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The great naval blockade of Round Island. Showing the immense importance of having an efficient "right arm of the national defence"
Summary
A satire on Taylor administration efforts to curtail American "filibusters," armed expeditions against Cuba for the purpose of freeing the island from Spanish rule. Specific reference here is to the Navy's blockade of one such expeditionary force, which assembled on Round Island under Colonel G. W. White in early September 1849. The many puzzling references in the dialogue and imagery here aside, it is clear that the artist is also poking fun at the expansionist dreams of Americans of the time who advocated annexation of Cuba, Canada, and even parts of South America. The artist is critical as well of the current Cuban regime. On the shore of Round Island, the would-be invaders sit at a long rustic banquet table. Nearby several youths play with marbles and hoops, while two boys and a man ride a seesaw. Beyond, two men fly star-shaped kites which read "Cuba" and "Canada." The table is set with food, apparently taken from two large baskets at right. Several of the banqueters toast, "The Queen of Slave Traders!" "The Republic of Sierra Madre!" and "Venezuela! St Domingo! and Yucatan!" A man at the head of the table, holding a "N.Y. Express Proclamation" (perhaps Zachary Taylor's 1848 proclamation denouncing the expedition) addresses them, "You should thank us ye Pirates and Robbers of Cuba for saving you from [Spanish governor of Cuba Federico] Roncali's Garrote." One of the diners protests, "We are no Pirates! we dont kidnap people from the United States nor from Africa" (a reference to the Cuban government's alleged abduction of Juan Francisco Garcia y Rey from New Orleans in July 1848 and to Cuba's slave trade). Offshore are several boats, including a U.S. naval frigate with the words "Nine Millions a year" emblazoned on its sail and a small sloop. A man in the sloop calls out to the frigate, "Help! Help! dont let Roncali trample on your laws." The man is former Havana jailer Juan Francisco Garcia y Rey, now held by the Spanish government for freeing Cuban revolutionaries. Garcia y Rey had appealed for help to the American government, on the basis of his illegal abduction by the Spanish consul. To his call comes the response, "We dont care for the laws we are reaping laurels. Mr. Rey." Others on deck on the American ship converse, saying, "This is as safe and more glorious than Tampico" and "La Cronica will let the Negroes loose upon those who escape from the proclamation."
Founded by the Spanish, San Cristóbal de la Habana by Pánfilo de Narváez, was a small trading port and suffered regular attacks by buccaneers, pirates, and French corsairs. Pirate attacks convinced the Spanish Crown to protect its ships heading to Spain by assembling them in one large fleet, which would traverse the Atlantic Ocean protected by the Spanish Armada (Spanish Navy). After 1561, all ships headed for Spain were required to assemble in the Havana Bay waiting for the best weather, and together, departing for Spain by September. This boosted commerce and development of the adjacent city of Havana. Ships from all over the New World carried products first to Havana, in order to be taken by the fleet to Spain. Ships also had to be supplied with food, water, and other products. In 1563, the Spanish Governor of the island moved his residence from Santiago de Cuba to Havana, the de-facto capital of the island. By the middle of the 18th century, Havana had more than 70,000 people, and was the third-largest city in the Americas, ahead of Boston and New York. The city was captured by the British in 1762 but returned it to Spain in exchange for Florida. Slavery was legal in Cuba until 1886 and after the Confederate States of America were defeated in the American Civil War in 1865, many former slaveholders continued to run plantations by moving to Havana. As trade between the Caribbean and North American states increased, Havana became a flourishing and fashionable city. During this period Havana became known as the Paris of the Antilles. At the beginning of the 20th century, Cuba was occupied by the United States. The US occupation ended in1902 and Cuba became a republic. U.S. prohibition on alcohol from 1920 to 1933 helped Havana to become a destination for sailing, car racing, musical shows, organized crime, and sex tourism. Luxury hotels, casinos, nightclubs were producing more revenue than Las Vegas. In 1958, about 300,000 American tourists visited the city. After the revolution of 1959, Fidel Castro promised to improve social services, public housing, and official buildings. Communism model, expropriation of all private property was followed by the U.S. embargo, which hit Havana especially hard. In 1991 Soviet subsidies ended, and a severe economic downturn made many to believe that communism soon collapse, however, contrary to events in Europe, Cuba's communist government persists to this day.
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