Camaguey - History
There
are many evidences of aborigines places in Camagüey zones. It is
been seen the existence of several "cacicazgos": Camaguayo, Guáimaro,
and Camaguebax, that gives origin to the region name. Ceremonial sites
have been
found in Sierra de Cubitas mountains, and abundant
paintings in caves.
The beginning of the region's colonisation by the Spaniards dates from 1514 when Santa María of Port of Prince city, today Camagüey, was found in the north coast, although it was later transferred toward the Caonao river, and finally toward the region of the aborigine place Camaguebax, actually the location place. States as foundation date February 2, 1514. Toward the XVII - XVIII centuries, Camagüey is an extensive region of at about 20,000 klm2, with a strong cattle activity and in less scale, the sugar cane industry. The prosperous economical situation of the region, motivates the looting and assaults of the pirate Henry Morgan and a tentative of the French Gramont. It was the first headquarters of the Royal Audience of the Island. Camagüey was also the stage in which the first literary work was written," Mirror of Patience," in the XVII century by Silvestre de Balboa, and cradle of the remarkable poet Gertrudis Gómez de Avellaneda.
Camagüey
was one of the first province which led the independence fight against the
Spanish dominators, although previously it had been staged of independence
intents. In 1826 Francisco Velazco ("Frasquito") had been
executed, after landing with independents purposes. In 1851 Joaquín de
Aguero y Aguero, fail in his wrong intent, and concluded with the
execution of the implicated people. They wrote the first project of
Cuba’s Constitution.
Camagüey
was one of the first province which responded to the homeland called in
the "Necessary War" of 1895. A Young group, with the old
Salvador Cisneros Betancourt as leader went to the camp. Camagüey was
witness soon of the invasion pass to occident by Gómez and Maceo. During
all the war the province was stage of military operations, like the
remarkable "Circular Campaign" by Maximo Gómez around Puerto
Prince in the previous
months invasion. Camagüey was besides headquarters
of the Jimaguayú assembly, in 1895, where the constitution of the same
name was adopted, first of the 1895 war, and of La Yaya, Santa Cruz del
Sur, 1897, where the last constitution of the Republic in Weapons was
adopted.
Established the Republic in 1902, after four years of American intervention, the province didn't delay being sugar latifundiums Law feud and Yankees cattle dealers. It was staged of the Cubans civilians wars and of the subsequent Yankees interventions. In the same way, it was characterised by being the centre of Cuban bourgeois cattle and sugar dealers. Although it was stage of labours fights and peasants, the first leadership like Alfredo Varona, the peasants leaders, by men like Sabino Pupo (Camalote zone, Guaímaro), killed in 1948. In the cultural it emphasised Nicolas Guillén work (1902-1989), the author of "Songoro Cosongo," called later The National Poet, and the painter Fidelio Ponce (dead in 1944). Also Fernández Allué’s work, author of the remarkable "Loving Guajira".
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