Francisco Vicente Aguilera
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Francisco Vicente Aguilera was a Cuban patriot who was born in Bayamo, Cuba on June 23, 1821. He had ten children with his wife Ana Manuela Maria Dolores Sebastiana Kindelan y Sanchez.
He traveled to many countries including the U.S., France, England, and Italy. On his travels he came into contact with governments that had chiefs of state who were not monarchs, leading him to embrace the progressive ideas to which he was exposed. He became an idealist who was always preoccupied with improving the conditions of his countrymen.
At the time, Spain remained in control of Cuba, but had lost control of several of its territories in Central and South America in the early 1800’s. This was mostly due to the efforts of Simon Bolivar, who is credited with leading the fight for independence in what are now the countries of Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Panama, and Bolivia. Colonial rule had its pros and cons. The pros being that the controlling country helped to improve the standard of living in the territory by building out infrastructure, introducing new technologies and implementing systems of governance and organization. The cons were that the controlling country exploited the people under their control with unfair labor practices and exploited the land with little or no recompense to the natives. In Cuba, the Spaniards were forcing the native Indians to work under dreadful conditions in gold mines. In Aguilera's lifetime, the cons were far outweighing the pros and he was very much in favor of the separation of Cuba from Spain.
Aguilera had inherited a fortune from his father, and in 1867 he was the richest landowner in the eastern region of Cuba, owning extensive properties, sugar refineries, livestock, and slaves. He never bought any of the slaves that were regularly brought from the African coast and offered for sale. He only used the ones he had inherited from his father. This required him to hire many free workers to plant and harvest the sugarcane and work the farms. He was mayor of Bayamo and like Simon Bolivar, he was a freemason. He was the head of the Masonic lodge in Bayamo.
In 1851, when he was 30 years old, he began to conspire against the Spanish colonial rule, linking himself with a movement started by Joaquin Aguero in Camaguey, Cuba, and from then on, together with other landowners of the region, he continued to openly speak out against the colonial Spanish rule. He was the leader in an outbreak that occurred in Bayamo in 1867 and was made Chief of the General Committee of three appointed to carry out the plans of the insurrectionists. The two other members of this committee were Francisco Maceo and Pedro Figueredo. He actively participated in the creation of conspiracy groups in diverse regions of the country including the preliminary reunions that culminated in the revolt of October 10, 1868 led by Carlos Manuel de Cespedes. In this revolt, Aguilera took the position that the revolt should wait until they could raise more money before attacking, and although his viewpoint did not prevail, he deferred control of the insurrection to Cespedes, who became the leader of the independence movement from that point on. He supported Cespedes because his interest was not in becoming more powerful, but in improving the lot of his countrymen.
Aguilera put his money where his mouth was. At one of the conspiracy reunions he famously announced that he was prepared to sell all of his properties at market value in order to raise money to arm the revolutionary forces. He promptly put an ad in the newspaper of Bayamo offering for sale all of his properties, buildings, and livestock, which included 35,000 head of cattle and 4,000 horses.
Aguilera held many positions in the Cuban army including Major General, Minister of War, Vice President of the Republic, and Commander-in-Chief of the Eastern District. While in command of the army he was distinguished for courage and ability, taking part in person in many engagements and skirmishes.
In 1868, well after Abraham Lincoln declared the freedom of all slaves in 1863 in the Emancipation Proclamation, Aguilera freed all 500 of his slaves, and marched with many of them to retake the city of Bayamo from the Spanish. Many of his ex-slaves became soldiers in the Cuban War of Independence against Spain fighting on the side of the Cubans, but it is unclear whether or not his freed slaves volunteered for their enrollment in the military. It is possible that their freedom was contingent upon Cuba gaining its freedom from Spain, because under Spanish law of the time it was illegal to grant freedom to slaves.
In 1871, Aguilera went to New York City to raise funds for the war effort. Aguilera died penniless in his apartment on West 30th Street in New York on February 22, 1877. His notoriety got his face on the Cuban 100 Peso bill that was in circulation prior to the 1959 Communist revolution.
