Havana's Maidens

La Santisima Trinidad, The largest ship of its time

After major defeats of the Spanish Armada, Spain had lost its indisputable supremacy across the seas.

During the 1700s, the beginings of the industrial revolution in England propels England into an  almost unbeatable industrial and ship making power.

In comparison, Spain's armada suffered a recession in ship production specially into the 1700s. For the first 3 quarters of the XVIII century, Spain doesn't really replenish or improves on its ships' designs or on its production processes. The Real Felipe and its design remained the most powerful galleon in the Spanish Armada. Given Havana's access to strong tropical wood and its exposure to ideas as one of the capitals of the world, Havana's shipyard is the main shipyard that continues to accommodate the best Spanish Ships but are not rivals to England's new economical power.

By mid 1700s, Havana was the biggest port and the third largest city in the New World following Lima, and Mexico City. It was bigger than New York and Boston.

In 1762, England sends 53 warships to the Island. Generally accepted numbers state the strength of the British army and navy with over 11,000 soldiers. However, there were thousands of other non-enlisted personnel that were added as the fleet headed to the city of Havana. Adding up all non-regular and colonies' militia, the rough numbers add up to around 25,000 men. The 13 colonies offered between 2,500 and 4,000 men, and even Jamaica and Martinique added over 2,000 men for the siege of Havana. Total number of vessels counting hospital, cargo, ammunition, and food enough for a siege added to a total of 200 vessels.

To put it into context, the Spanish Armada sent against Queen Elizabeth had a total of 22 warships, and a total of 102-120 vessels.

What a need the modern world has for invented mythology when our human history is more glorious. No movie scene matches the magnitude of actual historical events.

Havana is surrendered to the British 3 months later. During the British occupation, Havana suffered a radical shift in its history from rich city of the Spanish empire to center of commerce and manufacturing with British technologies. New processes, construction methods were introduced so quickly that most were forgotten afterwards.

A year and half later, the British exchanged Havana for Florida after the 7 year War ended. By this time, England had built on top of Havana's shipyard with their new industrial processes and technologies. I believe England was able to produce only a hand full of ships 4 to 5. I have tried for years to track down what they were.

After England's retreat from Havana, the British burned the shipyard. But it was too late. the high number of slaves imported during this time and workers had already learned the latest technology. From its ashes, Havana's shipyard, El Arsenal rose to become one of the greatest shipyards in the world producing the largest ships including la Santisima Trinidad, the largest ship of its time. The shipyard end up producing around 100 ships. Probably some of the best last ships before steam and its metal sheet based vessels came to be.

This brief British influence in an unexpected place allowed the Spanish fleet to flourish again rebuilding its numbers with some of the most powerful ships in the world. Once again, Espana returned to be a power to be reckon with in the high seas.

Santisima Trinidad y Nuestra
Senora del Buen Fin

Delacroix

Delacroix. The breaker of the neo-classicism. The house where he was born. He lost himself in exotic themes of sultans, slaves, and passion. The Red lives in his paintings like a character of its own. Bright Red against the balance of tones of Napoleonic perfection.

Even in his least known works, the Red permeates the canvas sometimes becoming the main object of adoration. the Red makes the saddle heavier and important. It balances the scene by a subtle counter weight to the movement when establishing the ground where the sword rests. He doesn't spend time over defining the figures even when living under the influence and among the greatest classical painters. The scene hasn't ended compared to Napoleon portraits which are applauded and loved, but they also carry the confining task of capturing the instance of the climax of glory.


Not overly known by popular culture, but here is the precursor of the next 100 years. Impressionism surged on his rush stroke and from his diminished attention to the content in contrast to the emphasis on mastery to deliver a simpler message. The changing of the topic from the subject to the whole. His irreverent escape from classicism inspired others to inmerse themselves in other subjects. This is the touch of a genius, an unrecognized game changer of his time.

Versailles



The garden of the Sun King at sunrise.

Code of Hammurabi

The beginning of civilization

1054 Supernova Petrograph

Located few miles off Chaco Canyon. It is an amazing feeling standing below this petrographic. A member of the Anasazi painted this while living surviving in the New Mexico desert 1,000 years ago. The Supernova was probably seen for weeks as bright as the Sun. There was a small set of symbols used by the Anasazi. One of the reason archaeologist believe this is referring to the Supernova is because the symbol is unique. The Moon symbol is clear, and it probably was used to give a reference on the size. The hand is the direction of the new star in the horizon. Their simple writing is more expressive than just symbols. With only three symbols it tells the story of the time, the direction, the size, who saw it, when, and how scary it was. Another of the questions could be why painted so far away  from the dwellings? Is it because it was too new to be brought into their homes? Did time and fear have to recede to make it part of their daily lives? I can just imagine the Anasazi around their kivas in their ceremonies after this event. The Supernova phenomenon only lasted a few weeks. The Anasazi probably left the symbols be the mark that will tell: once this happened.

From this marker, turn right to go down to the petrograph, or turn left to go up to the dwellings at the end of the Mesa a mile out.

Why Das Man?

"Das Man" is a concept by Heidegger one of giants of German philosophy. Heidegger always made a difference between the authenticity and the inauthentic experience. One can see how weird a concept like this sounds nowadays when authenticity is in which consumer market fragment you can be classified. But philosophy always shows a different way to look at things. Modern processes, scientific reasoning, mathematical formulations are always based one way or another in a body of knowledge accumulated over centuries specially from the product of philosophical debate. PhD stands after all for Doctor in Philosophy.

Heidegger explores the Being. The coexistence or the relation with others based not on the others but on what others might provide to oneself is the inauthentic coexistence. It is just "being together." The other type of coexistence is based on providing others with the possibility to find themselves and to realize their own being. This second form is the true authentic coexistence.

Das Man is "The They" or "The One". According to Heidegger, it is the expression of an inauthentic existence. It is doing something because "that is what one does" or "what people do." Das Man represents an intangible set of rules, linguistics, social norms, and fads. It is an intangible authority with no particular cause or begining that robs the individual from experiencing the true self. It limits us from experiencing who or what our Being or Life really is.

Heidegger portraits this "Das Man" as a negative source of authenticity. The authentic experience is the one with no trace of "that is what people do or what people think" reasoning. In contrast, this blog will try to represent the positive of "Das Man." The qualities from society and history that we choose to add to our own self in the discovery and experiencing of the "Being."