The Cuban Heritage Collection at the University of Miami Libraries last year acquired
a group of documents relating to the Junta Provincial de Patronato de
Matanzas dating from 1871 to 1889, which are now available fully digitized
online. This collection shines a light on the decades-long process of the abolition of
slavery in Cuba.
The Cuban Heritage Collection at the University of Miami collects, preserves, and provides access to primary and secondary sources of enduring historical, research, and artifactual value which relate to Cuba and the Cuban diaspora from colonial times to the present. The Collection supports the teaching, learning, and research needs of the University of Miami and the broader scholarly community (…)
Junta Provincial de Patronato de Matanzas:
This collection consists of 157 sets of documents related to the Junta Provincial de Patronato de Matanzas, created in 1880 when the law of patronato (apprenticeship) was passed in Spain. The law represented a legal strategy to gradually abolish slavery in Cuba. Most of the workings of the slave system were preserved, but patrocinados, as former slaves came to be known, received a minimal set of legal rights and were to be paid a token wage. The transition to the patronato system was overseen by a provincial network of government agencies called Juntas de Patronato (…)