SLAVERY, THE LABOR-MOVEMENT AND SPANISH COLONIALISM IN CUBA, 1850-1890

Nineteenth-century Cuban colonial and slave society sharply divided it s inhabitants by race and ethnicity. These race and ethnicity division s, and the formidable repressive apparatus necessary to sustain slaver y and colonialism, hindered the emergence of a class identity among th e urban popular classes. However, this oppressive atmosphere created w orking and living conditions that compelled workers of diverse ethnici ty and race to participate, increasingly, in collective action togethe r. Free labour shared many of the adversities imposed on unfree labour , which led the emerging Cuban labour movement, first to oppose the us e of unfree labour in the factories, and later, to become openly aboli tionist.