The Impact of Spanish Rule on Puerto Ricans Today

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The Impact of Spanish Rule on Puerto Ricans Today

What was Puerto Rico like under Spanish rule, and how important is that rule to the formation of the Puerto Rican people today? To answer these questions, we must take a look at the history of the Spanish and their colonization of the island of Puerto Rico.

As we know, Puerto Rico was a colony of Spain "found" by Christopher Columbus on November 19, 1493, and remained a colony of Spain for the next 400 years. But the interesting fact remains that Puerto Rico was not truly settled by the Spaniards until almost fifteen years later! In 1508, Juan Ponce de Leon came to settle the land of Borinken, and founded the town of Caparra. This was the start of a proud people that would eventually become known as Puerto Ricans.

Since there were only the natives on the island known as Tainos (descendents of the Arawaks), the Spaniards only had one people to deal with when they came (Figueroa, Sept. 17). Between the years of 1508 and 1510, things went relatively smoothly, that is until the year 1511. The time period of 1511 to 1513 was a rebellion period. The Tainos now came to realize that the Spanish were not there as gods or anything, but were actually there to take riches such as gold, and use the land in anyway they pleased.

It was actually a Taino native named Urayoan who killed a Spaniard named Diego Salcedo that started the rebellion. He tricked Salcedo into thinking that he was going to help him get more natives for toiling purposes, but instead, Urayoan drowned Salcedo while crossing a river (Figueroa, Sept. 17). This proved to the Tainos that the Spaniards were not invincible, nor gods. They were human beings just like the Tainos, and it was time that the...

... middle of paper ...

...e the rich people intermingling with the poor on a daily basis. And what of the Puerto Rican? Spain was ousted, and America took over. Now Puerto Rico is a commonwealth, and has been in this state for 100 years now. Who is the Puerto Rican? Better question is, does class really have to be a defining factor of what Puerto Rican is? It’s still a "mess", and Puerto Ricans are still confused.

References

Figueroa, Luis A. "Before and After the First Conquest: From Tainos to Early Spanish Colonialism". September 17, 1998.

Gonzalez, Jose Luis. "Puerto Rico: The Four-Storeyed Country". (Markus Wiener Publishing, Inc. Princeton & New York, 1979) 1-30.

Scarano, Francisco. "Sugar and Slavery in Puerto Rico, 1815-1849: An Overview", from Scarano, Sugar and Slavery in Puerto Rico: The Plantation Economy of Ponce, 1800-1850 (Madison: U. of Wisconsin Press, 1984), 3-34.

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