And What Did People Think About All This?

On one side stood the economic elites, represented by bodies like the Junta de Comerç (Barcelona Board of Trade) and the Círculo Hispano-Ultramarino (Hispanic Ultramarine Circle) of Barcelona, who actively defended the institution of slavery.

In 1841, the Junta de Comerç (Board of Trade) of Barcelona published a manifesto opposing the British abolitionist push in Cuba. It also expressed its rejection of the idea that the Spanish Congress of Deputies should even be allowed to debate whether slavery ought to be abolished in the Spanish Antilles.

“…. temor de que nuestro Congreso se empeñe inconsideradamente en la cuestión de esclavitud y en realidad si esto aconteciese la sola discusión sería una señal de terrible alarma para nuestras posesiones ultramarinas, porque aquellos habitantes recelosos de la inexperiencia y ardimiento declamatorio que acompaña generalmente semejantes debates, verían en ellos el origen de una lucha estemporánea [sic] pero que pasmaría el espíritu de empresa y la confianza se extinguiría en aquellos países, hasta el punto de provocar la emigración de los blancos con sus capitales”

(“…fear that our Congress might rashly take up the issue of slavery, for should this occur, even the mere discussion of it would be a terrible alarm bell for our overseas possessions. The inhabitants there, wary of the inexperience and declamatory fervour that typically accompany such debates, would see in them the beginnings of an untimely conflict — one that would paralyse the spirit of enterprise and extinguish confidence in those territories, to the point of provoking the emigration of white people along with their capital.”)

In that manifesto they also, and above all, demonstrated their total opposition to supporting British abolitionist claims:

“Nosotros invocaremos con toda la energía que merece la gravedad de este negocio el apoyo de la Junta de Comercio para que represente al Supremo Gobierno a fin de contener estas invasiones extranjeras con grave peligro de la soberanía de la metrópoli. Este es el pretesto [sic] con que la poderosa Albión quiere infiltrarse, por decirlo así, en todas las 35 cuestiones futuras que puedan ocurrir sobre la libertad de los esclavos y si no se corta de raíz semejante abuso,plantamos desde ahora un semillero de discordias y de compromisos en nuestras colonias.

“We shall invoke, with all the energy that the gravity of this business deserves, the support of the Board of Trade (Junta de Comercio) so that it may represent before the Supreme Government the need to restrain these foreign invasions, which pose a grave danger to the sovereignty of the Metropolis. This is the pretext under which powerful Albion seeks to infiltrate, so to speak, all future questions that may arise regarding the freedom of slaves; and if such an abuse is not nipped in the bud, we are sowing, as of now, the seeds of discord and compromise within our colonies.”

In 1871, the Barcelona branch of the Círculo Hispano-Ultramarino (Hispanic Ultramarine Circle) was established — a pro-slavery lobbying group, with the indianos Joan Güell i Ferrer and Antonio López serving as president and vice-president, respectively. A year later, the Liga Nacional de Barcelona was founded, opposing the abolition of slavery in Puerto Rico. In December 1872 and January 1873, the Barcelona Círculo published two manifestos: one signed by businessmen and politicians, and another signed exclusively by women, with hundreds of signatures from both private individuals and companies..

No queremos la esclavitud. ¿Qué hemos de quererla si somos mujeres y católicas? Pero queremos menos aún que se suma en la barbarie a los infelices a quienes se pretende favorecer, haciendo de la hermosa Cuba, de la bella Puerto Rico, dos tribus semejantes a la desdichada Santo Domingo(…) Póngase un arma en manos de un niño y se herirá con ella. Niño es el que ha vivido siempre bajo tutela y arma mortífera la libertad para quien no sabe hacer de tan precioso don el uso conveniente(…) Mucho se habla y mucho se desbarra […] al tratar de esta delicada cuestión, porque se presta tanto a pomposas y altisonantes declamaciones […]. Pero la verdad es que los que más declaman contra la mal llamada esclavitud de las Antillas, filántropos de apariencia y católicos dedoublé, tratan con más despótico desprecio a sus criados que los habitantes de Cuba y Puerto Rico a sus llamados esclavos (…) Además, Excmo. Señor [seguían dirigiéndose a Ruiz Zorrilla, presidente del Consejo de Ministros] que uso conveniente se quiere que hagan [los esclavos] de su libertad sin preparación alguna, unos seres que por sus naturales instintos, por su condición y por otras razones de todos conocidas, no saben vivir sino guiados por el suave yugo de los consejos y del amor de sus amos, con los que se hallan identificados”

(We do not want slavery. Why would we want it, if we are women and Catholics? But we want even less that those unfortunate people whom others claim to be helping should be plunged into barbarity — turning beautiful Cuba and lovely Puerto Rico into tribes resembling unfortunate Santo Domingo. (…) Hand a weapon to a child, and he will hurt himself with it. A child is someone who has always lived under tutelage, and freedom is a deadly weapon for those who do not know how to use such a precious gift wisely. (…) Much is said — and much nonsense too — […] when speaking of this delicate issue, because it lends itself so easily to pompous and high-sounding declamations […]. But the truth is that those who most loudly denounce the so-called slavery of the Antilles — these so-called philanthropists and so-called Catholics — treat their own servants with more despotic contempt than the inhabitants of Cuba and Puerto Rico treat their so-called slaves. (…) Furthermore, Your Excellency [they continue addressing Prime Minister Ruiz Zorrilla], what right use of freedom can possibly be expected from people who have had no preparation whatsoever — beings who, by their natural instincts, by their condition, and for other well-known reasons, cannot live except under the gentle yoke of the advice and love of their masters, with whom they are united?)