Print this pageHistorical Text Archive © 1990 - 2013 Cuba, the
"Pearl of the Antilles," remained a colony of Spain even when
most of Spanish America revolted against the mother country. It
was 44, 278 square miles of land, 40% of which was mountainous,
with eight thousand species of trees and plants. The mean
temperature in winter was 770 Fahrenheit, in summer, 800 with a
rainy season from May to October. Cuba produced iron, nickel,
naphtha, asphalt, copper, manganese, and tungsten but none in
large quantities. Its small population consisted mostly of
slaves originating in Africa. Although this tropical isle
exported horses, hides, sugar, coffee, and tobacco, most people
did subsistence agriculture. Tobacco, a crop characterized by
small plots, was the most important export, for the world had
not developed its insatiable desire for sugar as it would by the
end of the century. In short, it was a sleepy backwater of the
Spanish empire. Its geographical position had always made it
important as a gateway to the C