David Turnbull (1793–1851) was a leading 19th-century
abolitionist and a British consul to
Cuba
Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...
. Turnbull, a Scotsman, was a key participant at the 1840
World Anti-Slavery Convention
The World Anti-Slavery Convention met for the first time at Exeter Hall in London, on 12–23 June 1840. It was organised by the British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society, largely on the initiative of the English Quaker Joseph Sturge. The exclu ...
of the
Anti-Slavery Society. Turnbull was blamed for creating a revolt in Cuba that resulted in 1844 being known as the
Year of the Lash
Year of the Lash (in Spanish, Año del Cuero) is a term used in Cuba in reference to June 29, 1844, when a firing squad in Havana executed accused leaders of the Conspiración de La Escalera, an alleged slave revolt and movement to abolish slaver ...
.
Life
From 1830, Turnbull was a foreign correspondent for ''
The Times
''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...
''. He spent time in
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
, in the Hague and in Brussels during 1830 and 1831. In 1832, he was sent to Madrid, where he worked with George Villiers, 4th Earl of Clarendon, the British representative to Spanish Empire, Spain, to get the Spanish government to reaffirm their commitment to ending slavery; the Spanish did this in 1835.
Turnbull wrote to Lord Palmerston, the British Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, foreign secretary at the time, arguing that slavery was "the greatest practical evil that ever afflicted mankind."
Turnbull had spent the latter part of 1838 and early 1839 travelling in Cuba, where slavery remained legal. In 1840, he produced his best-known work, ''Travels in the West: Cuba; with Notices of Porto Rico and the Slave Trade.'' In August 1840, Lord Palmerston named Turnbull the British consul to Cuba; however, Cuba expelled him in 1842 after he was accused of attempting to incite slave revolt. In 1844, the so-called
Year of the Lash
Year of the Lash (in Spanish, Año del Cuero) is a term used in Cuba in reference to June 29, 1844, when a firing squad in Havana executed accused leaders of the Conspiración de La Escalera, an alleged slave revolt and movement to abolish slaver ...
in Cuban history, there was apparently an aborted slave revolt known as the Conspiración de La Escalera. Cuban authorities convicted Turnbull trial in absentia, ''in absentia'' of being the "prime mover" of the conspiracy, but Turnbull was never extradited.
[Paquette 1988, p. 3.] After revelations about the revolt, thousands of enslaved and free Afro-Cubans were executed, imprisoned, or banished from the island. Turnbull remained active in the abolitionist movement until his death in 1851.
See also
*Abolitionism in the United Kingdom
*History of Cuba
*
Year of the Lash
Year of the Lash (in Spanish, Año del Cuero) is a term used in Cuba in reference to June 29, 1844, when a firing squad in Havana executed accused leaders of the Conspiración de La Escalera, an alleged slave revolt and movement to abolish slaver ...
References
Further reading
*Turnbull, David. ''Travels in the West: Cuba; with Notices of Porto Rico and the Slave Trade.'' London: Longman, Orme, Brown, Green, and Longmans, 1840.
External links
''Travels in the West''(Selection from Turnbull's book)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Turnbull, David
British abolitionists
1851 deaths
Year of birth uncertain