Atlas of Hispanic-American History

Cuban traditions, like a flexible work

schedule and an unlimited personal sup-

ply of cigars. One distinctive custom was

la lectura, in which a lector, or reader, sat

on a scaffold above the workers and read

aloud in Spanish from newspapers and

books while they rolled cigars. Workers

customarily chose the readers and the

materials they read. Attempts to curtail

these amenities were regularly thwarted

by strikes.

While busy earning a living in the

United States, Cubans did not forget the

cause of Cuban independence. The most

prominent voice in that movement

became José Martí (1853–1895), who

lived in the United States from 1881 to

1895, after his revolutionary activities in

Cuba forced him into exile. Most of his

time was spent in New York City, though

he also visited Cuban émigré communi-

ties in Florida.

A renowned poet as well as patriot,

Martí supported himself in the United

States through journalism and employ-

ment as a consul for Uruguay and

Argentina. Meanwhile, he founded and

led the Cuban Revolutionary Party, pub-

lishing hundreds of essays in his party’s

journal, Patria, and in periodicals from the

New York Times to La Nacíon of Buenos

Aires. He spoke at innumerable gather-

ings, raised funds for the cause, and

argued that Cuba should be free not only

from Spain but from racism, political

oppression, and economic exploitation.

Martí’s revolutionary work reached its cli-

max in 1895, when he returned to Cuba

for the Cuban War of Independence.

Immigration from

Puerto Rico

In the late 19th century, the people of

Puerto Rico, like the people of Cuba,

began to push hard for independence

from Spain. On the night of September

23, 1868, Puerto Rican patriots armed

with machetes, knives, and guns marched

into the western city of Lares, captured it,

and declared Puerto Rico independent.

Their victory was short-lived, however.

Spanish troops soon crushed the revolt,

which came to be known as El Grito de

Lares, “The Cry of Lares.” The episode is

not forgotten. Puerto Ricans still celebrate

it on September 24 as a holiday.

During these years, some Puerto

Rican patriots were forced into exile in the

United States, where they continued to

work for their island’s independence. New

York City was a center for these émigrés,

among them physician Ramón Emeterio

Betances, a strong advocate dfor abolition

of slavery, freedom of speech, and free-

dom of religion. Another was the journal-

ist Francisco Gonzalo “Pachin” Marín,

publisher of the revolutionary newspaper

El Postillón, who moved to New York in

114 ATLAS OF HISPANIC-AMERICAN HISTORY

Vincente Ybor’s cigar factory (National Park Service)

CUBA LIBRE

Viva Cuba Libre!,or “Long Live Free

Cuba,” was the slogan of late 19th-

century revolutionaries fighting for an

independent Cuba. The phrase

“Cuba libre” is best known today to

Americans as the name of a cocktail

consisting of one part rum, two parts

Coca-Cola, and lime juice or a slice of

lime (often just called a rum and

Coke). That formula says something

about the process by which Cuba

became a nation. Rum, the Cuban

national beverage, represents the

efforts of Cuban patriots to achieve

independence; Coca-Cola, the arche-

typal American soft drink, represents

American involvement in that struggle

and also the domination of Cuba by

the United States once independence

was achieved.

“I arrived in Ybor City in

the middle of a torrential

rain storm. The streets were

paved with mud—not gold.

All I remember was the

mud, the heat, and the

mosquitos. And that night,

my first night in Tampa, I

vowed I would return to

Cuba within the year.”

—José de la Cruz, Cuban
immigrant to Ybor City,
Florida, where he worked
as a lector in a cigar factory