after him.