José Martí was born on the 28th of January 1853 in the city of Havana. At an early age, Martí demonstrated his passion for the struggle of independence for his homeland. When he was a boy, at the young age of fifteen, Martí heard of the revolutionary acts of Carlos Manuel de Céspedes in the Province of Oriente. This inspired him to write a sonnet dedicated to the "10th of October," considered to be his first patriotic gesture. He went on to publish a school newspaper named "La Patria Libre" (The Free Homeland) which only lasted for its first edition.

     When Martí was seventeen years old, he was sentenced to six years in prison for having written a letter in which he criticized a fellow student who had joined the Spanish military, calling him a traitor to the homeland. A short time thereafter, Martí was sent to Spain where he studied law and philosophy. All the while, attempting to obtain support for the Cuban revolutionaries fighting the "Guerra de los Diez Años". From Spain he traveled to Mexico where he was reunited with his family. There he obtained great acclaim for his ability to write and his intellect. While in Mexico, Martí attempted to persuade the Mexican president, Don Sebastián Lerdo de Tejada, to aid him in starting an offensive against the Spanish authorities in Cuba. Unfortunately, the Mexican leadership changed and Martí's plans and hopes where left forsaken. Having lost all expectations from Mexico, Martí returned to his homeland with the prospects to join the revolution, but the ten years of war have taking an exhausting toll on the revolution and Martí is left with no other option than to leave his country once again.

     A few years later, Martí returns to Cuba and starts to conspire against the Spanish authorities. He is arrested and deported to Spain. While in Spain, he continues his rhetoric on the pursuit of liberty for Cuba, and travels to the United States to continue his efforts. Martí establishes himself as a known author and journalist, while becoming an influential Cuban patriot. He organizes, conspires, fund raises, and unites the Cuban people throughout the Americas. His efforts brought together the veterans of the 1868 "Guerra de los Diez Años," including Máximo Gómez and Antoneo Maceo, along with the younger revolutionaries on the island. He conspired, planned, and gave the order to commence the 24th of February 1895 war of independence.

     Although he longed for the moment when he could fight for Cuba's independence, Martí was not a soldier of arms, but a soldier of words. José Martí, known by Cubans as the Apostle, was killed a little over a month after beginning the war of independence to free Cuba from Spain. On the 19th of May 1895, José Martí leaped onto a white horse and rode into a battle between the revolutionary troops of Máximo Gómez and Spanish soldiers. He was shot dead in a place called Dos Ríos (Two Rivers) in the Province of Oriente.

     Martí was the man who galvanized the efforts of the 1868 revolutionaries with the younger generation, brought worldly attention through his patriotic writings, and instigated the 1895 independence war. He did more for the liberation of Cuba than any other Cuban who ever lived.