[1] Alongside his mansion, the Palacio de Aldama, in Prado[2] and a considerable stake in the Havana Railroad, he owned five of Cuba's largest estates.
Aldama became part of a reformist delegation led by José Morales Lemus in late 1866, traveling to Madrid, Spain to negotiate reforms with the Spanish government.
[5] On May 10, 1869, Aldama arrived at the Port of New York in the United States after departing Cuba's capital on board the steamship S.S. Morro Castle.
A court-martial was held on November 9, 1870, in which Aldama and others associated with the second junta of New York were convicted of treason and rebellion, with a death sentence by garrote awaiting them if they fell into Spanish hands.
[8] In 1878, following the Pact of Zanjón, his palatial residence, near Plaza del Vapor, was returned by the colonial government but never again occupied by the Aldama family.