Uprising in Puerto Rico!

There has been a revolt just a few days ago against Spanish rule on the island of Puerto Rico in the city of Lares!

It does not come at much of a surprise that there has been an uprising in Puerto Rico. After the word spread of the rebellion in Haiti, many islands have planned revolts of their own. Many factors that frustrate the oppressed on the island, such as Spanish indifference, excessive taxes, colonial repression, and an economic crisis, formulate the arguments that the rebel leaders use to justify the rebellion. With the intent on ending colonial rule, Ramón Emeterio Betances and Segundo Ruiz Belvis were behind the revolution. 

Ramón Emeterio Betances

Segundo Ruiz Belvis 

However, we have discovered that Ruiz Belvis has just recently passed away while in Chile. Many fear his death was at the hands of Spaniards, but fortunately his death was caused by natural causes. But, the planning did go on. Betances was still able to plan the invasion, recruit willing fighters, collect funds, and purchase a ship and a variety of weapons. The town of Lares was chosen at the center of the rebellion because its position is far from the military headquarters in San Juan, and the mountains offer a degree of cover to the rebels should they be forced to fight a guerrilla war. On the morning of the 23^rd of September, six days before the original date of attack, many men were placed along the paths leading to town to guide arriving rebels, and to keep informers from leaving the town. Other rebels were left to gathering the horses and weapons and preparing food for the incoming troops.

The rebels have proven themselves to be a racially and socially diverse group. We have been told that hacendados, peasant farmers, jornaleros, artisans, and slaves all were part of the rebellion. Women were also involved in the conspiracy, but they did not form any part of the fighting force. If the rebellion was successful, the participants planned to abolish taxes, cancel all debts, and the oppressive libretas would come to an end. Thus, hundreds of libretas were set on fire. 


Upon reaching Lares, the mayor and his assistant were immediately arrested and jailed. Then, the rebels began to occupy City Hall, and they at once removed the portrait of the Queen, and declared Puerto Rico a free republic. Unfortunately, forces from the town of Pepino arrived to crush the rebellion. The rebels were forced to take cover in the nearby mountains. Left to defend themselves, the rebels were poorly armed and unable to flee the island for lack of ships, so they were quickly apprehended by the Spanish military. The Spanish were generous to the newly established government because Cuba has just recently revolted, as well; the Spanish government has pardoned many of the Puerto Ricans, so it can concentrate on the Cuban situation. The Spanish is now using the island of Puerto Rico as a base of operations from which to dispatch troops and weapons against Cuba. But the story does not end there…

Stay tuned; more to come on the subject of Puerto Rico next week!

Sources: 

Wagenheim, Olga Jiménez De. Puerto Rico: An Interpretive History from Pre-Columbian Times  to 1900. Princeton, NJ: Markus Wiener, 1998. Print.

Wagenheim, Olga Jiménez De. Puerto Rico's Revolt for Independence: El Grito De Lares. Boulder: Westview, 1985. Accessed through Google Books. 

Haitian Revolution impacts the Atlantic!

The uprising on the island of Saint Domingue influences the Atlantic realm, especially on the island of Puerto Rico.

            The slave revolt being called the “Haitian Revolution” on the French-controlled island of Saint Domingue is starting to have a serious impact on other neighboring islands. One of these islands is Puerto Rico, which is controlled by the Spanish monarchy. The world has recently been informed that the slave population on Saint Domingue, clearly dissatisfied with system of slavery, has rebelled. Now, as the French Revolution is beginning to escalate in France, conditions on Saint Domingue have worsened, which now serves as a direct correlation to the sentiments of the inhabitants of Puerto Rico.

            Most importantly, the Creole patriots on the island are facing an opportunity to open an international market for sugar and coffee that has been brought on by the disintegration of Saint Domingue’s economy as a result of the Haitian Revolution. Thus, Puerto Rico has been presented with the chance to improve their position as representatives of the interests of the Spanish homeland by accelerating the economic transition from cattle ranching and agriculture to intensive production of coffee and sugar. This promising endeavor has given the elite on the island more freedom and has made them very profitable. However, this perfect picture has its flaws. The ex-slaves on the renamed island of “Haiti” did not intend for other islands to gain from their developments as a free, autonomous island.  But for Puerto Rico, slavery and the speed of development is a matter of survival.

            The population on Puerto Rico, which includes slaves and white plantation owners, continues to increase at an impressive rate per year. Also, the island has begun to experience a labor scarcity. Many on the island consider slavery as a quick solution to this problem. However, others have expressed concerns regarding the dangers of this solution; these sentiments have surfaced because of the Haitian Revolution. Most importantly, the elite on the island believe that the Haitian Revolution might embolden Puerto Rico’s slaves to follow in the Haitian’s footsteps and revolt. The plantation owners also fear for their lives because the Haitian slaves have been killing their masters during their revolt. These revolts could also lead to an alliance between Africans and free morenos and pardos, which are a similar situation to that of Haiti. This would upset the racial equilibrium on the island in favor of the people of color.

However, there are many elites on the island that do not believe that the black population will surpass the white inhabitants. First, the island is not large enough for the black slaves to take refuge from the white plantation owners. Secondly, there is African inferiority. Many claim that the slaves cannot expect aid or refuge from Haiti because they do not have the resources. Also, Haitians would have to launch a maritime expedition, and the whites assert that the black slaves are incapable of such an enterprise. Even if the Haitian ex-slaves were capable of such an attack, many Puerto Rican inhabitants believe they are more than capable of handling such enemies. Whether or not they are truly capable, well, we shall see. Tune in next week for more developments in the Haitian Revolution and its repercussions.

Sources:

Wagenheim, Olga Jiménez De. Puerto Rico: An Interpretive History from Pre-Columbian Times to 1900. Princeton, NJ: Markus Wiener, 1998. Print.

Geggus, David Patrick. The Impact of the Haitian Revolution in the Atlantic World. Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina, 2001. Print. Accessed through Google Books. 

Exploitation and mistreatment of slaves on the island of Puerto Rico!

It has come to our attention that the island of Puerto Rico relies on enslavement to maintain its growing sugar industry.

According to the testimony of a witness who visited the island, the slaves are extremely unhappy; their work day begins at three o’clock in the morning and lasts until 8 o’clock in the evening, and the compensation for this work is the pleasure of eating the sugar cane. Slave work is limited only by the pleasure of the master. Sundays and holidays are supposed to be a day of rest for the slaves, but this is rarely observed by the overseers and masters, as the slaves are being forced to work two hours in the morning and two hours in the evening.

As a result of this maltreatment, there have been reports of several runaway slaves. They willingly exchange their lives on the sugar haciendas for the unknown risks of a life in hiding. These slaves have fled the haciendas more than once, all along knowing the consequences of being caught. This can only be viewed as a strong indication that the slaves do not enjoy any aspect of their lives on the island. If the slaves are unlucky enough to be caught, they are either flogged or tortured in front of the other slaves, in the hope of terrorizing the other slaves with the thought of running away. The leaders of the conspiracy are executed at once. Of the slaves that have not run away, they are kept in bondage and deprived of the most basic human rights by a system that stands to gain from the labor. Many of these slaves who have remained in captivity stay on the haciendas in order to organize the fellow slaves to revolt, to kill their masters and overseers, and to set fire to the sugar fields. With this quest, they risk being jailed or worse, killed.

Moreover, it is said that slaves are the primary source of labor on the larger estates, and free laborers are providing supplementary labor. The free laborers are hired by the smaller sugar estates, which lack the needed number of slaves to cut, plant, and process the sugar cane. The number of these free workers in Puerto Rico has increased by 49,000 persons compared to the number of slaves, which has risen by 10,000 persons. However, the planters are still hesitant to hire free workers because of a believed lack of discipline and stamina. The planters are also convinced that only the slaves are able to withstand the harsh conditions bred by the sugar estates. In addition, the planters prefer to work with the slaves because they have complete control over them and because many of the slaves come from sugar-producing areas; thus, they are already skilled and familiar with the sugar cane industry. Lastly, the work of this group has proved more costly than the work of the slaves.

However, this exploitation did not prove successful for long. See next week's issue for more information on slaves revolts on this island!

Sources:

Figueroa, Luis A. Sugar, Slavery, & Freedom in Nineteenth-Century Puerto Rico. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina, 2005. Print. Accessed through Google Books.

Wagenheim, Olga Jiménez De. Puerto Rico: An Interpretive History from Pre-Columbian Times to 1900. Princeton, NJ: Markus Wiener, 1998. Print.

Racial categories surface on the island of Puerto Rico!

It has come to our attention that severe racial distinctions have appeared on the Spanish-controlled island of Puerto Rico. It is safe to say that the starkest contrast on the island is the division between plantation owners, or free, white males, and the African slaves. However, there are other categories appearing, as well.

We have discovered from this year’s census (1765) that the island has 44,883 persons, and 88 percent of that total (39,846) are free persons and 11.2 percent (5,037) are slaves. More specifically, the towns of San Juan and San Germán have significant populations of slaves. For instance, San Germán has 5,950 total persons; 5,373 are free and 577 are slaves, which means 9.6 percent of this population is not free. In San Juan, there are 4,506 total persons; 3,562 are free and 944 are slaves, making 20.9 percent of this population slaves. It is also evident that around 90 percent of this population cannot read.

On this island, natural reproduction is a very significant factor in this demographic expansion; thus, there are a higher number of females on the island. Immigration also played a major role in the population explosions that are occurring; Spaniards have complete authority over the immigrants, but they are welcomed to the island if they convert to Catholicism, obey the laws, and promise to contribute to the prosperity of the colony. It is also apparent that two-thirds of the inhabitants are children under sixteen years of age. A huge percentage of these children are being born out of wedlock, due to the increasing occurrence of relations between the plantation owners and the slave women.

This is causing the racial composition of the island to be altered dramatically; officials are changing the category of “black” inhabitants to separate the groups by types of lifestyle. There is now a category labeled “pardo,” which refers to persons of mixed racial parentage and a lifestyle resembling that of the whites, and “moreno” which is a term used to refer to free blacks and mulattos who are living according to the African cultural standards. Life for the slaves is said to be short, nasty, and brutish. But clearly, the number of slaves compared to free white males is only small fraction of the total population.

Also, thousands of Canary Islanders are relocating to Puerto Rico. They are lured by the growing expectation of obtaining land and by the rising commercial traffic between the Canary Islands and the Caribbean. These islanders have a long history of cultivating sugarcane, which makes them very welcome in Puerto Rico where the sugar industry is being revived.

Moreover, it is apparent that thousands of white foreign settlers from Ireland are immigrating to the island because of Puerto Rico’s lenient immigration policy. This is adding to the already diverse ethnic composition of the island. Many of the Irish have strong ties to the Spanish government, so they are using these ties to improve their economic and social positions through land grants, tax breaks, and commercial licenses. Thus, names such as Fitzpatrick, O’Daly, Kiernan, Power, or O’Neil are beginning to become important sugar growers and power brokers in San Juan.

In addition, thousands of refugees from the French-speaking Saint Domingue are arriving on the island, as well. The inhabitants are welcomed on the island, as it represents safety from political turmoil and a chance to recreate the plantation system they produced on their former island. It is also important to note that Spanish prisoners are present on the island of Puerto Rico, which represents another important category on the island. They perform demanding tasks, like repairing military structures, which is a job traditionally carried out by the slaves. Unfortunately, they are poorly fed and forced to live in congested, unsanitary quarters, and a large number of these convicts are being exposed to recurring epidemics of smallpox and spotted fever, malnutrition, and prolonged exposure to the sun.

This demographic expansion that is rapidly growing on the island of Puerto Rico is definitely accelerating the pace of the island’s present colonization efforts and is helping to lay the foundation for the plantation economy.

Sources:

Background Books: Puerto Rico. The Wilson Quarterly (1976-) Vol. 4, No. 2 (Spring, 1980), pp. 151-153         Published by: Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars http://www.jstor.org/stable/40255810 

Wagenheim, Olga Jiménez De. Puerto Rico: An Interpretive History from Pre-Columbian Times to 1900. Princeton, NJ: Markus Wiener, 1998. Print.

Catholicism arrives in Puerto Rico

With the arrival of Spanish settlers to the island of Puerto Rico comes Christianity.

This is the work of mulatto José Campeche, who lives on the island of Puerto Rico and frequently portraits colonial life, including religion.

We have just been informed that religion has become an important part of colonial life on the island of Puerto Rico. It is now a colony overflowing with Catholic believers. Spanish priests have been attempting to spread Catholicism to the indigenous peoples and have been quite successful. However, the main obstacle has been the eradication of the deeply-rooted indigenous beliefs that the natives of Puerto Rico already practice.

            The Taino Arawak, the natives of the island, began the beliefs that the natives of Puerto Rico still practice by the time the Spanish settlers brought Catholicism. They believed in a supreme creator, Yocahu, who lived high in the mountains of El Yunque. They believed in a spirit world in which all living things had a soul, and things in nature, such as rivers, trees, and stones, had spirits in them, as well. The Tainos have the equivalent of the devil in their religion: jurakan. He would call forth the horrible aspects of nature that would harm the natives. (It is from this word that the English word “hurricane” is derived.) There were lesser gods, as well. The natives worshipped a god called cemi, and each village or family had a carved wooden image of their cemi on display. Furthermore, the Taino Arawak believed in the afterlife. They buried their dead very carefully by providing food, water, weapons, and jewelry for the graves.  More importantly, with the arrival of slaves from Africa, elements from their religions spread across the island. Spanish priests encountered their practices of animism, which began the use of wearing masks and costumes during religious festivities.

            Even after initial success, Catholic conversion has had difficulty creating substantial ties to the population because of the church’s constant struggle with poverty, and the settlers of the islands tend to live far away from each other and the municipal establishments, making the spread of Catholicism much harder to conduct. Ideally, every town is expected to support its own church; however, very few churches ever collect enough funds to hire a priest or even provide religious services. Frequently, the island’s treasury is so bare that it cannot meet the obligation to require the state to subsidize the church. Unfortunately, only two of the twenty-four religious institutions in Puerto Rico receive aid from the colonial government at the moment.

            Because of the lack of funds, the bishop has major difficulties bringing trained clergymen from Spain; thus, he has allowed a few Creoles to be ordained and to be sent to the several churches located in the interior of the island. But there have been reports that the Creole priests have been seen at local dances, parties, and cockfights, and they follow the customs of their own parishioners. However, some claim that Creole priests are invaluable to the religious community because as messengers of God, they provide help for the community in times of dire need. Moreover, they are often the only literate person in town, and many inhabitants of the island call upon him to run the school and educate the children.

            Lastly, the settlers on the island use baptisms to enhance the powerful religious ties the families maintain. This practice has been gaining momentum as the population expands and the social conditions have improved. Shortly after birth, newborn children are required to be baptized. The parents of the unbaptized child are required to choose a couple willing to serve as surrogate parents for child, and these vows are confirmed in front of a priest, who sanctifies the act in the name of God. The godparents then become known as “compadres” (co-parents).

This story of religion brings to mind a similar instance on the island of St. Thomas. There, religion has also soared upon the arrival of Dutch settlers, and Christianity has become a major influence on the island. Most notably, though, is the positive influence religion has brought to both islands. On both St. Thomas and Puerto Rico, religion becomes an outlet for literacy, something that is very difficult to obtain, especially for the indigenous peoples. Also on both islands the churches are the center of everything, marking their importance within the community. Lastly, Christianity is spreading to the natives of the islands, as well as to the African slaves, which is a marvelous feat. One can see the impact religion has made when observing the success on both of these islands. (For more information on the religious evolution of St. Thomas, see the book Rebecca’s Revival).

Sources:

Wagenheim, Olga Jiménez De. Puerto Rico: An Interpretive History from Pre-Columbian Times to 1900. Princeton, NJ: Markus Wiener, 1998. Print.

Levy, Patricia, and Nazry Bahrawi. Puerto Rico. New York: Marshall Cavendish Benchmark, 2005. Accessed through Google Books.

Profit and glory-driven conflict in the Caribbean!

After the Spanish settlement of the island of Puerto Rico, things were not entirely peaceful like the settlers had anticipated.

It has now come to our attention that the British have recently attempted to raid the ports and ships on the island of Puerto Rico, completely disregarding the peace agreement previously made between the two empires. Spanish spies discovered that Queen Elizabeth I authorized Francis Drake and John Hawkins to seize the island. Their motive was not surprisingly the promise of gold of silver worth two million ducats, which was being stored in San Juan. Clearly, the reward was great if these men were successful.

Drake and Hawkins sailed from Plymouth on August 28^th with a large convoy of twenty-seven ships and 4,500 sailors. Due to inclement weather, they reached the island of Guadeloupe in the middle of November, which severely slowed their progress. By this time, several Spanish frigates spotted the pursuers while on their way to San Juan. Ultimately, news of the upcoming British invasion reached the island shortly before Drake and Hawkins. The inhabitants of Puerto Rico acted fast. By the time Drake and Hawkins arrived on San Juan Bay, the entrance to the harbor was blocked by two sunken ships and the five frigates that had spotted their presence earlier. Also, the city was emptied, except for the 800 seamen from the frigates and 750 men inside the forts. The British ships were subjected to endless rounds of cannon shots, and the efforts to steer their vessels out of the line of fire were unsuccessful. Drake nearly lost his life when a cannon shot blew through his cabin; luckily, he was not killed. However, Hawkins perished earlier in a rampant fever epidemic, and the remaining crew had begun to show signs of the disease, as well. Desperate, Drake then ordered the men to invade the island. His men were able to set fire to some of the frigates, but the casualties were so high that Drake was forced to retreat. Unfortunately, Drake died by late January as a victim of the fever epidemic that killed Hawkins. (See page 4 for obituaries)

The story of conflict does not end here! Another brave soul accepted the task of capturing San Juan three years later: George Clifford, the Earl of Cumberland. This mission differed from the previous in one important aspect: the island was not given advanced notice of the impending attack, and it did not have the support of Spanish seamen in the ports as before. Thus, when Cumberland and his men entered San Juan on June 16^th, there was little resistance. Cumberland learned from Drake’s mistakes and avoided sailing directly into the bay; instead, he landed his troops four leagues east of the city. Two days later, the invading troops marched right into the city, only to find it deserted, except for 400 men quartered in the Morro fort. Governor Mosquera refused to surrender control of the island, so Cumberland was forced to siege the city. The men in El Morro resisted for fifteen days, but finally surrendered due to a shortage of food and ammunition. After his victory, Cumberland declared Puerto Rico under British jurisdiction and sent the remaining Spanish soldiers to Jamaica.

However, holding the island proved more difficult than overcoming it. Two weeks after the victory, 400 of Cumberland’s men fell victim to an epidemic. Cumberland made preparations to leave the island, and he left Sir John Berkeley to succeed him. Before Cumberland left, he raided the island. He took artillery, 1,000 boxes of sugar, a few thousand hides, 2,000 quintales of ginger (one quintal = 100 lbs), a ship full of slaves and pearls, and the church organ and bells. By September, Berkeley abandoned the island, as well. This departure ended the British occupation before the Spanish arrived to rescue the island.

Clearly, Puerto Rico continues to be severely bruised because of its strategic value. The main goal during the seventeenth century became the need to fortify the islands belonging to the Spanish empire. Not long after Cumberland fled, Puerto Rico began to rebuild a castle and fort near the site where Cumberland succeeded in outflanking the Spaniards.

Did the conflict finally cease there? The answer is no. The Dutch also saw many gains in the takeover of Puerto Rico. They were the next empire to attempt to take San Juan. See next week’s issue for the outcome of this invasion!

Sources:

Noel, Jesse. “The Seventeenth Century, Hapsburg Era.” Revista de Historia de América. No. 89 (Jan. - Jun., 1980), pp. 29-48. Published by: Pan American Institute of Geography and History. <http://www.jstor.org/stable/20139358>

Wagenheim, Olga Jiménez De. Puerto Rico: An Interpretive History from Pre-Columbian Times to 1900. Princeton, NJ: Markus Wiener, 1998. Print.

The truth behind the “good” and the “noble;” peoples of Puerto Rico before Columbus

This is a special report to let the world know about the group of natives that inhabited the island of Puerto Rico before Columbus and his settlers arrived. Last week, we covered the controversy surrounding the colonization of Puerto Rico; this week, we plan to discover the identity of these peoples. Who were they? What did they look like? Did they welcome the arrival of the Europeans? The answers to these questions and more will be revealed this week in The Puerto Rico Report.

It is commonly known that before the colonization attempts made my Columbus and his settlers, a people known as the Tainos inhabited the island of Puerto Rico. More specifically, the natives of the island referred to themselves locally as the “Borinquen,” which was their name for this island. The word “Taino” means “good” or “noble;” it is said that the natives spoke this word to Columbus upon his arrival to indicate they were not to be confused with the Island-Carib peoples. Though the Tainos often referred to themselves as the “Borinquen,” we will be referring to them as Tainos for this issue. The Tainos populating Puerto Rico were one of the most culturally advanced inhabitants, as well as the most populous, in the Caribbean at that time. We have discovered that approximately 600,000 Tainos lived on the island before settlement by Europeans.  

To start off, we will discuss how the Tainos provided for themselves. They used an impressively sophisticated form of agriculture; they heaped mounds of earth together to cultivate root crops in the soft soil. These mounds were called conuco; they stood three feet high and were usually arranged in rectangular rows. This made it easier to harvest the crops. What is interesting about this technique is that these more permanent fields were a completely different process to the slash-and-burn method other tribes used during this time. Furthermore, the main crop was casaba, or cassava. The Tainos frequently ate sweet potatoes, squash, beans, peppers, and peanuts, as well. Fruit, tobacco, cotton, and calabashes were grown around the dwellings. They also ate fish, iguanas, wild parrots, dogs, and manatees.

As for the appearance of the Tainos, we have concluded that they had high cheekbones, straight hair, and copper-colored skin. The men were naked or covered the genitalia with loincloths. The unmarried women wore headbands, and the wives wore short skirts referred to as nagua; the length of the skirts indicated the woman’s rank. Both men and women often painted themselves when partaking in special ceremonies. The color red was most cherished in the society. The chiefs were distinguished from the rest of the inhabitants by headdresses decorated with feathers and gold. Moreover, the Tainos wore pendants in the form of carved masks which was also a sign of rank. Clearly, these inhabitants had already developed complex chiefdoms and indications of rank by the time Columbus arrived.

We have also discovered numerous facts about the religion of the Tainos. They worshipped two supreme deities: Yúcahu, who was the lord of cassava and the sea, and Atabey, the goddess of fertility and fresh water. These deities were often referred to as zemis. This term also refers to the idols representing the gods, which were made from wood, stone, bone, pottery, or shells.  Zemis were passed on from generation to generation by inheritance, trade, or gift.

Polygyny was common in the Taino society. Long-distance marriages may be arranged for political purposes, or men obtained wives in their village. Only the chiefs could afford many wives. The Tainos also traded frequently with other islands. Long sea voyages were very common in order to trade. They traded most often with the inhabitants of eastern Hispaniola due to the sharing of a common language.

It is said that Columbus was actually disappointed by the lack of civility with the Tainos. If these sentiments are genuine, we cannot be sure. We can speculate, however, that given a few more centuries isolated from Spanish interference, the Tainos of Puerto Rico would most likely have developed into a more commercially-based society because they would have created a linkage with the people of Middle America. This connection would have allowed them to acquire statehood, writing, and other important aspects of civilized peoples. However, as we stated last week, the Tainos were not left alone. Columbus and his settlers exploited them for a profit, which led to their demise. More importantly, the exchange of diseases caused an epidemic amongst the Tainos, as well. They were the natives that suffered the most.

Aside from the historical aspects of the Tainos presented in this article, we would like to point ou that much of their society did survive and surrounds us even today. For example, many words from the Taino language are used in the English language. Words such as hammock and kayak are from the ancient society. Also, the weaving of baskets is a heritage left behind by the Tainos.

Sources:

Rouse, Irving. The Tainos: Rise and Decline of the People Who Greeted Columbus. New Haven: Yale UP, 1992. Accessed through Google Books.

Marino, John. Frommer's Puerto Rico. Pg. 211. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley Publ., 2008. Accessed through Google Books.