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Cuba was first visited by Europeans when explorer Christopher Columbus landed on the island of Cuba for the first time on October 28, 1492. Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar led the Spanish invasion, conqueror, and became governor of Cuba for Spain. Cuba before 1492 was populated by two very distinct aborigine groups: Taíno and Siboney or pronounced Ciboney. These two groups were prehistoric cultures in a time period during which, humans created tools from stone. The Taíno were agriculturalist and the Ciboney were a self-sufficient society, although their evolution was not limited to fishing and hunting, farming and production of wooden structures. Taínos and Ciboney part took in similar customs and beliefs, one being the sacred ritual practiced using tobacco called cohaba known to American society as smoking. The Europeans who were educated from the Native Cubans took to nurture tobacco and consume it in the form of cigars. The Native Cuban Indian population, including the Ciboney and the Taíno, were forced in to reservations during the Spanish subdual of the Island of Cuba. Many Natives were placed on reservations. One famous reservation was known as Guanabacoa, today a suburb of Havana. Many Natives Cuban Indians died due to the brutality of Spanish conquistadores. And the diseases they brought with them, such as the measles and smallpox, which were previously unknown to Indians. Many of the Conquistadors intermarried with Native Cuban Indians. Their children were called mestizo, but the Native Cubans called them Guajiro, which translates to "one of us". Today, the descendants are maintaining their heritage.
When the Spanish established sugar cane and tobacco as Cuba's primary products. As the native Indian population became mestizied and educated, field labor became shore. Slaves were imported from Native Florida and Bahama natives, and as that population became mixed as well, field labor was harder to acquire. African slaves were imported to work the plantations in order to replace the field labor. Slavery became especially important when Cuba's sugar plantations became important world producers. By the end of the 1800 century Slavery was abolished.
However, leading up to the abolition of slavery, Cuba saw great prosperity from their sugar trade. The Spanish had ordered regulations on trade with Cuba, which kept the island from becoming a dominant sugar producer. The Spanish were interested in keeping their trade routes, and slave trade routes protected. Nevertheless, Cuba's vast size and abundance of natural resources made it an ideal place for becoming a booming sugar producer. When Spain opened the Cuban trade ports, it quickly became a popular place. New technology allowed a much more effective and efficient means of producing sugar. They began to use water mills, enclosed furnaces, and steam engines to produce a higher quality of sugar at a much more efficient pace than the sugar being produced elsewhere in the Caribbean.
The quick boom in Cuba's sugar industry in the 1800's made it necessary for Cuba to improve its means of transportation. They needed safe and efficient ways to transport the sugar from the plantations to the ports, in order to maximize their return. Many new roads were built, and old roads were quickly repaired. Cuba even saw railroads pop up, which changed the way that sugar was transported. It was now possible for plantations all over this large island to have their sugar shipped quickly and easily. The prosperity seen from the boom in sugar production is a major reason that Cuba became predominantly Spanish. Many Spaniards immigrated to Cuba, calling it a place of refuge.
Cuba failed to prosper before the 1760s due to Spanish trade regulations. Spain had set up a monopoly in the Caribbean and their primary objective was to protect this. They did not allow the islands to trade with any foreign ships. Spain was primarily interested in the Caribbean for its gold. The crown thought that if the colonies traded with other countries he would be losing gold without any direct benefit to himself. This slowed the growth of the Spanish Caribbean. This effect was particularly bad in Cuba because Spain kept a tight grasp on Cuba. It held great strategic importance in the Caribbean. As soon as Spain opened Cuba's ports up to foreign ships a great sugar boom began that lasted until the 1880s. The Island was perfect for growing sugar. It is dominated by rolling plains, with rich soil, and adequate rainfall. It is the only island big enough to build roads, and railroads on, and has the best ports in the area. By 1860 Cuba was devoted to growing sugar. The country had to import all other necessary goods. They were dependent on the United States who bought 82 percent of the sugar. Cubans resented the economic policy Spain implemented in Cuba, which was to help Spain and hurt Cuba. In 1820 Spain abolished slavering hurting Cuban economy even more because planters turned to buying more expensive illegal slaves. Most Cubans began to support annexation from Cuba to join as a slave state to the United States. This movement ended at the end of the American civil war. Cuba had no interest in abolishing slavery. After this Cuba began a revolution called the Ten Year War, which ended in Spain abolishing slavery in Cuba. The abolishment of slavery in Cuba slowly killed off the Sugar plantations.