During the mid 19th century the US Senate entertained a bill to expand South and annex Cuba, to become not only a Caribbean empire but the greatest slaveholding nation in history. The 1860 publication of To Cuba and Back detailing, in Dana's words, .the despotic civil government, compulsory religion uniformity, and slavery.. changed many minds. With astute observations of the land and the people this book became a rallying cry for change.
