Puerto Rico is an archipelago in the Caribbean Sea consisting of a main island and a handful of smaller ones. Wounded by a poison arrow in his thigh, he was taken back to Cuba in June 1521 and died there from his wound. In 1519, it became the general headquarters of the Inquisition in the New World. Legend says Ponce de León searched in vain for the so-called Fountain of Youth, first in Bimini and later in Florida. This trend was also encouraged by the unrealistic law that declared San Juan the island's only legal port. The revolutionary fervor of Simón Bolívar and his South American compatriots spilled over to the entire continent, embroiling Spain in a desperate attempt to hold on to the tattered remains of its empire. Puerto Rico could be used as a military base to help the United States maintain control of the Isthmus of Panama and to keep communications and traffic flowing between the Atlantic and the Pacific. On July 25, after their victory at Santiago, U.S. troops landed at Guánica, Puerto Rico, and several days later they took over Ponce. Compared with its Greater Antillean neighbours, Puerto Rico is one-fifth as large as the Dominican Republic, one-third the size of Haiti, and slightly smaller than Jamaica. Puerto Rico, officially Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Spanish Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, self-governing island commonwealth of the West Indies, associated with the United States. They founded the town of Caparra, which lay close to the site of present-day San Juan. From the earliest days of Spanish colonization, an army of priests and missionaries embarked on a vigorous crusade to convert Puerto Rico's Taínos to Roman Catholicism. By 1521, the island had been renamed Puerto Rico (Rich Port) and was one of the most strategic islands in the Caribbean, which was increasingly viewed as a Spanish sea. The islands of Mona, Vieques, and Culebra are generally hilly but ringed by narrow coastal plains; Vieques rises to 988 feet (301 metres) at Mount Pirata. The city of Ponce, for example, flourished under the Spanish Crown's lax supervision and grew wealthy from the tons of contraband and the high-quality sugar that passed through its port. Much of the politics of 19th-century Latin America cannot be understood without a review of Spain's problems at that time. Spanish Conquest and Settlement Although many arrived penniless, having forfeited their properties in South America in exchange for their lives, their excellent understanding of agriculture and commerce probably catalyzed much of the era's economic development in Puerto Rico. He never once mentioned it in any of his private or official writings -- at least those writings that still exist -- and historians believe his goal was gold and other treasures (and perhaps to convert the natives to Catholicism). Puerto Rico's History XV Century - 1599 XV Century. In Cuba, the naval battle of Santiago was won by American forces, and in another part of the world, the Spanish colony of the Philippines was also captured by U.S. troops. All goods exported from or imported to Puerto Rico had to pass through Spain itself, usually through Seville. One of O'Reilly's most visible legacies was his recommendation that people live in towns rather than be scattered about the countryside. Thousands of merchants, farmers, and civil authorities traded profitably with privateers from various nations, thereby deepening the tendency to evade or ignore the laws imposed by Spain and its colonial governors. New public buildings were erected; concerts were introduced; and everyday aspects of life -- such as furniture and social ritual -- grew more ornate. Many Taíno implements and techniques were copied directly by the Europeans, including the bohío (straw hut), the hamaca (hammock), the musical instrument known as the maracas, and the method of making bread from the starchy cassava root. (About 70 years later, the Inquisition's headquarters were transferred to the well-defended city of Cartagena, Colombia.). The river courses on the south coast are dry most of the year, carrying water only after rainfall. Myths and traditions were perpetuated through ceremonial dances (areytos), drumbeats, oral traditions, and a ceremonial ballgame played between opposing teams (10-30 players per team) with a rubber ball; winning this game was thought to bring a good harvest and strong, healthy children. Pockets of alluvial soils on the south coast are somewhat fertile, but all farmlands there are fertilized. There were five settlements in Puerto Rico in 1700; 100 years later, there were almost 40 settlements, and the island's population had grown to more than 150,000. Taíno culture impressed the colonial Spanish, and it continues to impress modern sociologists. The United States had suffered only four casualties while acquiring Puerto Rico, the Philippines, and the island of Guam. The Spanish-American War ended on August 31, 1898, with the surrender of Spain and the virtual collapse of the once-powerful Spanish Empire. Although the occupation lasted a full 65 days, the English eventually abandoned Puerto Rico when their armies were decimated by tropical diseases and the local population, which began to engage in guerrilla warfare against the invading army. It is roughly rectangular in shape, extending up to 111 miles (179 km) from east to west and 39 miles (63 km) from north to south. To understand Puerto Rico's prehistoric era, it is important to know that the Taínos, far more than the Caribs, contributed greatly to the everyday life and language that evolved during the Spanish occupation. Shortly after this, seven new towns were established. endobj Casa Blanca is the oldest continuously occupied residence in the Western Hemisphere and the oldest of about 800 Spanish colonial buildings in Old San Juan's National Historic Zone. The Caguas Basin, in the Grande de Loíza River valley south of San Juan, is the largest of several basins in the mountains that provide level land for settlements and agriculture. U.S. Navy Capt. It was during this era that Puerto Rico began to develop a unique identity of its own, a native pride, and a consciousness of its importance within the Caribbean. Around A.D. 300, a different group of Amerindians, the Arawaks, migrated to Puerto Rico from the Orinoco Basin in what is now Venezuela. An English general, the Earl of Cumberland, urged his men to bravery by "assuring your selves you have the maydenhead of Puerto Rico and so possesse the keyes of all the Indies.". In 1797, after easily capturing Trinidad (which was poorly defended by the Spanish), the British failed in a spectacular effort to conquer Puerto Rico. 4 0 obj Abolition was viewed as a major victory for liberal forces throughout Puerto Rico, although cynics claim that slavery was much less entrenched in Puerto Rico than in neighboring Cuba, where the sugar economy was far more dependent on slave labor. %PDF-1.5 Please select which sections you would like to print: Corrections? In 1625, Puerto Rico was covetously eyed by Holland, whose traders and merchants desperately wanted a foothold in the West Indies. Some ethnologists argue that the preeminence of the Taínos, shaken by the attacks of the Caribs, was already jeopardized by the time of the Spanish occupation. On February 15, 1898, the U.S. battleship Maine was blown up in the harbor of Havana, killing 266 men. In 1565 the king of Spain ordered the governor of Puerto Rico to provide men and materials to strengthen the city of St. Augustine, Florida. Much less skilled at making pottery than their predecessors but more accomplished at polishing and grinding stones for jewelry and tools, the Ostionoids were the ethnic predecessors of the tribe that became the Taínos. Slavery was abolished in March 1873, about 40 years after it had been abolished throughout the British Empire. He named it San Juan Bautista. By 1600, San Juan was completely enclosed by some of the most formidable ramparts in the Caribbean, whereas, ironically, the remainder of Puerto Rico was almost defenseless. Puerto Rico began to be viewed as a potential source of income for the Spanish Empire rather than a drain on income. Since 1796, Spain had been a military satellite of postrevolutionary France, an alliance that brought it into conflict with England. King Philip IV justified his expenditures by declaring Puerto Rico the "front and vanguard of the Western Indies and, consequently, the most important of them and most coveted by the enemies of Spain.". The rebellion was brutally suppressed by the Spanish forces of Ponce de León, whose muskets and firearms were vastly superior to the hatchets and arrows of the native peoples. Despite the thick walls, however, the island's defenses remained precarious because of the frequent tropical epidemics that devastated the ranks of the soldiers; the chronically late pay, which weakened the soldiers' morale; and the belated and often wrong-minded priorities of the Spanish monarchy. Both communities reeled, disoriented from their contact with one another. Puerto Rico, officially Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Spanish Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, self-governing island commonwealth of the West Indies, associated with the United States.The easternmost island of the Greater Antilles chain, it lies approximately 50 miles (80 km) east of the Dominican Republic, 40 miles (65 km) west of the Virgin Islands, and 1,000 miles (1,600 km) … Get exclusive access to content from our 1768 First Edition with your subscription. By about A.D. 600, this culture had disappeared, bringing to an end the island's historical era of pottery making. As the philosophical and political movement known as the Enlightenment swept both Europe and North America during the late 1700s and the 1800s, Spain moved to improve Puerto Rico's economy through its local government. In effect, this policy prohibited any official trade between Puerto Rico and its island neighbors. The president ordered a blockade of Cuba's ports, and on April 24, Spain, in retaliation, declared a state of war with the United States. Simultaneously, many historians argue, their unflinching loyalty to the Spanish Crown contributed to one of the most conservative and reactionary social structures anywhere in the Spanish-speaking Caribbean. On April 25, the U.S. Congress declared war on Spain. Known by ethnologists as the Saladoids, they were the first of Puerto Rico's inhabitants to make and use pottery, which they decorated with exotic geometric designs in red and white. <>/ProcSet[/PDF/Text/ImageB/ImageC/ImageI] >>/MediaBox[ 0 0 612 792] /Contents 4 0 R/Group<>/Tabs/S/StructParents 0>> Contemporary sources, in fact, cite the fledgling United States as among the most active of Ponce's early contraband trading partners. After taking part in Spain's Moorish wars, Ponce de León sailed to America with Columbus on his second voyage, in 1493. The following year he sailed back to Spain, carrying with him 5,000 gold pesos. In 1595, Drake and Hawkins persuaded Queen Elizabeth to embark on a bold and daring plan to invade and conquer Puerto Rico. Found in a limestone cave a few miles east of San Juan, in Loíza Aldea, the artifacts consisted of conch shells, stone implements, and crude hatchets deposited by tribal peoples during the first century of the Christian era. x��[[o�~����zk-�}q���6 �#q������4�֑Wv��p83��]�=���%�s��! It was during this period that coffee -- which would later play an essential role in the island's economy -- was introduced to the Puerto Rican highlands from the nearby Dominican Republic. Numerous varieties of fish abound in the surrounding waters, but edible and inedible species mingle together, limiting commercial fishing there.

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