Cushing, George A.. George A. Cushing letter book, 1799-1802 (inclusive). Mss:766 1799-1802 C984, Baker Library Special Collections, Harvard Business School.

Biographical Note

George Augustus Cushing was a merchant and slave trader active in Havana, Cuba, and Boston between the 1790s and early 1800s. He exported commodities including American lace, ribbons, flour, and staves and imported West Indies goods like molasses and sugar. Often in partnership with Captain Daniel Edes, he engaged in slaving voyages to Africa.

Scope and Contents

Letter book of Boston merchant and slave trader George A. Cushing, who lived for several years in Havana, Cuba, dating from 1799 to 1802. His letters from Havana describe the economic and political environment, and discuss sales of American goods in Cuba, including fans, lace, ribbons, feathers, and flour, and the items he shipped to Boston, such as sugar, molasses, cochineal, and cinnamon. A number of letters reference the market for slaves and opportunities for bringing enslaved persons into Spanish colonies. Additional topics were the yellow fever outbreak in 1799, an incident in which American consular agent John Morton attempted to smuggle specie into Havana in 1800, the temporary suspension by Spain of trade between America and Cuba, and the French Revolutionary Wars. He wrote to his uncle regarding his efforts to replace Morton as the U.S. consul at Havana and requested he intervene with President Thomas Jefferson on Cushing's behalf. Other correspondents included Captain Daniel Edes, with whom Cushing partnered on slaving voyages, Boston merchants John Hancock (active 1769-1800) and Samuel Parkman (1752-1824), and Spanish officials like Havana Governor Juan Procopio de Bassecourt, as well as Juan Clemente Núñez del Castillo, the Marquis of San Felipe and Santiago, and G.R. and Francisco de Azcárate. In December 1799 Cushing wrote to Boston lawyer Perez Morton (1751-1837; Harvard AB 1771) about a proposed voyage to Cape Horn and Canton, China. A January 1800 letter to Thomas Fletcher of Charleston, South Carolina, discusses the Havana market for slaves, and Cushing notes that "at this season of the year they are always high, it being the harvest time and their services much wanted." Similarly in April 1800 he writes William Clap that "prime slaves are quick at 500" dollars a person, though there are "but few guineamen in port," referring to slave ships. In 1801, Cushing sailed back to Boston via Charleston and Philadelphia, and sent letters during his visits to those ports regarding his business matters and activities. Cushing also corresponded with plantation owner Nathaniel Fellowes, Jr., in 1802 about an idea to sell Spanish customs papers to American merchants that would admit their ships into Havana. In March 1802 Cushing writes to J.L. de la Cuesta "on the subject of introducing slaves from Mozambique into Lima, wishing to know whether a voyage of this kind would be practicable, & what the probable price of slaves would be."