The first Cuban War of Independence, launched on October 10, 1868 by the Cry of Yara, marked the beginning of the long revolutionary epic of the people of Cuba in their quest for freedom. It would last nearly thirty years, would face innumerable obstacles and would lead to the military intervention of the United States which would thwart for more than half a century the aspiration of the inhabitants of the island to definitive emancipation.

2In the face of colonial oppression, following the wave of independence in the rest of Latin America, Cubans rose up to claim their right to self-determination. At the origin of the first Cuban independence movement, Carlos Manuel de Céspedes cemented the aspiration of his people for emancipation in a principle inalienable to human dignity: freedom for all the children of the island regardless of their condition. The liberation of slaves, decreed by the “Father of the Homeland”, was Cuba’s first political act as a nation, following the example set by Toussaint Louverture in Haiti a few decades earlier.

3What was the personal and above all political career of Carlos Manuel de Céspedes and why did he renounce his class interests in the name of a greater ideal?

4Carlos Manuel de Céspedes was involved from an early age in the cause of human emancipation and Cuban independence. He was at the origin of the uprising of October 10, 1868 and established the Republic of Cuba in arms, fighting valiantly against an enemy superior in numbers and in armaments, trying to maintain the unity within the revolutionary forces. In the face of the brutality of the Spanish colonial army and the opposition of the United States to the independence of Cuba, the Father of the Homeland fought with conviction and pugnacity. Nevertheless, after having been betrayed and abandoned by the ambition and the vainglory of certain figures of the independence movement who would prefer to subordinate the interest of the Homeland to their personal considerations, he fell with arms in hand, refusing to be taken prisoner by the Spaniards. Carlos Manuel de Céspedes would go down in Cuban history as the Man of October 10, 1868, that is to say as the first to speak out against colonial oppression and to claim Cuba’s right to freedom.

Born April 18, 1819 in Bayamo from the union of Jesús María Céspedes y Luque and Francisca de Borja López de Castillo y Ramírez de Aguilar, Carlos Manuel de Céspedes grew up in a wealthy family of five children. His parents, whose ancestors were from Andalusia, were important landowners and provided him with a life of ease and material comfort. Little Carlos spent the first years of his life in the countryside. He was raised by a slave woman who took great care of him, took charge of his early education and to whom he devoted great affectionAround 1825 his family returned to Bayamo and enrolled him in a small school where he received primary education. In 1829, he joined the convent of Nuestro Seráfico Padre in the city to study philosophy and Latin. In 1831 he entered the convent of Santo Domingo to receive lessons in Latin grammar and proved to be an excellent student. In 1833, his family then decided to send him to the Royal Seminarist and Conciliar College of San Carlos in Havana, thus following a tradition reserved for the upper classes. There he received lessons from Félix Varela and Juan Antonio Saco, two important personalities in Cuban history. He later attended the University of Havana where he graduated in civil law in 1838A year later, in 1839, he married his first cousin María del Carmen Céspedes. From this union were born María del Carmen, Carlos Manuel and Oscar. In 1840 he left Cuba for Spain and continued his studies at the University of Cervera in Barcelona. During his stay, he became imbued with the independence sentiment of the Catalans and their rejection of the authorities in Madrid, and took an interest in the political situation on the peninsula. In 1843 came the uprising of General Juan Prim against the central power of Spain. Carlos Manuel de Céspedes participated in the insurrection and became captain of the civilian militias. Following the failure of the rebellion, he was forced into exile in France. Visiting several European countries, including France, Italy, Germany, and England, Céspedes became a polyglot and above all discovered a reality different from that of oppressed colonial Cuba. He then realized that his destiny was to fight for the freedom of his homeland

In 1844, Carlos Manuel de Céspedes decided to return to Cuba, imbued with progressive ideas acquired during his stay in EuropeRevolted by Spanish colonial policy, Carlos Manuel de Céspedes regularly expressed his indignation. When a banquet was organized by Toribio Gómez Rojo, governor of Bayamo, to celebrate the execution in September 1851 of the Venezuelan revolutionary Narciso López, author of several expeditions to liberate Cuba, Céspedes publicly denounced the act. He was therefore arrested by the authorities and spent his first forty days in prison.After coming out of Spanish jails, Céspedes decided to move to Manzanillo in 1852. His political positions earned him another stay behind bars and even forced exile in Baracoa. In 1855 he was again arrested by colonial authorities for his commitment to the emancipation of Cuba. After his release he went about his own business, affected by his repeated stays in prison, and secretly sketched out his first plans for a free CubaIn 1867, he bought La Demajagua sugar plantation in Manzanillo. He hatched an insurrectionary plan in the company of several compatriots including Pedro Figueredo, author of La Bayamesa, the Cuban national anthem. This hymn was directly inspired by the first love song of the same name composed in 1848 by Céspedes and Francisco Castillo Moreno, with lyrics written by José Fornaris. Figueredo decided to keep the music and write a revolutionary song largely inspired by La Marseillaise

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