Cuba's quest for independence began with the ideals in other Spanish American colonies in the 1810s. Initially, because of the dependence of the island upon Spain, loyalty to the colonial regime slowed the development of the independence movement. Dissidents and exiles throughout the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, and the Atlantic developed connections and solidarity to plan and launch three wars end Spanish rule. Spanning thirty years, the Ten Years' War (1868-1878), the Little War (1879-1880) and the Cuban War of Independence (1895-1898) resulted in severing ties with Spain. During this period, though not independent, Cuba drafted the Constitutions of Guáimaro (1869), Baraguá (1878), Jimaguayú (1895), and La Yaya (1897). These constitutions defined Cubans as anyone, regardless of where they were born, who was directly serving Cuba in the insurgency. Each of them, as did subsequent Cuban constitutions until 1992, interchangeably used the terms citizenship and nationality. In 1886, slavery was abolished under the "freedmen regulation", but newly freed slaves were required to work for rations and clothing.