Transcript
The Force of Food: Life on the Atkins Family Sugar Plantation in Cienfuegos, Cuba, 1884-1900Author(s): Rebekah E. PiteSource: Massachusetts Historical Review, Vol. 5 (2003), pp. 58-93Published by: Massachusetts Historical Society Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/25081180. Accessed: 11/04/2013 15:18 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp . JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new formsof scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact
[email protected]. . Massachusetts Historical Society is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Massachusetts Historical Review. http://www.jstor.org This content downloaded from 139.147.4.130 on Thu, 11 Apr 2013 15:18:49 PMAll use subject toJSTOR Terms and Conditions EdwinF.AtkinsatSoledad Plantation.Atkinsfamilyphotographs,Massachusetts HistoricalSociety.Photo#37.3.Allphotographsinthisessayarefromthe Atkinsfamilyphotographsunlessotherwisenoted.Otherimages fromthis collection alsoappearontheSociety'swebsiteatwww.masshist.org/atkins/. This content downloaded from 139.147.4.130 on Thu, 11 Apr 2013 15:18:49 PMAll use subject toJSTOR Terms and Conditions TheForceofFood Lifeonthe AtkinsFamilySugarPlantationinCienfuegos,Cuba,1884-1900 REBEKAHE.PITE Fewpeoplethinkofnineteenth-centuryBostonasacrucialhubofthesugartrade. Andyet,inhis1925narrationof thegrowthoftheBoston-basedsugarinterestE.Atkins&Co.,BenjaminAllenassertsthatBostonbecamea"greatsugarmarket"as aresultof "theenterpriseofthefewBostonmerchantsof thatdaywhowereinthe trade."1Amongthosemerchants,the Atkinsfamilystandsoutboth foritspredominanceintheU.S.-Cubansugarmarketand for the richdocumentaryrecord thatithas left behind.From1843onwards,Elisha Atkins(1813-1888)established hisfirm E.Atkins&CCo.asakeysugartrader,dispatchinghissugarvesselsfromBostonharbortoCubanportsthroughoutthenineteenthcentury.2In1866heincorporatedhissixteen-year-oldson,EdwinF.Akins(1850-1926),intothefamilyenterprise,takinghimtoCubatolearnabout thesugarbusinessfirsthand. EdwinAtkinsprovedtobeacapableandenthusiasticstudy.Hebecame ajuniorpartnerwithintwoyearsandafullpartnerwithineightyears,andhe tookresponsibilityforcontactwithCuban merchantsandcreditors.Asaresult,itwasEdwin Atkinswho ledE.Atkins&Co.fromcommerceintosugarproductionin1884whenheacquiredthroughforeclosuretheSoledadPlantationneartheportcityofCienfuegosonthesoutherncoastofCuba.3AlthoughAtkinswasnotamongthemostpowerful plantationownersontheisland whenheassumedcontroloverSoledad,whichfiguredas amidsized RebekahE.Piteisadoctoral candidateinthehistoryand women'sstudiesprogramattheUniversityofMichigan.HerresearchfocusesonLatinAmerican,especially Argentine,foodhistoryinthe nineteenthandtwentieth centuries.59 This content downloaded from 139.147.4.130 on Thu, 11 Apr 2013 15:18:49 PMAll use subject toJSTOR Terms and Conditions THEMASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL REVIEWplantationinCubaatthetime,thefirsttwodecadesofhistenurebearclosestudy.4Atkinsled theenterprise throughthetumultuousperiodthatwitnessed slaveemancipation(1886),a warforindependencefromSpanishcolonial rule(1895-1898),and U.S.occupation(1899-1902).Hismanagementchoicesmadehimanincreasingly importantownerandakeyfigureintheU.S.-CubansugarmarketandinU.S.-Cubanpoliticalrelations.AnexaminationofSoledadfrom1884to1900illuminates thedailypracticesofU.S.CubanrelationsonaU.S.-ownedplantationinCuba.EdwinAtkinsbecame,inasense,aninternationalbusinessman,managingtheestatesometimesinCubaandsometimesfrom his homeinBoston. Hisroutefrom MassachusettstoCienfuegos,aswellasthemanylettersthatcarriednewsfromonetotheother,attests tothe transnationaldynamicsofthisfamilybusiness bornandnurturedinMassachusettsbutdependentonslave andfreelaborinCuba.The Atkinsfamilybusinessfiguredinalargerandlong-standinginterestinCubaonthepartofNewEnglanders.Streams of visitors from the northeasternUnitedStateswent toCubainsearchofprofits,warmweather,andexoticplacesandpeople.Onesuchtraveler,civicleader and businessmanCharlesFrancisAdams,Jr.,visited SoledadinJanuaryandFebruaryof1890.Hislet tershometohiswife,MaryOgdenAdams,andhis brotherJohn Quincy AdamsIIdetailhisquestforexoticismandprovidecarefulreconstructions ofhisencounterswith the islandanditsresidents.InadditiontorevealingwhathistorianRebeccaJ.Scotthas dubbedAdams's "fascinationand his starkracialism"towardsthepeopleofCuba,these lettersalsocapturethechanging landscapeofpostemancipationlaborrelations.5Writingin1890,Adamsasserted thatthe end ofslavery"leftthe Africanfreetomoveoffof theland,and madeopenthewayfor the whiteman,thesuperiorrace,tomove onit."6Inotherwords,Adams believedthat elitewhitemen'sdominanceinCubawouldproceednaturallyanddirectlyfrom theemancipationofslaves.The richdocumentaryrecordsofeventsontheSoledadplantationduringthe latenineteenthcentury suggestthatthisdominancewasneithernaturalnor aforegoneconclusionforthoseworkingonoraroundthisestate.BecauseEdwinAtkins maintainedasystemofcarefulaccounting, preciserecordkeeping,and closesupervision,the MassachusettsHistoricalSociety'scollection of theAtkinspapersprovidesanopportunityto testtheaccuracyofAdams'sprediction.Takentogether,these documentsboth revealthepersistenceof racialanxietiesamongSoledadownersandadministrators and depictthedaily,sometimescontentious,negotiationsofrightsamongdifferentgroupsonthisplantationduringthetransition frombound labortowagelabor andfromSpanishruletoU.S.occupation.760 This content downloaded from 139.147.4.130 on Thu, 11 Apr 2013 15:18:49 PMAll use subject toJSTOR Terms and Conditions TheForceofFoodThetug-of-warbetweenmanagersandlaborersontheplantation playedoutinanarrayofphenomena,allof which deservecarefulanalysis.Noneofthese, however,could besofundamentalasfood,atonce anelement ofdailysurvival andapurveyorofcomplexsocialmeanings. DisputesoverfoodonSoledad reflected thepolitical,social,andeconomicchangesthatdrasticallyaffected theamountof foodontheplantationandinthecountryas awholeduringthe latenineteenthcentury.Edwin Atkins madeinfluential,thoughoftenethically troubling,decisions about howto usetheplantation'sfoodresourcesinordertomanageSoledad's laborsupplyand financialstatusandtoprotecthisplantationfromCubanandSpanishforcesduringthewar.Inaddition,atkeymoments,Atkinsrecognizedandcapitalizedonthecapacityoffoodtodeepenbonds withbothpotentialallies andenemies.Infact,hisstrategicprovisioningdid muchtohelpSoledadsurvivethe nineteenthcentury,whilemanyotherplantationsfailed.8 Thestoryofthat survival demonstrateshowthose who control the foodsupplywieldsignificantsocial andpoliticalpower.ViewofSoledad,Cuba.Photographerunknown. Undated.Photo#37.192.61 This content downloaded from 139.147.4.130 on Thu, 11 Apr 2013 15:18:49 PMAll use subject toJSTOR Terms and Conditions
