Odious Commerce: Britain, Spain and the Abolition of the Cuban Slave Trade (Cambridge Latin American Studies, Series Number 37)

The Atlantic slave trade brought to Cuba the African slaves who created the dramatic transformation of the island from a relative backwater of Spain's colonial empire in the mid-eighteenth century to the world's richest plantation colony one hundred years later. Britain played a vital role in this transformation. British slave traders were the chief suppliers of Cuba's slaves in the eighteenth century; in the nineteenth century Britain became the greatest threat to Cuba's prosperity when she attempted to make Spain follow her example and abolish the slave trade. Dr Murray's study, based on a thorough examination of British and Spanish records, reveals how important British influence was on the course of Cuban history. From the middle of the eighteenth century Cuba began to experience the remarkable economic growth which was to transform the island from a relative backwater of Spain's colonial empire into the world's richest colony and leading sugar producer by the late 1820s. Based on a thorough examination of British and Spanish records, this study reveals how important British influence was on the course of Cuban history David R. Murray. Includes Index. Bibliography: P. [400]-413.