Title: Cuba
Content:  Full independence from Spain was the goal of a rebellion in 1868 led by planter Carlos Manuel de Céspedes. De Céspedes, a sugar planter, freed his slaves to fight with him for an independent Cuba. On 27 December 1868, he issued a decree condemning slavery in theory but accepting it in practice and declaring free any slaves whose masters present them for military service. The 1868 rebellion resulted in a prolonged conflict known as the Ten Years' War. A great number of the rebels were volunteers from the Dominican Republic, and other countries, as well as numerous Chinese indentured servants. The United States declined to recognize the new Cuban government, although many European and 
Title: Cuba–United States relations
Content:  When the plans became public, because of one author's vocal enthusiasm for the plan, the manifesto caused a scandal, and was rejected, in part because of objections from anti-slavery campaigners. The Cuban rebellion 1868–1878 against Spanish rule, called by historians the Ten Years' War, gained wide sympathy in the United States. Juntas based in New York raised money and smuggled men and munitions to Cuba while energetically spreading propaganda in American newspapers. The Grant administration turned a blind eye to this violation of American neutrality. In 1869, President Ulysses Grant was urged by popular opinion to support rebels in Cuba with military assistance and 
Title: Cuban Anti-Slavery Committee
Content:  In 1868, abolitionist sentiment and dissatisfaction with the administration of Madrid erupted into a civil war in Cuba. Known as the Ten Years’ War, it raged from 1868 to 1878 and saw Cuban insurgents pitted against Spanish colonial forces in a contest for, among other things, Cuban independence and the abolition of Cuban slavery. The United States, which had recently experienced its own Civil War and abolition of slavery, represented a potential ally of the Cuban insurgency. Many Cuban insurgency leaders, expatriates, and anti-slavery activists within the United States advocated for American intervention in the conflict. The Grant administration was divided on whether or not to intervene. Secretary of War John Rawlins supported intervention in Cuba, as 
Title: History of Cuba
Content:  In the 1860s, Cuba had two more liberal-minded governors, Serrano and Dulce, who encouraged the creation of a Reformist Party, despite the fact that political parties were forbidden. But they were followed by a reactionary governor, Francisco Lersundi, who suppressed all liberties granted by the previous governors and maintained a pro-slavery regime. On 10 October 1868, the landowner Carlos Manuel de Céspedes declared Cuban independence and freedom for his slaves. This began the Ten Years' War, which lasted from 1868 to 1878. The Dominican Restoration War (1863–65) brought to Cuba an unemployed mass of former Dominican white and light-skinned mulattos who had served with the Spanish Army in 
Title: John Aaron Rawlins
Content:  In 1868, the Cuban Revolution began when rebels on Cuba tried to overthrow Spanish rule. Many Americans rallied behind the rebellion and began to sell war bonds in support of the recognition of Cuban belligerency. In 1869, President Grant's Secretary of State Hamilton Fish was unwilling to support the Cuban rebels since the United States had recently gone through the Civil War. Also at stake was negotiations for settlement of the Alabama Claims, that included the claim the British had recognized Confederate belligerency during the Civil War. The recognition of Cuban belligerency would have jeopardized negotiations between Britain and the United States. Secretary Rawlins, however, was 
Title: Manifesto of Montecristi
Content:  The Cuban fight for independence began with the Ten Years' War (1868–1878), the first of three wars fought as Cuba attempted to free themselves from Spanish rule. The war was brought on by an economic crisis (1866) as well as the desire to end slavery. While the farmers in Cuba struggled to feed their families, the colonial administration continued to bring in profit from military ventures. In response, enraged farmers rose to fight. The uprising started October 10. Though efforts nearly failed within the first few days, within weeks the numbers of volunteers reached 12,000. Soon, Maximo Gomez (a former cavalry officer for the Spanish army) joined the farmer’s fight, bringing a tactical advantage to the rebels. Eventually, rebels took over the city of Bayamo, making a significant victory that brought 
Title: Ten Years' War
Content:  The Ten Years' War (Guerra de los Diez Años; 1868–1878), also known as the Great War (Guerra Grande) and the War of '68, was part of Cuba's fight for independence from Spain. The uprising was led by Cuban-born planters and other wealthy natives. On 10 October 1868, sugar mill owner Carlos Manuel de Céspedes and his followers proclaimed independence, beginning the conflict. This was the first of three liberation wars that Cuba fought against Spain, the other two being the Little War (1879–1880) and the Cuban War of Independence (1895–1898). The final three months of the last conflict escalated with United States involvement, leading to the Spanish–American War.
Title: History of U.S. foreign policy, 1861–1897
Content:  The Cuban rebellion 1868–1878 against Spanish rule, called by historians the Ten Years' War, gained wide sympathy in the U.S. Juntas based in New York raised money, and smuggled men and munitions to Cuba, while energetically spreading propaganda in American newspapers. The Grant administration turned a blind eye to this violation of American neutrality. In 1869, Grant was urged by popular opinion to support rebels in Cuba with military assistance and to give them U.S. diplomatic recognition. Fish, however, wanted stability and favored the Spanish government, without publicly challenging the popular anti-Spanish American viewpoint. They reassured European governments that the 
Title: Cuba–Spain relations
Content:  By 1868, many countries in Latin America had obtained independence from Spain. In October 1868, Cuban planter and sugar mill owner Carlos Manuel de Céspedes and his followers proclaimed independence for Cuba. This proclamation led to the Ten Years' War with Spain and ended in the independence movement defeat in 1878. In August 1879, a second struggle ensued known as the Little War and lasted until September 1880 with the independence movement defeat once more. In February 1895, a new independence struggle movement began and is known as the "Cuban War of Independence" and was led by Cuban Poet José Martí who died in May 1895 at 
Title: Virginius Affair
Content:  After the American Civil War, the island country of Cuba under Spanish rule was one of the few Western Hemisphere countries in which slavery remained legal and was widely practiced. On October 10, 1868 a revolution broke out, known as the Ten Years' War, by Cuban landowners, led by Carlos Manuel de Céspedes. The Spanish, led initially by Francisco Lersundi, used the military to suppress the rebellion. In 1870, Secretary of State Hamilton Fish persuaded President Grant not to recognize Cuban belligerency, and the United States maintained an unstable peace with Spain. As the Cuban war continued, international patriotic insurgency began to arise in support of the Cuban rebellion, and war bonds were sold in the US to support the Cuban resistance. One of the US Cuban patriots was John F. Patterson, who bought a former Confederate steamer, Virgin, at the Washington Navy Yard, renaming her Virginius. The legality of Patterson's purchase of Virginius would later come to national and international attention. The Cuban rebellion ended in an 1878 armistice after Spanish general Arsenio Martínez-Campos pardoned all Cuban rebels.

Question: what caused the cuban rebellion in 1868?
Answer: Ten Years' War.