Credits

welcome

Introduction

Study Session

Activity 1

Activity 2

Activity 3

Activity 4

Activity 5

Activity 6

Activity 7

Activity 8

Activity 9

Activity 10

Activity 11

Activity 12

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Older children can make a time line to help them understand the history of Cuba.

What You Need

• clothesline or heavy string
• index cards
• felt-tipped markers
• clothespins or masking tape
• copies of "History of Cuba" for each child (see below)

1. Secure the clothesline or string to one side of a wall or chalkboard with a thumbtack or tape. Stretch it along the wall and secure at the other end.
2. Distribute the "History of Cuba" to each child. Have the children print the names of the six time periods from the "History of Cuba" on six cards. They can use clothespins or tape to attach the cards in chronological order leaving some space between them.
3. Then have any children choose events from the "History of Cuba" that interest them and print each event on a separate card. Explain that they can use short phrases rather than copying all the information given and that they need to choose a few events from each period of time. Have them clip or tape the cards to the line in the appropriate space.

When the time line is finished, the older children can read from the cards to younger children, who have been at other activity centers. Together, older and younger children can make small illustrations of the events with markers on the index cards. Have them clip or tape the illustrations to the corresponding event. 

Pre-Columbian Period		Three tribal groups: Tainos (part of the Arawak group), who migrated from the Amazon region; Ciboneys, who migrated from North America before the Tainos;Guanajatabeyes (the earliest group) of whom little is known; all were hunters and gatherers,the Tainos also farmed, made pottery, and lived in villages; population probably c. 60,000 (c.90% Taino) in 1500
Early Colonial Period (1492-1762)		Arrival of Columbus in search for gold and spices (29 Oct. 1492); cruel mistreatment of "Indians"
Establishment of Spanish Control		Conquest and settlement by Diego Velazquez leading 300 Spaniards and their African slaves from Hispaniola (1511­1514); imposition of Spanish rule and Roman Catholicism; defeat of Taino chief Hautey,a refugee from Hispaniola, who led resistance; last uprising crushed (1533); Indianpopulation c. 5,000; much intermarriage
		Population (1662): 13,500 Spaniards, 12,000 Africans, imported since 1522 to replace Indians killed from warfare, overwork, suicide, and disease
		Cuba a service colony for Spain and its fleets, not an export colony; trade controlled by Spain, hides chief export (to the end of the 17th cen), then tobacco (18th cen); revolt of tobacco growers for better trade conditions crushed (1717)
		British occupation of Havana (1762) for short period: economy stimulated by free trade
Middle Colonial Period (1763-1867) Prosperity and Turmoil		Sugar the chief export crop by 1800, following successful slave revolt in Saint Domingue (Haiti); increased importation of slaves to work sugar plantations; great profits for large plantation owners and slave traders
		Several attempts by U.S. to buy Cuba from Spain, supported by Cuban planters who feared Spain would succumb to British pressure to end the slave trade and slavery; rebuffed by Spain
		After abolition of slavery in U.S., Cuban efforts to gain more political control from Spain, unsuccessful
Late Colonial Period (1868-1902) Wars		First War of Independence, the Ten Years War (1868­1878); C. (1868­1902) M. Cespedes and other Eastern planters raised the "Cry of Yara," calling for independence; great destruction of property, loss of about 50,000 Cubans and 208,000 Spanish; truce (1878); reforms promised
		Few reforms instituted, insufficient to stem serious economic problems: war losses, competition of beet sugar, need for expensive imported machinery and large estates to make cane sugar competitive, many bankruptcies; end of slavery (1886) because costly and inefficient; arrival of first Protestant preachers (returned Cuban exiles, 1873)
		Second War of Independence (1895­1898) result of agitation for political, economic, and social reform by José Martí and others; entry of U.S. after sinking of the Maine (1898), occupation by U.S. military until 1902; returned 3 times(1906­1909, 1912, 1920)
The Republic (1902-1958) U.S. Domination		Political and economic dominance by U.S.; Platt Amendment to Cuban Constitution (1902­1934) gave U.S. right to approve Cuban treaties and loans and to intervene with force to "protect life, property, and individual liberty" in Cuba; U.S. the chief trade partner; U.S. business controlled and owned much Cuban land and industry; gradual spread of Protestantism, especially in education
		Regular elections for president and congress; corruption endemic; economic difficulties accompanied by civic unrest; dictatorship of President Gerardo Machado (1928); revolution (1933); rule by army led by former Sergeant Fulgencio Batista (1933­44; 1952­58)
		Armed rebellion (1953­59) led by Fidel Castro, Jesuit-trained lawyer; flight of Batista (Dec. 1958); entrance of victorious rebels into Havana (January 1959)
Revolutionary Era (1959- )		Sovereignty of new government; education universalized; private schools nationalized; Agrarian Reform Act (May 1959) to redistribute and nationalize land; free access to quality health care for all; racial and sexual discrimination outlawed; some church leaders called anti-revolutionary
		Flight of middle- and upper-class Cubans (c.260,000) as extent of change is seen (1959­71); departure of most Roman Catholic and Protestant clergy; migration of some working-class Cubans (1970); migration of about 125,000 poor (some from prisons and mental hospitals) from Mariel (1980); anti-Castro attitudes in U.S. strengthened by Cuban exiles in U.S.
		U.S. opposition to nationalization of property and industries; sugar quota canceled (1960); Bay of Pigs invasion by Cuban exiles (1961) supported by U.S.; Cuba excluded from the Organization of American States for supporting revolutionary groups; trade embargo announced by U.S. (1962); military support, sugar subsidies, trade relations, and cultural exchanges provided by USSR; collapse of USSR in 1989 the cause of serious economic problems for Cuba
		Freedom of worship but churches suspected of counterrevolutionary activities by atheist government; discrimination against church goers in education and jobs; petition by Cuban Council of Churches to end it; wide publicity for Castro's attendance at a Christian service with Jesse Jackson (1984); increase in church attendance; great interest in Pope John Paul II's visit (1998)

FROM MAP & FACTS: CUBA. OXFORD CARTOGRAPHERS. TEXT BY JOSEPH A. PEREZ. © 1999 BY FRIENDSHIP PRESS. USED BY PERMISSION.