Making the Gulf World: 19th-Century Migrations in and in between Cuba, Mexico, and the United States

This paper concerns the fate of tens of thousands of Cuban migrants, exiles and refugees forced to flee Cuba due to the violence and economic devastation wrought by the thirty- year long Cuban independence process (1868 and 1898). After briefly detailing the outlines of these late nineteenth-century Cuban migrations, the paper reflects on what tracing the trajectories of the migrants can tell us about the greater Caribbean and the Americas. Indeed, I posit the existence of a late nineteenth-century integrated Gulf World that shaped the lives of countless men and women who circulated in and in between Mexico, Cuba and the United States. The Gulf World as an analytical framework stands to help scholars unearth not only the unique histories of Cuban migrants, but also the unexpected trajectories of many more Gulf World inhabitants and travelers who moved throughout the region seeking various freedoms, refuge and new possibilities. Finally, this paper and presentation will conclude with a word about my evolving work tracing what exactly happened to communities of Cuban migrants, exiles and refugees when the wars came to an end and they came to the realization that they were stuck and would be forced to take root far from home.