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.