How Did Don Jose Marti Survive In Spanish

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On January 28, 1853, Don Mariano de los Santos Martí y Navarro and Leonor Antonia de la Concepción Micaela Pérez y Cabrera gave birth to Don José Julián Martí y Pérez, generally known as Don José Martí in Havana, Cuba. Ironically, Don José Martí was exiled at a young age, sending him to other countries that prevented him from settling on the country he called home and so much wanted to liberate. Don José Martí became Cuba’s national hero after unifying the movement for Cuba’s independence from Spain with literature and giving the ultimate sacrifice by losing his life on the battlefield during the Battle of Dos Rios for Cuba’s Liberty. When Don José Martí was born in Cuba, it was the last New World Colony under Spain’s power. The independence …show more content…

However, in the autumn of the same year, the brother of Valdés and other boys had the audacity to laugh during a Havana military parade honoring the birthday of the Spanish regent. To the Spaniards, it was a show of disrespect and that gave them probable cause to search Valdés house where they found revolutionary literature of adolescents, including those of Don José Martí. In the search, officers found a letter from Valdés and Don José Martí to a third schoolmate who had joined the Spanish army as an officer and that truly triggered them to harshly punish them. At trial, both Valdés and Don José Martí claimed authorship of the letter, but it was Don José Martí who delivered a speech against the judge proclaiming Cuba’s right to independence. This of course was a mistake on Don José Martí’s part because the court was made up of those who were against the revolution and were loyal to Spain. As a result, Valdés was sentenced to six months in prison while Don José Martí was sentenced to death, but was then changed in six years of imprisonment. While in prison, he was forced to work in the hard labor field at the limestone quarry. He wrote letters to his mother where he included a picture of himself in a chain that stretched from his waist to his ankle. In one letter, Don José Martí described to his mom that although he was sixteen years-old, he was old to certain …show more content…

On January 31, 1895, Don José Martí left New York City to make his way to Cuba, where he and his supporters arrived on April 11 to begin their fight. Don José Martí was shot and killed by Spanish troops in Dos Ríos on May 19, 1895, he was 42 years old when he