‘Coercive measures’: slave rebellion, torture, and sovereignty in Cuba, 1812–1844

Abstract

ABSTRACTThis article examines the use of judicial torture against free and enslaved people of color in Cuba during the first half of the nineteenth century. Utilizing the records of legal processes relating to dramatic incidences of slave rebellion, it considers the broader implications of the use of judicial torture as the colonial state responded to increasing threats to Cuban slavery and the Spanish Empire by assuming a greater role in promoting insular security. The article argues that the use of torture against enslaved deponents articulated broader transformations in the constitution and expression of Spanish sovereignty in colonial Cuba.