Cuban Coffee Plantations Spatial Organization and Slave Resistance

Slavery and Spatial Dialectics on Cuban Coffee Plantations Author(s): Theresa A. Singleton Source: World Archaeology, Vol.
33, No. 1, The Archaeology of Slavery (Jun., 2001), pp. 98114 Published by: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/827891 . Accessed: 11/07/2013 17:38
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Slaveryand spatial dialecticson plantations Cuban coffee

Theresa A. Singleton
Abstract to inan effort advantage totheir ofplantations thespatial organization manipulated Slaveholders to resist found ways always on thehand, Slaveworkers, workers. ofenslaved theactions control to comparable measures surveillance notonlyemployed Cubanslaveholders, hegemony. planter quarpeopleinprison-like enslaved also housed butthey intheAmericas, elsewhere those found in slavery plantation essayexamines this sources, dataandwritten botharchaeological ters. Using spaceand ofplantation control slaveowners' between relationship thedialectal Cubabyanalyzing control. ofthat resistance laborers' enslaved
Keywords organization. spatial archaeology; plantations; Cuba;coffee Slavery; Introduction as a Spanish itsbeginning from morethanone millionenslavedAfricans Cuba imported over780,000enslaved in 1886. Of thatnumber, colonyin 1511 to the abolitionof slavery slave-importAfricans came to the islandbetween1790 and 1867,makingit the greatest slave transatlantic nineteenth-century of the center and the America of ingcolony Spanish transthis of magnitude tradeto theCaribbean(Bergad et al. 1995:38). Slave importation in whichno singleactivity formedthe island's economyfromone of diverseactivities economybased upon racial slavery. defined the slave experienceto a plantation economy, fueledCuba's plantation As in otherCaribbeanislands,sugarmono-culture 1988: 29). of sugar (Paquette producer the world's leading became and, in 1840, Cuba overall its Althoughsugar set Cuba's plantationeconomyin motion and determined role in shaping plantation direction,coffee productionplayed an equally significant (Gonzalez Fernandez1991: halfofthenineteenth century thefirst in Cuba during slavery 161). Even when Cuba was the leadingproducerof sugar,the numberof coffeeplantasugarplantations. tionsoutnumbered Moreno featuresof the Cuban plantationis what historian One of the most striking ofSlavery World ArchaeologyVol.33(1):98-114 TheArchaeology 0,)XV4<2> online ? 2001Taylor LtdISSN 0043-8243 print/1470-1375 & Francis
DOL: 10.1080/00438240120047654
Slaveryand spatialdialectics 99 to as 'its jail-like structure' Fraginalsreferred (1977: 189). This characterization aptly describesmanyslave-management practicesadopted in Cuba, particularly those implementedto containslave activities. One such practice, discernible in extantruinsof plantation buildings,was the housing of enslaved people in prison-likequarters.These quarterswere oftenlocked at night, and carefully watchedby guards.Such surveillance measures seem extremewhen compared with those of slave societies in Anglophone raises several questions:Why did plantationslaveryin Cuba America, and therefore develop thisjail-like character?Were these surveillancemeasures effective? How did enslavedpeople respondto thissituation? This paper examinesthesequestionsbyanalyzing written sources,ruinsof extantplantationbuildingsand preliminary archaeological data recoveredfrom the slave quartersof a former Cuban coffeeplantation.
Plantation slavery andCuba'scoffee economy

The earlySpanish settlers enslaved Africanswiththemto Cuba, but the slave brought populationremainedone ofthelowestin theCaribbeanuntilthesecondhalfoftheeighteenth century. Cuba was slow to develop a slave societylike those of the English and Frenchislands forseveral reasons: first, the asientosystem whichgrantedcontracts for slave trading restricted the numberof enslavedpersonsthatcould enterspecific regions of the Spanish empire;second, the colonial settlement patternof sixteenthand seventeenth-century Cuba was designedfor a sparselypopulated cattle economy;third, the absence of a legal mechanism forprivate land ownership and theSpanishCrown'sprohibitionson clearingforest lands hamperedthe development of agriculture (Bergad 1990: 22-5). The eventualremovalof these obstaclescombinedwiththe void in sugar and coffee production resulting fromthe demise of slaveryin Saint Domingue (Haiti) usheredin favorableconditions fora plantation economyin Cuba. A planter class emergedfrom the Cuban-bornelite and immigrants fromother Caribbean Islands, North America and Europe. Togethertheyproduced a plantationsocietythat historianRobert Paquette describedas the 'best and worstof times' (1988: 35). These best of timesforthe Cuban planters in thedisplacement resulted ofsmall-holding whites and thebrutal use ofAfrican labor. Cuba's coffee economy largely developedfrom theefforts oftransplanted Frenchexiles escapingfrom theHaitian Revolution,1791-1802(Perez de la Riva 1944:27-8; Gonzalez Fernandez 1991: 165). Experimentation with coffeecultivation, however,presumably occurredas earlyas 1748 (Gordon y Acosta 1896: 9). Coffeewas producedprimarily in the hillyand mountainous regionsof both easternand westernCuba, but the prosperity of the earlynineteenth-century coffeeeconomywas concentrated in western Cuba in the provinces ofHavana, Matanzas and Pifiar del Rio. By 1830,investments in coffee productionin westernCuba were equal to those in sugar,and the numberof enslavedworkers employedon cafetales, coffeeplantations, was oftenequal to thatin the ingenios, sugar plantations (Bergad et al. 1995:29). Thus,coffee production was an important component of the development of the plantationslaveryof Cuba in the first halfof the nineteenth century.
100
A. Singleton Theresa
the Caribbean,but it had Coffeewas always a secondarycrop to sugar throughout were small,and largeinitialinvestdistinct advantagesover sugar.Its land requirements For these reasons,coffeeattracted were unnecessary. or buildings mentsin machinery to restricted plantersof diverseeconomicand social scales whereassugarwas generally on depending also had itsdrawbacks: however, (Trouillot1993: 131). Coffee, thewealthy of coffeeit took fourto seven yearsforthe plantsto mature(Trouillot1993: the variety in land and labor and the 135). Because of the lag timebetweenthe initialinvestment more complexand the tradetended of income,coffeewas also economically generation thanthatin sugar(Bergad 1990: 57). to be more erratic the demise of coffee brought and severalfactors Cuba's coffeeboom was short-lived, of became a majorcompetitor Cuba: in the 1830s,Braziliancoffee in western production of previous Cuban coffee;pricesin the worldcoffeemarketdroppedto about one-half wars betweenSpain and the United States' (Perez de la Riva 1944: 72) prices; '[t]ariff The United foritscoffee. market caused Cuba to lose the United States as an important enteron flour forSpain's hightariff on Cuban coffeein retaliation Statesraiseditstariff coffee numerous in 1844and 1846destroyed theUnitedStates.Hurricanes ingCuba from abandoned theircoffeeplantations, In theyearsfrom1854 to 1859,planters plantations. coffee (Perez de la Riva 1942:704). Severalformer some intosugarplantations converting these inspectedforthisresearchprojectwere neverre-occupied;therefore, plantations life wellfrom and plantation to slavery study an opportunity sites offer archaeologists contexts. preserved
on Cuban coffee plantations Cafetaldel Padre and slavery discussedhereinis knowntodayas cafetaldel Padre. It is coffeeplantation The primary ofHavana south-east ofthecity 75 kilometers approximately locatedin Havana province of western a natural Cuba, sub-region theAlturasde Bejucal-Madruga-Limonar, within 1959:109-14). Jimenez mountain ranges(Nuffez ofhills, plateauxand low-lying consisting thiswas an important regionforbothcoffeeand sugarplantaIn the nineteenth century This and sugarin thevalleys. ofthemountains on thefoothills tions.Coffeewas cultivated the elevation ranges ofthecafetalwhere vicinity is apparentin theimmediate terrain hilly from150 to 164 metersabove sea level (see Fig. 1). establisheda coffeeplanit is unclearwho first stage of research, At thispreliminary that French began the tradition immigrants El Local Padre. suggests the site at tation and laterabandoned it (Carlos Suarez Sardifta 2000, farmedit briefly coffeeplantation, from written sources,it accurately pers.comm.).While thisscenarioawaitsconfirmation in WesternCuba, whose particularly the experiencesof manyFrenchplanters, portrays Due to theNapoleonicinvasionofSpain or destroyed. wereconfiscated coffee plantations were expelled fromCuba and other Spanish from1808 to 1812, French immigrants colonies (Bergad et al. 1995:95-6; Perez de la Riva 1944:33-5). If notfoundedbyFrench in the H-shaped, floorplan of the casa the cafetalexhibitsFrenchinfluences planters, vivienda(the slaveholder'shouse). It is identicalto the 'typicalplan of a Frenchhouse' architecture in a studyof Cuban vernacular (Perez de la Riva 1952:372). illustrated betweenthe 1820s and the 1840s, Duringthe boom yearsof Cuban coffeeproduction
Slaveryand spatialdialectics 101
DEL PADRE CAFETAL

ROAD PEN DRYING CONTOUR A WLLED SLAVEVILLAGE BUILDING? B SPECIALIZED HOUSE C SLAVEHOLDER'S
DEL PADRE fTAL
EXTANTRUINS
1:~~~~
1 Composite Plantation. sitemapofEl PadreCoffee Figure
20 METERS
the O'Farrillfamily owned and operatedthe cafetal, knownat thattimeas Santa Ana de were one of the most and powerful families in nineThe O'Farrills Viajaca. distinguished the 1988: Richard Irish of the Cuba (Paquette O'Farrill, 45). teenth-century progenitor was born on the island of Montserrat and came to Cuba in the earlyeighteenth family, and his (Franco Ferran 1986: 7). He was grantedan asientoon slave imports, century from the slave trade laid the fortune derived foundation for his descendants' profits (Bergad 1990: 14). Whileit is unclearwhichO'Farrillfirst acquiredcafetalSanta Ana de of JgnacioO'Farrill,a Catholic priest.Ignacio was the Viajaca, it became the property grandsonof Robert O'Farrill. At some later time (possiblyin the 1900s), the cafetal become knownsimplyas 'El Padre', the father, because it was once owned presumably a In addition to the O'Farrill twosugarplantations: San owned cafetal, by priest. Ignacio Juande Nepomuceno, close to thecafetal, and La Concordia,located inTapaste,a nearby
A. Singleton 102 Theresa farms. Ignacio O'Farrilldied in 1838, and two stock-raising in Havana province, district (ANC, EMRH, and his estate was divided equally between his heirsand his creditors 1834). The cafetalbegan decliningbeforeIgnacio O'Farrill's death in 1838, and thereafter accumulatedon the unpaid taxes.Several court path.Interest on a downward continued to the and foradjustments of the interest the payment were filedconcerning judgements The finalblow to thecafetalcame whenthehurridivisionand liquidationof properties. was works'(ANC, AC, 1849-53). Coffeecultivation all thecoffee cane of 1844 'destroyed neverrestored. wall At the archaeologicalsite of El Padre, the most imposingfeatureis a masonry 3.35mhighthatenclosestheslave village(Fig. 1). The wall,as wellas thetwootherextant were function, of unknown house and a specializedbuilding the slaveholder's structures, of stone,rubbleand limeconsisting material a construction of mamposteria, constructed a combisolutionmade from The stoneis oftencoveredwitha stucco-like based mortar. nationof lime,water,sand and othermaterials(Rebelledo 1910: 108-10). The exterior side of the while the interior substance, side of the wall is coveredwiththe stucco-like wall is not. areas of Test excavationswithinthe area enclosed by the wall yieldedthreedistinct of the artiThe vast majority whatappears to be a row of structures. forming post-holes date between1800and 1860,and therein and aroundthestructures from recovered facts as a cafetal.Onlyin one of withtheperiodwhenthesitewas functioning forecorrespond measures which theoverallsize ofthebuilding, threeareas has itbeen possibleto estimate space suggests in thecenterof thisrectangular Sm X 7m. A seriesof postsapproximately with a structure intotworooms.It was possibly wall dividedthestructure thatan interior in the construcused The posts of people. two elementsthathoused twoseparategroups or driving through sizes, but all were put in place eitherby cutting tionwere of varying the found throughout the posts throughthe limestonestrata,a geological formation knownas bohios.The term slave dwellings, werepresumably Caribbean.These structures a house identifies bohio appears to be derivedfroma Taino Indian wordthatgenerally and witheitheran walled withcane or clay,roofedwiththatch, frame, builtof a timber 1988: 5-6). On Cuban plantations, earthenflooror a raisedwooden plank floor(Jopling but the termwas mostoftenused to of slave housing, to a wide variety bohio referred that housed enslavedpeople in house(cabins or huts) describedetachedslave dwellings areas ofmen - masonry in whichtheliving structures to barracones hold unitsin contrast cells (for a discussionon the distinction and women were separated into prison-like see Ortiz 1989[1916]:199-202). betweenthe two typesof housing, thantheaverageceiling slave houses behinda wall- higher Whiletheidea of enclosing heightof a modernAmericanhouse appears an extremeexample of a slaveholder's controlover the livingspaces of the enslaved,it may have been less severe than the as 'prison-like' by scholars barracon.By far,the mostnotoriousslave quarteridentified was the barraconde patio (Bergrad 1990: 235; Moreno Fraginals1978, of Cuban slavery 2: 74; Perez de la Riva 1952:387; Perez de la Riva, J.1975:29-42; Scott1985: 17-19). This building usually constructedof mamposteriathat was a large, rectangular-shaped were area located in the center.Some barracones a patio, an open yard-like surrounded Plantersbegan to build these quite large and housed severalhundredenslavedworkers.
Slaveryand spatialdialectics 103 barraconesin the 1840s to curb slave rebellionsand runaways. None of the studieson Cuban slave housing,however,discussthe practiceof enclosingslave quarterswithin a prison-like wall. Consequently, one researchobjectiveof theEl Padre projectis to determinethe extentto whichthewall represents the actionof one or a few,individual slaveholdersor is a morewidespreadslave-management practice. At present,solutionsto thisproblemare tentative. Despite the factthatscholarsof Cuban slavery have not discussedwall enclosuressurrounding slave villages,nineteenthwritten century and visual sources on Cuban slaverysuggestenclosinga slave village within a wall was a knownpractice.The mostdirectreference comes from a listof regulationsthegovernor of Matanzas provinceissued after a slave rebellionin thatprovince. This little-known rebellionresultedin the deaths of fifteen whitesand the burning and lootingof twenty-four farms(Bergad 1990: 239; Barcia Paz 1999,pers. comm.). One of thesecurity measuresrequiredof all farms withbohioswas 'to buildfencing or a palisade aroundthehouses between4 or 5 varas [a Spanishmeasurement about .85m]highwitha locked gatewayforsecurity' (ANC GSC 1825:4, mytranslation). The requiredheight of the fencing between3.40m and 4.25m is consistent withthe wall heightof 3.35m at El Padre. AlthoughEl Padre is not located in Matanzas provincetoday,it was partof the westernmost districts of Matanzas Provincefor most of the nineteenth century (ANC Protocolode Salinas 1829: 1671; ANC Gobierno General 1878). Therefore, construction of thewall mayhave been a directresponseto the Governor'sregulations. Anotherexampleofslave houses enclosedwithin a masonry wall is evidentin theruins ofAngerona.Located todaynear thewestern end ofHavana province(Fig. 2), Angerona was one ofthelargest Cuban cafetales, reputedto have had 450 enslavedworkers (Abbot 1829: 140). After the decline in coffee,it was convertedinto a sugar plantation.A publishedlithograph of Angeronawhenit was a sugarplantation depictsdetachedslave houses behinda wall,though thewall does notappear to be as tallas thewall at El Padre (Mendez 1952:8). Today,theruinsat Angeronasuggest theslave villagewas surrounded by a wall made of mamposteria withan iron gate entry(Plate 1). The Reverend Abiel Abbot visited Angeronain 1828whenitwas stilla coffee plantation and noted:'thenegro huts enclose a large square, which is entered by an iron gate. When the plantation becomes a populous as theproprietor hopes it will,thissquare willbe a littlenegrocity' (1829: 144). Although itis notclearto whatkindofwallsor fencesthegatewas connected, the description suggeststhata wall enclosurewitha gated entranceto the slave village existedeven whenAngeronawas a coffeeplantation. A third, and perhapsthemosttelling, reference to enclosing a slave villagewithin a wall or palisade is foundin a collectionof essayswritten on thestateof Cuban agriculture and industries by Alvaro Reynoso in 1861.In his discussion on slave housing, Reynoso urged slaveholdersto return to the old system of individualbohios,but said thatthishousing needed to be improved so thatit was in good condition. He feltthatthe barraconsystem was the worstsituationforhousingenslaved people because it was inefficient and still could not protectslaveholdersfromthose enslaved personswho were inclinedto plot againstslaveholders (1861: 328). In closing, he stated'one could fencein theentire[slave] village,forthe best security, witha large wall, althoughwe are convincedthatsuch a precaution is notnecessary'(1861: 330,mytranslation). Reynoso'sstatement impliesthat building palisades aroundslave villageswas at least considered, ifnot experimented with
A. Singleton 104 Theresa
PROVINCE HAVANA
A
CAFETAL
CITIES
Haana.
Matanzas
'A
A~ngerona
n4-.0k
El Padre
.... .....
100 km
HavanaProvince. 2 Location ofAngerona andEl Padrewithin Figure
thatthis ruinsat bothEl Padre and Angeronademonstrate in Cuba. Moreover,theextant practicedid,indeed,occur. sources indicatethatwall enclosureswere builtto describedwritten The previously stone-wallenclosureswere used to keep enslaved contain slave activities.Similarly, the medievalperiod. in during the Roman period and dependentserfs people in during forrecogthe enclosurewall also servedas a materialmanifestation In both situations, wall at outside the were found enslaved When of slave the intention people flight. nizing slaves' actions(Samson thewallprevented times, concerning anyambiguity inappropriate The of strangers. the entry 1992: 33). At the same time,wall enclosuresalso prevented remainderof this essay examines the circumstances peculiar to Cuba that led to the of slave quartersand how enslavedpeople respondedto it. surveillance prison-like Spatial dialecticson Cuban plantations to variouslevels to Henri Lefebvre(1991), refers a conceptattributed Spatial dialectics, that can be of space: physical,mental and culturalaspects of spatial arrangements dialectic(Shields 1999: in a three-part worktogether analyzedone by one but ultimately 160-1). The concept is used here to begin an analysisof the dialecticalrelationship as to thatcontrol ofspace and enslavedpeople's resistance control betweenslaveholders'
L ii . .g ..i ........ . i E Ei)i EEdi .......................
Plate1 Ruins ofwallenclosure andirongate ofslavevillage at Angerona. to left Note:belltower entrance to theright.
seen in everyday life on Cuban plantations. Slaveholderseverywhere manipulatedthe spatial organizationof plantationsin order to control enslaved people. Numerous and landscape studieshave shown both directand subtle archaeological,architectural to control waysplanters attempted plantation landscapes(fora listof sources,see Singleton and Bograd 1995: 18-20). Nearlyeveryaspect of plantation space fromthe location and arrangement of slave quarters(e.g. Armstrong 1990a; Epperson 1990,1999,2000) to thedetailsofslave-house from consciousdecision construction (e.g. McKee 1992) resulted exercisesurveillance to maximize and reinforce the makingon thepartofplanters profits, subordinate statusof enslavedpeople. JamesDelle's study(1998) of coffeeplantations in Jamaicais themostcomprehensive in a plantation undertaken context. analysisof spatial arrangements by an archaeologist Delle demonstrates how the placement Using Foucault's (1979) analysisof panopticism, of the overseer'shouse servedas a centralpointin surveillance in muchthe same way a tower does. Without the house and the overseer could monitor the veranda, guard leaving slave village uphill,watch enslaved workerswalk fromtheirhouse to theirwork and observethecoffeeworksand barbecues(coffee-drying (Delle 1998: 159). pens) downhill to Foucault,thepanopticmechanism According arranges space in suchwaythatsurveillance is constantand takes place in fullvisibility. The panopticonreversesthe principles of a dungeon,which are intendedto enclose, hide or deprive light.The panopticon enclosesbut eliminates the need to hide or deprivelight(Foucault 1979:200). Given this
A. Singleton 106 Theresa to panoptic thewall enclosuresat Angeronaand El Padre appear antithetical definition, would have Yet, some variationof panopticor otherformof surveillance surveillance. worksand elsethevillage,at thecoffee to observeenslavedpeople within been necessary butvariations used in itspure form, The panopticonwas rarely whereon the plantation. disparate numerous, found in technology and it became an important on it proliferated, society(Epperson 2000: 59). realmsof capitalist at theninein combination withpanopticsurveillance were established Wall enclosures Brickwalls were built WestVirginia. factory and townof HarpersFerry, teenth-century to the workersand controlentry of factory movements to reorganizethe space, restrict from activities took place froma centrallocation,presumably factory yard.Monitoring and pointsin Harper's Ferry quarterslocated on one of the highest the superintendent's grounds(Shackel 1996: 74-8). The walled slave view of the factory witha commanding villagesat Angerona and El Padre may have operatedin a similarvein. The bell tower device at Angerona.Panopservedas a panopticsurveillance in Plate 2 possibly pictured the roofor a is less obvious at El Padre, but mayhave takenplace from tic surveillance thatonce ascended to of a stairway second level of the slaveholder'shouse. An imprint southwall of floor is visibleon theexterior above theceilinglevel of thefirst an entrance greathouses occasionallyhad a the slaveholder'shouse (Plate 2). Cuban, French-styled roomplaced but the stairswere located insidethehouse,oftenin theliving second floor, or not 372). Whether Riva 1952: de la plan (Perez thecenteroftheH-shapedfloor within existedat one house at El Padre, a stairway therewas a second floorto the slaveholder's floor, perhapsto the roof.That the roofcould have timethatascended above the first observations the preliminary gains added supportfrom servedas a pointof surveillance ofbalaustrada, indications who notedstructural historian ofarchitectural MiguelHerrera, northwall in 1999 (pers. a balustradeat the rooflevel of the house along the exterior often seen feature knownas an azotea,is an architectural terrace, comm.2001). A rooftop in thecityof Havana (Weiss 1989:317,fig.181). From todayon colonial periodbuildings it would have been possible to observe such a rooftopterraceor similarconstruction, theslave villageas well as otherlocationson theplantation. activities place within taking to make entrance werealso designed wallenclosures In addition to containing activities, from enslaved to slaveholders desired Cuban keep away 1992: a hindrance 29). (Samson people anyone who would disruptthe work routine or the establishedsocial order. because they forslaveholders could be particularly troubling Maroons,slave runaways, Wellwould liberate enslaved people, take plantationsupplies and destroyproperty. coffee in mountain lived the plantacommunities surrounding ranges maroon organized de Rio (Paquette 1988: 73-5) tionsin the Sierrade los Organosin the provinceof Piftar and Sierradel Grilloin Havana province(La Rosa Corzo and Perez Padron 1994). Begin1838,maroongroupsattackedseveralcoffee throughout ningin late 1837 and continuing (La Rosa Corzo and Perez Padron1994:104-7;BernardBosch et al. 1985:66). plantations to the O'Farrillswas includedamongtheseplanA cafetalnamed Santa Ana belonging thiswas Santa Ana de Viajaca, tations(La Rosa and Perez Padron 1994:103); presumably the site of El Padre. Plantersalso desired to keep slave raidersaway fromtheirenslaved laborers.Slave The greatcholera during periodsof labor shortages. raidingwas a problem,particularly at a time in it occurred Africans and of out thousands 1831-3 of Cuba, wiped epidemic
' .. .........jR..,i<
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~> _r
Plate2 Traces ofa stairway on thesouthern exterior wallofslaveholder's house.
whensugarpriceswere soaring.Moreno Fraginalssuggests thatslave raiding from coffee slave raiders as plantationsbecame the solution to this problem, and he identifies displaced white peasants who became rancheadores- pursuersof slave runaways.In additionto pursuing theseslave catchers runaways, organizedgangsand stoleblacklaborers fromone plantationand would sell themto anotherplantation(Moreno Fraginals 1976: 133, 138). Planterswere waryof rancheadores because theycould neverbe certain if that a runawaywas capturedthathe or she would be returned to the originalowner. ofslave runaways, wereinstituted forthepropercaptureand return Although regulations a walled slave village could serve as a deterrent to all slave raiders,whether theywere maroonsor rancheadores.
on Cubanplantations Slaveresistance
In Cuba, as elsewherein the Americas,enslavedmen and womenwere engagedin many homicides, suicides,maroonageas well as revolts, including forms ofresistance, different and thewalled slave resistance (see Barcia Paz 1998). The barracones covertand cultural two ofthemostovert runaways, and slave revolts to prevent built villageswere obviously Yet, despitethe potential formsof resistancethatcarriedthe most severe punishment. highon Cuban plantaaway and revoltswere significantly consequences,both running were revolts, attempted tions.In Matanzas provincealone 399 acts of violence,including from1825 to 1850 (Paquette 1988:72). reported thus far at the propertyof Ignacio The most overt formof resistanceidentified of San Juande Nepomuceno,whichwas close O'Farrilloccurredat the sugarplantation ran faraway to enslavedworkers to the cafetalSanta Ana de Viajaca. In 1841,forty-five fledthe planan 'inaccessibledistancein the sierras'(ANC GSC 1841). They apparently manager.All theyreceivedfroma new plantation tationbecause of the poor treatment of armedmenwith A party to theplantation. returned but eightof the enslavedworkers capturedsome of them,while the otherssurrendered rancheadores, dogs, undoubtedly to the authorities. themselves tools, were illnessor misplacing covertacts of resistance, such as feigning Certainly also had the Covertactsofresistance morecommonplace thanovertresistance. certainly advantage of takingplace, yet going undetectedby slaveholdersand managers.The evidenceof covert, archaeologicalstudyof slave villagesis mostcapable of uncovering In the archaeologicalstudyof plantation space, thisformof resistresistance. everyday houses or yardareas. enslavedpeople made to their ance is mostevidentin modifications in enslaved people dug underground On manysouthern plantations the United States, of theirhouses to store food and othervaluables. storagepits beneath the floorboards thehouses in variousways,forexample,byraising triedto stop thisactivity Slaveholders on buildingpiers,but enslaved people continuedto dig the pits despite slaveholders' prohibitions(Singleton 1998: 179-80). In Jamaica, enslaved people challenged the their oftheir villagesbydeveloping forthespatialarrangement imposedEuropean norms in Africa, but was adapted to thathad its origins activity own inside-outside house-yard and Kelly 2000). 1999: 178; Armstrong environment (Armstrong theJamaican sources on Cuban slaverysuggestthat enslaved people also modifiedtheir Written mentioned essaybyAvaro Reynoso,one examplehe gives spaces. In thepreviously living of the barraconeswas that'in theirroomsthe blacks estabthe inefficiency to illustrate additionto storetheir or granaries construct lofts harvests; and subdivisions, lishdivisions stoves for preventing buildingappropriate ally,theyoftencook in theirrooms without sourcesindicatethat, Otherhistorical contrary fire'(Reynoso 1861: 328,mytranslation). slave areas ofmale and femaleslaves,entire theliving dictateofseparating to theplanters' familieslived withinthe one-roomcells of the barracon (Scott 1985: 19-20). Even in enslaved people foundways to altertheirliving quartersof the barracones, prison-like arrangements. to date to at theslave villageof El Padre has notbeen sufficient Archaeologicaltesting or to to theexcavatedstructure either modifications ofslave-induced identify suggestions into the waysin insights however,offer the yardarea. Many of the recoveredartifacts,
Slaveryand spatialdialectics 109 - a ceramicdisc whichenslavedpeople fashioned their quarters, and,at least one artefact - can potentially be consideredwithinthe realm of culturalresistance.In general,the artefacts recoveredfromthe El Padre slave quarterare similarto and, in some cases, identicalto thekindsof artefacts recoveredfrom slave quarters bothin theUnitedStates refined and on otherCaribbean islands.British and earthenwares, primarily pearl-wares tablewares. as is the case at otherslave sites, white-wares, are thepredominate Similarly, decorated wares (e.g. shell-edgedceramics) less expensive undecoratedor minimally occur in higherquantitiesthan the more expensive,decoratedwares. Of the decorated or transfer-print wares,annular/mocha waresare morecommonthaneither hand-painted more transfer-print ceramics- the most expensiveof the English ceramics.Curiously, waresmade in either thanmay6licas, tin-enameled wares- wererecovered Spain or Latin because theywere more durable America.The Englishwaresmayhave been preferred, and sometimescost less than may6lica (Arrazcaeta et al. 1999: 45). The onlymay6lica identified thusfaris Trianapolicromo,a ware made in Seville,Spain. in theceramicinventory otherslave sitesin the The major difference at El Padre from used forcookingand storageare ofHispanic Americasis thatall thecoarse earthenwares and in vessel shapes. These coarse earthenwares are of originsin both manufacture varyingsizes and shapes, some glazed and others unglazed. No slave-made pottery comparable to either colonowares (Ferguson 1992) or Afro-Caribbeanwares (e.g. at El Padre or anyotherhistoric Armstrong 1999;Petersonet al. 1999) has been identified earthenwares recoveredarchaeologically are site in WesternCuba. The onlyhand-built associated with the former aboriginalpopulations(see Dominguez 1984, pers. comm. recovered include bone buttons,glass 1999). In addition to ceramics,other artefacts and stub-stem beads, iron-kettle fragments pipes of Spanishmanufacture. All the recoveredartefacts like suggestthat enslaved people on Cuban plantations, other enslaved peoples elsewhere in the Americas, acquired these objects through to some extent, theirpersonaltastesin selfpurchaseor trade,and therefore represent, That these householdobjectswere acquired through presentation. purchaseratherthan is supported from Abbot's observations at Angerona: issued as provisions It is the maximwiththe proprietor thatnegroesshould have moneyand spend it. To a shop in an apartment encouragethelatter partof thisplan,he furnishes of thebuildwitheverything wishto buythatis properforthem; ingnextto themill, they clothcheap and showy;garments gay and warm;crockery; beads; crosses;guano,or the American palm,thattheymake neat hatsforthemselves; little cookingpots,& &. He putseveryat low prices;and no peddleris permitted thing to show his wares on the estate. (Abbot 1829: 141) The plantation shop at Angeronamayhave had a unique situation at thetimeof Abbot's visit, but,in laterdecades, plantation shops were commonon large Cuban sugarestates to peddlersnot beingallowed on the estate,however, (Scott 1985: 184-6). The reference tradedwithsuch peddlersduringthe heydayof suggeststhatenslaved people regularly coffee plantations.Enslaved people could exercise some choice in the objects they but the selection made available to them was limited,and, acquired for themselves, perhaps, influencedby stereotypednotions of their tastes, as suggested in Abott's remarks.
110 Theresa A. Singleton A ceramicdiskmeasuring trans2cm in diameterand made of Englishblue-on-white resistance. ferprintis the one artefact thatcould be consideredan example of cultural Culturalresistanceis used here to referto shared practicesthatserved to critiquethe as well as to createa worldremovedfrom ofeverytheoppression powerofthedominant day life (Scott 1990; e.g. Singleton1998; Thomas 1998 on slave resistanceand archaeology). On Cuban plantations,cultural resistancewas manifestedin various ways, religion and medicinalpractices (Barcia Paz 1998:23-8). including song,dance,folktales, of ceramic thatwas The ceramicdisk was most likelymade froma broken fragment have been recovSimilarartefacts reworked bysmoothing theedges intoa roundedform. ered fromslave sites in the southernUnited States (e.g. Russell 1997: 75) and in the 1990b:137-8; Pulsipher and Goodwin 1999:30). On theislandof Caribbean (Armstrong modernMontserratians describea game theycall 'ChineyMoney' in which Montserrat, on a table,and theseceramicdisksare used. In thegame,threeceramicpieces are thrown score (Pulsipherand the thrower's the arrangement in whichthe pieces falldetermines Goodwin 1999:30,n. 57). Anothergame,usingcowrieshells, knownas 'Paw Paw', played gaming pieces century, also involvedthrowing byAfro-New Englandersin theeighteenth thethrower's score (cowrieshells)and thepositioninwhichthepieces landed determined Africandivination (Pierson 1988: 102). Both of thesegames were possiblyderivedfrom objects (e.g. beads, involvesthrowing practices.A key principleof Africandivination in whichthepieces land eitherto predict cowries, seeds, etc.) and usingthe arrangement the futureor to determinea course of action for the person seeking advice fromthe Giventheimportance ofdivination Santeria, itshould in theAfro-Cuban religion diviner. not be surprising to findartefacts of divining and of otherAfricanreligious suggestive been practicesfroma Cuban slave quarter.Religious paraphernaliahas increasingly foundat sites occupied by people of Africandescentin the Americas (e.g. Brown and the Americas,enslaved people Cooper 1990; Ferguson1999; Wilkie 1997). Throughout oppression. reliedupon religionas a source of empowerment againsttheirday-to-day and conclusion Summary Plantationslaverycame late to Cuba compared to its English and French Caribbean in but the islandbecame thecenterforthe slave tradeand plantation slavery neighbors, to curb the rebellious activitiesof a Caribbean. In an effort the nineteenth-century slave population,slaveholdersadopted management practicesthatresembled growing of evidentin the builtenvironment was particularly prisonlife.This jail-likecharacter While the barraconesand the walled slave quartersand the spatial orderof plantations. to overt formsof slave resistance,theywere not slave villages served as deterrents took Enslaved men and women stillran away,plannedrebellions, effective. completely theirowners' lives as well as theirown lives. Throughvarious formsof everydayand culturalresistance,enslaved people covertlychallenged gruelingwork routinesand inhuman livingconditions. Slaveholders,like Reynoso, recognized the failure of the prison-likeapproach to and urgeda more paternalistic approachcomparableto thatadvocated by proslavery, weresimilar in scope UnitedStates.Reynoso'swritings in thesouthern reformers slavery for who championednotions of 'ideal' treatment to those of the southernreformists
Slaveryand spatialdialectics 111 enslaved laborers,but, in reality,the conditionsof most enslaved people remained unchanged(Singleton1988: 354-5; Chappell 1999: 242-3). All slaveholders desiredhardworking, loyal,well-behaved enslavedlaborers.Reformists reasoned thatthisgoal could best be achievedthrough in housing, food or healthcare. Whatslaveholdimprovements ers failedto recognizewas thatenslavedlaborershad theirown notionsof an ideal existence. They did not want to be enslaved under any circumstances. Consequently, they soughtvariouswaysto undermine slaveholderauthority. Acknowledgements I am verygrateful to Dr Eusebio Leal Spengler,historian forthe City of Havana, for providing withme the opportunity to conductthis researchthrough the Archaeology Office of theHistorianforthe Cityof Havana, Cuba. I thankthe following Department, persons for their assistance and generosity in making this research possible: Roger ArrazacaetaDelgado, Dr Lourdes Dominguez,Carlos AlbertoHernandezOliva, Lisette Roura Alvarez,Karen Mahe Lugo Romera,Sonia Menendez Castro,Anicia Hernandez Gonzales, Dania HernandezPerdices,BeatrrizAntoniaRodriguezBasulto,FrancisSera Alvarez, Ivalu Rodriguez Gil, Antonio Quievedo Herrero,Aldo PrimianoRodriguez, NestorMartiDelgado, JuanCarlos Mendez Hernandez,Adrian Labrada Milan,Alejandro Ramirez Anderson,JorgeLuis Garcia Baez, JorgePonce Aguilar,Ramon Artiles Avela, Carlos Suarez Sardifta, Manuel Barcia Paz, Leida FernandezPrieto,Dr Gabino la Rosa Corzo, Marta Z. TroncosoHernandez,Ismael Perez Perez, Consuelo Bueno Perez, Mark Hauser, StephanLenik and Miguel Herrera. This paper has also benefited fromcomments I receivedfrompresentations I gave at the MaterialCulture/Visual CultureWorking Group at the University of Marylandand the Departmentof Anthropology SeminarSeries,SyracuseUniversity. I am indebtedto Paul Shackel forhis suggestions. I am totally responsible foranyerrorsor shortcomings. The field researchat El Padre was undertaken during mytenureat theSmithsonian Institution a Scholarly through StudiesGrant,Office ofFellowshipsand Grants,Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC. Department ofAnthropology SyracuseUniversity References
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Slavery and Spatial Dialectics on Cuban Coffee Plantations Author(s): Theresa A. Singleton Source: World Archaeology, Vol.

Slaveryand spatial dialecticson plantations Cuban coffee

Plantation slavery andCuba'scoffee economy

Slaveryand spatialdialectics 101

DEL PADRE CAFETAL

A. Singleton 104 Theresa

HavanaProvince. 2 Location ofAngerona andEl Padrewithin Figure

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L ii . .g ..i ........ . i E Ei)i EEdi .......................

Slaveryand spatialdialectics 107

Plate2 Traces ofa stairway on thesouthern exterior wallofslaveholder's house.

A. Singleton 108 Theresa

A. Singleton 112 Theresa

Slaveryand spatialdialectics 113

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