Introduction to History of Puerto Rico
The island of Boriquén, as Puerto Rico was called by its native inhabitants, was occupied by about 30,000 Taino Indians at the time Europeans arrived in the late 15th century. They were a branch of the Arawak language family and were noted for their peaceful nature.
Important dates in Puerto Rico1493 Christopher Columbus sailed to Puerto Rico during his second voyage to the Western Hemisphere.1508 Spanish colonists began settlement of Puerto Rico.1598 The English captured San Juan and held it for five months.1625 The Dutch burned San Juan.1797 The English attacked San Juan.1898 U.S. troops occupied Puerto Rico, and Spain ceded the island to the U.S. after the Spanish-American War.1900 Congress established civil government for Puerto Rico with the first Organic Act, or Foraker Act.1917 Puerto Ricans became citizens of the United States by the second Organic Act, or Jones Act.1947 Congress amended the Jones Act to permit Puerto Ricans to elect their own governor.1949 Luis Munoz Marin was inaugurated as the first elected governor of Puerto Rico. He served until 1965.1952 Puerto Rico adopted its constitution and became a commonwealth.1964 Congress and the Puerto Rican legislature set up a commission to study Puerto Rico's relationship with the United States.1967-1998 Puerto Rico held three referendums that resulted in the island keeping its commonwealth status.2000 Sila Maria Calderon was elected the first woman governor of Puerto Rico.Early Colonial Period
Christopher Columbus, on his second voyage, reached the island in 1493 and called it San Juan Bautista. In 1508 Juan Ponce de León was sent to conquer the island for Spain. He founded the settlement of Caparra, later named Puerto Rico (Rich Port), west of San Juan harbor. Because the port was inadequate, the town was abandoned, and a new one was built on the small island at the harbor's mouth. Gradually the town came to be known as San Juan and the large island as Puerto Rico.
The Spaniards found gold on the island and forced the Indians to work in mines. The Indians did not long survive the rigors of slavery and the diseases introduced by the conquerors. Within a decade, the native population had been reduced to about 4,000. Slaves were imported from Africa to replace the Indians.
Although its gold mines were soon depleted, Puerto Rico remained an important outpost of Spain's rich colonial empire. The island was attacked repeatedly by French, English, and Dutch buccaneers. In 1797 a British force besieged Puerto Rico for a month, but was repelled.
Spain did not permit its colonies to trade with their neighbors. In Puerto Rico's rural areas, however, there was brisk commerce with smugglers who traded slaves, cloth, and implements for livestock, ginger, tobacco, and (after 1750) coffee.
19th Century
In 1800 the population was 155,000. The country had no legal commerce. Sugar, coffee, and tobacco were the major crops, but agriculture was poorly developed. When other Latin American countries began agitating for independence, there was little revolutionary sentiment in Puerto Rico.
During the reign of Joseph Bonaparte in Spain (1808-13) Puerto Rico was permitted representation in the Spanish Cortes (national assembly). As a result in 1815 Spain authorized free trade for Puerto Rico, and the island was opened to immigration and settlement. Legal trade brought rapid economic growth. Coffee became the major export. By mid-century the population had grown to 500,000.
An independence movement gradually took shape. In 1868 there was an armed uprising in the town of Lares, but it was quickly suppressed. The movement, however, continued to gain strength and spurred reforms by the Spanish, including the abolition of slavery in 1873. The outstanding political leader of the period was Luis Muñoz Rivera (1859-1916), who in 1897 persuaded Spain to grant a charter making Puerto Rico a dominion. This had not yet been put into effect when, in 1898, United States troops occupied Puerto Rico during the Spanish-American War. By the Treaty of Paris, Spain ceded the island to the United States. The population at the time was about 900,000.
20th Century
Civil government was set up under the Foraker Act of 1900. The executive branch and upper house of the legislature were appointed by the President of the United States. Puerto Ricans were not granted United States citizenship, although Theodore Roosevelt and Henry L. Stimson urged repeatedly that they should be. The lack of self-government was greatly resented by the Puerto Ricans, and in 1917 a new law, the Jones Act, granted them full United States citizenship and made the upper house elective. However, some Puerto Rican political leaders were not satisfied. One group advocated independence; another, statehood. In 1947 the Jones Act was amended to permit election of the governor, and in 1948 Luis Muñoz Marín, son of Muñoz Rivera, became the first elected governor. Under his guidance, Puerto Rico in 1952 acquired the status of a commonwealth in association with the United States.
In the early 1940's, Puerto Rico was one of the poorest areas of Latin America. The country had a growing population and little industry to provide jobs. Large numbers of Puerto Ricans were migrating to the United States. In 1942, the government began an economic development program, later called Operation Bootstrap. The program attracted industry and improved living conditions; per capita income rose to the highest in Latin America. However, with high unemployment and individual income at only one-third the United States level, Puerto Rico continued to lose people in the 1950's and 1960's.
The U.S. Navy began performing bombing and other training activities on the island of Vieques in 1941. Many Puerto Ricans demanded an end to the exercises. Protests became especially intense in 1999 after a civilian security guard was accidentally killed in a bombing exercise. The Navy left the island in 2003.
In referendums in 1967 and 1972, Puerto Ricans voted overwhelmingly to retain the island's commonwealth status. A small pro-independence movement was responsible for terrorist acts in Puerto Rico and in the United States in the 1970's and the 1980's. Rafael Hernández Colón, who advocated maintaining commonwealth status, was elected governor in 1984 and reelected in 1988. In 1991 a referendum, backed by Hernández Colón, to bar a direct "yes" or "no" vote on statehood was defeated, giving impetus to the cause of statehood. The New Progressive party, which supports statehood, was elected to power in 1992. In a 1993 referendum, however, Puerto Ricans voted to retain commonwealth status and a 1998 referendum had the same result. In 2000, Sila María Calderón became the first woman governor of Puerto Rico.
Another gubernatorial election occurred in Puerto Rico in 2004. The results were close, and a recount of the ballots was ordered. Anibal Acevedo Vilá was declared the winner.
A financial crisis closed government offices and schools in Puerto Rico for two weeks in May, 2006. In November of the same year, Puerto Rico's first sales tax was imposed to generate an increase in public funds.