Long-simmering resentment by native Cubans of Spain’s…

That morning, after the sounding of the slave bell that indicated to Céspedes’ slaves it was time for work, they had stood before him waiting for orders.

Céspedes had announced they are all free men, and invites them to join him and his fellow conspirators in war against the Spanish government of Cuba.

However, many question Céspedes's plans for manumission, notably the rate at which slaves are to be freed, or disagree with his call for U.S. annexation of Cuba.

This declaration of Cuban independence begins what will be called the Ten Years' War.

A large amount of slaves have been brought to Cuba to help work at the sugar mills throughout the 1800s.

Many slaves have been brought from Haiti and other neighboring islands because they are cheap and efficient labor.

Céspedes, a landowner and lawyer in eastern Cuba, near Bayamo, had purchased La Demajagua, an estate with a sugar plantation, in 1844 after returning from Spain.

In Cuban parlance, Céspedes is a peninsulare (a recent immigrant from Spain).