In 1868, a sugar mill owner freed his slaves to launch Cuba's first war for independence
The struggle for Cuban independence began when sugar mill owner Carlos Manuel de Céspedes took the radical step of freeing his slaves and inviting them to fight as equals against Spanish rule.
On October 10, 1868, Carlos Manuel de Céspedes issued the 'Grito de Yara' at his sugar plantation, La Demajagua. In a move that shocked the colonial establishment, he rang the slave bell not to call his workers to the fields, but to grant them their freedom. He invited these newly free men to join him in a rebellion against Spain, effectively launching the Ten Years' War.
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