Odious Commerce Britain, Spain and the Abolition of the Cuban Slave Trade

This study shows how British influence affected the course of Cuban history.

The Atlantic slave trade brought to Cuba the African slaves who created the dramatic transformation of the island from a relative backwater of Spain's colonial empire in the mid-eighteenth century to the world's richest plantation colony one hundred years later. Britain played a vital role in this transformation. British slave traders were the chief suppliers of Cuba's slaves in the eighteenth century; in the nineteenth century Britain became the greatest threat to Cuba's prosperity when she attempted to make Spain follow her example and abolish the slave trade. Dr Murray's study, based on a thorough examination of British and Spanish records, reveals how important British influence was on the course of Cuban history.

Preface; 1. 'Opening' of a legal trade; 2. Parliament versus Cortes; 3. Legality and illegality; 4. The treaty of 1817; 5. Enforcement and re-enforcement: the attempt to make the slave trade prohibition effective; 6. The treaty of 1835; 7. An abolitionist era; 8. The Turnbull affair; 9. The Escalera conspiracy; 10. The penal law of 1845; 11. Free trade and annexationism; 12. The failure of the penal law; 13. A new class of slaves; 14. The abolition of the Cuban slave trade; Abbreviations; Notes; Bibliography; Index.

British slave traders were the chief suppliers of Cuba's slaves in the eighteenth century. Dr Murray's study, based on a thorough examination of British and Spanish records, reveals how important British influence was on the course of Cuban history.