David Turnbull (1793–1851) was a leading 19th-century
abolitionist and a British consul to
Cuba. Turnbull, a Scotsman, was a key participant at the 1840
World Anti-Slavery Convention 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''. He spent time in
Paris, 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
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
foreign secretary
The secretary of state for foreign, Commonwealth and development affairs, known as the foreign secretary, is a minister of the Crown of the Government of the United Kingdom and head of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. Seen as ...
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
''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
Afro-Cubans or Black Cubans are Cubans of West African ancestry. The term ''Afro-Cuban'' can also refer to historical or cultural elements in Cuba thought to emanate from this community and the combining of native African and other cultural ele ...
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