Abolição gradual e a dinâmica da emancipação dos escravos em Cuba, 1868-86

Abstract

This work analyses the process of gradual transition of Cuban slavery in the 1868-86 period. It starts with the 1868 revolt, when small slaveholders freed their own slaves and sent them to fight in the insurgent army. In 1870, the Moret Law declared free all children born as from 1868 and all slaves over 60 years old. With the creation of the patronato, in 1880, the slaves - now called patrocinados - started to be paid small stipends and were entitled to self purchase. The ban on corporal punishment in 1883 and the end of the patronato, with the consequent abolition of slavery in 1886 were the last stages of the transition process by which slavery's legal structure was dismantled piece by piece. On analysing this process' social dynamic, it becomes clear that although masters were nominally prepared for gradual emancipation, many of them tried to retain most of the slavery order. However, due to the challenges presented by insurgents, slaves and patrocinados, the law could not restrain the forces that pressed for prompt changes.