Cited by 97Colonialism, slavery, and tradeHistorical and Cultural Archaeology StudiesCuban History and Society

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 46 of the 47 references it cites were found in a registry or an index; none of the 44 sources its claims cite is checked for support yet.

Slavery and spatial dialectics on Cuban coffee plantations

Open access
Singleton, Theresa A.·2001·World Archaeology

Abstract

Slaveholders manipulated the spatial organization of plantations to their advantage in an effort to control the actions of enslaved workers. Slave workers, on the hand, always found ways to resist planter hegemony. Cuban slaveholders, not only employed surveillance measures comparable to those found elsewhere in the Americas, but they also housed enslaved people in prison-like quarters. Using both archaeological data and written sources, this essay examines plantation slavery in Cuba by analyzing the dialectal relationship between slaveowners' control of plantation space and enslaved laborers' resistance of that control.

Overview

AI snapshot

Written from the paper’s full text.

TL;DR

Singleton examines Cuban coffee plantation slavery through the dialectic between slaveholders’ spatial control and enslaved people’s resistance, focusing on the walled slave village at El Padre. She argues that prison-like quarters and surveillance were meant to contain resistance but were never fully effective.

Key findings

  • At El Padre, a masonry wall 3.35 m high enclosed the slave village; this is consistent with an 1825 Matanzas regulation requiring farms with *bohíos* to build fencing or a palisade 4–5 varas (about 3.40–4.25 m) high with a locked gateway.
  • Walled slave villages were not unique to El Padre: Angerona, a large cafetal reputed to have had 450 enslaved workers, also had a walled slave village with an iron gate, noted by Abbot in 1828.
  • Enslaved people resisted despite these controls: in Matanzas province alone, 399 acts of violence, including attempted revolts, were reported from 1825 to 1850; in 1841, forty-five enslaved workers fled the nearby San Juan de Nepomuceno sugar plantation, and all but eight returned.
  • Excavated artifacts from El Padre’s slave quarter date mainly to 1800–1860 and resemble other slave sites in the Americas, but all coarse earthenwares are of Hispanic origin; a 2 cm English blue-on-white transfer-print ceramic disk is interpreted as a possible example of cultural resistance.

Methods

  • Combines archaeological data from test excavations at the El Padre coffee plantation in Havana province with written sources, extant plantation ruins, and comparative examples from Cuba and the Caribbean.
  • Excavations within the walled slave village revealed three areas of post-holes; one building could be estimated at 5 m × 7 m, with posts suggesting an interior dividing wall.
  • Analysis uses Henri Lefebvre’s concept of spatial dialectics and Foucault’s panopticism to interpret the relationship between planter control of plantation space and enslaved people’s everyday and cultural resistance.

Limitations

  • The paper states that the research is at a preliminary stage, that it is unclear who first established the coffee plantation at El Padre, and that solutions to whether wall enclosures were widespread are tentative.
  • It also states that archaeological testing at El Padre has not been sufficient to identify slave-induced modifications to the excavated structure or yard area.
  • Evident from the text: the excavation sample is small, only one structure’s overall size could be estimated, and no slave-made pottery comparable to colonowares or Afro-Caribbean wares has been identified at El Padre or other historic sites in western Cuba.

Model-written summary. Check it against the paper before relying on it.

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1080/00438240120047654

Cites

46 of 46 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Nothing to recompute.

Verification

Claims the paper makes

0 of 44 cited sources checked · 0 supported · 0 flagged

  • Findingown data

    Test excavations within the area enclosed by the wall at El Padre yielded three distinct areas of post-holes forming what appears to be a row of structures.

    “Test excavations within the area enclosed by the wall yielded three distinct areas of post-holes forming what appears to be a row of structures.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim
  • Findingown data

    At Angerona, the ruins suggest the slave village was surrounded by a wall made of mampostería with an iron gate entry.

    “Today, the ruins at Angerona suggest the slave village was surrounded by a wall made of mampostería with an iron gate entry (Plate 1).”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim
  • Findingnone given

    Archaeological testing at El Padre has not been sufficient to identify slave-induced modifications to the excavated structure or yard area.

    “Archaeological testing at the slave village of El Padre has not been suf cient to date to identify suggestions of slave-induced modi cations either to the excavated structure or to the yard area.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim
  • Findingreasoning

    The required height of the fencing (between 3.40m and 4.25m) is consistent with the wall height of 3.35m at El Padre.

    “The required height of the fencing between 3.40m and 4.25m is consistent with the wall height of 3.35m at El Padre.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim
  • Findingreasoning

    A stairway existed at El Padre that ascended above the first floor, perhaps to the roof.

    “An imprint of a stairway that once ascended to an entrance above the ceiling level of the rst oor is visible on the exterior south wall of the slaveholder's house (Plate 2).”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim
  • It may state two separate claims as one. 18
  • Probably not a substantial claim. 14
  • The quote only partly states this claim. 1
  • It may state two separate claims as one.

    Findingown data

    One building at El Padre measured 5m x 7m, with a series of posts approximately in the center suggesting an interior wall divided the structure into two rooms.

    “Only in one of three areas has it been possible to estimate the overall size of the building, which measures 5m 3 7m.A series of posts approximately in the center of this rectangular space suggests that an interior wall divided the structure into two rooms.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim
  • Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it. It may state two separate claims as one.

    Findingown data

    The wall, the slaveholder's house, and a specialized building of unknown function at El Padre were constructed of mampostería.

    “The wall, as well as the two other extant structures, the slaveholder's house and a specialized building of unknown function, were constructed of mampostería, a construction material consisting of stone, rubble and limebased mortar.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim
  • It may state two separate claims as one.

    Findingcitation

    All but eight of the enslaved workers returned; some were captured by armed men with dogs (rancheadores), others surrendered.

    “All but eight of the enslaved workers returned to the plantation.A party of armed men with dogs, undoubtedly rancheadores, captured some of them, while the others surrendered themselves to the authorities.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites ANC GSC 1841

      Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

  • It may state two separate claims as one.

    Findingreasoning

    Enslaved men and women still ran away, planned rebellions, took their owners' lives as well as their own lives.

    “Enslaved men and women still ran away, planned rebellions, took their owners' lives as well as their own lives.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim
  • It may state two separate claims as one.

    Findingown data

    The vast majority of artifacts recovered from in and around the structures at El Padre date between 1800 and 1860, corresponding with the period when the site was functioning as a cafetal.

    “The vast majority of the artifacts recovered from in and around the structures date between 1800 and 1860, and therefore correspond with the period when the site was functioning as a cafetal.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim
  • Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.

    Premisecitation

    James Delle's study of Jamaican coffee plantations demonstrates that the placement of the overseer's house served as a central point in surveillance.

    “Using Foucault's (1979) analysis of panopticism, Delle demonstrates how the placement of the overseer's house served as a central point in surveillance in much the same way a guard tower does.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites Delle 1998: 159

      Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

  • Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it. It may state two separate claims as one.

    Premisecitation

    Stone-wall enclosures were used to keep enslaved people in during the Roman period and dependent serfs in during the medieval period.

    “Similarly, stone-wall enclosures were used to keep enslaved people in during the Roman period and dependent serfs in during the medieval period.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites Samson 1992: 33 source
  • Probably not a substantial claim. The paper may give no reason why it holds.

    Premisenone given

    None of the studies on Cuban slave housing discuss the practice of enclosing slave quarters within a prison-like wall.

    “None of the studies on Cuban slave housing, however, discuss the practice of enclosing slave quarters within a prison-like wall.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim
  • Probably not a substantial claim.

    Interpretationnone given

    Surveillance measures in Cuban slavery seem extreme compared with those of slave societies in Anglophone America.

    “Such surveillance measures seem extreme when compared with those of slave societies in Anglophone America, and therefore raises several questions”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim
    • Rests on an assumption: The surveillance measures in Cuban slavery were extreme compared with those of slave societies in Anglophone America.
  • It may state two separate claims as one.

    Premisecitation

    Enslaved people in Cuba were housed in prison-like quarters that were often locked at night and carefully watched by guards.

    “One such practice, discernible in extant ruins of plantation buildings, was the housing of enslaved people in prison-like quarters.These quarters were often locked at night, and carefully watched by guards.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim
    • Rests on an assumption: Enslaved people in Cuban prison-like quarters were often locked at night and carefully watched by guards.
  • It may state two separate claims as one.

    Premisenone given

    Maroons could be particularly troubling for slaveholders because they would liberate enslaved people, take plantation supplies and destroy property.

    “Maroons, slave runaways, could be particularly troubling for slaveholders because they would liberate enslaved people, take plantation supplies and destroy property.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim
  • Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it. It may state two separate claims as one.

    Interpretationcitation

    A cafetal named Santa Ana belonging to the O'Farrills was included among the plantations attacked by maroons; presumably this was Santa Ana de Viajaca, the site of El Padre.

    “A cafetal named Santa Ana belonging to the O'Farrills was included among these plantations (La Rosa and Pérez Padrón 1994: 103); presumably this was Santa Ana de Viajaca, the site of El Padre.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites La Rosa and Pérez Padrón 1994: 103

      Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

  • Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it. It may state two separate claims as one.

    Premisecitation

    Moreno Fraginals suggests that slave raiding from coffee plantations became the solution to labor shortages, and he identifies slave raiders as displaced white peasants who became rancheadores.

    “Moreno Fraginals suggests that slave raiding from coffee plantations became the solution to this problem, and he identi es slave raiders as displaced white peasants who became rancheadores -pursuers of slave runaways.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites Moreno Fraginals 1976

      Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

  • It may state two separate claims as one.

    Premisecitation

    Household objects were acquired through purchase rather than issued as provisions, supported by Abbot's observations at Angerona.

    “That these household objects were acquired through purchase rather than issued as provisions is supported from Abbot's observations at Angerona: It is the maxim with the proprietor that negroes should have money and spend it.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites Abbot 1829

      Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

  • Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.

    Interpretationreasoning

    Given the importance of divination in the Afro-Cuban religion Santería, it should not be surprising to find artefacts suggestive of divining and of other African religious practices from a Cuban slave quarter.

    “Given the importance of divination in the Afro-Cuban religion Santería, it should not be surprising to nd artefacts suggestive of divining and of other African religious practices from a Cuban slave quarter.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim
    • Rests on an assumption: A key principle of African divination involves throwing objects and using the arrangement in which the pieces land either to predict the future or to determine a course of action.
  • It may state two separate claims as one.

    Interpretationreasoning

    Several former coffee plantations inspected for this research project were never re-occupied, offering archaeologists an opportunity to study slavery and plantation life from well-preserved contexts.

    “Several former coffee plantations inspected for this research project were never re-occupied; therefore, these sites offer archaeologists an opportunity to study slavery and plantation life from wellpreserved contexts.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim
  • It may state two separate claims as one.

    Interpretationown data

    Many recovered artifacts offer insights into how enslaved people fashioned their quarters, and at least one artefact - a ceramic disc - can potentially be considered cultural resistance.

    “Many of the recovered artifacts, however, offer insights into the ways in which enslaved people fashioned their quarters, and, at least one artefact -a ceramic disc -can potentially be considered within the realm of cultural resistance.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim
  • It may state two separate claims as one.

    Premisecitation

    By 1830, investments in coffee production in western Cuba were equal to those in sugar, and the number of enslaved workers employed on cafetales was often equal to that in ingenios.

    “By 1830, investments in coffee production in western Cuba were equal to those in sugar, and the number of enslaved workers employed on cafetales, coffee plantations, was often equal to that in the ingenios, sugar plantations (Bergad et al. 1995: 29).”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites Bergad et al. 1995: 29 source
  • It may state two separate claims as one.

    Interpretationreasoning

    All recovered artifacts suggest that enslaved people on Cuban plantations acquired these objects through purchase or trade, representing their personal tastes.

    “All the recovered artefacts suggest that enslaved people on Cuban plantations, like other enslaved peoples elsewhere in the Americas, acquired these objects through purchase or trade, and therefore represent, to some extent, their personal tastes in selfpresentation.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim
  • Probably not a substantial claim.

    Premisecitation

    Architectural historian Miguel Herrera noted structural indications of balaustrada, a balustrade at the roof level of the El Padre house along the exterior north wall in 1999.

    “architectural historian Miguel Herrera, who noted structural indications of balaustrada, a balustrade at the roof level of the house along the exterior north wall in 1999 (pers.comm.2001).”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites Herrera 2001, pers. comm.

      Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

  • Probably not a substantial claim. The paper may give no reason why it holds.

    Interpretationreasoning

    Enslaved laborers did not want to be enslaved under any circumstances.

    “They did not want to be enslaved under any circumstances.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim
  • It may state two separate claims as one.

    Interpretationreasoning

    While the barracones and walled slave villages served as deterrents to overt forms of slave resistance, they were not completely effective.

    “While the barracones and the walled slave villages served as deterrents to overt forms of slave resistance, they were not completely effective.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim
    • Rests on an assumption: The barracones and walled slave villages were built to prevent slave revolts and runaways.
  • Probably not a substantial claim. It may state two separate claims as one.

    Premisecitation

    According to Foucault, the panoptic mechanism arranges space so that surveillance is constant and takes place in full visibility.

    “According to Foucault, the panoptic mechanism arranges space in such way that surveillance is constant and takes place in full visibility.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites Foucault 1979: 200

      Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

  • Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.

    Premisecitation

    Wall enclosures in combination with panoptic surveillance were established at the nineteenth-century factory and town of Harpers Ferry, West Virginia.

    “Wall enclosures in combination with panoptic surveillance were established at the nineteenth-century factory and town of Harpers Ferry, West Virginia.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites Shackel 1996: 74-8 source
  • Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it. The paper may give no reason why it holds.

    Interpretationnone given

    The ceramic disk was most likely made from a broken fragment of ceramic that was reworked by smoothing the edges into a rounded form.

    “The ceramic disk was most likely made from a broken fragment of ceramic that was reworked by smoothing the edges into a rounded form.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim
  • Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it. It may state two separate claims as one.

    Premisecitation

    The panopticon was rarely used in its pure form, but variations on it proliferated and became an important technology in numerous disparate realms of capitalist society.

    “The panopticon was rarely used in its pure form, but variations on it proliferated, and it became an important technology found in numerous, disparate realms of capitalist society (Epperson 2000: 59).”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites Epperson 2000: 59

      Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

  • The quote only partly states this claim.

    Interpretationreasoning

    The walled slave villages at Angerona and El Padre may have operated in a similar vein to Harpers Ferry.

    “The walled slave villages at Angerona and El Padre may have operated in a similar vein.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim
27 of 27
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Even when Cuba was the leading producer of sugar, the number of coffee plantations outnumbered sugar plantations.

    “Even when Cuba was the leading producer of sugar, the number of coffee plantations outnumbered sugar plantations.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Coffee was produced primarily in the hilly and mountainous regions of both eastern and western Cuba, but the prosperity of the early nineteenth-century coffee economy was concentrated in western Cuba in the provinces of Havana, Matanzas and Piñar del Rio.

    “Coffee was produced primarily in the hilly and mountainous regions of both eastern and western Cuba, but the prosperity of the early nineteenth-century coffee economy was concentrated in western Cuba in the provinces of Havana, Matanzas and Piñar del Rio.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    The surveillance measures in Cuban slavery were extreme compared with those of slave societies in Anglophone America.

    “Such surveillance measures seem extreme when compared with those of slave societies in Anglophone America, and therefore raises several questions”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Enslaved people in Cuban prison-like quarters were often locked at night and carefully watched by guards.

    “These quarters were often locked at night, and carefully watched by guards.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    The O'Farrill family owned and operated the cafetal Santa Ana de Viajaca during the boom years of Cuban coffee production between the 1820s and the 1840s.

    “During the boom years of Cuban coffee production between the 1820s and the 1840s, the O'Farrill family owned and operated the cafetal, known at that time as Santa Ana de Viajaca.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    The barracones and walled slave villages were built to prevent slave revolts and runaways.

    “The barracones and the walled slave villages were obviously built to prevent slave revolts and runaways, two of the most overt forms of resistance that carried the most severe punishment.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Covert acts of resistance were more commonplace than overt resistance.

    “Certainly covert acts of resistance, such as feigning illness or misplacing tools, were certainly more commonplace than overt resistance.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    A key principle of African divination involves throwing objects and using the arrangement in which the pieces land either to predict the future or to determine a course of action.

    “A key principle of African divination involves throwing objects (e.g.beads, cowries, seeds, etc.) and using the arrangement in which the pieces land either to predict the future or to determine a course of action for the person seeking advice from the diviner.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Plantation slavery came late to Cuba compared to its English and French Caribbean neighbors, but the island became the center for the slave trade and plantation slavery in the nineteenth-century Caribbean.

    “Plantation slavery came late to Cuba compared to its English and French Caribbean neighbors, but the island became the center for the slave trade and plantation slavery in the nineteenth-century Caribbean.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    All slaveholders desired hardworking, loyal, well-behaved enslaved laborers.

    “All slaveholders desired hardworking, loyal, well-behaved enslaved laborers.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Reformists reasoned that this goal could best be achieved through improvements in housing, food or health care.

    “Reformists reasoned that this goal could best be achieved through improvements in housing, food or health care.”
11 of 11

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

Each contradiction between two passages listed here was confirmed by an independent check.

  • Bell tower is assigned to the wrong plate

    Minor

    The text says the bell tower is pictured in Plate 2, but the Plate 1 caption identifies the bell tower; Plate 2 is captioned as a stairway.

1 of 1

Citations

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

1 of the 47 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.

Research works printed but not linked: 22

  1. Abbot Abiel., 1829, Letters Written in the Interior of Cuba
  2. Armstrong D., 1990, Florida Journal of Anthropology, Special Publication, 5, 51
  3. Arrazcaeta R., 1999, Opus Habana, 3, 45
  4. Barcia Paz M., 1998, La Resistencia Esclava en Las Plantaciones Cubanas, 1790-1870: Pinar del Rio
  5. Bernard Bosch L., 1985, La Manuela: Arqueologia de un cafetal habanera
  6. Chappell E., 1999, I, Too, Am America: Archaeological Studies of African-American Life
  7. Dominguez L., 1984, Arqueologia colonial cubana dos estudios
  8. Epperson T., 1999, I, Too, Am America: Archaeological Studies of African American Life
  9. Ferguson L., 1999, I, Too, Am America: Archaeological Studies of African-American Life
  10. Franco Ferran J. L., 1986, La Esclavitud en Cuba, 1
  11. González Fernández D., 1991, Las Rades Históricas del Pueblo Cubano, I, 547
  12. Gordon y Acosta A., 1896, Una responsabilidad de nuestros cafés
  13. La Rosa Corzo G., 1994, Estudios Arqueológicos Compilation de temas
  14. Moreno Fragjnals M., 1976, The Sugar Mill: The Socioeconomic Complex of Sugar in Cuba
  15. Ortiz F., 1989, Los Negros Esclaves
  16. Pérez de la Riva F., 1952, Revista de arqueologia y ethologia, Ano, 7, 295
  17. Rebelledo A. D. J., 1910, Manual del Construction
  18. Pulsipher L. M., 1999, African Sites Archaeology in the Caribbean, 9
  19. Reynoso Á, 1861, Estudios Progresivos sobre Varias Materias Cientificas, Agrícolas e Industriales: Colección de escritos sobre los cultivas de la cana, café, tabaco, maíz, arroz
  20. Singleton T., 1998, Studies in Culture Contact: Interaction, Culture Change, and Archaeology, 172
  21. Trouillot M.-R., 1993, Cultivation and Culture: Labor and the Shaping of Slave Life in the Americans, 124
  22. Weiss J. E., 1989, La Arquitectura Colonial Cubana

Cited by

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Metadata

Authors
Singleton, T. A.
Corresponding author
Singleton, Theresa A.
Venue
World Archaeology
Published
2001-01
Volume
33
Issue
1
Pages
98-114
ISSN
  • 0043-8243 (ISSN-L)
  • 1470-1375
OpenAlex
W2139918775
Cited by
97
References
47
Citations by year
2026: 5 · 2025: 1 · 2024: 6 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 5 · 2020: 5 · 2019: 4 · 2018: 6 · 2017: 4 · 2016: 5 · 2015: 7 · 2014: 12 · 2013: 4 · 2012: 4
FWCI
33.03
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
World Archaeology (publishedVersion)
Funders
  • Smithsonian Institution
  • Syracuse University
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › History › Colonialism, slavery, and trade
  • Social Sciences › Anthropology › Historical and Cultural Archaeology Studies
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Cuban History and Society
Keywords
plantation slavery, slave resistance, slaveholders, slave labor, spatial dialectics

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