All at Sea: HMS Romney and Contention over Slavery, Race, and Conspiracy in Nineteenth-Century Cuba

It is commonly highlighted that in the midst of revolution through-out Spanish America, Cuba remained the ‘Ever faithful isle’ partly as a result of its proximity to Haiti, and its economic success stemming from slavery. But real or imagined threats to its stability were never absent, and fear over the potential of slave uprisings and revolt led to extreme reactions such as those surrounding the conspiracies of Aponte in 1812, and La Escalera in 1844.

This paper presents a case study of the HMS Romney, the British naval ship stationed in the port of Havana from 1837 to 1845. The ship housed Africans awaiting the verdict of the trials of the Havana Mixed Commission Court for the Suppression of the Slave Trade. She could be said to represent a microcosm of the racial and political tensions considered the greatest challenges to Spanish control over the island. The permanence in port of a British warship embodied the ever present threat of foreign intervention. She was also manned by free black uniformed marines, who were at first prohibited from setting foot on-land. Missives in relation to these men are illustrative of racial discord and restrictions on social mobility within a slave society. The Romney served as a safe house for David Turnbull, the British abolitionist accused of inciting slave revolt. This paper will highlight the controversies and discussions which were generated by the presence of the ship, and how they relate to the wider political scene that Robert L. Paquette has aptly described as a "conflict between empires over slavery in Cuba"; it will also address the precursors to the possibly interlinked uprisings discovered in 1843 and 1844 and the crisis which led to Turnbull’s expulsion from Cuba.