Manuscript Document Requesting a Gun License for a Chinese Laborer in Cuba.

In 1884, when this request was submitted to the local governor, Chinese indentured laborers in Cuba had been "freed" from involuntary indentureship, but they were still subject to debt laden wage agreements and their mobility was strictly controlled. Possession of a firearm was forbidden and punishable under vagrancy laws which allowed the incarceration and forced labor of uncontracted Chinese workers who were traveling outside a plantation. The participation of thousands of rebel Chinese in the uprisings of the Ten Years' War had made the Spanish even more paranoid about access to weapons.

This letter requests a revolver for "Ramon Alda[m]a, natural de Asia". Ramon was an overseer ("a dar ordenes") trusted to carry money to pay other workers at his finca, therefore requiring the protection of a gun. The letter includes notes on his identity and physical features; the license was approved in March 1885 as documented by additional correspondence verso.

Rare, we are not aware of similar requests in existing collections.

Single leaf, 31.5 x 21.5 cm, text recto and verso, edges slightly worn, 1.6 cm tape repair, two v minor wormholes.