Found 2 collections related to Cuba -- History -- 1810-1899

This document, issued by the Compañía Asiática de La Habana, is a work contract and certificate of identity (cédula) for 22-year-old Chy Anung of Yn Cong, a Chinese laborer hired at the Portuguese colony of Macao, China, for eight years of indentured servitude in Cuba. From about 1847 to 1874, such workers, called colonos asiáticos, were transported by merchants in large numbers. The text of the printed form, completed on each side in manuscript, is in Spanish on the front and in Chinese characters on the back. In addition to the worker's name and residence, it provides the Spanish forename assigned to him (Honorato), his identification number (9527), and the name of the ship to Havana (Maria Elizabeth). The document sets forth the terms of transportation to Cuba and conditions of employment there, as contracted between the worker and Vargas y Compañía, representing the firm Compañía Unida Torices, Ferrán y Dupierris, or anyone holding the contract. It is signed by L[ourenço] Marques, Procurador; by Nicasio Cañete y Moral, the Spanish Consul in China; by Vargas y Compañía; and by Chy Anung, as shown by two Chinese characters representing his last name 崔 above his first name 明, and his fingerprint. These are repeated under the printed translation on the back, containing manuscript characters identifying his age and town of origin. Also noted there are four transfers of Chy Anung's contract between March 1859 and January 1861: from M[arcial] Dupierris to Fermín Morales, from Morales to Ramón Jaquete, from Jaquete to the Sociedad de Pardiñas y Rivas, and from José A. Pardiñas to Isidro Rivas. less