War Against All Puerto Ricans by Nelson Denis,
2015, Excerpts
The
abuse of the island started early. In 1493, Columbus
made his second voyage to the New world with seventeen ships, 1200 men, horses,
cattle, guns, and smallpox. When he finally reached a manor island, it happened
to be Puerto Rico. The Taino Indians welcomed Columbus, but they made a
big mistake: they showed him some gold nuggets in a river and told him to take
all he wanted. Naturally, this started a gold rush.
Spain named the island Puerto
Rico (meaning “Rich Port”) and invaded with embroidered bibles and African
slaves. They enslaved the Tainos as well: every Taino over the age of fourteen
had to produce a hawk’s bell of gold every three months or have their hands cut
off.
Three centuries later there
were no Tainos left, but the situation hadn’t changed much. Puerto Rico was
still a political football. In 1812, the first Spanish ‘constitution, the Cadez
Constitution, was extended to Puerto Rico, and the island became a province of
Spain. In 1823, it was abolished. In 1824, the Spanish governor was given
absolute power over Puerto Rico.
On September 23, 1868, nearly 1000 men rose up in the town of Lars to demand independence from Spain. By midnight they’d taken over the municipal seat of government, deposed the Spanish officials, arrested the Spanish merchants, and hauled them off to jail. The next afternoon, the Spanish militia from nearby Pepino routed the rebels.
On September 23, 1868, nearly 1000 men rose up in the town of Lars to demand independence from Spain. By midnight they’d taken over the municipal seat of government, deposed the Spanish officials, arrested the Spanish merchants, and hauled them off to jail. The next afternoon, the Spanish militia from nearby Pepino routed the rebels.
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