1731: Enslaved workers in the state-run copper mines near Santiago de Cuba launched a mass revolt and established mountain settlements near El Cobre.

1731: Enslaved workers in the state-run copper mines near Santiago de Cuba launched a mass revolt and established mountain settlements near El Cobre. This uprising coincided with the start of the First Maroon War in Jamaica, illustrating the intertwined histories of resistance on the two islands. The cobreros successfully resisted repeated attempts to dislodge them and caused significant concern for the nearby plantation owners. By the 1780s, their descendants had expanded into a network of smaller settlements throughout the Sierra Maestra.