Cuba
The island of Cuba: Spanish colony from the conquest of 1511, the wars of independence, the US occupations and the republic until 1958.
Category: States, Places
- 1511Diego Velázquez begins the Spanish conquest of Cuba
Governor Diego Velázquez leads Spanish forces from Hispaniola into Cuba in 1511 against the Taíno, led by the cacique Hatuey. Cuba becomes a base for later expeditions to Mexico.
- 1513Las Casas serves as chaplain in Velázquez's conquest of Cuba
In 1513 Las Casas accompanies Diego Velázquez and Pánfilo de Narváez's forces in Cuba as chaplain and receives an encomienda near Cienfuegos. He later describes the massacres he saw there.
- 1519Havana is founded on its present site on Cuba's northern coast
A settlement founded on Cuba's south coast in 1514 is moved, and the present city of Havana is founded on the north coast in 1519. It becomes the main port of Spain's Caribbean shipping.
- February 10, 1519Hernán Cortés sails from Cuba for Mexico despite the governor's order
On 10 February 1519 Cortés leaves Cuba with an expedition to the mainland, though governor Diego Velázquez had cancelled his commission. It begins the conquest of the Aztec Empire.
- 1555French corsair Jacques de Sores captures and burns Havana
In 1555 Jacques de Sores takes and burns Havana but leaves without the great wealth he hoped to find. Sources give July or August for the attack. It pushes Spain to fortify the city and to organise convoys.
- c. 1564Havana becomes the rendezvous port of Spain's treasure fleets
Under the convoy system set up in the mid-1560s, the New Spain and Tierra Firme fleets gather at Havana before crossing to Spain. Sources date the system from 1561, 1564 or 1566.
- September 7, 1628 – September 8, 1628Piet Hein captures Spain's treasure fleet at Matanzas Bay
On 7–8 September 1628 the Dutch West India Company's Piet Hein captures the Spanish silver fleet in Matanzas Bay, Cuba, taking goods worth about 11.5 million guilders. The loss strains Spain's war effort in the Netherlands.
- June 6, 1762 – August 13, 1762A British fleet and army besiege and capture Havana
The British siege of Havana lasts from 6 June to 13 August 1762 during the Seven Years' War. Their rule opens Cuba to free trade and adds about 3,200 enslaved Africans to the roughly 4,000 already on the island.
- 1763Spain recovers Havana from Britain in exchange for Florida
The 1763 Peace of Paris ends the Seven Years' War. Britain returns Havana to Spain, which cedes Florida; France gives Spain Louisiana as compensation. Sources differ on whether the handover was in February or April 1763.
- February 28, 1789Spain's crown opens the slave trade to its subjects in Cuba
A royal decree of 28 February 1789 lets Spanish subjects bring enslaved Africans directly to Cuba. With Saint-Domingue's sugar in ruins after 1791, the island becomes a major slave-based sugar producer. Historians debate how new the policy was.
- 1811 – March 1812José Antonio Aponte's abolitionist conspiracy is uncovered in Cuba
A conspiracy led from Havana by the free Black carpenter José Antonio Aponte spreads across the island between 1811 and March 1812, as Cuba's sugar economy expands. Spanish authorities crush it and execute its leaders.
- August 1851Narciso López lands an expedition in Cuba and is defeated and executed
After earlier attempts in 1848-1850 failed, Narciso López lands in Pinar del Río in August 1851 with an armed force from abroad. Spanish troops defeat it and López is executed.
- October 1854US diplomats meet at Ostend and argue that the United States may seize Cuba
In October 1854 James Buchanan, Pierre Soulé and John Y. Mason meet at Ostend and write that the US should buy Cuba, and would be justified in taking it if Spain refuses. Criticism in the North and in Europe ends the plan.
- October 10, 1868 – February 10, 1878Carlos Manuel de Céspedes begins Cuba's Ten Years' War against Spain
On 10 October 1868 Carlos Manuel de Céspedes declares independence and frees his slaves. General Martínez Campos negotiates the Pact of Zanjón on 10 February 1878. Estimates of the dead vary widely.
- October 7, 1886Spain abolishes slavery in Cuba by royal decree
A royal decree of 7 October 1886 abolishes slavery in Cuba. Sources also mark 1880, when chattel ownership of enslaved people ended and a transitional system began.
- April 10, 1892José Martí founds the Cuban Revolutionary Party
The Cuban Revolutionary Party is proclaimed on 10 April 1892 to organise a new war against Spain, and José Martí is elected its delegate. It prepares the 1895 uprising.
- February 24, 1895Cuban rebels rise against Spain on 24 February 1895
Uprisings across Cuba on 24 February 1895 begin the last war of independence against Spain. The conflict ends three years later with the Spanish-American War.
- May 19, 1895José Martí is killed in battle at Dos Ríos
José Martí, the writer and organiser of the independence war, is killed on 19 May 1895, shortly after the uprising begins.
- October 21, 1896Spain's General Weyler orders the rural population into fortified areas
On 21 October 1896 Valeriano Weyler orders Cuban villagers into fortified towns, a policy that lasts until March 1898. By the account on Wikipedia it killed at least a third of the rural population.
- February 15, 1898The US battleship Maine explodes in Havana harbour
On 15 February 1898 the USS Maine blows up in Havana harbour and 268 crew die. The cause has not been clearly established; the incident feeds the road to the Spanish-American War.
- April 21, 1898 – August 13, 1898The United States blockades Cuba and goes to war with Spain
A US resolution of 20 April 1898 backs Cuban independence (the Teller Amendment). Congress declares that war has existed since the blockade of 21 April. Fighting ends with an armistice on 13 August.
- December 10, 1898The Treaty of Paris ends Spanish rule in Cuba
Signed on 10 December 1898 without Cuban delegates, the treaty has Spain relinquish Cuba, which the United States occupies from 1 January 1899. Spain also cedes Puerto Rico, Guam and the Philippines.
- March 2, 1901The Platt Amendment gives the United States a right to intervene in Cuba
Signed into US law on 2 March 1901, the amendment is accepted by Cuba's constituent assembly on 12 June, 16 votes to 11, and added to its constitution. It allows US intervention and leads to the Guantánamo naval base.
- May 20, 1902The Republic of Cuba is inaugurated and the US military government ends
On 20 May 1902 General Leonard Wood hands power to President Tomás Estrada Palma in Havana. The republic is limited by the Platt Amendment, and some Cubans dispute that the date marks true independence.
- September 29, 1906 – February 6, 1909The United States occupies Cuba again after Estrada Palma resigns
A Liberal revolt against a rigged 1905 election leads Estrada Palma to resign on 28 September 1906 and the US to install a provisional government, later under Charles Magoon. The last US forces leave on 6 February 1909.
- May 20, 1912 – July 18, 1912Cuban forces crush the Independent Party of Color's armed protest
From 20 May to 18 July 1912 the army puts down a revolt of the Partido Independiente de Color in Oriente; its leader Evaristo Estenoz is killed on 27 June. Estimates of Black and mixed-race dead range from about 1,000 to 6,000.
- September 4, 1933The Sergeants' Revolt brings Fulgencio Batista to power in Cuba
After Gerardo Machado was forced out in August 1933, Batista and other sergeants take over the army on 4 September 1933. Batista then dominates Cuban politics for about 25 years, often through puppet presidents.
- May 29, 1934The United States and Cuba sign a treaty abrogating the Platt Amendment
The Treaty of Relations signed on 29 May 1934 abrogates the 1903 treaty and most of the Platt Amendment, ending the US right of intervention. One source gives 9 June as the date it took effect.
- March 10, 1952Fulgencio Batista seizes power in a coup before Cuba's election
On 10 March 1952 Batista and the army take over, ending the government of Carlos Prío weeks before the 1 June election in which Batista expected to lose. The United States recognises the regime in late March.