Blake, or the Huts of America by Martin Delany

This book tells the story of Henry Blake, who was illegally enslaved, but eventually ran away to freedom and to begin agitating slave revolt both in the United States and Cuba. The book was published serially in 1861 and 1862 in two magazines, and the last several issues have been lost, so the ending is in flux. The story moves very quickly from place to place, and highlights as much of Blake's work in fomenting revolt as it does the sentimental story of his wife being sold away from him (and his eventual, successful efforts to win her back). There's a lot of poetry that emphasizes the emotions the enslaved people feel throughout the text.

A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies by Bartolomé de Las Casas

This book contains Las Casas's plea to the Spanish throne that they investigate and curtail the cruelties practiced by Spanish citizens on the native peoples of the Americas. Organized geographically first, and then chronologically, the book uses several rhetorical strategies to emphasize the mistakes, cruelties, and horrors the Spaniards have committed in the New World. The book at times details individual actions but denies its ability to recount all the horrors--it will either fall silent or say this example is but one of many. There's a point where Las Casas shows some of the natives' willingness to embrace the Christian religion when it isn't accompanied by violence and cruelty. Las Casas seems to attack these bad actions not only because they show the Spaniards to be more interested in gold than God (and thus leave Spain liable to divine retribution), but also because they are inhumane actions. At times, the book seemed a bit repetitive, but this repetition only drove home the horror of the conquest of the New World.

Transamerican Literary Relations and the Nineteenth-Century Public Sphere by Anna Brickhouse

In this book, Anna Brickhouse re-reads 19th-century American literature as being in significant dialogue with the rest of the hemisphere, even as politically, the US remains in a disengaged and antagonistic stance towards its neighbors. Brickhouse does an excellent job recuperating several texts and authors (including an American poet), and makes some intelligent guesses at identifying an anonymous author. I appreciated both the book's scope and its methodology. I was particularly intrigued by the chapter that sets The Last of the Mohicans against the anonymous Jicoténcal, and I am impressed by her incorporation of French and Spanish sources.

Juanita: A Real Life Romance of Life in Cuba Fifty Years Ago by Mary Peabody Mann

I found this book intriguing, if rushed at the end. As usual with books set in the Caribbean, I was fascinated by all the languages at play in the story if not the text itself. I was interested in the religious references that were scattered throughout the book; these references became more definite and proselytizing towards the end. I was also intrigued by the trope of good masters being as ensnared in the system of slavery as the slaves themselves. Finally, I thought the position of Helen Wentworth, New England spinster, fascinating. This book might have been an important anti-slavery narrative (though it has its share of racial prejudices) had it been released more promptly (it was based on the author's stay in Cuba from 1833 to 1835 and apparently mostly drafted by the 1850s), but because it was published in 1888, it remains a bit of a historical footnote.