Set at in a practical area in the heart of the Caribbean, the island of Puerto Rico has not only been strategic, but has also held many valuable resources. ... Puerto Rico was dramatically affected by Spain’s colonization of it from the late 1400s till 1800s and then immediately affected as it became a territory under U. ...
In 1508 Ponce de León formerly colonized Puerto Rico on behalf of Spain. Under this colonization Spain looked to sustain a somewhat independent economy for Puerto Rico while still solely benefiting off of anything with value in Puerto Rico. After exhausting the initial resource of gold in the 1530s, the Spaniard cultivated sugar on Puerto Rico’s fertile grounds. Sugar would be one strong resource which would dramatically affect the Puerto Rican economy even well after the Spanish economy. ...
During the late 1500s-1600s, Spain was subject to many attacks primarily from the Dutch and English who also considered Puerto Rico as a strategic area with valuable assets. To prevent to prevent such attacks Spain adopted the flota which was a defense system allowing war ships accompanying merchant ships from Puerto Rico on there way to Seville. They also put contraband on trading with Puerto Rico, allowing it only to trade with on port in Spain in order to strengthen its control. These costly policies were a blow to the Puerto Rican economy enabling them to rely on illegal smuggling, something that always jeopardized Spain’s control over the colony (Jiménez de Wagenheim). ... As Spain lost control due to other various threats in Europe, the Puerto Rican born Creoles looked to gain political representation of Puerto Rico in Spain. During that time Puerto Rico was interested not in independence, but gaining representation in Spain’s Cortes, something in which they continued to loose and re-gain due to the changes and shifts in the Spanish monarchy. As the Creoles became more and more restless of the lack of rights due to absolute rule, more and more protestors came forward, like Ramon Betances and Segundo Ruiz Belvis, who promoted the establishment of basic liberties of the Puerto Rican people (Jiménez de Wagenheim). ... The victory was quick and although many Puerto Ricans assumed that either they would be granted statehood by the United States or they would have autonomy. ... debated on how the rule Puerto Rico because according to those holding power in the U. ... at time, Puerto Rico was not responsible enough to run their own country. The United States defined Puerto Rico as being not a “colony”, but some sort of an “unincorporated territory” protected under U. ... Shortly after, the Foraker Act of 1917 was passed granting Puerto Ricans American citizenship, the right to elect senators, established the Department of Labor and gave them the right to join an American army (Morales Carrión).
Part of the reason as to why Puerto Ricans were so welcomed into serving the American military was due to the fact that World War I was going on at the time. Through both wars not only did the United States establish military bases and other defense means in this strategic island and the Caribbean itself, but Puerto Rico as a whole supported the Americans in fighting these conflicts (Morales Carrión)
Despite certain aspects of the Foraker Act supported by many, it was not enough. The United States still had most of the control over the political representatives and policies in inflicted on Puerto Rico. ... Also, both Spain and the United States took advantage of the sugar plantations on the island that flourished many a huge profit through the exploitation of Puerto Ricans. Lastly, Puerto Rico was forced to integrate into both countries’ culture, language, and foreign.
Such implementations were life changing for the people of Puerto Rico and often caused much resentment. Despite there similarities though Spain and the United States dealt with Puerto Rico differently in some ways, largely due to the evolving circumstances in which both the mother country and Puerto Rico were experiencing at certain times.
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