‘Going Back Home’: Slave Suicide in Nineteenth Century Cuba

The issue of African slave suicides in Cuba was an always present one in the minds of slave traders, planters, and the colonial authorities. During the first half of the nineteenth century, discussions among the reasons behind this behavior included basically all sectors of the island’s society, including the main authorities. In this article, slave suicides are discussed both as a day-to-day action of resistance undertaken by the slaves, and as a social concern for those who had invested interests in the continuation of slavery in the island.