1798: New colonial regulations in Cuba officially recognized the dual challenge of slaves running to the cities and urban slaves themselves absconding.

1798: New colonial regulations in Cuba officially recognized the dual challenge of slaves running to the cities and urban slaves themselves absconding. Authorities noted with concern that the majority of runaways in the district belonged to residents of the city of Havana. This recognition marked a shift in policy toward more intensive urban policing as a means to stabilize the island’s rapidly expanding slave economy. The legislation aimed to check the “sliding” of the enslaved population into the masterless life of the port town.