Puerto Rico was one of Spain’s last colonies in the New World, but native Puerto Ricans no longer saw themselves as Spanish. The island’s people and culture were a mix of native Taino, African, and Spanish influences. Most Puerto Ricans began the 19th century as farmers, but change was coming. Commercial agriculture would turn farmers into laborers, war would leave the country a U.S. territory, and a devastating hurricane would start an exodus that transplanted Puerto Ricans from New York City to Hawaii.
1750–1800 An Ocean of Change
In the middle of the 18th century, Puerto Rico had few towns, few roads, and thick forests that could make taking a boat from one side of the island to the other easier than traveling overland. The culture—and many of the residents—reflected a mix of native Taino, African, and Spanish ancestry, and raising livestock, producing sugar, and smuggling were vital to the economy. But this was about to change. Puerto Rico’s population tripled. Coffee became an important export crop. Spain eased trade laws, and settlements increased from 5 in 1700 to almost 40. The century ended with Puerto Ricans repelling a British invasion in 1797.
1800–1825 Spain’s “Rich Port”
Puerto Rico entered the 19th century as one of the last Spanish colonies in the New World. Family was the essential social unit, and the concept of respeto, which includes obedience and courtesy, was instilled from birth. Owners of large landholdings called hatos began to establish a landed, wealthier class, but the classic image of the typical Puerto Rican is the jibaro. The hard-working, independent jibaro lived in the mountains of the interior and made a living by working a small farm and black-market trading.
1825–1850 An Island Looks Abroad
Subsistence farming was giving way to cash crops including sugarcane, coffee, and tobacco. Puerto Ricans continued moving inland and eastward, perhaps because coffee grew well in the island’s mountainous interior. Puerto Rico also had growing cities: Moca was famous for its lace, and Ponce was a thriving port for both legal and black-market goods. While the island had a small professional class, most Puerto Ricans remained poor farmers, laborers, or artisans. After Spain relaxed trade restrictions, Puerto Rico began developing strong economic bonds with the United States.
1850–1875 Cry Freedom
At mid-century, almost half the land under cultivation was for export crops instead of food for families. Calls for independence from Spain were gaining traction, and in 1868 rebels staged a short-lived armed uprising known as Grito de Lares, or the cry of the Lares. New political parties and labor movements formed in response to revolutionary fervor. Bowing to this pressure, the Spanish Crown finally abolished slavery in 1873. Workers rolling cigars in factories were among the most politically active because they listened to lectures and read everything from newspapers to poetry to pass the time. Even dancing was breaking free as the popular Puerto Rican Danza evolved.
1875–1900 Harsh Winds of Change
In the final decades of the 19th century, coffee displaced sugar as the island’s chief export. Many workers lived on coffee estates, large, self-contained communities that housed both permanent and migrant workers, and sharecroppers. Spain finally granted the island self-rule in late 1897, but it became a U.S. territory in 1898 after the Spanish-American war. The San Ciriaco hurricane followed on the heels of U.S. occupation, battering the coffee plantations, destroying crops, and leaving a quarter of the population homeless. Unfortunately, as the century ended, most Puerto Ricans remained poor, landless, and illiterate, with mortality rates on the rise.
1900–1925 Trading One Island for Another
Economic hardship and massive destruction following 1899’s San Ciriaco hurricane led to many Puerto Ricans leaving their nation. In 1900 sugarcane planters recruited thousands of Puerto Ricans to move to Hawaii, where they lived in segregated camps and faced both cultural differences and racist behavior. Others headed for New York. Early migrants to New York tended to come from urban areas, though in Puerto Rico, the population remained overwhelmingly rural. However, life expectancy was on the rise and literacy rates, though still low, were improving as schools were built at a record pace.
1925–1950 Better Days Ahead
Sugar was the most important industry on the island, employing a quarter of the labor force. Life expectancy continued to rise, and so did literacy. By 1930, more than half the population could read and write. Although economic opportunities seemed better on the mainland, most Puerto Ricans stayed in their country to weather the depression. More Puerto Ricans left the U.S. than entered in the early 1930s, but migration skyrocketed in the years following World War II. New York City remained the favorite destination, and a large community settled in a part of East Harlem called El Barrio.
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