Our Rightful Share, By Aline Helg: Summary

In the beginning, of whole idea of race and the difference between the two of them was something that was becoming more and more prevalent; The thought of slavery was also born. “Our rightful Share” by Aline Helg, starts off with an excellent and interesting introduction of Cuba. Slavery, according to Helg, was actually introduced into Cuba by the Spanish at the beginning of the 16th century and had fully transformed into a plantation society as sugar cultivation turned to the highest degree at the turn of the 19th century. The slave trade with the West Africa coast exploded and it is estimated 400,000 Africans were brought to Cuba during the years 1835 - 1864. In 1841, Africans made up over 40 percent of the total Cuban population(Cite the

According to the author, Helg, demonstrates how foreign powers and white Cubans used racism and the myth of racial equality to suppress Afro-Cubans. Emancipation for Africans enslaved in Cuba was a hard process that had begun on a bigger scale with the launching of "The Ten Years' War" against its colonizer, Spain, in 1868. Oriente, Cuba, was the heart and soul of the Independence movement( cite the book).The Ten Years' War began in October, 1868. The simplified, popular take on this event goes: a white landowner and slave owner, Carlos Manuel de Céspedes gave a speech known as the 'Grito de Yara', freed his slaves and incorporated them into his disorganized military force as he declared war on the Spanish Crown. This is a deception that seems to be an attempt to paint Céspedes as an innocent white that took action as the result of recognizing his “subtle” racism and having a change of heart toward slavery. The book actually examines his actions in a more honest light. Céspedes was born into a prominent plantation family that had been granted their estate in 1517. While Carlos Manuel de Céspedes is noted as a protagonist of the Ten Years' War, his actual involvement was only after eastern Cuba's economic survival was going down. In addition to his famous speech he immediately declared anyone inducing slaves to rebel would be sentenced to