# Coolies — To Cuba and Back character guide

> Coolies in To Cuba and Back by Richard Henry Dana Jr..

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** the Coolies, The Coolies, their

**First appearance:** 0004-iii

## Snapshot

Chinese indentured laborers whose contracted presence on Cuban plantations reveals a labor system stretching far beyond African slavery.

## Who they are

They appear in the narrator's plantation statistics alongside hundreds of enslaved people, a second stream of bound workers feeding the sugar economy. Their arrival signals that Cuban planters were already diversifying coercion as the slave trade came under pressure. For the narrator, they complicate any simple moral ledger of the island's wealth.

## Relationships

### [Unknown Narrator](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/to_cuba_and_back_se/characters/unknown_narrator)

_social_

The narrator observes and interacts with the coolies as part of his travel experience, noting their conditions and treatment.

### [The Master](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/to_cuba_and_back_se/characters/the_master)

_professional_

The Master oversees the coolies as laborers on the ship, maintaining authority and control over them.

### [The Coolie](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/to_cuba_and_back_se/characters/the_coolie)

_social_

The Coolie is an individual representative of the coolie group, with whom the narrator has more direct interaction.

### [The Jesuits](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/to_cuba_and_back_se/characters/the_jesuits)

_social_

Coolies and Jesuits have limited interaction, likely in contexts of religious outreach or labor oversight.

## In the story

### [VII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/to_cuba_and_back_se/chapters/vii)

The narrator notes the presence of Coolies in Cuba, their importation, and their appearance in the streets and as cooks at the hotel.

### [IX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/to_cuba_and_back_se/chapters/ix)

Mentioned as a file of Coolies in Chinese costume marching under overseers, seen by the narrator on his morning walk.

### [X](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/to_cuba_and_back_se/chapters/x)

Seen carrying stones under a taskmaster; described as thin and frail, with details about their import and labor conditions.

### [XI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/to_cuba_and_back_se/chapters/xi)

Coolies work as brakemen on the train and are seen chewing sugarcane at a station.

### [First Day on a Sugar Estate](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/to_cuba_and_back_se/chapters/xii)

Mentioned indirectly as part of the labor force; the chapter focuses on enslaved Negroes and the engineer.

### [XIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/to_cuba_and_back_se/chapters/xiii)

Mentioned indirectly as part of the labor force; the narrator notes the routine of the 'people' (la gente) on the plantation.

### [XIV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/to_cuba_and_back_se/chapters/xiv)

Mentioned implicitly as part of the labor force; the text refers to Negroes and the 'great crew of Negroes'.

### [XVI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/to_cuba_and_back_se/chapters/xvi)

Mentioned as part of the labor force on a sugar plantation, alongside slaves.

### [Habits of the Cubans, Visit to the Bishop, and the Coolie Mart](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/to_cuba_and_back_se/chapters/xxi)

Imported Chinese laborers kept in a market, described as having shaved heads, Chinese garments, and subject to contracts for eight years of service.

### [XXII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/to_cuba_and_back_se/chapters/xxii)

Observed working in a nail factory in Regla.

### [XXIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/to_cuba_and_back_se/chapters/xxiii)

Not explicitly mentioned in this chapter, but the context of labor includes discussion of Negro labor and importation.

### [Slavery](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/to_cuba_and_back_se/chapters/slavery)

Discussed as imported laborers from China, bound by contracts for eight years, kept under strict confinement and forced labor, with uncertain tenure and no family or religious support.

### [Material Resources—Education](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/to_cuba_and_back_se/chapters/material-resources-education)

Mentioned as part of Cuba's complex social and labor composition, contributing to internal difficulties.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/to_cuba_and_back_se/characters/coolies
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/to_cuba_and_back_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/to_cuba_and_back_se/characters