Especialización económica, esclavitud y regionalización del espacio cubano, 1789-1862

Abstract

The growth and specialization of Cuba’s economy since the end of the 18th Century and while slavery was maintained has been studied extensively, but there are perspectives that enjoy little research. One of them, important for its socio-demographic implications, is the linking of economic processes and the settlement and colonization of the island, which took place in parallel, and the consequent regionalization of its offer. This article proposes a preliminary analysis of the topic, for which it proposes a methodology consisting of observing the changes in the main production of each of the regions in which the territory was divided in the census years and preparing a planimetry. The study carried out thus concludes that the specialization was not a linear process, it underwent transformations in time determined by the relative endowment of factors, the effect of international demand and the comparative advantage of the different island areas. The most outstanding thing is that the areas in which coffee was prioritized were the most affected by the extension of the sugar industry, due to the reasons mentioned, but also because in the western half of the country they shared the same spaces.