Spanish Cuba

Christopher Columbus reached Cuba in 1492, on his first voyage. Conquest was begun in 1511 by Diego Velásquez, who founded the first Spanish settlement at Baracoa the following year and Santiago de Cuba and other settlements in 1514. Hatuey, a Taino chief, organized his people to resist conquest. The Tainos were easily overwhelmed by the more technologically advanced Spanish. (Hatuey later became a symbol of independence in Spanish-ruled Cuba.) The native population was soon virtually annihilated by disease and mistreatment, and African slaves were brought to work in the sugarcane fields.

Havana, also founded in 1514, was originally built on the southern coast of Cuba. The settlement was moved to its present site in 1519. Its port, guarded by Morro Castle (built 1587–97), was called "the key to the New World" and became a prime target for pirates because of the many treasure-laden ships that landed there.

Privateers in the service of England seized Havana in 1762. The British occupation brought great changes to all of Cuba. The British greatly expanded trade and encouraged the cultivation of sugarcane, and more slave labor was brought from Africa. The Treaty of Paris (1763) returned Havana to Spain; in exchange, the British acquired Florida.

During the 1820's many attempts were made to throw off Spanish rule. A series of slave uprisings during the 1830's caused many Cuban slave owners to advocate Cuba's annexation by the United States. Except in the South, however, there was vehement protest within the United States against annexation. Once the American Civil War (1861–65) began, Cubans lost hope of being annexed.

In 1868 a group of wealthy planters led by Carlos Manuel de Cespeded mounted a rebellion—the greatest challenge to Spanish rule yet attempted. The rebels sought help from the slaves by promising them freedom. The Ten Years' War, as the fighting was called, ended in 1878 with the surrender of the rebel forces.