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The Aponte Conspiracy (also known as the Aponte Rebellion) was a large-scale slave rebellion in Cuba that occurred in 1812. It is named after its alleged leader, José Antonio Aponte. The Aponte Conspiracy was one of the most ambitious antislavery movements in the history of Cuba. The colonial officials would describe this revolution as a conspiracy directed by Aponte.

History
The Aponte Rebellion is an integral part of history in early nineteenth century Cuba. Cuba was becoming increasingly important to the dwindling Spanish empire due to the production of sugar plantations, and caused the colony to be more than just a port for ships traveling to the New World. In 1789, Spain declared free trade for slaves in the empire and Cuba took advantage from this the most, as between 1790 and 1820 more than an estimated 300,000 slaves were brought in. Between 1791 and 1804 a slave revolution was taking place in Haiti, called the Haitian Revolution. The Haitian Revolution was a successful anti-slavery and anti-colonialism revolution against the French rule in Haiti. This revolution would send shocks through the Atlantic World, including Cuba. This event would become a common thread to unite the rebels in Cuba.

The Leader
José Antonio Aponte was born in Havana sometime around 1760. Aponte's father and grandfather were both a part of the Havana's free black militia, which Aponte was also a part of. His experience as a militia member would help him in his quest to stage a revolution. Aponte made a living as a carpenter and as a sculptor. He was a religious man and would make many religious sculptures for the church and the community. One such religious statue was Jesús Peregrino (Jesus Pilgrim) that hung by his front door and, at the time, gave the street his house was on its name. He had two workshops, one workshop was near the church in Santo Cristo, the other was at his home which would later be the place where the book of images would be found.

The Rebellion
The first revolts of the rebellion happened over two days, between January 15th and January 17th, 1812. In these revolts, eight white people died, many more were injured, and various plantations were damaged. Colonial officials responded by holding a public execution of fourteen slaves and shipped off another 63 prisoners, but this did not stop the rebellion. The rebels who had successfully evaded capture planned another revolt in Bayamo, but was stopped when a slave informed his master of the planned attack. The next revolt would occur on the Peñas-Atlas sugar plantation in Matanzas, close to the capital, on March 15th. This entire plantation was razed in a matter of hours. After the plantation was destroyed the rebels would split into three groups and attack three other plantations in Trinidad, Rosario, and Santa Ana. The attack on the plantation in Trinidad would be the only successful attack, as the other two would be defended by local militia, standing army, and armed citizens. After these revolts, Colonial officials were directed towards a free man of color, José Antonio Aponte, on March 19th, 1812.

Officials searched the home of Aponte, and found records of his military involvement with Havana's free black militia. Authorities also found two unpublished books written and put together by Aponte, the first being a book of architecture, the second being a book of images. Authorities found the book of pictures to be a blueprint for the revolution and it became the most important piece of evidence for the investigation against Aponte. This book has since been lost, and only Aponte's description of the book while under interrogation exists today. The book was a collage of paintings and drawings that Aponte had collected and pieced together. There were depictions of Greek and Roman gods, emperors and kings of African descent, Biblical scenes and stories, scenes from places around the world, and many other images. There were also scenes of black soldiers defeating white soldiers from various incidents, which was alarming to the Cuban government. This book was shown by Aponte to members of the free black militia to incite the rebellion. The officials also found portraits of other Haitian revolutionary leaders, which scared the government and caused many more people to be brought in for questioning. Two weeks after the search of his house, Aponte was executed by hanging. His head was then put on display as a warning to other revolutionists.