The 19th century saw several slave rebellions, particularly in the Caribbean, where slavery increased enormously despite abolitionists’ efforts to end it. During this time, sugar and cotton plantation owners were booming and needed as much cheap labor as possible to increase production, which would then have a positive impact on their income. As African slaves began to build a stronger community and a stronger sense of belonging, they began to rebel and fight against their masters. Although several uprisings resulted in the deaths of leaders, each time the uprisings shocked white slaves. Throughout the history of slave rebellions, many have been associated with brave men or male leaders who risked their lives for others, while women tended to be celebrated as activists and pioneers of various movements. However, stories like Carlota Lucumi’s show that Afro-Cuban women also had great influence and even led rebellions during the era of slavery. In 1843, Carlota Lucumi grew up alongside many other African slaves who worked on the Triunvirato sugar plantation and surrounding plantations in Matanzas, Cuba. After months of secret planning with other colleagues, Firmina, also a woman, Filipe Lucumi, Eduardo, Narciso and Manuel Ganga of the Acana plantation went on strike on November 5, 1843. In , they led the rebellion against the mayor and Julian Luis Alfonso Sole, the owner of the sugar factory, and his associates burned several houses, including a house where the slaves lived. According to the book West African Warfare in Bahia and Cuba: Soldier Slaves in the Atlantic World by Manuel Barcia Paz, the rebel leader had his own weapon and used the skin both as a weapon and as protection against spears and stray projectiles.
The rebellion of November 1843 successfully spread to more than five plantations, where the slaves, under the shadow of Carlota Lucumi and her companions, regained their freedom and killed as many white slaves as possible. An IBW21 article explains that Carlota was supposed to celebrate her successful attack on Maria de Regla, the overseer’s daughter, whom she hit with a machete. In , Carlota Lucumi was murdered and her body was found on the morning of November 6, 1943 at the Triunvirato estate by her loyal followers, who then began a revolt and killed as many whites as possible. In , Cuban oral histories say she was captured by white soldiers who tortured her by tying her body to their own horses, which dragged her to her death. Although the uprising was not successful in the long term, it played an important role in Cuban history as it was the largest and last uprising that caused great fear in white society in the 19th century and ultimately led to the Cuban independence movement led in 1868.According to IBW21, this shaped the course of Cuban history and Fidel Castro’s ideology of the revolt of the oppressed to defeat their oppressor.
Carlota, known for her role as a leader of the rebellion, is a woman of Yoruba descent who was kidnapped in the Kingdom of Benin, where she was born and raised until she was ten years old. Her name is Carlota Lucumi, primarily because she belongs to the Lucumi ethnic group, a group that once and still consists of Afro-Brazilians of Yoruba origin. During the era of slavery, the Lucumi ethnic group was very feared in Cuba and resembled the Maroons. They led numerous rebellions and often founded their own colonies.