Born
on April 18, 1819, Carlos Manuel de Céspedes is considered
by many Cubans to be the 'Father of the Nation'. Céspedes,
who owned a plantation in eastern Cuba, began the 10 Years
War when he freed his slaves and asked others to join his
armed resistance against Spain.
He
wanted independence for Cuba, which he announced through the Grito
de Yara (Cry of Yara). Guerilla warfare was practiced by the revolutionaries,
whose numbers soon grew. Céspedes became the general in chief.
His forces captured the city of Bayamo and made it their capital.
When Spanish troops were sent to take the city, the outnumbered
revolutionaries left and burnt it to the ground. Céspedes'
birthplace was one of a few buildings that did not burn. As the
war went on, Céspedes' major goal was to attain American
recognition of the new Cuban government, though it was to be an
unrealized goal.
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Céspedes
ran a constitutional convention, which decided upon a representative
government for Cuba and proposed the abolition of slavery. Céspedes
was deposed by other revolutionaries in 1873. A year later,
he was apprehended by the Spanish and executed. During the war,
the United States supplied Spain with 90,000 rifles and internal
problems hurt the revolutionaries. Eventually Spain reached
a settlement with the revolutionaries, but broke many of its
promises. Céspedes also published Cuba's first independent
newspaper, the Cubano Libre (The Free Cuban).
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