The steam engine in Cuba's sugar industry, 1794–1860

Abstract

When, in 1789, the slaves in the French colony of St Domingue, the world's richest sugar island, rose in rebellion and destroyed most of the island, the event threw its long shadow over the slave-owning societies of the Caribbean. For St Domingue's closest neighbour, however, the Spanish colony of Cuba, this was also good news. Here was the opportunity that Cuban sugar planters had been waiting for: Cuba would fill the void left by the French colony on the world market. One of the most important steps in this transition was to acquire the most advanced technology in sugar manufacture to increase the volume and quality of production. At the turn of the 19th century, the last word in motive power was the steam engine.