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Hurricanes And Its Impact On The United States

Decent Essays

Hurricanes have affected the Caribbean islands for many centuries but particularly in the 19th century. During the 1840’s Cuba was affected by three hurricanes that all happened within four years of each other in 1842, 1844, and 1846. Many scholars have looked over these hurricanes in Cuba as not really having much of an in depth affect on Cuba’s life and history but just as being hurricanes. But Louis A. Pérez Jr. a professor and scholar, labeled these 19th century hurricanes as a “flash point” to look at Cuba’s history from multiple angles. saw the 1842, 1844, and 1846 hurricanes as being more than just storms by using multiple resources like the Archivo Nacional de Cubaa, Havana, encyclopedias, such as the Encyclopedia of Hurricanes, Typhoons, and Cyclones by David Longshore (New York, 1998), and descriptive chronologies by David L. Niddrie and David M. Ludlow to name a few. By reviewing and using all of these resources, Louis A. Pérez concluded that the 1840’s hurricanes had an effect on agriculture, social relations, and the overall national identity of Cuba.
The Cuban coffee, tobacco, and sugar productions transformed in the 19th century due to the hurricanes of 1842, 1844, and 1846. The productions of coffee, tobacco, and sugar prior to the 1840’s hurricanes were profitable businesses. Many Cuban farmers saw the productions as a great way to grow and to invest in the future. But once the 1844 hurricane hit Cuba, many farmers were left completely devastated as the

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