1790-Jan.-15: The Ayuntamiento (city council) of Havana submitted a formal petition to the Spanish Crown protesting the implementation of the cédula of 1789.

1790-Jan.-15: The Ayuntamiento (city council) of Havana submitted a formal petition to the Spanish Crown protesting the implementation of the cédula of 1789. The Cuban elite argued that the new regulations, which limited the use of punishment and mandated religious instruction, would undermine their authority over the enslaved. They claimed that the decree was based on abstract European theories that did not account for the “realities” of life in a colonial slave society. This resistance from the planter class was instrumental in forcing the Spanish government to eventually suspend the enforcement of the code. The incident illustrated the deep divide between metropolitan reformers and colonial slaveholders.