Freedom’s Mirror ba and Haiti in the Age of Revolution ADA FERRER Nw York Univesity CAMBRIDGE270 Freedom's Misvor ‘The ato of te Corte med einen of lve why jn 1841 had as ally and potential leader a proximate black king, The ‘combination was deadly. m ese Sess ee Te Teds helvocaion twa ety exible hha mid there wt Dthing nea fos leon Denne dt hese ot se a al cata ‘Sts thee was everthing acd bln hatte oops bot cane outcome kare ome apa ee aba. But what of Hi ielP Cou the soctem Ling fs et imate or ep ralph ce et Naas Sect 1811 Did Cope hive foe sang oe ean fone nda erin net sel es Mogeitee een san ge purely ste oe on indo Cb, he Habu dst eto sa or ended sh ets ape ny de ones Domi of mnimervenn i cine ald Eck sh seein har sped thse sash eon shee icity bv en sag thr se eh oe thee vat 8 presen ok tars neta arabe oa wel 8h ono wete ty dey Rak {24 oppor az of iy de emery fd of stots bso etn enc an hat pn ce ioagoe A Black Kingdom of This World History and Revolution in Havana, 1812 In January 1812, Jean-rangois ~ one ofthe fist leaders of the slave evolution of SsineDomingue form slave and macoon rarsed general ‘nd admirsl, commander of the black auuliates, erstwhile defender of Francs Lois XVI and Spain's Carlos IV showed upin Havana. He had en there before im December «735 following the evacuation of Bayait {PoceDaupin). That time, Havana authorities had confined is 0 is ‘hip foe fear hat even the sight of him back, dcoeated, proud — would {re local people dangers ideas, Then he wa exiled to Cad. Sei, ‘people in Havana had see hits and his companions, and printed images ‘ot im had ieculated fro hand to hand. There had been ungrounded rumors of his return before. Now, in 1312, Jean-Frangois was bask, ‘walking the strets of Havana freely, Dack nolo ad stalin strate, he wore his uaiform, blue jacket with gold buttons decorated with anchors and eles He tod one back cesident of Havana that he wanted to he sen and recognized as an imporant subjet, and he deed the at, going ot of his way to change into his uniform before meetings he ‘ected important. He visited the homes offre people of color inthe ‘ty he there with slaves and others in plazas and on street corners; he even saw some old acquaintances “from hstier.”* (On Mare 14, be left Havana for its hinterland, accompanied by so local men ~ Exanislao Aguila, a fee malaeo aztsan Known to forge pases for slaves who wanted to travel between city and country, and * nan Fanesep to Haan ron we Chae. On sts timany ‘STcmome nein in ANCAP agen oxy dame as ‘enlaip ANC. AR Ig os ep.an Freedom's Miror fetal peas areae Shey cote ee Dlack king to lead chem in revolution, At ed yan a: ned fun Ss Ci. Tce te Santa Cruz Congo asked the leaders whet they were taking “the lake > ANG ied 2p 1. Tamra Glo Gar hain oe » Teno of Creme Cas ANC. AF, 10 4 eB; Eae ee ANCA ps cae Pee se rs ANE “Tieden i reo Ta es As ker hein of “Soess nwa eae, amon to pen eet ne atau euro Pod ee i ‘Mat Ss Ce Ala Sa Gn Cnp, tno Nate Ss Cr Msc. dad Canby nd Ans Sa Cth ANC. Ako Te seen erin veo a et eg a “xe ae te te l-ned pio e'se Sich wc wher teers ea an Pou tice ee A Black Kingdom of Tis World as sun cepid holding his uasheathed machete, “tht if he asked hin fone mone word, he would wring his nck [le arrancab el pescueo].” Everyone obeyed. Revolution, a Dessalines had ance allegedly insisted, required discipline, nd violence? Sl, even those were aot enough. Neither was che leadership ofthe man whom everyone called theblack general om Goatio, At Santa Ana, the rebels were defeated, and over the nest weeks and months, authorities pale and punished more than fy eels and suspects in Havana, pob- lly execating and brutally displaying the remains of fourteen of chem. Jean-Frangois was hanged, bis head severed and put on a sake atthe entrance to Peas Alas, where afew weeks evi he had arsved herald fing eeedom and evolton ~ aa jgnoesinious end fora decorated black general, wow nate, the governor had once sid, esonated in Havana ke that ofa conqueror and hero ‘When Jean-Frangos ws arated and questioned, however, one ofthe fis things he sid was esta, am ae that man. He was emphatic: Ihe was not and did noc want co be called Jen Frangos. Mis name was Juan Barbier. The many other witnesses, of couse, did no hear this ‘and uo they continued esting abou the presence of the Haitian ear Francois (ered o in Spanish as Joan Frans), who wore a generals neem, ead eo them fom French paper, and promised them freedom in ‘the name of his king. Faced with such declarations and void potential ‘confusion, the sribe occasionally followed witnesses’ mention of Jan Frangois withthe pateahasal notation: “(es Barbien."* “The liberator, ened ont, was a impaster. The real Jean-Feangois, who hal eft Havana for Cz in January 1796, had did ia the Spanist post city in Fog, The man who promised to lead the enslaved to freedom InFavana in 1812 was someone ele eniey. Sai by vasious people tobe ‘native of Afica or of Sant-Domingue: a etecan of the Haitian Revoli- ‘ion foemer resident of Charleston, South Carolina; and sel identified fs North American, che man BasbeJean-Prangoie was a alos ot inystery. We do not know when he aeved in Havana or fom where. Ir he lived in Charleston, no evidence ofthat residence appears 0 have su vived. He identified 9 rom "his Ind” a Havana woman held 2s a slave by mun ofthe Santa Clara convent » Santo Domingo order that had os in enn of Nl Sat Cros Cong ANG AP. ‘tend “Cope ele «Fenny fut Bain ANC, APs ep, mp 16 ad teony of Tibi Poaern AN Ale Sexy AEHa4 Freedom's Miror evacuated to Havana in 1795.7 The popers with which he annoanceg ftcedom to che easlaved workforce of Trinidad and Peas Altos were likewise false. Rather than a king's order of lbsetion, one was simply. a leer write in French by wat appears to bea smal slaveholdr fot leasr in San Jost Buenavista (Matanzas complaining about sick slave ‘The oer was an ad in English for William Young Bich, publisher a stationer in Philadelphia. Whetber the documeats Bibi carted were Fandom, or whether the hold some kind of le, is impossible to know. ‘Whaterr else remains a mystery, t yer irrefutable thatthe iberacon ‘otders en by a blac king wer a sbam, ad thatthe man reading them in the slave huts of western Cuba was not who everyone said he was. “Those strange facts nowithstanding, the movement in which the fi tre of Jean-Francois played a vital eole remains atnong the mort amb tious and important in the history ofthe Black Atlantic. Authorities = and later histrias ~ denied the plot's mastermind as Jose Antonio “Aponte, 2 fee man of colo, a carpenter and att, veteran of the fee back mili, perhaps 2 priest un the Afro\Cuban religion of Santeria Aponte, wocking closely with other mea such as himself, had devised 4 plan. First, hey oud (and did) tnge the rich supa plantations on the outskits of Havana. With th sugar mils busning, Aponte and his ‘ompanions would then strike atthe heat ofthe heavily fried exp tal cy. Fach of che leaders would lunch separate stack om the city’s focieses and armoees,seiing weapons with which to am the 400 en ‘who, Aponte said, were organized and writing to cise a follow when called. Aecording to Some camtemporaryactount, the Havana pot Was linked to other nearly contemporaneous ons in eastern Cuba in Pesto Prine, Bayamo, and Holguin. Some have even posited possible links Chis ex Behera At and foe sie of Sit Dona a ‘Gatton, ee Mat Ch, Te rs Apt Reton i Ca rd te Seg Aci one Sey (Ce il: Uarerry Neh Eaane Py soe ‘stones swe fetes "de san Song eb nen Se Ese Iti uncharo h Ko . e ten CN ea Se, Js Paina Can sie Pi WANE AP evar. 16 Avena ‘red en Chase dnesees a te psp lero atvelomses, ‘tines anes sg sy Ss Nu! Curr este ‘eo eds. =e nd een yt SS ns Chach etry an Ci Derr Chae Sats Ci rp ey ee "oy hoy a 6 Tee oe waa fn an ape aes een aN AF pag he ‘Goce a Pasco Compras 18. Thy ae ao A Black Kingdom of This World 2s swith che United States, Jamaics, Santo Domingo, and Brazil? Leaving Side the question ofthe movement's geographic reach and connections, in Havana it ts designs and goals were expansive. Months of plan nig had linked fe poople of color and enslaved, countryside and city. Recruit’ names were Kept in a book of adherents to the cause, Aponte on ks wen Hi a he MC Cl, The sss Agr Reon, ‘ripen palesneos band Cab abe Compe ~ Km oon lmao at ‘Scr te ep gin state ae oie Atseg tb inl fg: Cabal Sl, oe oe Rend bodes IAN sen ye, nrc Ruan as eno es ‘we co nd ts B ANCAP gt vs Three opiny of yl y Rayo d Ble, wa ante imprant come 1 Pais Wend 298 Quo appar 54a6 Freedom's Mirror ‘picture book that Aponte created and discussed with his fellow cone spicators ~ in fact renders more persuasive the claim thar Aponte was indeed a revolutionary. In that cord, Aponte emerges as histcian, strate and theorist who visualized bintoryinliding the history of ‘own cme apd his own people in order to dmagine a radical, subversive ‘word beyond she evolution: she nex black kingdom of hee wll Aponte’ Presents Alanic Havana, xhx-1812 Four things happened in 18:1 that would profoundly shape Aponte’s revolution. In May of hat year news aeivl in Havana ofthe motion for the abolition ofthe slave trade and slavery i the Cones of Cd “The proposals and debate published inthe Davo de Sesionas cicalated ‘widely, and people everywhere talked sbout them. On plantations, in the cy, and across most ofthe island, rumors circulated no jase thatthe (Cortes had broached the copic of slave trade abolion, ba hat chey had in face already declared slaves ‘eee. Though the rumor of freedom was false, te sci caused was real. "Great, Si,” said the captain general “isthe sensation eased [by the ews] and most sid the notions th ane crerywhere whispered.” ‘Of couse, the Spanish Costes was not the only one acting aginst the slave teade in that moment. On May x4, 18, the Betsh Pasi ment passed the Slave Trade Felony Act, which made punishable witha fouteeo-year sentence the paricipation of any British subject inthe slave trade. The pincpal tanger of the new lw wete those British sade cap tain, seamen actors, and underwriters who had met the challenge ofthe 147 abolition of che British slve ade by tasfersing ther resources, ‘experience, ad savy tothe Spanish and Porte tide The 1811 Act thus sought eo achieve a more substantive enforcement of theslae rade bun. In the same year, moreover, the Royal Navy bea in earnest is "Tet hae ane Ajo Carpenter, The King of Ths Wor al by ‘Hat de Ons Ney ork Nomdy ro 98) “ Onticnion of nd etn the hes om CA ee Chapter 6. The ae lem Ser ns de Per May 9G urban, ‘heuer inet hinge rns of bio dey tore nd ceca ty cate sorter were ane nthe otk flo ‘rar a6 Se" Page Aton Spor Ste Sa cen) Nes Ele det Vo eth ee” AGL Cubs 78 Tr Gob Sea Somer ‘ary sand Fray stan Lech in AG Corea dea Pert aay sSe2yia Nh Ulead MCh Te ns Spt Reelin, A Black Kingdom of Tis World an campaign to suppress the trace on the high ea, srgeting vss ying Spanish figs, which were ofen owned by Brish subjects and manned input by Besh crews, The dacnsion and passing of de bl in Pa ‘ment was amply covered inthe international pres, bat in Adantc por ‘es such as Havana, news of England's new campaign against Span Ssh slavers arrived fsslhand and made palpable the growing power of ‘Aan antsavery.* ‘As blitionist news from Europe made the roundsin Havana, anther event mich closer to home wold soon give people even more 10 tal shout. On June 2, x81, after months of preparation, Hens Christophe {in northora Hai had himself erowned King Hensi and Hatt declared a Kingdom. Day of festive in Le Cap save dances, musical performance, the public revision of poems, and invocations of Grek and Roman sods: Apollo, Nepean, Mars, Minera, Clio, and Empire des Fis. All ‘vlminated with he coronasion of Chisophe and his wie, Marie-Louise. [News ofthe coronation ofa black king in Hat spread Hke wilde, covered extensively, for example, in the North American press (Figure ‘th "Though no articles on the event appear to have heen published In Cabs the news wat everywhere talked about. In Remedios, in central Gaba, a lawyer defended fee black enan rom charges af conspicacy by isting that all the accused man had done was talk “with other blacks abou the polical ate of thos of hi class on ee island of Sanco Domingo andthe coronation of King Christophe.” “Whats 0 stange,” sed the lawyer, “about the fact that healked about evens so worthy of Calling attention to themselves by their ai? Do not the whites speale of hem without any reserve and ponder aloud thei causes apd effets?" Tn Havana, there may have ben even mote talk ofthe eofonaton. Among the leaders of Aponte’s movement, everyone talked about the Hitan king. Aponte showed sporrsit of Christophe that he Bad raw from memery afer closely studing one showen to him by an unnamed Moray, Comma chad ere, "Caan ryan ec Ate thy! The Sah compa rosy ig Bh i me el teSpnhvere Se oer pic Welly May 53811, zen Otero nge dl era 0 Ma aly, Decor ‘auisn TNA, FO, uo Cony of aaa le ely as ber TNA 0, ahan "Th ota sbi filen Po Comical et lore ‘Sova eat li gt Ropar ise Map Hoey Che Powe et Con dev Ac pies. vse apo or olen” Apa 3 HED DANG AR op cop sl sotn4a8 reedom’s Miror a Af pL aN Chuistphe cromned Bing of Heyti. Youn 71, Cheap’ coronation at King Halt in 6c Wood engraving Ansria,nnetrh centr. Cred Grange Coleco, New Yok ack he ad led a te cay dk in Hava ror, ‘uty aud an showed ares sae hs ‘dhs own drawing read, he shared twith many = presenting ors tot eigvstort noha ea neuen ant ae lingo mente te Baki Sct sg ee a Ghee appa, inti nd ete deel ce et aun oo before nee hesapsrn monet ingoed. Char Chispe = now Rig He kee Havana, by mame by til brcomtenance aie Det fh yea sing he ape soneig tay nvm mash Apne wba sn stout eon nd ack very compte ete ee (Garaget meting tor lp stern he otro ews mnie Cian ANC, A. tae. 7 et enimesyd Do Sn aot ma ag ANC Ae A Black Kingdom of Tis World 279 ome fo actin pursit of bath. A group of abour went peopl, six beads of family and thei dependens, asved in Havana. The heads of household were al Mack mea, apd allhad bee ofcer ia the rebel army of Sine Domingus, serving under Jean Frangois himsel They had allied ‘with the Spanish government agaiast she French Republic, and when Spain lotto France in 1795, thy were evacuated frst to Havana where Mack cabildosalleely prepared celebrations i thie hone) and then promly, inthe cseof there particular men, to Central America. Now, In Inte 0, they weze in Havana once more, saying again in Cass Blanca, 8 maritime selement aeons Havana harbor. But his time the ‘ack usilares were heading home ast were, to Santo Domingo tothe ‘once-agsn Spanish portion of Hispaniola wrested from France ia 1809 withthe help of Henri Christophe, And there men were not importers, bot real veterans ofthe Haitian Revolution. ‘With Santo Domingo once more Spanish, authorities inthe peninsila aise orders ~ printed in Havana’ Papel Pridico~ forthe ezura ‘of those wi had le fllowing the colony’s cession to France. In Cadiz home to the bulk ofthe former susliary fees, local authorities began considering petitions and granting psspors for reer. ln November 109, amongthose who receved permission co avel o Havana enroute to Santo Domingo was Francisca Agapito ~ bor in Plaisance in former Saint Domingue, nara captain among the Black rebel jus three days into the Haitian Revolution, promoted to bestenantcoloal i 1792 after recsving a aller to his eft sid, a veteran of campaigns in Les Cayes, Lime, Por Margot, Borgne, Dordon, Marmelade, Gonaives, San Rafi, San Miguel, and Hincha, and by 1809 head of all he black awniinces in Cid Like Agito, ether Back men and women recive pemits 0 teavl to Havana ftom Cid. Among them were other lack suxiares, ‘swells veterans of Havana's black rita who bad been banished 9 (Cadiz for their parcipaton in the independence consiray of 181." Irie not clear how many of those who zecited such permission setully "Ro Ord, aay 1, tt. Somer Des Al eet {Stns Hien un ANG, RO, o The hoy Ores nd econ ring Ags elo Gat at ‘ier Pte Sno Dong for hopBy see eens GU SD legs a A Una nen 2vand 6 orth Peto tnt Hava om Ch hte oak ora bers [sl inthe Roman Sela tar ony Fea 8 Rate poe ‘tau anne, Cao der an Breve ort we AGL oso Eenespn rand180 ‘Freedom's Miror traveled to Havana, AC least dice times, imminent deparures of the smen were delayed, Suga planter Andrés de Jatrop, as Havana’sdepty to the Cortes, worked behind the scenes ta keep any from embarking ‘acting with the governor of Cid and other ofcals to impress upon them how dangerous is would be to sea the famous blak aussie to oa “The went from Cente Americ hac not hil del with the ess tance ofthe Cuban planter clas and ts representatives so they did make ito Havana and were now biding ther tme in Casa Blanes, The heads offaily had bon decorated officers under General Jean-Frangs they had vedas eee men for decades andl they cootinucd to identy then selves by their military ties: Brigadier Gal Nain, Lienenant Ineo Plotin, to name jst seo. Theis arrival in Havana prompted a frenzy ‘of speculation, mor, and wishfil thinking. Blick residents ofthe city found reasons to make the quick journey ro Casa Blanca tose the mien for themselves, to ask them questions: From whenee dd they come snd ‘where were they headed? Who had sen theo Havana and what was the purpose oftheir vst? Who were they? Brigades? Admitals? Could they please sce their military wiforns? Ar irs, explsined «capttin among ‘hem, Shey entertained the questions and showed the visors their uni forms. Bat apparently the requests t0 see the wniforms had become $0 feequent and insite that the offers had stopped showing them * (One of Aponte’s colleagues ia he plot was Salvador Terero, a fee [Asicas-born man, a member ofthe sth Company of he black batalion of Havana, and capesin of an Afican (Mina) cabo, who in Mar "og had been arzested for taking pare inthe tacks on French side of Havana. Terero was one of shose people wo made repeated vis t0 Andee seat May Ya Ayan RAR, Alena © 0. = set a tad Cie ami dri ents on Ca ee sig kno cr nett Cas een te bn ih Cone qos aa age se dies a dfn" ouepl ope sen in Chad ede sce, falsvs wong hav teed oon cry se eee, Se gd Sasi forse Hk eof ea fn eae ‘Reo alread leaps Hav hth ten ‘ur wits be copied ta ome eres coma so apo [ea aeconocsiati hm ut pple hace teh omen Hares Nic ans sd Sr ampere mh roc ‘= Trdouay fo Hc ato, ANCAP eo A Black Kingdom of This World at see the famed blac offers, Indeed, he went 9 Casa Blanca oa dhrce feparate occasions, each ime taking a fferent companion, even ‘xchanging medicinal advice with the brigadier himsel.*™ ‘Authors soon realized chat the peeseace of Jean Frangot's troops in Havana ~ ata moment when a man sho called hiwselfJean-Frangois had taveled to plantations to road alleged declarations of freedom and to lead slaves in revolution ~ was too powerel an invitation to disoede. ‘The sume day the Haitian veevans were questioned in connection with ‘he plot authorities decid that hey needed co be put on vessels and sent con thee way" The city was too agitated and black habaneros were too keenly aware of he presence in ther ety of ack veterans of the Haitian Revolution. Each ofthese very spec evens~she arial of news of abolition pro: posalsat Cid, England's x13 Felony Act andthe exalation of te naval ‘Sompaign against the slave rae, the coronation of Henri Christophe in ait and the return to Havana of some of the famed megros aus ‘ares of lean Prangois~ was preset in the conception, organiztio, and ‘operation of the desigent movement of rha1-13, Each a is own way ‘signaled impending change and the possible extension 0 Cuba of recent ‘moves toward freedom snd equality: moze miltane bolitonis in England illng to sarge che Cuban slave rade; the appearance of new sovernment forms in Spain apparently willing vo tackle dhe question of "Savery; he crownigof «black king in what hag recent boo he ea tallof brutal livery and the sudden appearance of famed blak military ‘lees ia Havana il. Soely Aponte and his companions may have ‘reasoned, the world was becoming nes, and this new present might be jus the dine to make thet own change, to make their own history Cabs. Ac ploters and cris discussed the potential elo, they confessed tone another~as many others had de before them = that they could to longer tolerate the existence of slavery. But rather than express only 2 general sentiment, sucha claim now had clear political and bitorial Tefeens Sida fre back man to an enslaved ene whom he sought 12 recruit forthe ebllion: *wewil fem junta of nerosto nse up because ° Tenomay ode Tema AN, A ee 4 8), On ia sere me Mand Carne a, Loy los de Po wes en Cbs Utes Aaa deere # Ocha crap em ea. ‘SEA Cte rs Soom Rebelo soe 1 Jeefopo enn Mr 4 1t ANG sep 88 }a Freedom's Minor ijt cannot be that [you've] rein slaves This was probably in January 1812, by which time that conviction appeared to have clea ‘nrernasional backing. The same slave, Cristobal de Solas side had overheard muhiple discussions among other Mick coachmen such as himself about how “in ao other place but here, speaking ofthis Island, is slavery tolerated or known." I noe exactly coor, the aston among the Black coachmen cleseyechood the arguments made in Cadiz Published in the Dizrio de Sesiones, read and discussed in Cube ~ chat slavery was “already outlawed by the laws of civilized nations.” Thus when the conspirators met in chi cabilos ot at Aponte’s hows, of ‘om street comners and plazas inthe city chi seemingly proptions world context could not but hare buoyed them. They spake ro each othe, supremely conscious of thee place inthe world and eager to assume the histori oe tha he era seed 0 signal for them Butsomething very diferentalso provided ines the ceming per ‘meahilty of Havana to these transformations Fr if changes inthe out ‘de world semed to foretell change, in Havana scenes of slavery and ‘cis did the opposite Ie was not jus thatthe period ofthe Haiian Revolution and its ahemath coincided with the rapid escalation of say ‘ry in Cuba in general ters. Ae Aponte and bis friends weighed the possibilty of antsavery rebelion, they were also witnessing parew- larly dramatie and violent sein slvery’ local significance. The pssage ‘ofslave rade abolition in England and the United States ha eliminated Caha’s main suppliers of Afican labor. From impor of aeouad 3,209 capsives a year through the tansatansc trade jn, for example, 806, the supply dwindled toa paltry 528 ia the fist year of he ban in 1808, That massive decline, however, peoved tobe just temporary. Brith and Amer- jean traders wocked with Spanish and Cuhan interests cicanvent the law, and under cover of Spanish flagh more and more slaving vesicle ‘hat combined Spanish and English (and Amescan) capital, people and Srey Stent momar epee Spat oe Seen ‘el ole ak tlc or sree. The nny, by Cet Sl, purer ceriee cams tree cman tn 2 Re iered cy neta alate A Black Kingdom of Tie World 283 equipment arrived in Cuban ports with human cargo to sell In 1810, just two year alter the enactment of the save trade ban, almost 6,309 “Africans disembarked in the port of Havana a slaves ~ 2 nearly ewelve fold increase in to yeu. Expressed another way, arial of Africans jumped fom 44 2 month to 523. The numbers for 1811 its are only lighly smaller close eo 5,720 forthe yea. ® “The increase was not lost on the population of Havana. The port vas significantly busier, the warehouses where captives were sold were fall, even as there always seemed to be room for ore. On 2 single ay in October 1824, 400 men, worsen, and cldeen who had arrived from the Afcan cons aboard the Montecuna were offered foe sale at ‘Warehouses 6 and 7. A few buildings down, at 1, another 290 from the Volidor were ofeed onthe same day “at te usal hou." Ose of. the doctors in charge of overseeing she vaccination of the new arcvals ‘esribed his horror on secngthe ily contion in which may arrived and heaing about the lage numbers lost at se inthe idl passage. No Sensible hear could se this without deploing the atocey; no wonder, the concluded, the abolitionists at Cidiz found attentive audiences.) “This was Aponte’'s presen; this was Aponte’ place, Iwas one on the cusp of two worlds caught in an extended and erratie passage betwen Slavery and feedorn One of thse world was populate by abolitionists fn back kings and general, the other by «growing mober of Aecans ‘eivingin aserable condition to hecomse chal slaves. This metaphor ‘a hinge berween the age of slavery and the age of abolition ~ or between the fase and sacond slaveris ~ was, however, more than e structural transformation or abstract psssge Iw something lived palpably fom ‘day to day. Blac men and women ead o heard Spanish proposals hat from thiday forward, no human being could be bought or old as slaves * meneame Festi igiiweyencasita Dele Habu, ober 5 an be vat HouonLi Pan Speman Msn sb an 3 Be 4 Fs Remy Reset, Real Cons Jay 1,38 wit shee! Be8s Freedom's Mirror they held in their hands images of a blac king in Hala lend where backs had conquered the whites. And a the sae tae they watched che unloading of slaving vessels and read announcements ofthe sale of thou sands of aman beings le was the at of bearing witness co this second Set of events that helped give meaning to the st the painful distance heeween the two perhaps giving a group of black’ men named Aponte, ‘Chacon, Lisundi, Barbier, Peper, ad others the decisive incentive to plot thee bid "Yer if fcedom ws foremost inthe minds ofthese dissidents the Fst reports of the outbreak of thee tebllion ~ and thus the Bist archival instance of the revolution ~ gave no indication ofthat goal, “I have jst heen informe that atthe ingonio Puss Akas something unpleasant has occurred this morning,” wo Governor Somerulos.” Sel, even the ‘confused inl dispatches hina the beginnings of something ately _majorin form. Authorities worried about the presence of frances amo. therebelsand about the proximity ofthe rebels argetstothe cons. They rote ko that the eebls headed east toward Matanzas alo the woah coast, soute that was dangerously underpopulaed, “or beter ai, wt ‘no white population,” seported a beigadier rom Guanabacoa* This wat ‘shat Arango had called the “sltade of our sage plantation,” where ‘few white men ved among so many bles. Fiingly, i was ata plantation calle “solide” ~ Soledad ~ tat the cebls reportedly see one of the Bist fires of the sebelion. Soledad ‘was a thoroughly modern sugar plantation located in Guanabo, about ‘teniy miles eat of Havana, The attack on Soledad doesnot appear to be mentioned in the voluminous judicial documentation in Havana, and because historians have generally constructed the story of ce movement ftom those records the atack, if thappene has also disappeared fom istorical mareaives ofthe 18z2 rebellion. The story of what was sid to ave happened has thas been writen omiting a critical aon che revealed something immensely importan about the iasargeats' political sind neler project. For the Soledad hat he rebel sacked belonged ‘osomeone who hd recently enjoyed some notoriey in Havana: Andrés 1c Jase, the city's deputy to che Cortes of Cid, the man who had ‘worked 0 diligently ~ and publicly to defeat proposals forthe abolition © Somme Main de ca, Mah 615 a SAHIN, Aisin, C36 © Brigade Nain Soman Mas 1 Mac 7 8 mn SA, A Black Kingdom of This World 2s of slavery and the lave erade inthe Spanish word. Jairegurs Soledad svat a iting target indeed for these enenies of slavery. Propaganda and the Mot ‘The 1812 plot expressly ued recat Atanic developments ~ aboliion dchates in Cadi, for exanole, or the coronation of King Christophe ~ to give mocal legacy and political ergency to the movement. More than merely “background,” chese eves were erally important history, ‘which was, Aponte knew, what made them such poten propaganda at well They provided powerful material for him to shape into arousing message indeed into political imperative “The Sigure of Juan Barbieri emblematc, He was the not soll lack ‘man, of uncertain origin = Congo, negro franeds from former Sa Domina, resident of Charleston ~ dressed in 3 malitarysnifrm, who read papers of freedom at the plantations where she eebelion began on Mah 14-15. He wnethe one whom everyone called Jean Fang after the powerful blck general who had fnghe against the French in Sain Domingue, whe had briely come to Havana in December 1795, and who had ied i Cain just seven years easier. When Barbie ate testified he rade it sem a though the mame had been thrust spon him by other, hhc aterhis capture tha version of events was also the more oavenient ‘ne. For some searon, authorities dont appear o have aed him how ‘be gor ths name, nor even when and why he had come to Havens. Sill, the testimony docs provide insight into how the conspaaors| talked aboutand viewed she ostensibly famous Jean-Pansois. One morn ing Aponte arrived atthe house of free back lita member and tavern [epee Clemente Chacon with Baie n tow. Aponte introduced Bar bier as Jean-Frangovs (Juan Fansu, an “Admiral who served under the ‘order ofthe negro Cristal Rey de Santo Domango and wo came with ispacches to entice fice blacks andthe slaves of chs island to achieve the independence of the later. conquering this ln, addition to others > feces wo te atc ot Sl pes he dips rc besetays mun mesa nthe mae tomatoe asc The far star he sah Jceu ee o entnl i tebe cme ‘ieee tae tpn Ate or may have ed ot ‘Esworenon tigen ck n laste one 9 ey ape {Chen deo Spnth Us Manos ete alo spe n Use {eso ch 162 ew sa a Some Ga co