Research

Dissertation

My dissertation, titled “Commerce and Colonialism: Eastern Cuba and the 17^th-Century Caribbean,” examines the history of contraband trade in eastern Cuba in the seventeenth century. I focus on the relationship between Spanish colonists and the various imperial institutions that governed them – town councils, the Audiencia de Santo Domingo, and the Council of the Indies. I argue that while they committed these illicit acts with foreign merchants, they nonetheless articulated a sense of belonging and subjecthood within the Spanish empire. Beyond their rhetoric of vassalage, they are keenly aware of the threat of piracy and they draw a distinction between the sorts of foreigners that they deal with on a daily basis.

Archival Research

I have conducted dissertation research in archives across the United States, Spain, and Cuba. Below is a list of the archives that I have visited while working on my dissertation.

Cuba

• Archivo Nacional de la República de Cuba. Havana. June-July 2022.

• Biblioteca Nacional José Martí. Havana. June-July 2022.

• Archivo Histórico Provincial de Villa Clara. Santa Clara. March 2024.

• Archivo Histórico Municipal de Trinidad. Trinidad. March 2024.

• Archivo Histórico Municipal de Remedios. Remedios. March 2024.

• Archivo de la Iglesia Parroquial Mayor de San Juan Bautista. Remedios. March 2024

• Archivo Histórico Provincial de Santiago de Cuba. Santiago de Cuba. August 2024.

• Archivo Histórico Arquidiocesano y la Cancillería del Arzobispado de Santiago de Cuba. Santiago de Cuba. August 2024.

• Archivo Histórico Provincial de Granma. Bayamo. August 2024.

Spain

• Archivo General de Indias. Seville. May 2022. September-November 2023. May-July 2024.

United States

• University of Florida Special Collections. Gainesville, FL. June 2023.

• Library of Congress. Washington, DC. November 2024.

• St. Augustine Historical Society. St. Augustine, FL. June 2025

• Florida International University Special Collections. Miami, FL. July 2025.