Climate and Catastrophe in Cuba and the Atlantic World in the Age of Revolution (Envisioning Cuba)

From 1750 to 1800, a critical period that saw the American Revolution, French Revolution, and Haitian Revolution, the Atlantic world experienced a series of environmental crises, including more frequent and severe hurricanes and extended drought. Drawing on historical climatology, environmental history, and Cuban and American colonial history, Sherry Johnson innovatively integrates the region's experience with extreme weather events and patterns into the history of the Spanish Caribbean and the Atlantic world. By superimposing this history of natural disasters over the conventional timeline of sociopolitical and economic events in Caribbean colonial history, Johnson presents an alternative analysis in which some of the signal events of the Age of Revolution are seen as consequences of ecological crisis and of the resulting measures for disaster relief. For example, Johnson finds that the general adoption in 1778 of free trade in the Americas was catalyzed by recognition of the harsh realities of food scarcity and the needs of local colonists reeling from a series of natural disasters. Weather-induced environmental crises and slow responses from imperial authorities, Johnson argues, played an inextricable and, until now, largely unacknowledged role in the rise of revolutionary sentiments in the eighteenth-century Caribbean. Cover......Page 1 Contents......Page 8 Acknowledgments......Page 12 ONE: Cursed by Nature......Page 18 TWO: Be Content with Things at Which Nature Almost Revolted......Page 38 THREE: It Appeared as If the World Were Ending......Page 77 FOUR: The Violence Done to Our Interests......Page 109 FIVE: In a Common Catastrophe All Men Should Be Brothers......Page 140 SIX: The Tomb That Is the Almendares River......Page 171 SEVEN: So Contrary to Sound Policy and Reason......Page 210 APPENDIX 1 A Chronology of Alternating Periods of Drought and Hurricanes in Cuba and the Greater Caribbean, Juxtaposed with Major Historical “Events,” 1749–1800......Page 220 APPENDIX 2 Sources for the Maps......Page 224 Notes......Page 228 Bibliography......Page 292 B......Page 316 D......Page 317 F......Page 318 H......Page 319 M......Page 320 P......Page 321 S......Page 322 Z......Page 323 Cuban Studies is the preeminent journal for scholarly work on Cuba. Each volume includes articles in English and Spanish, a large book review section, and an exhaustive compilation of recent works in the field. Cuban Studies 39 includes essays the recent transformation of the Cuban film animation industry and its continuing cultural impact; the influence of the liberal agenda of Justo Rufino Barrios on Jose Mart; a profile of the music of the Special Period and its social commentary; an in-depth examination of the contents, important themes, and enormous research potential of the Miscelnea de Expedientes collection at the Cuban National Archive; and a realistic assessment on the political future of Cuba. Beginning with volume 34 (2003), the publication is available electronically through Project MUSE. More information can be found at Cover 1 Contents 8 Acknowledgments 12 ONE: Cursed by Nature 18 TWO: Be Content with Things at Which Nature Almost Revolted 38 THREE: It Appeared as If the World Were Ending 77 FOUR: The Violence Done to Our Interests 109 FIVE: In a Common Catastrophe All Men Should Be Brothers 140 SIX: The Tomb That Is the Almendares River 171 SEVEN: So Contrary to Sound Policy and Reason 210 APPENDIX 1 A Chronology of Alternating Periods of Drought and Hurricanes in Cuba and the Greater Caribbean, Juxtaposed with Major Historical “Events,” 1749–1800 220 APPENDIX 2 Sources for the Maps 224 Notes 228 Bibliography 292 Index 316 A 316 B 316 C 317 D 317 E 318 F 318 G 319 H 319 I 320 J 320 K 320 L 320 M 320 N 321 O 321 P 321 Q 322 R 322 S 322 T 323 U 323 V 323 W 323 Y 323 Z 323 From 1750 to 1800, a critical period that saw the American Revolution, French Revolution, and Haitian Revolution, the Atlantic world experienced a series of environmental crises, including more frequent and severe hurricanes, and extended drought. Drawing on historical climatology, environmental history, and Cuban and American colonial history, this book integrates the region's experience with extreme weather events and patterns into the history of the Spanish Caribbean and the Atlantic world