Anarchism and the End of Empire

Abstract

This essay examines the conflict that arose among some Spanish-born (peninsular) cigar makers in New York and Cuban separatists. During the 1890s, a vibrant anarchist community developed in Brooklyn, New York, that published a periodical, El Despertar (1891-1902) and interacted with anarchists in Spain, Florida, and Cuba among other locations. As the conflict between Spanish colonial authority over Cuba became increasingly contentious and violent, tensions between some Cubans and Spaniards increased as well, particularly among Cubans who felt that many Spanish anarchists were indifferent to the separatist cause. Jose C. Campos, a Cuban émigré living in Brooklyn, addressed these issues in a number of essays printed in El Despertar and other workers’ newspapers and attempted to redirect anxiety and anger toward capitalism instead of destructive infighting among Spanish-speaking cigar workers.