Jose Marti
- This is a preview of the essay.
To view the full text you must login!
Jose Julian Mart y Perez was born on January 28, 1853, in Havana, Cuba, just three years following his father immigrating to the Caribbean island from Spain. Although his father had previously worked for the Royal Artillery Corps in Spain, he had much trouble finding jobs in Cuba, leading Jose to work in helping out his mother, father and five sisters. Jose knew that he had to help his father, but his passion of politics always seemed to lurk inside of him, and he would soon begin his journey.
At the near school in Havana, the Instituto de Segunda Ensenanza de la Havana, he met his mentor, Rafael Maria de Mendive. During this time, Jose had become aware that Cuba was divided by class and by political alliances; the rich, who benefited from Spanish rule, did not want Cuba to become independent, whereas the poor, as well as the intellectuals, were in favor of Cuba becoming a separate country.
When Mart was sixteen, his first published poem appeared in La Patria Libre (The Free Fatherland) in 1869. The poem called "Abdala," was about a patriot who dies while trying to defend his country. With the poem entirely about nationalism, it marked Mart as a young outspoken separatist. During that same year, Mart and his classmate named Fermin Valdez Dominguez, were searched and arrested, found with separatist writings. At the near end of the trial, Mart stood up and announced that Cuba had a right to self-determination, sovereignty, and independence from Spain...