José Martí
Encyclopedia
José Julián Martí Pérez (January 28, 1853 – May 19, 1895) was a Cuba
n national hero and an important figure in Latin American literature
. In his short life he was a poet
, an essay
ist, a journalist
, a revolution
ary philosopher, a translator, a professor
, a publisher, and a political theorist. He was also a part of the Cuban Freemasons. Through his writings and political activity, he became a symbol for Cuba's bid for independence
against Spain
in the 19th century, and is referred to as the "Apostle of Cuban Independence." He also fought against the threat of United States
expansionism
into Cuba. From adolescence
, he dedicated his life to the promotion of liberty
, political independence for Cuba and intellectual independence for all Spanish Americans; his death was used as a cry for Cuban independence from Spain by both the Cuban revolutionaries and those Cubans previously reluctant to start a revolt.
Born in Havana
, Martí began his political activism at an early age. He would travel
extensively in Spain, Latin America
, and the United States raising awareness and support for the cause of Cuban independence. His unification of the Cuban émigré
community, particularly in Florida
, was crucial to the success of the Cuban War of Independence
against Spain. He was a key figure in the planning and execution of this war
, as well as the designer of the Cuban Revolutionary Party and its ideology. He died in military action on May 19, 1895.
Martí is considered one of the great turn-of-the-century Latin American intellectuals. His written works consist of a series of poems, essays, letters, lecture
s, a novel
, and even a children's
magazine
. He wrote for numerous Latin American and American newspaper
s; he also founded a number of newspapers himself. His newspaper Patria was a key instrument in his campaign for Cuban independence. After his death, one of his poems from the book
, "Versos Sencillos" (Simple Verses) was adapted to the song
, "Guantanamera
", which has become the definitive patriotic song of Cuba.
The concepts of freedom, liberty, and democracy
are prominent themes in all of his works, which were influential on the Nicaragua
n poet, Rubén Darío
and the Chile
an poet, Gabriela Mistral
.
, at 41 Paula St., to a Spanish Valencian father, Mariano Martí Navarro, and Leonor Pérez Cabrera, a native of the Canary Islands
. Martí was the elder brother to seven sisters: Leonor, Mariana, Maria de Carmen, Maria de Pilar, Rita Amelia, Antonia and Dolores. He was baptized on February 12 in Santo Ángel Custodio church. When he was four, his family moved from Cuba to Valencia
, Spain, but two years later they returned to the island where they enrolled José at a local public school, in the Santa Clara neighborhood where his father worked as a prison guard.
In 1865, he enrolled in the Escuela de Instrucción Primaria Superior Municipal de Varones that was headed by Rafael María de Mendive. Mendive was influential in the development of Martí's political philosophies. Also instrumental in his development of a social and political conscience was his best friend Fermín Valdés Domínguez, the son of a wealthy slave-owning family. In April the same year, after hearing the news of Abraham Lincoln
's assassination, Martí and other young students expressed their pain—through group mourning—for the death of a man who had decreed the abolition of slavery in a neighboring country. In 1866, Martí entered the Instituto de Segunda Ensañanza where Mendive financed his studies.
Martí signed up at the Escuela Professional de Pintura y Escultura de La Habana (Professional School for Painting and Sculpture of Havana) in September 1867, known as San Alejandro, to take drawing classes. He hoped to flourish in this area, but did not find commercial success. In 1867, he also entered the school of San Pablo, established and managed by Mendive, where he enrolled for the second and third years of his bachelor's degree, and assisted Mendive with the school's administrative tasks. In April 1868, his poem dedicated to Mendive's wife, A Micaela. En la muerte de Miguel Ángel appeared in Guanabacoa's newspaper El Álbum.
When the Ten Years' War
broke out in Cuba in 1868, clubs of supporters for the Cuban nationalist cause formed all over Cuba, and José and his friend Fermín joined them. Martí had a precocious desire for the independence and freedom of Cuba. He started writing poems about this vision, while, at the same time, trying to do something to achieve this dream. In 1869, he published his first political writings in the only edition of the newspaper El Diablo Cojuelo, published by Fermín Valdés Domínguez. That same year he published "Abdala", a patriotic drama in verse
form in the one-volume La Patria Libre newspaper, which he published himself. "Abdala" is about a fictional country called Nubia which struggles for liberation. His famous sonnet "10 de octubre", later to become one of his most famous poems, was also written during that year, and was published later in his school newspaper.
In March of that year, colonial authorities shut down the school, interrupting Martí's studies. He came to resent Spanish rule of his homeland at an early age; likewise, he developed a hatred of slavery
, which was still practiced in Cuba.
On 21 October 1869, aged 16, he was arrested and incarcerated in the national jail, following an accusation of treason
and bribery from the Spanish government upon the discovery of a "reproving" letter, which Martí and Fermín had written to a friend when he joined the Spanish army. More than four months later, Martí confessed to the charges and was condemned to six years in prison. His mother tried to free her son (who at 16 was still a minor) by writing letters to the government; his father went to a lawyer friend for legal support, but all efforts failed. Eventually Martí fell ill; his legs were severely lacerated by the chains that bound him. As a result, he was transferred to another part of Cuba known as Isla de Pinos instead of further imprisonment. Following that, the Spanish authorities decided to repatriate him to Spain. In Spain, Martí, who was 18 at the time, was allowed to continue his studies with the hopes that studying in Spain would renew his loyalty to Spain.
Martí's maltreatment at the hands of the Spaniards and consequent deportation to Spain in 1871 inspired a tract, Political Imprisonment in Cuba, published in July. This pamphlet's purpose was to move the Spanish public to do something about its government's brutalities in Cuba and promoted the issue of Cuban independence. In September, from the pages of El Jurado Federal, Marti and Sauvalle accused the newspaper La Prensa of having calumniated the Cuban residents in Madrid. During his stay in Madrid, Marti frequented the Ateneo and the National Library, the Café de los Artistas, and the British, Swiss and Iberian breweries. In November he became sick and had an operation, paid for by Sauvalle.
On the 27 of November 1871, eight medical students, who had been accused (without evidence) of the desecration of a Spanish grave, were executed in Havana. In June 1872, Fermín Valdés was arrested because of the November 27 incident. His sentence of six years of jail was pardoned, and he was exiled to Spain where he reunited with Martí. On November 27, 1872, the printed matter Dia 27 de Noviembre de 1871 (27 November 1871) written by Martí and signed by Fermín Valdés Domínguez, and Pedro J. de la Torre circulated Madrid. A group of Cubans held a funeral in the Caballero de Gracia church, the first anniversary of the medical students’ execution.
In 1873, Martí's “A mis Hermanos Muertos el 27 de Noviembre” was published by Fermín Valdés. In February, for the first time, the Cuban flag appeared in Madrid, hanging from Martí’s balcony in Concepción Jerónima, where he lived for a few years. In the same month, the Proclamation of the First Spanish Republic by the Cortes on February 11, 1873 reaffirmed Cuba as inseparable to Spain, Martí responded with an essay, The Spanish Republic and the Cuban Revolution, and sent it to the Prime Minister, pointing out that this new freely elected body of deputies that had proclaimed a republic based on democracy had been hypocritical not to grant Cuba its freedom. He sent examples of his work to Nestor Ponce de Leon, a member of the Junta Central Revolucionaria de Nueva York (Central revolutionary committee of New York), to whom he would express his will to collaborate on the fight for the independence of Cuba.
In May, he moved to Saragossa, accompanied by Fermín Valdés to continue his studies in law at the Universidad Literaria. The newspaper La Cuestión Cubana of Sevilla, published numerous articles from Martí.
In June 1874, Marti graduated with a degree in Civil Rights and Canonical Law. In August he signed up as an external student at the Facultad de Filosofia y Letras de Zaragoza, where he finished his degree by October. In November he returned to Madrid and then left to Paris. There he met Auguste Vacquerie, a poet, and Victor Hugo. In December 1874 he embarked from Le Havre for Mexico. Prevented from returning to Cuba, Martí went instead to Mexico and Guatemala. During these travels, he taught and wrote, advocating continually for Cuba's independence.
In these writings he expressed his opinions about current events in Mexico. On May 27, in the newspaper Revista Universal, he responded to the anti-Cuban-independence arguments in the Mexican newspaper La Colonia Española. This was a newspaper for Spanish citizens living in Mexico. In December, Sociedad Gorostiza (Gorostiza Society), a group of writers and artists, accepted Martí as a member, where he met his future wife, Carmen Zayas Bazán during his frequent visits to her Cuban father’s house to meet with the Gorostiza group.
On January 1, 1876, in Oaxaca, elements contrary to Sebastián Lerdo de Tejada
's government led by Gen. Porfirio Díaz
proclaimed the Plan de Tuxtepec
, thence instigating a bloody civil war. Martí and fellow Mexican colleagues established the Sociedad Alarcón, composed of dramatists, actors, and critics. At this point, Martí began collaboration with the newspaper El Socialista as leader of the Gran Círculo Obrero (Great Labour Circle) organization of liberals and reformists who supported Lerdo de Tejada. In March, the newspaper proposed a series of candidates as delegates, including Martí, to the first Congreso Obrero, or congress of the workers. On June 4, La Sociedad Esperanza de Empleados (Employees' Hope Society) designated Martí as delegate to the Congreso Obrero. On December 7, Martí published his article Alea Jacta Est in the newspaper El Federalista, bitterly criticizing the Porfiristas' armed assault upon the constitutional government in place. On December 16, he published the article "Extranjero" (foreigner; abroad), in which he repeated his denunciation of the Porfiristas and bade farewell to Mexico.
In 1877, using his second name and second surname Julián Pérez as pseudonym, Martí embarked for Havana, hoping to there arrange moving his family away from Mexico City. He returned to Mexico, however, entering at the port of Progreso
from which, via Isla de Mujeres
and Belize
, he travelled south to progressive Guatemala City
. He took residence in the prosperous suburb of Ciudad Vieja
, home of Guatemala's artists and Intelligentsia of the day, on Cuarta Avenida (fourth avenue), 3 km south of Guatemala City. Commissioned then by the government, he wrote the play Patria y Libertad (Drama Indio) (Country and Liberty (an Indian Drama)). He met personally the president, Justo Rufino Barrios
about this project. On April 22, the newspaper El Progreso published his article "Los códigos nuevos" (The New Laws) pertaining to the then newly enacted Civil Code. On May 29, he was appointed head of the Department of French, English, Italian and German Literature, History and Philosophy, on the faculty of philosophy and arts of the Universidad Nacional. On July 25, he lectured for the opening evening of the literary society 'Sociedad Literaria El Porvenir', at the Teatro Colón (the since-renamed Teatro Nacional), at which function he was appointed vice-president of the Society, and acquiring the moniker "el doctor torrente," or Doctor Torrent, in view of his rhetorical style. Martí taught composition classes free at the academia de niñas de centroamérica girls' academy, among whose students he enthralled young María García Granados, daughter of Guatemalan president Miguel García Granados
. The schoolgirl's crush was unrequited, however, as he went again to México, where he met Carmen Zayas Bazán and whom he later married.
In 1878, Martí returned to Guatemala and published his book Guatemala, edited in Mexico. On May 10, socialite María García Granados died of lung disease; her unrequited love for Martí branded her, poignantly, as 'la niña de Guatemala, la que se murió de amor' (the Guatemalan girl who died of love). Following her death, Martí returned to Cuba. There, he finished signing the Pact of Zanjón
which ended the Cuban Ten Years' War
, but had no effect on Cuba's status as a colony. He met Afro-Cuban revolutionary Juan Gualberto Gómez
, who would be his life-long partner in the independence struggle and a stalwart defender of his legacy during this same journey. He married Carmen Zayas Bazán on Havana's Calle Tulipán Street at this time. In October, his application to practice law in Cuba was refused, and thence immersed himself in radical efforts, such as for the Comité Revolucionario Cubano de Nueva York (Cuban Revolutionary Committee of New York). On November 22, 1878 his son José Francisco, known fondly as "Pepito", was born.
Back in New York Martí joined General Calixto García
's Cuban revolutionary committee, made up of exiled & disheveled Cubans who wanted independence for Cuba. Here Martí supported Cuban independence freely. He worked as a newspaper reporter and was also a correspondent for La Nación of Buenos Aires and for different Central American journals, especially La Opinion Liberal in Mexico City. The article "El ajusticiamiento de Guiteau," an account of President Garfield's murderer's trial, was published in La Opinion Liberal in 1881, and later selected for inclusion in The Library of America's anthology of American True Crime writing. At the same time, Martí wrote poems and translated novels to Spanish. He worked for Appleton and Company and, "on his own, translated and published Helen Hunt Jackson's Ramona. His repertory of original work included plays, a novel, poetry, a children's magazine, La Edad de Oro, and a newspaper, Patria, which became the official organ of the Cuban Revolutionary party". Also, he worked very hard by serving as a consul for Uruguay, Argentina, and Paraguay. Throughout this work, he preached the "freedom of Cuba with an enthusiasm that swelled the ranks of those eager to strive with him for it".
Within the revolutionary committee, there was tension between Martí and his Cuban military compatriots. Martí thought it was of utmost importance that a military dictatorship not be established in Cuba upon independence, and suspected Dominican-born General Máximo Gómez
of having these very intentions. Martí knew that the independence of Cuba needed careful planning and would take time. This is why Martí refused to cooperate with Máximo Gómez
and Antonio Maceo Grajales
, two Cuban military leaders from the Ten Years' War
, when they wanted to invade immediately in 1884. Martí knew that it was too early to attempt to win back Cuba, and later events proved him right.
, who proudly claimed to be Martí's grandson. In September Martí became sick again. He intervened in the commemorative acts of The Independents, causing the Spanish consul in New York to complain to the Argentine and Uruguayan governments. Consequently, Martí resigned from the Argentinean, Paraguayan, and Uruguayan consulates. In October he published his book Versos Sencillos.
On the 26 of November, he was invited by the Club Ignacio Agramonte, an organization founded by Cuban immigrants in Ybor City, Tampa, Florida
, to a celebration to collect funding for the cause of Cuban independence. There he gave a lecture known as "Con Todos, y para el Bien de Todos", which was reprinted in Spanish language newspapers and periodicals across the United States. The following night, another lecture, " Los Pinos Nuevos", was given by Martí in another Tampa gathering in honor of the medical students killed in Cuba in 1871. In November artist Herman Norman painted a portrait of José Martí.
On January 5, 1892, Martí participated in a reunion of the emigration representatives, in Cayo Hueso, the Cuban community of Key West
where the Bases del Partido Revolucionario (Basis of the Cuban Revolutionary Party) was passed. He began the process of organizing the newly formed party. To raise support and collect funding for the independence movement, he visited tobacco factories, where he gave speeches to the workers and united them in the cause. In March 1892 the first edition of the Patria newspaper, related to the Cuban Revolutionary Party, was published, funded and directed by Martí. On April 8, he was chosen delegate of the Cuban Revolutionary Party by the Cayo Hueso Club in Tampa and New York.
From July to September 1892 he traveled through Florida, Washington, Philadelphia, Haiti, the Dominican Republic and Jamaica on an organization mission among the exiled Cubans. On this mission, Martí made numerous speeches and visited various tobacco factories. On December 16 he was poisoned in Tampa.
In 1893, Marti traveled through the United States, Central America and the West Indies, visiting different Cuban clubs. His visits were received with a growing enthusiasm and raised badly needed funds for the revolutionary cause. On May 24 he met Rubén Darío
, the Nicaraguan poet in a theatre act in Hardman Hall, New Mexico. On June 3 he had an interview with Máximo Gómez
in Montecristi, Dominican Republic, where they planned the uprising. In July he met with General Antonio Maceo Grajales
in San Jose, Costa Rica.
In 1894 he continued traveling for propagation and organizing the revolutionary movement. On January 27 he published " A Cuba!" in the newspaper Patria where he denounced collusion between the Spanish and American interests. In July he visited the president of the Mexican Republic, Porfirio Díaz
, and travelled to Veracruz. In August he prepared and arranged the armed expedition that would begin the Cuban revolution.
was assigned to orchestrate war preparations for La Habana Province, and was able to work right under the noses of the relatively unconcerned Spanish authorities. Martí decided to move to Montecristi, Dominican Republic
to join Máximo Gómez
and to plan out the uprising.
The uprising finally took place on February 24, 1895. A month later, Martí and Máximo Gómez declared the Manifesto de Montecristi, an "exposition of the purposes and principles of the Cuban revolution". Martí had persuaded Gómez to lead an expedition into Cuba.
Before leaving for Cuba, Martí wrote his "literary will" on April 1, 1895, leaving his personal papers and manuscripts to Gonzalo de Quesada
, with instructions for editing. Knowing that the majority of his writing in newspapers in Honduras, Uruguay, and Chile would disappear over time, Martí instructed Quesada to arrange his papers in volumes. The volumes were to be arranged in the following way: volumes one and two, North Americas; volume three, Hispanic Americas; volume four, North American Scenes; volume five, Books about the Americas (this included both North and South America); volume six, Literature, education and painting. Another volume included his poetry.
The expedition, composed of Martí, Gómez, Ángel Guerra, Francisco Borreo, Cesar Salas and Marcos del Rosario, left Montecristi for Cuba on April 1, 1895. Despite delays and desertion by some members, they got to Cuba. They landed at Playitas, near Maisi Cape, Cuba, on April 11. Once there, they made contact with the Cuban rebels, who were headed by the Maceo brothers, and started fighting against Spanish troops. The revolt did not go as planned, "mainly because the call to revolution received no immediate, spontaneous support from the masses." By May 13, the expedition reached Dos Rios. On May 19, Gomez faced Ximenez de Sandoval's troops and ordered Martí to stay rearguard, but Martí separated from the bulk of the Cuban forces, and entered the Spanish line.
, near the confluence of the rivers Contramaestre and Cauto
, on May 19, 1895. Gómez had recognized that the Spaniards had a strong position between palm trees, so he ordered his men to disengage. Martí was alone and seeing a young courier ride by he said: "Joven, a la carga" meaning: "Young man, let's charge!" This was around midday, and he was, as always, dressed in a black jacket, riding a white horse, which made him an easy target for the Spanish. The young trooper, Angel de la Guardia, lost his horse and returned to report the loss. The Spanish took possession of the body, buried it close by, then exhumed the body upon realization of its identity. They are said not to have burned him because they were scared that the ashes would get into their throats and asphyxiate them. He is buried in Cementerio Santa Efigenia in Santiago de Cuba
. Many have argued that Maceo and others had always spurned Martí for never participating in combat, which may have compelled Martí to that ill-fated suicidal two-man charge. Some of his Versos sencillos bore premonition:
"No me entierren en lo oscuro/
A morir como un traidor/
Yo soy bueno y como bueno/
Moriré de cara al sol."
("Do not bury me in darkness / to die like a traitor / I am good, and as a good man /
I will die facing the sun.")
The death of Marti was a blow to the "aspirations of the Cuban rebels, inside and outside of the island, but the fighting continued with alternating successes and failures until the entry of the United States into the war in 1898".
Martí was totally opposed to slavery and criticized Spain for failing to abolish the institution. In a speech to Cuban immigrants in Steck Hall, New York, on January 24, 1879, he stated that the war against Spain needed to be fought, recalled the heroism and suffering of the Ten Years' War
, which, he declared, had qualified Cuba as a real nation with a right to independence. Spain hadn't ratified the conditions of the peace treaty, had falsified elections, continued excessive taxation, and had failed to abolish slavery. Cuba needed to be free.
Martí wanted Cuba to be a democratic republic. For this to occur, legitimate political steps needed to be taken. He had proposed in a letter to Máximo Gómez
in 1882 the formation of a revolutionary party, which he considered essential in the prevention of Cuba falling back on the Home Rule Party (Partido Autonomista) after the Pact of Zanjón
. The Home Rule Party was a peace-seeking party that would stop short of the outright independence that Martí thought Cuba needed. But he was aware that there were social divisions in Cuba, especially racial divisions, that needed to be addressed as well, as he stated in a letter to Maceo on July 20, 1882: "the Cuban problem needs, rather than a political solution, a social solution [which] cannot be achieved except through mutual love and forgiveness between the two races [...]. To create [...] a country where, despite its having had great experience of hatred, all its diverse elements will begin [...] to enjoy real rights." He thought war was necessary to achieve Cuba's freedom, despite his basic ideology of conciliation, respect, dignity, and balance. The establishment of thepatria (fatherland) with a good government would unite Cubans of all social classes and colours in harmony. Together with other Cubans resident in New York, Martí started laying the grounds for the Revolutionary Party, stressing the need for a democratic organization as the basic structure before any military leaders were to join. The military would have to subordinate themselves to the interests of the fatherland. Gómez later rejoined Martí's plans, promising to comply.
At this point, Martí became increasingly alarmed about the United States' intentions for Cuba. The United States desperately needed new markets for its industrial products because of the economic crisis it was experiencing, and the media was talking about the purchase of Cuba from Spain. Cuba was a profitable, fertile country with an important strategic position in the Gulf of Mexico. In an Interamerican Congress summoned in Washington in October 1889 to discuss U.S. position on Cuba, purchase, annexation, and seizure were discussed. Martí was strongly opposed to this expansionism, reiterating his constant position: full independence for Cuba and nothing else. The interests of Cuba's future lay with its sister nations in Latin America, and were opposite to those of the United States.
Martí's consolidation of support among the Cuban expatriates, especially in Florida, was key in the planning and execution of the invasion of Cuba. His speeches to Cuban tobacco workers in Tampa and Key West motivated and united them; this is considered the most important political achievement of his life. At his point he refined his ideological platform, basing it on a Cuba held together by pride in being Cuban, a society that ensured "the welfare,and prosperity of all Cubans". independently of class, occupation or race. Faith in the cause could not die, and the military would not try for domination. All pro-independence Cubans would participate, with no sector predominating. From this he established the Cuban Revolutionary Party in early 1892.
The Cuban Revolutionary Party's 'Bases and Statutes' aimed at: 1) Winning absolute independence for Cuba and aiding that of Puerto Rico; 2) ordering a 'generous and brief war' that would ensure peace and happiness for all Cuba's inhabitants; 3) organizing this war so that it should be 'republican in spirit and methods', and lead to a society fulfilling 'in the historical life of the continent'; 4) ensuring that no 'authoritarian spirit and bureaucratic make-up of the colony' would exist in the new Cuba; 5) preventing any one particular group from having more power than other groups; 6) creating a harmonious fatherland with economic prosperity ensured by allowing outlets for the economic activities of all its inhabitants; 7) maintaining friendly relations with the U.S.; and, 8) bringing the above intentions through a set of concrete aims: to unite all Cubans living abroad, to bring together all factions inside and outside of Cuba, to prepare inside Cuba the knowledge and spirit of the revolution, to collect funds, to establish relations with friendly peoples to accelerate the success of the war, and finally, to organize the Cuban Revolutionary Party according to the secret rules agreed upon by the founding organizations. Elections within the party would designate positions within, the first being held April 8–10, 1892. Marti was elected delegado (delegate) for the Cuban Revolutionary Party in 1892, as he refused to be called president.
From this moment, Martí and the CRP were devoted to secretly organizing the anti-Spanish war. Martí's newspaper, Patria, was a key instrument of this campaign, where Martí delineated his final plans for Cuba. Through this medium he argued against the exploitative colonialism of Spain in Cuba, criticized the Home Rule (Autonomista) Party for having aims that fell considerably short of full independence, and warned against U.S. annexationism which he felt could only be prevented by Cuba's successful independence. He specified his plans for the future Cuban Republic, a multi-class and multi-racial democratic republic based on universal suffrage, with an egalitarian economic base to develop fully Cuba's productive resources and an equitable distribution of land among citizens, with enlightened and virtuous politicians.
From Martí's 'Campaign Diaries', written during the final expedition in Cuba, it seems evident that Martí would have reached the highest position in the future Republic of Arms. This was not to be; his death occurred before the Assembly of Cuba was set up. Until his very last minute, Martí dedicated his life to achieve full independence for Cuba. His uncompromising belief in democracy and freedom for his fatherland is what characterized his political ideology.
Martí's distrust of North American politics had developed during the 1880s, due to the intervention threats that loomed on Mexico and Guatemala, and indirectly on Cuba's future. In that time Cuba was dangerously situated, which determined its definitive analysis on the two realities in conflict. In his essays on Discurso de la Sociedad Literaria Hispanoamercana and Madre America (1891), he had referred to the "magnanimous warrior of the North" and to the "volcanic hero of the South" , and he had pointed out major differences that distance them starting from their origins.
Marti's attitude towards North American society is marked by controversy. It "ha[s] been used as an example of a profound Cuban-U.S. friendship, while others have underlined his bitter denunciations of North America".
Marti's first observations of the United States were written while he worked for the newspaper The Hour. He was happy to finally be in a free democratic nation: "'I am, at last, in a country where everyone looks like his own master. One can breathe freely, freedom being here the foundation, the shield, the essence of life'".
Another trait that Marti admired was the work ethic that characterized U.S. American society. On various occasions Marti conveyed his deep admiration for the immigrant-based society, "whose principal aspiration he interpreted as being to construct a truly modern country, based upon hard work and progressive ideas." Marti stated that he was "never surprised in any country of the world [he had] visited. Here [he] was surprised... [he] remarked that no one stood quietly on the corners, no door was shut an instant, no man was quiet. [He] stopped [him]self, [he] looked respectfully on this people, and [he] said goodbye forever to that lazy life and poetical inutility of our European countries".
Marti found U.S. American society to be so great, he thought Latin America should consider imitating America. Marti argued that if the US "could reach such a high standard of living in so short a time, and despite, too, its lack of unifying traditions, could not the same be expected of Latin America?"
Education had benefited from the attitude of America's society. Marti was amazed at how education was directed towards helping the development of the nation and once again encouraged Latin American countries to follow the example set by North American society.
Another major characteristic that struck Marti was the agricultural advancement of the United States. He found amazing the "common-sense attitude of the Dean of the School of Agriculture in Michigan who defended the advantages of manual work for the students of his college". At the same time, he criticized the elitist educational systems of Cuba and the rest of Latin America. Often, Marti recommended countries in Latin America to "send representatives to learn more relevant techniques in the United States". Once this was done, Marti hoped that this representatives would bring a "much-needed modernization to the Latin American agricultural policies".
However not everything was to be admired by Marti. When it came to politics Marti wrote that politics in the US had "adopted a carnival atmosphere...especially during election time". He saw acts of corruption among candidates like for example bribing "the constituents with vast quantities of beer, while impressive parades wound their way through New York's crowded streets, past masses of billboards, all exhorting the public to vote for the different political candidates".
Marti criticized and condemned the elites of the United States as they "pulled the main political strings behind the scenes". According to Marti, the elites "deserved severe censure" as they were the biggest threat to the "ideals with which the United States was first conceived".
Marti started to become aware that the US had abused its potential. Racism was abundant. Different races were being discriminated against; political life "was both cynically regarded by the public at large and widely abused by the 'politicos de oficio'; industrial magnates and powerful labor groups faced each other menacingly". All of this made Marti predict that in the United States a big social battle would occur.
On the positive side, Marti was astonished by the "inviolable right of freedom of speech which all U.S. citizens possessed". Marti applauded the United States' Constitution which allowed freedom of speech to all its citizens, no matter what political beliefs they had. In May 1883, while attending political meetings he heard "the call for revolution - and more specifically the destruction of the capitalist system". Marti could not believe that revolution was advocated and was amazed that this could happen because this "could have led to its own destruction". Marti also gave his support to the women's suffrage movements, and was "pleased that women here [took] advantage of this privilege in order to make their voices heard". According to Marti, free speech was essential if any nation was to be civilized and he expressed his "profund admiration for these many basic liberties and opportunities open to the vast majority of U.S. citizens".
The works of Marti contain many comparisons between the ways of life of North and Latin America. The former was seen as "hardy, 'soulless', and, at times, cruel society, but one which, nevertheless, had been based upon a firm foundation of liberty and on a tradition of liberty". Although North American society had its flaws, they tended to be "of minor importance when compared to the broad sweep of social inequality, and to the widespread abuse of power prevalent in Latin America".
Although Marti admired the United States and its society, he thought that U.S. America's "dealings with 'Nuestra America' left a great deal to be desired". Also he was preoccupied that the United States was becoming "increasingly intent upon extending its dominion over Latin America".
Marti alerted and informed Latin Americans that the United states was "totally ignorant of the culture and history of her southern neighbours, and this, combined with the ever increasing phenomenon regarded euphemistically as 'pioneer spirit', augured badly for future relations between the Americas".
By the end of 1889, Marti had changed his "sympathetic attitude" towards the United States. This was due to the U.S. wanting to expand their territories into Latin America. By this time, Marti was getting ready to prepare a campaign that would liberate Cuba. However, this campaign was in danger as talks "re-surfaced in the United States as to whether that country should purchase Cuba from the Spanish government in order to turn the Island into a U.S. protectorate".
Marti argued that "any attempt to sell his patria as if it were some negotiable merchandise, and of course, without taking into account the wishes of people, was completely unacceptable - particularly when the prospective purchaser was the United States".
Once it was apparent that the United States were actually going to purchase Cuba and intended to U.S. Americanize it, Marti "spoke out loudly and bravely against such action, stating the opinion of many Cubans on the United States of America.
Marti became distressed as he knew that in order for him to gain independence for Cuba not only did he have to defeat the Spanish, but also had to keep the U.S. Americans out.
thirty years before in Argentina. In the second “Boletin” that Martí published in the Revista Universal (May 11, 1875) one can already see Martí’s approach, which was fundamentally Latin American. His wish to build a national or Latin American identity was nothing new or unusual in those days; however, no Latin-American intellectual of that time had approached as clearly as Martí the task of building a national identity. He insisted on the necessity of building institutions and laws that matched the natural elements of each country, and recalled the failure of the applications of French and American civil codes in the new Latin American republics. Martí believed that “el hombre del sur” , the man of the South, should choose an appropriate development strategy matching his character, the peculiarity of his culture and history, and the nature that determined his being.
Over the course of journalistic career, he wrote for numerous newspapers, starting with El Diablo Cojuelo (The Limping Devil) and La Patria Libre (The Free Fatherland), both of which he helped to found in 1869 in Cuba and which established the extent of his political commitment and vision for Cuba. In Spain he wrote for La Colonia Española ,in Mexico for La Revista Universal, and in Venezuela for Revista Venezolana, which he founded. In New York he contributed to Venezuelan periodical La Opinión Nacional, Buenos Aires newspaper La Nación, Mexico's La Opinion Liberal, and America's The Hour.
The first critical edition of Martí’s complete works began to appear in 1983 in José Martí: Obras completas. Edición crítica. The critical edition of his complete poems was published in 1985 in José Martí: Poesía completa. Edición critica.
Volume two of his Obras Completas includes his famous essay 'Nuestra America' which "comprises a variety of subjects relating to Spanish America about which Marti studied and wrote. Here it is noted that after Cuba his interest was directed mostly to Guatemala, Mexico and Venezuela. The various sections of this part are about general matters and international conferences; economic, social and political questions; literature and art; agrarian and industrial problems; immigration; education; relations with the United States and Spanish America; travel notes".
According to Marti, the intention behind the publication of "La edad de oro" was "so that American children may know how people used to live, and how they live nowadays, in America and in other countries; how many things are made, such as glass and iron, steam engines and suspension bridges and electric light; so that when a child sees a coloured stone he will know why the stone is coloured....We shall tell them about everything which is done in factories, where things happen which are stranger and more interesting than the magic in fairy stories. These things are real magic, more marvelous than any....We write for children because it is they who know how to love, because it is children who are the hope for the world".
Marti's "Versos Sencillos" was written "in the town of Haines Falls, New York, where his doctor has sent [him] to regain his strength 'where streams flowed and clouds gathered in upon themeselves'". The poetry encountered in this work is "in many [ways] autobiographical and allows readers to see Marti the man and the patriot and to judge what was important to him at a crucial time in Cuban history".
Martí’s writings reflected his own views both socially and politically. “Cultivo Una Rosa Blanca” is one of his poems that emphasize his views in hopes of betterment for society:
This poem is a clear description of Martí’s societal hopes for his homeland. Within the poem, he talks about how regardless of the person, whether kind or cruel he cultivates a white rose, meaning that he remains peaceful. This coincides with his ideology about establishing unity amongst the people, more so those of Cuba, through a common identity, with no regards to ethnic and racial differences. This doctrine could be accomplished if one treated his enemy with peace as he would treat a friend. The kindness of one person should be shared with all people, regardless of personal conflict. By following the moral that lies within “Cultivo Rosa Blanca”, Martí’s vision of Cuban solidarity could be possible, creating a more peaceful society that would emanate through future generations.
After his breakthrough in Cuba literature, José Martí went on to contribute his works to newspapers, magazines, and books that reflected his political and social views. Because of his early death, Martí was unable to publish a vast collection of poetry; even so, his literary contributions have made him a renowned figure in literature, influencing many writers, and people in general, to aspire to follow in the footsteps of Martí.
and has been linked to Latin American consciousness of the modern age and modernity. His chronicles combined elements of literary portraiture, dramatic narration, and a dioramic scope. His poetry contained "fresh and astonishing images along with deceptively simple sentiments". As an orator (for he made many speeches) he was known for his cascading structure, powerful aphorisms, and detailed descriptions. More important than his style is how he uses that style to put into service his ideas, making "advanced" convincing notions. Throughout his writing he made reference to historical figures and events, and used constant allusions to literature, current news and cultural matters. For this reason, he may be difficult to read and translate.
His didactic spirit encouraged him to establish a magazine for children, La Edad de Oro (1889) which contained a short essay titled "Tres Heroes" (three heroes), representative of his talent to adapt his expression to his audience; in this case, to make the young reader conscious of and amazed by the extraordinary bravery of the three men, Bolivar, Hidalgo, and San Martín. This is his style to teach delightfully.
, but he was also a translator of some note. Although he translated literary material for the sheer joy of it, much of the translating he did was imposed on him by economic necessity during his many years of exile in the United States. Martí learned English at an early age, and had begun to translate at thirteen. He continued translating for the rest of his life, including his time as a student in Spain, although the period of his greatest productivity was during his stay in New York from 1880 until he returned to Cuba in 1895.
In New York he was what we would call today a "freelancer" as well as an "in house" translator. He translated several books for the publishing house of D. Appleton
, and did a series of translations for newspapers. As a revolutionary activist in Cuba's long struggle for independence he translated into English a number of articles and pamphlets supporting that movement. In addition to fluent English, Martí also spoke French, Italian, Latin and Classical Greek fluently, the latter learned so he could read the Greek classical works in the original.
There was clearly a dichotomy in Martí's feeling about the kind of work he was translating. Like many professionals, he undertook for money translation tasks which had little intellectual or emotional appeal for him. Although Martí never presented a systematic theory of translation nor did he write extensively about his approach to translation, he did jot down occasional thoughts on the subject, showcasing his awareness of the translator's dilemma of the faithful versus the beautiful and stating that "translation should be natural, so that it appears that the book were written in the language to which it has been translated".
The modernists, in general, use a subjective language. Martí's stylistic creed is part of the necessity to de-codify the logic rigor and the linguistic construction and to eliminate the intellectual, abstract and systematic expression. There is the deliberate intention and awareness to expand the expressive system of the language. The style changes the form of thinking. Without falling in to unilateralism, Martí values the expression because language is an impression and a feeling through the form. Modernism mostly searches for the visions and realities, the expression takes in the impressions, the state of mind, with out reflection and without concept. this the law of subjectivity. We can see this in works of Martí, one of the first modernists, who conceives the literary task like an invisible unity, an expressive totality, considering the style like "a form of the content" (forma del contenido).
Martí searches for the platonic idea in the word, which is a representation of the world, the universe as it is, and badly used. Martí guides himself through the law of universal harmony, which is the great aesthetic and essential law. Through the principal analogue of the universal harmony's theory he carried out a perfect symbiosis between prose and poem. Both prose and poems serve as an artistic function. His discourses, speeches, essays, letters, articles, poems, novels, dramas, and stories are poetic creation.
The difference that Martí established between prose and poetry are conceptual. Poetry, as he believes, is a language of the permanent subjective: the intuition and the vision. The prose is an instrument and a method of spreading the ideas, and has the goal of elevating, encouraging and animating these ideas rather than having the expression of tearing up the heart, complaining and moaning. The prose is a service to his people.
Martí produces a system of specific signs "an ideological code" (código ideológico). These symbols claim their moral value and construct signs of ethic conduct. Martí's modernism was a spiritual attitude that was reflected on the language. All his writing defines his moral world. One could also say that his ideological and spiritual sphere is fortified in his writing.
The similarity between Martí and Manuel González Prada and the difference between Martí and the other modernist initiators, Manuel Gutiérrez Nájera, Julian del Casal or José Asunción Silva lies in other aspects and in the profound and transcendent value that Martí converted the prose to a daily article, the work of a journalist. This hard work was decisive for giving literature, which inspired itself as an authentic and independent value, distancing it from a mere formal amusement. Manuel Gutiérez Nájera, Rubén Darío, Miguel de Unamuno and José Enrique Rodó saved the Martinian articles, which will have an endless value in the writings of the American continent.
Apart from Martinian articles. essay writing and literature starts to authorize itself as an alternative and privileged way to talk about politics. Literature starts to apply itself the only hermeneutics able to resolve the enigmas of a Latin American identity.
José Martí's life-long dedication to the cause of Cuban independence and his passionate belief in democracy and justice has made him a hero for all Cubans, a symbol of unity, the "Apostle", a great leader. His ultimate goal of building a democratic, just, and stable republic in Cuba and his obsession with the practical execution of this goal led him to become the most charismatic leader of the 1895 colonial revolution. His work with the Cuban émigré community, enlisting the support of Cuban workers and socialist leaders to form the Cuban Revolutionary Party, put into motion the Cuban war of independence. His foresight into the future, shown in his warnings against U.S. American political interests for Cuba, was confirmed by the swift occupation of Cuba by the United States following the Spanish-U.S.American War. His belief in the inseparability of Cuban and Latin American sovereignty and the expression thereof in his writings have contributed to the shape of the modern Latin American Identity. His works are a cornerstone of Latin American and political literature and his prolific contributions to the fields of journalism, poetry, and prose are highly acclaimed.
Martí's writings on the concepts of Cuban nationalism fuelled the 1895 revolution and have continued to inform conflicting visions of the Cuban nation. The Cuban nation-state under Fidel Castro
has consistently claimed Martí as a crucial inspiration for its Marxist revolutionary government. His nuanced, often ambivalent positions on the most important issues of his day have led Marxist interpreters to see a class conflict between the proletariat and the bourgeousie as the main theme of his works, while others, namely the Cuban diasporic communities in Miami and elsewhere have identified a liberal-capitalist emphasis. These Cuban exiles still honor Martí as a figure of hope for the Cuban nation in exile and condemn Castro's regime for manipulating his works and creating a "Castroite Martí" to justify its intolerance and abridgments of human rights. His writings thus remain a key ideological weapon in the battle over the fate of the Cuban nation.
One further example of his legacy is that his name has been chosen for several institutions or NGO's from various countries, such as Romania, where a public school from Bucharest and the Romanian-Cuban Friendship Association from Targoviste are both named "Jose Marti".
Martí's major posthumous works
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
n national hero and an important figure in Latin American literature
Latin American literature
Latin American literature consists of the oral and written literature of Latin America in several languages, particularly in Spanish, Portuguese, and indigenous languages of the Americas. It rose to particular prominence globally during the second half of the 20th century, largely due to the...
. In his short life he was a poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
, an essay
Essay
An essay is a piece of writing which is often written from an author's personal point of view. Essays can consist of a number of elements, including: literary criticism, political manifestos, learned arguments, observations of daily life, recollections, and reflections of the author. The definition...
ist, a journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
, a revolution
Revolution
A revolution is a fundamental change in power or organizational structures that takes place in a relatively short period of time.Aristotle described two types of political revolution:...
ary philosopher, a translator, a professor
Professor
A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...
, a publisher, and a political theorist. He was also a part of the Cuban Freemasons. Through his writings and political activity, he became a symbol for Cuba's bid for independence
Independence
Independence is a condition of a nation, country, or state in which its residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory....
against Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
in the 19th century, and is referred to as the "Apostle of Cuban Independence." He also fought against the threat of United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
expansionism
Imperialism
Imperialism, as defined by Dictionary of Human Geography, is "the creation and/or maintenance of an unequal economic, cultural, and territorial relationships, usually between states and often in the form of an empire, based on domination and subordination." The imperialism of the last 500 years,...
into Cuba. From adolescence
Adolescence
Adolescence is a transitional stage of physical and mental human development generally occurring between puberty and legal adulthood , but largely characterized as beginning and ending with the teenage stage...
, he dedicated his life to the promotion of liberty
Liberty
Liberty is a moral and political principle, or Right, that identifies the condition in which human beings are able to govern themselves, to behave according to their own free will, and take responsibility for their actions...
, political independence for Cuba and intellectual independence for all Spanish Americans; his death was used as a cry for Cuban independence from Spain by both the Cuban revolutionaries and those Cubans previously reluctant to start a revolt.
Born in Havana
Havana
Havana is the capital city, province, major port, and leading commercial centre of Cuba. The city proper has a population of 2.1 million inhabitants, and it spans a total of — making it the largest city in the Caribbean region, and the most populous...
, Martí began his political activism at an early age. He would travel
Travel
Travel is the movement of people or objects between relatively distant geographical locations. 'Travel' can also include relatively short stays between successive movements.-Etymology:...
extensively in Spain, Latin America
Latin America
Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
, and the United States raising awareness and support for the cause of Cuban independence. His unification of the Cuban émigré
Émigré
Émigré is a French term that literally refers to a person who has "migrated out", but often carries a connotation of politico-social self-exile....
community, particularly in Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
, was crucial to the success of the Cuban War of Independence
Cuban War of Independence
Cuban War of Independence was the last of three liberation wars that Cuba fought against Spain, the other two being the Ten Years' War and the Little War...
against Spain. He was a key figure in the planning and execution of this war
War
War is a state of organized, armed, and often prolonged conflict carried on between states, nations, or other parties typified by extreme aggression, social disruption, and usually high mortality. War should be understood as an actual, intentional and widespread armed conflict between political...
, as well as the designer of the Cuban Revolutionary Party and its ideology. He died in military action on May 19, 1895.
Martí is considered one of the great turn-of-the-century Latin American intellectuals. His written works consist of a series of poems, essays, letters, lecture
Lecture
thumb|A lecture on [[linear algebra]] at the [[Helsinki University of Technology]]A lecture is an oral presentation intended to present information or teach people about a particular subject, for example by a university or college teacher. Lectures are used to convey critical information, history,...
s, a novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
, and even a children's
Children's literature
Children's literature is for readers and listeners up to about age twelve; it is often defined in four different ways: books written by children, books written for children, books chosen by children, or books chosen for children. It is often illustrated. The term is used in senses which sometimes...
magazine
Magazine
Magazines, periodicals, glossies or serials are publications, generally published on a regular schedule, containing a variety of articles. They are generally financed by advertising, by a purchase price, by pre-paid magazine subscriptions, or all three...
. He wrote for numerous Latin American and American newspaper
Newspaper
A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...
s; he also founded a number of newspapers himself. His newspaper Patria was a key instrument in his campaign for Cuban independence. After his death, one of his poems from the book
Book
A book is a set or collection of written, printed, illustrated, or blank sheets, made of hot lava, paper, parchment, or other materials, usually fastened together to hinge at one side. A single sheet within a book is called a leaf or leaflet, and each side of a leaf is called a page...
, "Versos Sencillos" (Simple Verses) was adapted to the song
Song
In music, a song is a composition for voice or voices, performed by singing.A song may be accompanied by musical instruments, or it may be unaccompanied, as in the case of a cappella songs...
, "Guantanamera
Guantanamera
"Guantanamera" is perhaps the best known Cuban song and that country's most noted patriotic song.-Music:The music for the song is sometimes attributed to José Fernández Diaz, known as Joseíto Fernández, who claimed to have written it at various dates , and who used it regularly in one of his radio...
", which has become the definitive patriotic song of Cuba.
The concepts of freedom, liberty, and democracy
Democracy
Democracy is generally defined as a form of government in which all adult citizens have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives. Ideally, this includes equal participation in the proposal, development and passage of legislation into law...
are prominent themes in all of his works, which were influential on the Nicaragua
Nicaragua
Nicaragua is the largest country in the Central American American isthmus, bordered by Honduras to the north and Costa Rica to the south. The country is situated between 11 and 14 degrees north of the Equator in the Northern Hemisphere, which places it entirely within the tropics. The Pacific Ocean...
n poet, Rubén Darío
Rubén Darío
Félix Rubén García Sarmiento , known as Rubén Darío, was a Nicaraguan poet who initiated the Spanish-American literary movement known as modernismo that flourished at the end of the 19th century...
and the Chile
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
an poet, Gabriela Mistral
Gabriela Mistral
Gabriela Mistral was the pseudonym of Lucila de María del Perpetuo Socorro Godoy Alcayaga, a Chilean poet, educator, diplomat, and feminist who was the first Latin American to win the Nobel Prize in Literature, in 1945...
.
Early life: Cuba 1853–1870
José Julián Martí Pérez was born on January 28, 1853, in HavanaHavana
Havana is the capital city, province, major port, and leading commercial centre of Cuba. The city proper has a population of 2.1 million inhabitants, and it spans a total of — making it the largest city in the Caribbean region, and the most populous...
, at 41 Paula St., to a Spanish Valencian father, Mariano Martí Navarro, and Leonor Pérez Cabrera, a native of the Canary Islands
Canary Islands
The Canary Islands , also known as the Canaries , is a Spanish archipelago located just off the northwest coast of mainland Africa, 100 km west of the border between Morocco and the Western Sahara. The Canaries are a Spanish autonomous community and an outermost region of the European Union...
. Martí was the elder brother to seven sisters: Leonor, Mariana, Maria de Carmen, Maria de Pilar, Rita Amelia, Antonia and Dolores. He was baptized on February 12 in Santo Ángel Custodio church. When he was four, his family moved from Cuba to Valencia
Valencia (city in Spain)
Valencia or València is the capital and most populous city of the autonomous community of Valencia and the third largest city in Spain, with a population of 809,267 in 2010. It is the 15th-most populous municipality in the European Union...
, Spain, but two years later they returned to the island where they enrolled José at a local public school, in the Santa Clara neighborhood where his father worked as a prison guard.
In 1865, he enrolled in the Escuela de Instrucción Primaria Superior Municipal de Varones that was headed by Rafael María de Mendive. Mendive was influential in the development of Martí's political philosophies. Also instrumental in his development of a social and political conscience was his best friend Fermín Valdés Domínguez, the son of a wealthy slave-owning family. In April the same year, after hearing the news of Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...
's assassination, Martí and other young students expressed their pain—through group mourning—for the death of a man who had decreed the abolition of slavery in a neighboring country. In 1866, Martí entered the Instituto de Segunda Ensañanza where Mendive financed his studies.
Martí signed up at the Escuela Professional de Pintura y Escultura de La Habana (Professional School for Painting and Sculpture of Havana) in September 1867, known as San Alejandro, to take drawing classes. He hoped to flourish in this area, but did not find commercial success. In 1867, he also entered the school of San Pablo, established and managed by Mendive, where he enrolled for the second and third years of his bachelor's degree, and assisted Mendive with the school's administrative tasks. In April 1868, his poem dedicated to Mendive's wife, A Micaela. En la muerte de Miguel Ángel appeared in Guanabacoa's newspaper El Álbum.
When the Ten Years' War
Ten Years' War
The Ten Years' War , also known as the Great War and the War of '68, began on October 10, 1868 when sugar mill owner Carlos Manuel de Céspedes and his followers proclaimed Cuba's independence from Spain...
broke out in Cuba in 1868, clubs of supporters for the Cuban nationalist cause formed all over Cuba, and José and his friend Fermín joined them. Martí had a precocious desire for the independence and freedom of Cuba. He started writing poems about this vision, while, at the same time, trying to do something to achieve this dream. In 1869, he published his first political writings in the only edition of the newspaper El Diablo Cojuelo, published by Fermín Valdés Domínguez. That same year he published "Abdala", a patriotic drama in verse
Verse (poetry)
A verse is formally a single line in a metrical composition, e.g. poetry. However, the word has come to represent any division or grouping of words in such a composition, which traditionally had been referred to as a stanza....
form in the one-volume La Patria Libre newspaper, which he published himself. "Abdala" is about a fictional country called Nubia which struggles for liberation. His famous sonnet "10 de octubre", later to become one of his most famous poems, was also written during that year, and was published later in his school newspaper.
Slavery
Slavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to demand compensation...
, which was still practiced in Cuba.
On 21 October 1869, aged 16, he was arrested and incarcerated in the national jail, following an accusation of treason
Treason
In law, treason is the crime that covers some of the more extreme acts against one's sovereign or nation. Historically, treason also covered the murder of specific social superiors, such as the murder of a husband by his wife. Treason against the king was known as high treason and treason against a...
and bribery from the Spanish government upon the discovery of a "reproving" letter, which Martí and Fermín had written to a friend when he joined the Spanish army. More than four months later, Martí confessed to the charges and was condemned to six years in prison. His mother tried to free her son (who at 16 was still a minor) by writing letters to the government; his father went to a lawyer friend for legal support, but all efforts failed. Eventually Martí fell ill; his legs were severely lacerated by the chains that bound him. As a result, he was transferred to another part of Cuba known as Isla de Pinos instead of further imprisonment. Following that, the Spanish authorities decided to repatriate him to Spain. In Spain, Martí, who was 18 at the time, was allowed to continue his studies with the hopes that studying in Spain would renew his loyalty to Spain.
Spain 1871–1874
In January 1871, Martí embarked on the steam ship Guipuzcoa, which took him from Havana to Cadiz. He settled in Madrid in a guesthouse in Desengaño St. # 10. Arriving at the capital he contacted fellow Cuban Carlos Sauvalle, who had been deported to Spain a year before Martí and whose house served as a center of reunions for Cubans in exile. On March 24, Cadiz’s newspaper La Soberania Nacional, published Martí's article “Castillo” in which he recalled the sufferings of a friend he met in prison. This article would be reprinted in Sevilla’s La Cuestion Cubana and New York’s La Republica. At this time, Martí registered himself as a member of independent studies in the law faculty of the Central University of Madrid. While studying here, Martí openly participated in discourse on the Cuban issue, debating through the Spanish press and circulating documents protesting Spanish activities in Cuba.Martí's maltreatment at the hands of the Spaniards and consequent deportation to Spain in 1871 inspired a tract, Political Imprisonment in Cuba, published in July. This pamphlet's purpose was to move the Spanish public to do something about its government's brutalities in Cuba and promoted the issue of Cuban independence. In September, from the pages of El Jurado Federal, Marti and Sauvalle accused the newspaper La Prensa of having calumniated the Cuban residents in Madrid. During his stay in Madrid, Marti frequented the Ateneo and the National Library, the Café de los Artistas, and the British, Swiss and Iberian breweries. In November he became sick and had an operation, paid for by Sauvalle.
On the 27 of November 1871, eight medical students, who had been accused (without evidence) of the desecration of a Spanish grave, were executed in Havana. In June 1872, Fermín Valdés was arrested because of the November 27 incident. His sentence of six years of jail was pardoned, and he was exiled to Spain where he reunited with Martí. On November 27, 1872, the printed matter Dia 27 de Noviembre de 1871 (27 November 1871) written by Martí and signed by Fermín Valdés Domínguez, and Pedro J. de la Torre circulated Madrid. A group of Cubans held a funeral in the Caballero de Gracia church, the first anniversary of the medical students’ execution.
In 1873, Martí's “A mis Hermanos Muertos el 27 de Noviembre” was published by Fermín Valdés. In February, for the first time, the Cuban flag appeared in Madrid, hanging from Martí’s balcony in Concepción Jerónima, where he lived for a few years. In the same month, the Proclamation of the First Spanish Republic by the Cortes on February 11, 1873 reaffirmed Cuba as inseparable to Spain, Martí responded with an essay, The Spanish Republic and the Cuban Revolution, and sent it to the Prime Minister, pointing out that this new freely elected body of deputies that had proclaimed a republic based on democracy had been hypocritical not to grant Cuba its freedom. He sent examples of his work to Nestor Ponce de Leon, a member of the Junta Central Revolucionaria de Nueva York (Central revolutionary committee of New York), to whom he would express his will to collaborate on the fight for the independence of Cuba.
In May, he moved to Saragossa, accompanied by Fermín Valdés to continue his studies in law at the Universidad Literaria. The newspaper La Cuestión Cubana of Sevilla, published numerous articles from Martí.
In June 1874, Marti graduated with a degree in Civil Rights and Canonical Law. In August he signed up as an external student at the Facultad de Filosofia y Letras de Zaragoza, where he finished his degree by October. In November he returned to Madrid and then left to Paris. There he met Auguste Vacquerie, a poet, and Victor Hugo. In December 1874 he embarked from Le Havre for Mexico. Prevented from returning to Cuba, Martí went instead to Mexico and Guatemala. During these travels, he taught and wrote, advocating continually for Cuba's independence.
México and Guatemala 1875–1878
In 1875, Martí lived on Calle Moneda in Mexico City near the Zócalo, a prestigious address of the times. One floor above him lived Manuel Antonio Mercado, Secretary of the Distrito Federal, who would become one of Martí’s best friends. On March 2, 1875, he published his first article for Vicente Villada's Revista Universal, a broadsheet discussing politics, literature, and general business commerce. On March 12, his Spanish translation of Victor Hugo's Mes Fils (1874) began serialization in Revista Universal. Martí then joined the editorial staff, editing the Boletín section of the publication.In these writings he expressed his opinions about current events in Mexico. On May 27, in the newspaper Revista Universal, he responded to the anti-Cuban-independence arguments in the Mexican newspaper La Colonia Española. This was a newspaper for Spanish citizens living in Mexico. In December, Sociedad Gorostiza (Gorostiza Society), a group of writers and artists, accepted Martí as a member, where he met his future wife, Carmen Zayas Bazán during his frequent visits to her Cuban father’s house to meet with the Gorostiza group.
On January 1, 1876, in Oaxaca, elements contrary to Sebastián Lerdo de Tejada
Sebastián Lerdo de Tejada
Sebastián Lerdo de Tejada y Corral was a jurist and Liberal president of Mexico.-Background:...
's government led by Gen. Porfirio Díaz
Porfirio Díaz
José de la Cruz Porfirio Díaz Mori was a Mexican-American War volunteer and French intervention hero, an accomplished general and the President of Mexico continuously from 1876 to 1911, with the exception of a brief term in 1876 when he left Juan N...
proclaimed the Plan de Tuxtepec
Plan of Tuxtepec
The Plan de Tuxtepec was a plan in Mexican history. It was drafted by Porfirio Díaz in 1876 and proclaimed on January 10, 1876 in the Villa de Ojitlán municipality of San Lucas Ojitlán, Tuxtepec district, Oaxaca...
, thence instigating a bloody civil war. Martí and fellow Mexican colleagues established the Sociedad Alarcón, composed of dramatists, actors, and critics. At this point, Martí began collaboration with the newspaper El Socialista as leader of the Gran Círculo Obrero (Great Labour Circle) organization of liberals and reformists who supported Lerdo de Tejada. In March, the newspaper proposed a series of candidates as delegates, including Martí, to the first Congreso Obrero, or congress of the workers. On June 4, La Sociedad Esperanza de Empleados (Employees' Hope Society) designated Martí as delegate to the Congreso Obrero. On December 7, Martí published his article Alea Jacta Est in the newspaper El Federalista, bitterly criticizing the Porfiristas' armed assault upon the constitutional government in place. On December 16, he published the article "Extranjero" (foreigner; abroad), in which he repeated his denunciation of the Porfiristas and bade farewell to Mexico.
In 1877, using his second name and second surname Julián Pérez as pseudonym, Martí embarked for Havana, hoping to there arrange moving his family away from Mexico City. He returned to Mexico, however, entering at the port of Progreso
Progreso, Yucatán
Progreso is a port city in the Mexican state of Yucatán, located on the Gulf of Mexico in the north-west of the state some 30 minutes north of state capital Mérida by highway. As of the Mexican census of 2005, Progreso had an official population of 35,519 inhabitants, the fifth-largest community...
from which, via Isla de Mujeres
Isla Mujeres
Isla Mujeres is one of the ten municipalities of the Mexican state of Quintana Roo. The municipality, located in the northeastern corner of the state is mostly on the mainland and has a municipal seat of the same name; Isla Mujeres...
and Belize
Belize
Belize is a constitutional monarchy and the northernmost country in Central America. Belize has a diverse society, comprising many cultures and languages. Even though Kriol and Spanish are spoken among the population, Belize is the only country in Central America where English is the official...
, he travelled south to progressive Guatemala City
Guatemala City
Guatemala City , is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Guatemala and Central America...
. He took residence in the prosperous suburb of Ciudad Vieja
Ciudad Vieja
Ciudad Vieja is a municipality in the Guatemalan department of Sacatepéquez. According to the 2002 Guatemalan Census, the municipality has a total of 25,696 people.Ciudad Vieja was the second colonial capital of the country.- History :...
, home of Guatemala's artists and Intelligentsia of the day, on Cuarta Avenida (fourth avenue), 3 km south of Guatemala City. Commissioned then by the government, he wrote the play Patria y Libertad (Drama Indio) (Country and Liberty (an Indian Drama)). He met personally the president, Justo Rufino Barrios
Justo Rufino Barrios
Justo Rufino Barrios was a President of Guatemala known for his liberal reforms and his attempts to reunite Central America....
about this project. On April 22, the newspaper El Progreso published his article "Los códigos nuevos" (The New Laws) pertaining to the then newly enacted Civil Code. On May 29, he was appointed head of the Department of French, English, Italian and German Literature, History and Philosophy, on the faculty of philosophy and arts of the Universidad Nacional. On July 25, he lectured for the opening evening of the literary society 'Sociedad Literaria El Porvenir', at the Teatro Colón (the since-renamed Teatro Nacional), at which function he was appointed vice-president of the Society, and acquiring the moniker "el doctor torrente," or Doctor Torrent, in view of his rhetorical style. Martí taught composition classes free at the academia de niñas de centroamérica girls' academy, among whose students he enthralled young María García Granados, daughter of Guatemalan president Miguel García Granados
Miguel García Granados
Miguel García-Granados Zavala was President of Guatemala from 29 June 1871 to 4 June 1873. He was an influential figure in the broad sweep of 19th century Guatemalan history....
. The schoolgirl's crush was unrequited, however, as he went again to México, where he met Carmen Zayas Bazán and whom he later married.
In 1878, Martí returned to Guatemala and published his book Guatemala, edited in Mexico. On May 10, socialite María García Granados died of lung disease; her unrequited love for Martí branded her, poignantly, as 'la niña de Guatemala, la que se murió de amor' (the Guatemalan girl who died of love). Following her death, Martí returned to Cuba. There, he finished signing the Pact of Zanjón
Pact of Zanjón
The Pact of Zanjón was the treaty that ended the Cuban Ten Years' War. Slaves who had fought against Spain were given freedom. The Maceo brothers refused to sign the treaty and kept on fighting until they took to exile to return later. Calixto Garcia was released from Spanish prison....
which ended the Cuban Ten Years' War
Ten Years' War
The Ten Years' War , also known as the Great War and the War of '68, began on October 10, 1868 when sugar mill owner Carlos Manuel de Céspedes and his followers proclaimed Cuba's independence from Spain...
, but had no effect on Cuba's status as a colony. He met Afro-Cuban revolutionary Juan Gualberto Gómez
Juan Gualberto Gómez
Juan Gualberto Gómez Ferrer was an Afro-Cuban revolutionary leader in the Cuban War of Independence against Spain. He was a "close collaborator of Martí's," and alongside him helped plan the uprising and unite the island's black population behind the rebellion...
, who would be his life-long partner in the independence struggle and a stalwart defender of his legacy during this same journey. He married Carmen Zayas Bazán on Havana's Calle Tulipán Street at this time. In October, his application to practice law in Cuba was refused, and thence immersed himself in radical efforts, such as for the Comité Revolucionario Cubano de Nueva York (Cuban Revolutionary Committee of New York). On November 22, 1878 his son José Francisco, known fondly as "Pepito", was born.
The United States, Venezuela 1880–1890
After a short time in New York, Martí travelled to Venezuela in 1881 and founded the Revista Venezolana, or Venezuelan Review. The journal provoked the wrath of Venezuela's dictator, Antonio Guzmán Blanco, and Martí was forced to leave for New York.Back in New York Martí joined General Calixto García
Calixto García
Calixto García e Iñiguez was a general in three Cuban uprisings, part of the Cuban War for Independence: Ten Years' War, the Little War and the War of 1895, itself sometimes called the Cuban War for Independence, which bled into the Spanish-American War, ultimately resulting in national...
's Cuban revolutionary committee, made up of exiled & disheveled Cubans who wanted independence for Cuba. Here Martí supported Cuban independence freely. He worked as a newspaper reporter and was also a correspondent for La Nación of Buenos Aires and for different Central American journals, especially La Opinion Liberal in Mexico City. The article "El ajusticiamiento de Guiteau," an account of President Garfield's murderer's trial, was published in La Opinion Liberal in 1881, and later selected for inclusion in The Library of America's anthology of American True Crime writing. At the same time, Martí wrote poems and translated novels to Spanish. He worked for Appleton and Company and, "on his own, translated and published Helen Hunt Jackson's Ramona. His repertory of original work included plays, a novel, poetry, a children's magazine, La Edad de Oro, and a newspaper, Patria, which became the official organ of the Cuban Revolutionary party". Also, he worked very hard by serving as a consul for Uruguay, Argentina, and Paraguay. Throughout this work, he preached the "freedom of Cuba with an enthusiasm that swelled the ranks of those eager to strive with him for it".
Within the revolutionary committee, there was tension between Martí and his Cuban military compatriots. Martí thought it was of utmost importance that a military dictatorship not be established in Cuba upon independence, and suspected Dominican-born General Máximo Gómez
Máximo Gómez
Máximo Gómez y Báez was a Major General in the Ten Years' War and Cuba's military commander in that country's War of Independence ....
of having these very intentions. Martí knew that the independence of Cuba needed careful planning and would take time. This is why Martí refused to cooperate with Máximo Gómez
Máximo Gómez
Máximo Gómez y Báez was a Major General in the Ten Years' War and Cuba's military commander in that country's War of Independence ....
and Antonio Maceo Grajales
Antonio Maceo Grajales
Lt. General José Antonio de la Caridad Maceo y Grajales was second-in-command of the Cuban Army of Independence....
, two Cuban military leaders from the Ten Years' War
Ten Years' War
The Ten Years' War , also known as the Great War and the War of '68, began on October 10, 1868 when sugar mill owner Carlos Manuel de Céspedes and his followers proclaimed Cuba's independence from Spain...
, when they wanted to invade immediately in 1884. Martí knew that it was too early to attempt to win back Cuba, and later events proved him right.
The United States, Central America and the West Indies 1891–1894
On January 1, 1891, Martí's essay "Nuestra America" was published in New York's Revista Ilustrada, and on the 30th of that month in Mexico's El Partido Liberal. He actively participated in the Conferencia Monetaria Internacional (The International Monetary Conference) in New York during that time as well. On June 30 his wife and son arrived in New York. After a short time, in which Carmen Zayas Bazán realized that Martí's dedication to Cuban independence surpassed that of supporting his family, she returned to Havana with her son on 27 August. Martí would never see them again. The fact that his wife never shared the convictions central to his life was an enormous personal tragedy for Martí. He turned for solace to Carmen Miyares de Mantilla, a Venezuelan who ran a boarding house in New York, and he is presumed to be the father of her daughter María Mantilla, who was in turn the mother of the actor Cesar RomeroCesar Romero
Cesar Julio Romero, Jr. was an American film and television actor who was active in film, radio, and television for almost sixty years...
, who proudly claimed to be Martí's grandson. In September Martí became sick again. He intervened in the commemorative acts of The Independents, causing the Spanish consul in New York to complain to the Argentine and Uruguayan governments. Consequently, Martí resigned from the Argentinean, Paraguayan, and Uruguayan consulates. In October he published his book Versos Sencillos.
Tampa, Florida
Tampa is a city in the U.S. state of Florida. It serves as the county seat for Hillsborough County. Tampa is located on the west coast of Florida. The population of Tampa in 2010 was 335,709....
, to a celebration to collect funding for the cause of Cuban independence. There he gave a lecture known as "Con Todos, y para el Bien de Todos", which was reprinted in Spanish language newspapers and periodicals across the United States. The following night, another lecture, " Los Pinos Nuevos", was given by Martí in another Tampa gathering in honor of the medical students killed in Cuba in 1871. In November artist Herman Norman painted a portrait of José Martí.
On January 5, 1892, Martí participated in a reunion of the emigration representatives, in Cayo Hueso, the Cuban community of Key West
Key West
Key West is an island in the Straits of Florida on the North American continent at the southernmost tip of the Florida Keys. Key West is home to the southernmost point in the Continental United States; the island is about from Cuba....
where the Bases del Partido Revolucionario (Basis of the Cuban Revolutionary Party) was passed. He began the process of organizing the newly formed party. To raise support and collect funding for the independence movement, he visited tobacco factories, where he gave speeches to the workers and united them in the cause. In March 1892 the first edition of the Patria newspaper, related to the Cuban Revolutionary Party, was published, funded and directed by Martí. On April 8, he was chosen delegate of the Cuban Revolutionary Party by the Cayo Hueso Club in Tampa and New York.
From July to September 1892 he traveled through Florida, Washington, Philadelphia, Haiti, the Dominican Republic and Jamaica on an organization mission among the exiled Cubans. On this mission, Martí made numerous speeches and visited various tobacco factories. On December 16 he was poisoned in Tampa.
In 1893, Marti traveled through the United States, Central America and the West Indies, visiting different Cuban clubs. His visits were received with a growing enthusiasm and raised badly needed funds for the revolutionary cause. On May 24 he met Rubén Darío
Rubén Darío
Félix Rubén García Sarmiento , known as Rubén Darío, was a Nicaraguan poet who initiated the Spanish-American literary movement known as modernismo that flourished at the end of the 19th century...
, the Nicaraguan poet in a theatre act in Hardman Hall, New Mexico. On June 3 he had an interview with Máximo Gómez
Máximo Gómez
Máximo Gómez y Báez was a Major General in the Ten Years' War and Cuba's military commander in that country's War of Independence ....
in Montecristi, Dominican Republic, where they planned the uprising. In July he met with General Antonio Maceo Grajales
Antonio Maceo Grajales
Lt. General José Antonio de la Caridad Maceo y Grajales was second-in-command of the Cuban Army of Independence....
in San Jose, Costa Rica.
In 1894 he continued traveling for propagation and organizing the revolutionary movement. On January 27 he published " A Cuba!" in the newspaper Patria where he denounced collusion between the Spanish and American interests. In July he visited the president of the Mexican Republic, Porfirio Díaz
Porfirio Díaz
José de la Cruz Porfirio Díaz Mori was a Mexican-American War volunteer and French intervention hero, an accomplished general and the President of Mexico continuously from 1876 to 1911, with the exception of a brief term in 1876 when he left Juan N...
, and travelled to Veracruz. In August he prepared and arranged the armed expedition that would begin the Cuban revolution.
Return to Cuba 1895
January 12, 1895, the North American authorities stopped the steamship Lagonda and two other suspicious ships, Amadis, and Baracoa at the Fernandina port in Florida, confiscating weapons and ruining Plan de Fernandina (Fernandina Plan). On January 29, Martí drew up the order of the uprising, signing it with general Jose Maria Rodriguez and Enrique Collazo. Juan Gualberto GómezJuan Gualberto Gómez
Juan Gualberto Gómez Ferrer was an Afro-Cuban revolutionary leader in the Cuban War of Independence against Spain. He was a "close collaborator of Martí's," and alongside him helped plan the uprising and unite the island's black population behind the rebellion...
was assigned to orchestrate war preparations for La Habana Province, and was able to work right under the noses of the relatively unconcerned Spanish authorities. Martí decided to move to Montecristi, Dominican Republic
Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic is a nation on the island of La Hispaniola, part of the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region. The western third of the island is occupied by the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands that are shared by two countries...
to join Máximo Gómez
Máximo Gómez
Máximo Gómez y Báez was a Major General in the Ten Years' War and Cuba's military commander in that country's War of Independence ....
and to plan out the uprising.
The uprising finally took place on February 24, 1895. A month later, Martí and Máximo Gómez declared the Manifesto de Montecristi, an "exposition of the purposes and principles of the Cuban revolution". Martí had persuaded Gómez to lead an expedition into Cuba.
Before leaving for Cuba, Martí wrote his "literary will" on April 1, 1895, leaving his personal papers and manuscripts to Gonzalo de Quesada
Gonzalo de Quesada y Aróstegui
Gonzalo de Quesada was a key architect of Cuba's Independence Movement with José Martí during the late 19th century.-Biography:...
, with instructions for editing. Knowing that the majority of his writing in newspapers in Honduras, Uruguay, and Chile would disappear over time, Martí instructed Quesada to arrange his papers in volumes. The volumes were to be arranged in the following way: volumes one and two, North Americas; volume three, Hispanic Americas; volume four, North American Scenes; volume five, Books about the Americas (this included both North and South America); volume six, Literature, education and painting. Another volume included his poetry.
The expedition, composed of Martí, Gómez, Ángel Guerra, Francisco Borreo, Cesar Salas and Marcos del Rosario, left Montecristi for Cuba on April 1, 1895. Despite delays and desertion by some members, they got to Cuba. They landed at Playitas, near Maisi Cape, Cuba, on April 11. Once there, they made contact with the Cuban rebels, who were headed by the Maceo brothers, and started fighting against Spanish troops. The revolt did not go as planned, "mainly because the call to revolution received no immediate, spontaneous support from the masses." By May 13, the expedition reached Dos Rios. On May 19, Gomez faced Ximenez de Sandoval's troops and ordered Martí to stay rearguard, but Martí separated from the bulk of the Cuban forces, and entered the Spanish line.
Death
José Martí was killed in battle against Spanish troops at the Battle of Dos RíosBattle of Dos Ríos
The Battle of Dos Ríos was fought in Cuba during its war of independence from Spain.José Martí died fighting in the battle of Dos Ríos . He was leading a group of rebels against the Spanish royalist army in the first skirmish in Cuba's struggle for independence from Spain...
, near the confluence of the rivers Contramaestre and Cauto
Cauto River
The Cauto River or Río Cauto, located in southeast Cuba, is the longest river of Cuba.It flows on a total length of from the Sierra Maestra to the west and north-west, and enters the Caribbean Sea north of Manzanillo. However, it provides only of transport waterway...
, on May 19, 1895. Gómez had recognized that the Spaniards had a strong position between palm trees, so he ordered his men to disengage. Martí was alone and seeing a young courier ride by he said: "Joven, a la carga" meaning: "Young man, let's charge!" This was around midday, and he was, as always, dressed in a black jacket, riding a white horse, which made him an easy target for the Spanish. The young trooper, Angel de la Guardia, lost his horse and returned to report the loss. The Spanish took possession of the body, buried it close by, then exhumed the body upon realization of its identity. They are said not to have burned him because they were scared that the ashes would get into their throats and asphyxiate them. He is buried in Cementerio Santa Efigenia in Santiago de Cuba
Santiago de Cuba
Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city of Cuba and capital city of Santiago de Cuba Province in the south-eastern area of the island, some south-east of the Cuban capital of Havana....
. Many have argued that Maceo and others had always spurned Martí for never participating in combat, which may have compelled Martí to that ill-fated suicidal two-man charge. Some of his Versos sencillos bore premonition:
"No me entierren en lo oscuro/
A morir como un traidor/
Yo soy bueno y como bueno/
Moriré de cara al sol."
("Do not bury me in darkness / to die like a traitor / I am good, and as a good man /
I will die facing the sun.")
The death of Marti was a blow to the "aspirations of the Cuban rebels, inside and outside of the island, but the fighting continued with alternating successes and failures until the entry of the United States into the war in 1898".
Political ideology
Martí was a pragmatic Classical Liberal. Martí dedicated his life to the cause of Cuban independence. To him, it was unnatural that Cuba be controlled and oppressed by the Spanish government, when it had its own unique identity and culture. In his pamphlet from February 11, 1873, called "The Spanish Republic and the Cuban Revolution", he argued that "Cubans do not live as Spaniards live(...). They are nourished by a different system of trade, have links with different countries, and express their happiness through quite contrary customs. There are no common aspirations or identical goals linking the two peoples, or beloved memories to unite them [...]. Peoples are only united by ties of fraternity and love.".Martí was totally opposed to slavery and criticized Spain for failing to abolish the institution. In a speech to Cuban immigrants in Steck Hall, New York, on January 24, 1879, he stated that the war against Spain needed to be fought, recalled the heroism and suffering of the Ten Years' War
Ten Years' War
The Ten Years' War , also known as the Great War and the War of '68, began on October 10, 1868 when sugar mill owner Carlos Manuel de Céspedes and his followers proclaimed Cuba's independence from Spain...
, which, he declared, had qualified Cuba as a real nation with a right to independence. Spain hadn't ratified the conditions of the peace treaty, had falsified elections, continued excessive taxation, and had failed to abolish slavery. Cuba needed to be free.
Martí wanted Cuba to be a democratic republic. For this to occur, legitimate political steps needed to be taken. He had proposed in a letter to Máximo Gómez
Máximo Gómez
Máximo Gómez y Báez was a Major General in the Ten Years' War and Cuba's military commander in that country's War of Independence ....
in 1882 the formation of a revolutionary party, which he considered essential in the prevention of Cuba falling back on the Home Rule Party (Partido Autonomista) after the Pact of Zanjón
Pact of Zanjón
The Pact of Zanjón was the treaty that ended the Cuban Ten Years' War. Slaves who had fought against Spain were given freedom. The Maceo brothers refused to sign the treaty and kept on fighting until they took to exile to return later. Calixto Garcia was released from Spanish prison....
. The Home Rule Party was a peace-seeking party that would stop short of the outright independence that Martí thought Cuba needed. But he was aware that there were social divisions in Cuba, especially racial divisions, that needed to be addressed as well, as he stated in a letter to Maceo on July 20, 1882: "the Cuban problem needs, rather than a political solution, a social solution [which] cannot be achieved except through mutual love and forgiveness between the two races [...]. To create [...] a country where, despite its having had great experience of hatred, all its diverse elements will begin [...] to enjoy real rights." He thought war was necessary to achieve Cuba's freedom, despite his basic ideology of conciliation, respect, dignity, and balance. The establishment of thepatria (fatherland) with a good government would unite Cubans of all social classes and colours in harmony. Together with other Cubans resident in New York, Martí started laying the grounds for the Revolutionary Party, stressing the need for a democratic organization as the basic structure before any military leaders were to join. The military would have to subordinate themselves to the interests of the fatherland. Gómez later rejoined Martí's plans, promising to comply.
At this point, Martí became increasingly alarmed about the United States' intentions for Cuba. The United States desperately needed new markets for its industrial products because of the economic crisis it was experiencing, and the media was talking about the purchase of Cuba from Spain. Cuba was a profitable, fertile country with an important strategic position in the Gulf of Mexico. In an Interamerican Congress summoned in Washington in October 1889 to discuss U.S. position on Cuba, purchase, annexation, and seizure were discussed. Martí was strongly opposed to this expansionism, reiterating his constant position: full independence for Cuba and nothing else. The interests of Cuba's future lay with its sister nations in Latin America, and were opposite to those of the United States.
Martí's consolidation of support among the Cuban expatriates, especially in Florida, was key in the planning and execution of the invasion of Cuba. His speeches to Cuban tobacco workers in Tampa and Key West motivated and united them; this is considered the most important political achievement of his life. At his point he refined his ideological platform, basing it on a Cuba held together by pride in being Cuban, a society that ensured "the welfare,and prosperity of all Cubans". independently of class, occupation or race. Faith in the cause could not die, and the military would not try for domination. All pro-independence Cubans would participate, with no sector predominating. From this he established the Cuban Revolutionary Party in early 1892.
The Cuban Revolutionary Party's 'Bases and Statutes' aimed at: 1) Winning absolute independence for Cuba and aiding that of Puerto Rico; 2) ordering a 'generous and brief war' that would ensure peace and happiness for all Cuba's inhabitants; 3) organizing this war so that it should be 'republican in spirit and methods', and lead to a society fulfilling 'in the historical life of the continent'; 4) ensuring that no 'authoritarian spirit and bureaucratic make-up of the colony' would exist in the new Cuba; 5) preventing any one particular group from having more power than other groups; 6) creating a harmonious fatherland with economic prosperity ensured by allowing outlets for the economic activities of all its inhabitants; 7) maintaining friendly relations with the U.S.; and, 8) bringing the above intentions through a set of concrete aims: to unite all Cubans living abroad, to bring together all factions inside and outside of Cuba, to prepare inside Cuba the knowledge and spirit of the revolution, to collect funds, to establish relations with friendly peoples to accelerate the success of the war, and finally, to organize the Cuban Revolutionary Party according to the secret rules agreed upon by the founding organizations. Elections within the party would designate positions within, the first being held April 8–10, 1892. Marti was elected delegado (delegate) for the Cuban Revolutionary Party in 1892, as he refused to be called president.
From this moment, Martí and the CRP were devoted to secretly organizing the anti-Spanish war. Martí's newspaper, Patria, was a key instrument of this campaign, where Martí delineated his final plans for Cuba. Through this medium he argued against the exploitative colonialism of Spain in Cuba, criticized the Home Rule (Autonomista) Party for having aims that fell considerably short of full independence, and warned against U.S. annexationism which he felt could only be prevented by Cuba's successful independence. He specified his plans for the future Cuban Republic, a multi-class and multi-racial democratic republic based on universal suffrage, with an egalitarian economic base to develop fully Cuba's productive resources and an equitable distribution of land among citizens, with enlightened and virtuous politicians.
From Martí's 'Campaign Diaries', written during the final expedition in Cuba, it seems evident that Martí would have reached the highest position in the future Republic of Arms. This was not to be; his death occurred before the Assembly of Cuba was set up. Until his very last minute, Martí dedicated his life to achieve full independence for Cuba. His uncompromising belief in democracy and freedom for his fatherland is what characterized his political ideology.
Martí and the United States
Martí demonstrated an anti-imperialist attitude from an early age, and was conscious of the danger the United States created for Latin America. At the same time he recognized the advantages of the European or North American civilizations, which were open to the reforms that Latin American countries needed in order to detach themselves from the colonial heritage, Spain.Martí's distrust of North American politics had developed during the 1880s, due to the intervention threats that loomed on Mexico and Guatemala, and indirectly on Cuba's future. In that time Cuba was dangerously situated, which determined its definitive analysis on the two realities in conflict. In his essays on Discurso de la Sociedad Literaria Hispanoamercana and Madre America (1891), he had referred to the "magnanimous warrior of the North" and to the "volcanic hero of the South" , and he had pointed out major differences that distance them starting from their origins.
Marti's attitude towards North American society is marked by controversy. It "ha[s] been used as an example of a profound Cuban-U.S. friendship, while others have underlined his bitter denunciations of North America".
Marti's first observations of the United States were written while he worked for the newspaper The Hour. He was happy to finally be in a free democratic nation: "'I am, at last, in a country where everyone looks like his own master. One can breathe freely, freedom being here the foundation, the shield, the essence of life'".
Another trait that Marti admired was the work ethic that characterized U.S. American society. On various occasions Marti conveyed his deep admiration for the immigrant-based society, "whose principal aspiration he interpreted as being to construct a truly modern country, based upon hard work and progressive ideas." Marti stated that he was "never surprised in any country of the world [he had] visited. Here [he] was surprised... [he] remarked that no one stood quietly on the corners, no door was shut an instant, no man was quiet. [He] stopped [him]self, [he] looked respectfully on this people, and [he] said goodbye forever to that lazy life and poetical inutility of our European countries".
Marti found U.S. American society to be so great, he thought Latin America should consider imitating America. Marti argued that if the US "could reach such a high standard of living in so short a time, and despite, too, its lack of unifying traditions, could not the same be expected of Latin America?"
Education had benefited from the attitude of America's society. Marti was amazed at how education was directed towards helping the development of the nation and once again encouraged Latin American countries to follow the example set by North American society.
Another major characteristic that struck Marti was the agricultural advancement of the United States. He found amazing the "common-sense attitude of the Dean of the School of Agriculture in Michigan who defended the advantages of manual work for the students of his college". At the same time, he criticized the elitist educational systems of Cuba and the rest of Latin America. Often, Marti recommended countries in Latin America to "send representatives to learn more relevant techniques in the United States". Once this was done, Marti hoped that this representatives would bring a "much-needed modernization to the Latin American agricultural policies".
However not everything was to be admired by Marti. When it came to politics Marti wrote that politics in the US had "adopted a carnival atmosphere...especially during election time". He saw acts of corruption among candidates like for example bribing "the constituents with vast quantities of beer, while impressive parades wound their way through New York's crowded streets, past masses of billboards, all exhorting the public to vote for the different political candidates".
Marti criticized and condemned the elites of the United States as they "pulled the main political strings behind the scenes". According to Marti, the elites "deserved severe censure" as they were the biggest threat to the "ideals with which the United States was first conceived".
Marti started to become aware that the US had abused its potential. Racism was abundant. Different races were being discriminated against; political life "was both cynically regarded by the public at large and widely abused by the 'politicos de oficio'; industrial magnates and powerful labor groups faced each other menacingly". All of this made Marti predict that in the United States a big social battle would occur.
On the positive side, Marti was astonished by the "inviolable right of freedom of speech which all U.S. citizens possessed". Marti applauded the United States' Constitution which allowed freedom of speech to all its citizens, no matter what political beliefs they had. In May 1883, while attending political meetings he heard "the call for revolution - and more specifically the destruction of the capitalist system". Marti could not believe that revolution was advocated and was amazed that this could happen because this "could have led to its own destruction". Marti also gave his support to the women's suffrage movements, and was "pleased that women here [took] advantage of this privilege in order to make their voices heard". According to Marti, free speech was essential if any nation was to be civilized and he expressed his "profund admiration for these many basic liberties and opportunities open to the vast majority of U.S. citizens".
The works of Marti contain many comparisons between the ways of life of North and Latin America. The former was seen as "hardy, 'soulless', and, at times, cruel society, but one which, nevertheless, had been based upon a firm foundation of liberty and on a tradition of liberty". Although North American society had its flaws, they tended to be "of minor importance when compared to the broad sweep of social inequality, and to the widespread abuse of power prevalent in Latin America".
Although Marti admired the United States and its society, he thought that U.S. America's "dealings with 'Nuestra America' left a great deal to be desired". Also he was preoccupied that the United States was becoming "increasingly intent upon extending its dominion over Latin America".
Marti alerted and informed Latin Americans that the United states was "totally ignorant of the culture and history of her southern neighbours, and this, combined with the ever increasing phenomenon regarded euphemistically as 'pioneer spirit', augured badly for future relations between the Americas".
By the end of 1889, Marti had changed his "sympathetic attitude" towards the United States. This was due to the U.S. wanting to expand their territories into Latin America. By this time, Marti was getting ready to prepare a campaign that would liberate Cuba. However, this campaign was in danger as talks "re-surfaced in the United States as to whether that country should purchase Cuba from the Spanish government in order to turn the Island into a U.S. protectorate".
Marti argued that "any attempt to sell his patria as if it were some negotiable merchandise, and of course, without taking into account the wishes of people, was completely unacceptable - particularly when the prospective purchaser was the United States".
Once it was apparent that the United States were actually going to purchase Cuba and intended to U.S. Americanize it, Marti "spoke out loudly and bravely against such action, stating the opinion of many Cubans on the United States of America.
Marti became distressed as he knew that in order for him to gain independence for Cuba not only did he have to defeat the Spanish, but also had to keep the U.S. Americans out.
Invention of a Latin American identity
Martí as a liberator believed that the Latin American countries needed to know the reality of their own history. Martí also saw the necessity of a country having its own literature. These reflections started in Mexico from 1875 and are connected to the Mexican Reform, where prominent people like Ignacio Manuel Altamirano and Guillermo Prieto had situated themselves in front of a cultural renovation in Mexico, taking on the same approach as Esteban EcheverríaEsteban Echeverría
José Esteban Antonio Echeverría was an Argentine poet, fiction writer, cultural promoter, and political activist who played a significant role in the development of Argentine literature, not only through his own writings but also through his organizational efforts...
thirty years before in Argentina. In the second “Boletin” that Martí published in the Revista Universal (May 11, 1875) one can already see Martí’s approach, which was fundamentally Latin American. His wish to build a national or Latin American identity was nothing new or unusual in those days; however, no Latin-American intellectual of that time had approached as clearly as Martí the task of building a national identity. He insisted on the necessity of building institutions and laws that matched the natural elements of each country, and recalled the failure of the applications of French and American civil codes in the new Latin American republics. Martí believed that “el hombre del sur” , the man of the South, should choose an appropriate development strategy matching his character, the peculiarity of his culture and history, and the nature that determined his being.
Writings
Martí as a writer covered a range of genres. In addition to producing newspaper articles and keeping up an extensive correspondence (his letters are included in the collection of his complete works), he wrote a serialized novel, composed poetry, wrote essays and published four issues of a children's magazine, La Edad de Oro (The Golden Age, 1889). His essays and articles occupy more than fifty volumes of his complete works. His prose was extensively read and influenced the modernist generation, especially the Nicaraguan poet Rubén Darío, whom Martí called "my son" when they met in New York in 1893. Martí did not publish any books: only two notebooks (cuadernos) of verses, in editions outside of the market, and a number of political tracts. The rest (an enormous amount) was left dispersed in numerous newspapers and magazines, in letters, in diaries and personal notes, in other unedited texts, in frequently improvised speeches, and some lost forever. Five years after his death, the first volume of his Obras was published. A novel appeared in this collection in 1911: Amistad funesta, which Martí had made known was published under a pseudonym in 1885. In 1913, also in this edition, his third poetic collection that he had kept unedited: Versos Libres. His Diario de Campaña (Campaign Diary) was published in 1941. Later still, in 1980, Nicaraguan poet Ernesto Mejía Sánchez produced a set of about thirty of Martí's articles written for the Mexican newspaper El Partido Liberal that weren't included in any of his so called Obras Completas editions. From 1882–1891, Martí collaborated in La Nación , a Buenos Aires newspaper. His texts from La Nación have been collected in Anuario del centro de Estudios Martianos.Over the course of journalistic career, he wrote for numerous newspapers, starting with El Diablo Cojuelo (The Limping Devil) and La Patria Libre (The Free Fatherland), both of which he helped to found in 1869 in Cuba and which established the extent of his political commitment and vision for Cuba. In Spain he wrote for La Colonia Española ,in Mexico for La Revista Universal, and in Venezuela for Revista Venezolana, which he founded. In New York he contributed to Venezuelan periodical La Opinión Nacional, Buenos Aires newspaper La Nación, Mexico's La Opinion Liberal, and America's The Hour.
The first critical edition of Martí’s complete works began to appear in 1983 in José Martí: Obras completas. Edición crítica. The critical edition of his complete poems was published in 1985 in José Martí: Poesía completa. Edición critica.
Volume two of his Obras Completas includes his famous essay 'Nuestra America' which "comprises a variety of subjects relating to Spanish America about which Marti studied and wrote. Here it is noted that after Cuba his interest was directed mostly to Guatemala, Mexico and Venezuela. The various sections of this part are about general matters and international conferences; economic, social and political questions; literature and art; agrarian and industrial problems; immigration; education; relations with the United States and Spanish America; travel notes".
According to Marti, the intention behind the publication of "La edad de oro" was "so that American children may know how people used to live, and how they live nowadays, in America and in other countries; how many things are made, such as glass and iron, steam engines and suspension bridges and electric light; so that when a child sees a coloured stone he will know why the stone is coloured....We shall tell them about everything which is done in factories, where things happen which are stranger and more interesting than the magic in fairy stories. These things are real magic, more marvelous than any....We write for children because it is they who know how to love, because it is children who are the hope for the world".
Marti's "Versos Sencillos" was written "in the town of Haines Falls, New York, where his doctor has sent [him] to regain his strength 'where streams flowed and clouds gathered in upon themeselves'". The poetry encountered in this work is "in many [ways] autobiographical and allows readers to see Marti the man and the patriot and to judge what was important to him at a crucial time in Cuban history".
Martí’s writings reflected his own views both socially and politically. “Cultivo Una Rosa Blanca” is one of his poems that emphasize his views in hopes of betterment for society:
- I cultivate a white rose
- In July as in January
- For the sincere friend
- Who gives me his hand frankly
- And for the cruel person who tears
- out the heart with which I live,
- I cultivate neither nettles nor thorns:
- I cultivate a white rose
This poem is a clear description of Martí’s societal hopes for his homeland. Within the poem, he talks about how regardless of the person, whether kind or cruel he cultivates a white rose, meaning that he remains peaceful. This coincides with his ideology about establishing unity amongst the people, more so those of Cuba, through a common identity, with no regards to ethnic and racial differences. This doctrine could be accomplished if one treated his enemy with peace as he would treat a friend. The kindness of one person should be shared with all people, regardless of personal conflict. By following the moral that lies within “Cultivo Rosa Blanca”, Martí’s vision of Cuban solidarity could be possible, creating a more peaceful society that would emanate through future generations.
After his breakthrough in Cuba literature, José Martí went on to contribute his works to newspapers, magazines, and books that reflected his political and social views. Because of his early death, Martí was unable to publish a vast collection of poetry; even so, his literary contributions have made him a renowned figure in literature, influencing many writers, and people in general, to aspire to follow in the footsteps of Martí.
Style
Martí's style of writing is difficult to categorize. He used many aphorisms - short, memorable lines that convey truth and/or wisdom - and long complex sentences. He is considered a major contributor to the Spanish American literary movement known as ModernismoModernismo
Modernismo is Spanish for modernism, however the term Modernism also indicates a more specific art movement:* Modernismo refers to a Spanish-American literary movement, best exemplified by Rubén Darío...
and has been linked to Latin American consciousness of the modern age and modernity. His chronicles combined elements of literary portraiture, dramatic narration, and a dioramic scope. His poetry contained "fresh and astonishing images along with deceptively simple sentiments". As an orator (for he made many speeches) he was known for his cascading structure, powerful aphorisms, and detailed descriptions. More important than his style is how he uses that style to put into service his ideas, making "advanced" convincing notions. Throughout his writing he made reference to historical figures and events, and used constant allusions to literature, current news and cultural matters. For this reason, he may be difficult to read and translate.
His didactic spirit encouraged him to establish a magazine for children, La Edad de Oro (1889) which contained a short essay titled "Tres Heroes" (three heroes), representative of his talent to adapt his expression to his audience; in this case, to make the young reader conscious of and amazed by the extraordinary bravery of the three men, Bolivar, Hidalgo, and San Martín. This is his style to teach delightfully.
Translation
José Martí is usually honored as a great poet, patriot and martyr of Cuban IndependenceCuban War of Independence
Cuban War of Independence was the last of three liberation wars that Cuba fought against Spain, the other two being the Ten Years' War and the Little War...
, but he was also a translator of some note. Although he translated literary material for the sheer joy of it, much of the translating he did was imposed on him by economic necessity during his many years of exile in the United States. Martí learned English at an early age, and had begun to translate at thirteen. He continued translating for the rest of his life, including his time as a student in Spain, although the period of his greatest productivity was during his stay in New York from 1880 until he returned to Cuba in 1895.
In New York he was what we would call today a "freelancer" as well as an "in house" translator. He translated several books for the publishing house of D. Appleton
Appleton
-People:* Alistair Appleton, British television presenter* Charles W. Appleton, of GE* Colin Appleton, footballer* Daniel Appleton, American publisher, 1800s founder of D...
, and did a series of translations for newspapers. As a revolutionary activist in Cuba's long struggle for independence he translated into English a number of articles and pamphlets supporting that movement. In addition to fluent English, Martí also spoke French, Italian, Latin and Classical Greek fluently, the latter learned so he could read the Greek classical works in the original.
There was clearly a dichotomy in Martí's feeling about the kind of work he was translating. Like many professionals, he undertook for money translation tasks which had little intellectual or emotional appeal for him. Although Martí never presented a systematic theory of translation nor did he write extensively about his approach to translation, he did jot down occasional thoughts on the subject, showcasing his awareness of the translator's dilemma of the faithful versus the beautiful and stating that "translation should be natural, so that it appears that the book were written in the language to which it has been translated".
Modernismo
The modernists, in general, use a subjective language. Martí's stylistic creed is part of the necessity to de-codify the logic rigor and the linguistic construction and to eliminate the intellectual, abstract and systematic expression. There is the deliberate intention and awareness to expand the expressive system of the language. The style changes the form of thinking. Without falling in to unilateralism, Martí values the expression because language is an impression and a feeling through the form. Modernism mostly searches for the visions and realities, the expression takes in the impressions, the state of mind, with out reflection and without concept. this the law of subjectivity. We can see this in works of Martí, one of the first modernists, who conceives the literary task like an invisible unity, an expressive totality, considering the style like "a form of the content" (forma del contenido).
Martí searches for the platonic idea in the word, which is a representation of the world, the universe as it is, and badly used. Martí guides himself through the law of universal harmony, which is the great aesthetic and essential law. Through the principal analogue of the universal harmony's theory he carried out a perfect symbiosis between prose and poem. Both prose and poems serve as an artistic function. His discourses, speeches, essays, letters, articles, poems, novels, dramas, and stories are poetic creation.
The difference that Martí established between prose and poetry are conceptual. Poetry, as he believes, is a language of the permanent subjective: the intuition and the vision. The prose is an instrument and a method of spreading the ideas, and has the goal of elevating, encouraging and animating these ideas rather than having the expression of tearing up the heart, complaining and moaning. The prose is a service to his people.
Martí produces a system of specific signs "an ideological code" (código ideológico). These symbols claim their moral value and construct signs of ethic conduct. Martí's modernism was a spiritual attitude that was reflected on the language. All his writing defines his moral world. One could also say that his ideological and spiritual sphere is fortified in his writing.
The similarity between Martí and Manuel González Prada and the difference between Martí and the other modernist initiators, Manuel Gutiérrez Nájera, Julian del Casal or José Asunción Silva lies in other aspects and in the profound and transcendent value that Martí converted the prose to a daily article, the work of a journalist. This hard work was decisive for giving literature, which inspired itself as an authentic and independent value, distancing it from a mere formal amusement. Manuel Gutiérez Nájera, Rubén Darío, Miguel de Unamuno and José Enrique Rodó saved the Martinian articles, which will have an endless value in the writings of the American continent.
Apart from Martinian articles. essay writing and literature starts to authorize itself as an alternative and privileged way to talk about politics. Literature starts to apply itself the only hermeneutics able to resolve the enigmas of a Latin American identity.
Legacy
Martí's writings on the concepts of Cuban nationalism fuelled the 1895 revolution and have continued to inform conflicting visions of the Cuban nation. The Cuban nation-state under Fidel Castro
Fidel Castro
Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz is a Cuban revolutionary and politician, having held the position of Prime Minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976, and then President from 1976 to 2008. He also served as the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba from the party's foundation in 1961 until 2011...
has consistently claimed Martí as a crucial inspiration for its Marxist revolutionary government. His nuanced, often ambivalent positions on the most important issues of his day have led Marxist interpreters to see a class conflict between the proletariat and the bourgeousie as the main theme of his works, while others, namely the Cuban diasporic communities in Miami and elsewhere have identified a liberal-capitalist emphasis. These Cuban exiles still honor Martí as a figure of hope for the Cuban nation in exile and condemn Castro's regime for manipulating his works and creating a "Castroite Martí" to justify its intolerance and abridgments of human rights. His writings thus remain a key ideological weapon in the battle over the fate of the Cuban nation.
One further example of his legacy is that his name has been chosen for several institutions or NGO's from various countries, such as Romania, where a public school from Bucharest and the Romanian-Cuban Friendship Association from Targoviste are both named "Jose Marti".
List of selected works
Martí's fundamental works published during his life- 1869 January – Abdala
- 1869 January – "10 de octubre"
- 1871 – El presidio político en Cuba
- 1873 – La República Española ante la revolución cubana
- 1875 – Amor con amor se paga
- 1882 – Ismaelillo
- 1882 February – Ryan vs. Sullivan
- 1882 February – Un incendio
- 1882 July – El ajusticiamiento de Guiteau
- 1883 January – "Batallas de la Paz"
- 1883 March – " Que son graneros humanos"
- 1883 March – Karl Marx ha muerto
- 1883 March –El Puente de Brooklyn
- 1883 September– "En Coney Island se vacía Nueva York"
- 1883 December –" Los políticos de oficio"*1883 December –"Bufalo Bil"
- 1884 April –"Los caminadores"
- 1884 November – Norteamericanos
- 1884 November –El juego de pelota de pies
- 1885 – Amistad funesta
- 1885 January –Teatro en Nueva York
- 1885 March – "Una gran rosa de bronce encendida"
- 1885 March –Los fundadores de la constitución
- 1885 June – "Somos pueblo original"
- 1885 August – "Los políticos tiene sus púgiles"
- 1886 May – Las revueltas anarquistas de Chicago
- 1886 September – " La ensenanza"
- 1886 October – "La Estatua de la Libertad"
- 1887 April – El poeta Walt Whitman
- 1887 April – El Madison Square
- 1887 November – Ejecución de los dirigentes anarquistas de Chicago
- 1887 November – La gran nevada
- 1888 May – El ferrocarril elevado
- 1888 August – Verano en Nueva York
- 1888 November – " Ojos abiertos, y gargantas secas"
- 1888 November – "Amanece y ya es fragor"
- 1889 – 'La edad de oro'
- 1889 May – El centenario de George Washington
- 1889 July – Bañistas
- 1889 August – "Nube Roja"
- 1889 September – "La caza de negros"
- 1890 November– " El jardín de las orquídeas"
- 1891 October –Versos Sencillos
- 1891 January – "Nuestra América"
- 1894 January – " ¡A Cuba!"
- 1895 –Manifiesto de Montecristi- coauthor con Máximo Gómez
Martí's major posthumous works
- Adúltera
- Versos libres