Puerto Rico

“ Puerto Rico is only 100 miles in length and from fifty to sixty miles in breadth, and as square as a dry-goods box. East and west and north and south its coast lines run almost as regularly as if projected by compass. It is the delight of the sailorman, as its fertile soil is the joy of the agriculturist. ”

“ Puerto Rico, discovery of; first settlement, at Capárra; made a bishopric; name of Puerto Rico first used October, 1514; divided into two departments; capital transferred from Capárra to present location, San Juan; disease and pestilence; destructive storms; news of gold discoveries in Peru causes many settlers to leave; inhabitants try to leave the island for the Peru gold fields; devastated by French and Indians; the inhabitants turn to agriculture, 100; expedition sent against the French in Santa Cruz; English fleet, under the Earl of Estren, appears off San Juan ”

“ The transcendental change in the island's social and political conditions, inaugurated four years ago, made the writing of an English history of Puerto Rico necessary. The American officials who are called upon to guide the destinies and watch over the moral, material, and intellectual progress of the inhabitants of this new accession to the great Republic will be able to do so all the better when they have a knowledge of the people's historical antecedents. ”

“ If you are sick of the worry and fret and jar of contemporaneous life here at home, if you care for wide, sweet blue sky, eternal flowers, crystal fountains, and gypsy music, then there is no better place for you to go than to Puerto Rico. ”

“ It lies to the windward of Cuba, Santo Domingo, and Jamaica, and of the Gulf of Mexico and Bay of Honduras. It is contiguous to all the English and French Windward Islands, only a few hours distant from the former Danish islands Saint Thomas, Saint John, and Santa Cruz, and a few days' sail from the coast of Venezuela.
Puerto Rico is the fourth in size of the greater Antilles. Its first appearance to the eye of the stranger is striking and picturesque. Nature here offers herself to his contemplation clothed in the splendid vesture of tropical vegetation. ”

“ While the people of Puerto Rico were thus giving proofs of their loyalty to Spain, and sacrificing their lives and property to preserve their poverty-stricken island to the Spanish crown, the other colonies, rich and important, were breaking the bonds that united them to the mother country. ”

“ So much has been said about Puerto Rico that it is difficult to say anything new. All understand the nature of the island and are familiar with the fact that, under that name, we are proposing to govern not only Puerto Rico proper, but also a number of adjacent islands—Vieque, Culebra, Mona, etc.—that were ceded to us by the treaty with Spain. Likewise, all are familiar, in a general way, with the population of these islands; that is to say, all know that they number, in the aggregate, about one million people ”

“ Puerto Rico, in English, means Rich Harbor. But Puerto Rico is not rich in harbors. There are not more than six good harbors, but it has less than three hundred and fifty miles of coast line.
The surface of Puerto Rico is mountainous. A range of hills traverses the island from east to west. The hills are low and their sides are covered with vegetation. The hills are not rocky and barren, but are cultivated to their very tops. ”

“ CHAPTER XXIV GENERAL CONDITION OF THE ISLAND FROM 1815 TO 1833 That Ferdinand should, while engaged in cruel persecution of his best subjects in the Peninsula, think of dictating liberal laws for this island is an anomaly which can be explained only by its small political importance.
In August, 1815, there appeared a decree entitled "Regulations for promoting the population, commerce, industry, and agriculture of Puerto Rico." It embraced every object, and provided for all the various incidents that could instil life and vigor into an infant colony. ”

“ When our zealous missionaries have succeeded in leading them into the confines of other creeds, we shall have all the excitement we want in Puerto Rico, and the part of our army stationed there will have no lack of exercise.
Despite a common belief to the contrary, the color-line is drawn as rigidly in Puerto Rico as it is in Kentucky. The people having nothing but Castilian blood in their veins are as proud as Virtue; and, while politics and business see a certain mingling of skin-colors, the mixture ceases to exist across the threshold of home. ”

“ We consider as determining factors in our life our citizenship of the United States of America and our aspiration continually to enrich our democratic heritage in the individual and collective enjoyment of its rights and privileges; our loyalty to the principles of the Federal Constitution; the co-existence in Puerto Rico of the two great cultures of the American Hemisphere; our fervor for education; our faith in justice; our devotion to the courageous, industrious, and peaceful way of life ”

“ But Puerto Rico did not aspire to emancipation. It never had been a colony, there was no creole class, and the only indigenous population—the "jíbaros," the mixed descendants of Indians, negroes, and Spaniards—were too poor, too illiterate, too ignorant of everything concerning the outside world to look with anything but suspicion upon the invitations of the insurgents of Colombia and Venezuela to join them or imitate their example. ”

“ His Excellency Alexander O'Reilly, who came to the Antilles on a commission from Charles IV, in his report on Puerto Rico (1765) gives the following description of the condition of the inhabitants at that time:
" ... To form an idea of how these natives have lived and still live, it is enough to say that there are only two schools in the whole island; that outside of the capital and San German few know how to read; that they count time by changes in the Government, hurricanes, visits from bishops, arrivals of 'situados,' etc. They do not know what a league is. ”

“ It lies eastward of the other greater Antilles, Cuba, Haiti, and Jamaica, and although inferior even to the last of these islands in population and extent, it yields to none of them in fertility.
By its geographical position Puerto Rico is peculiarly adapted to become the center of an extensive commerce. ”

“ Porto Rico, or Puerto Rico, as it is sometimes called, has lately become of the first importance in the eyes of the world. To Americans it has assumed special interest, as it is now practically in the possession of the United States, and sooner or later will be represented by a new star in our beautiful flag, that flag which recently, by the magnificent exploits of our navy and army, has assumed a greater importance than ever among the standards of the universe. ”

“ No, we worked very diligently and fair in terms of reviewing all the options. And, again, it is not up to the task force; it's up to people of Puerto Rico and the Congress to decide what the future of Puerto Rico should be. ”

“ LOCATION, SIZE, SURFACE. If you will find a map of the West Indies in your atlas or geography, you will also find Puerto Rico. It is one of the four Greater Antilles Islands, and lies east of Haiti and farthest out in the Atlantic Ocean.
It is over four hundred miles from the east coast of Cuba, one thousand miles from Havana, and about one thousand four hundred and fifty miles from New York.
In size it is the smallest of the group. Its area is about three thousand five hundred and fifty square miles. Its average length is about ninety-five miles; its average breadth about thirty-five miles. ”

“ Puerto Rico is a vitally important part of our country and Puerto Ricans have made immeasurable contributions to the United States. As President of the United States, I will pay close attention to issues that have an impact on the well-being of the people of Puerto Rico. ”

“ Nor is it at all certain that the average inhabitant of Puerto Rico is worth coddling, protection, prosperity, "and the immunities and blessings" accorded him by his new rulers. A thick, stout cudgel or a bright, sharp axe will be more effective than honeyed words in helping him cheerfully to assimilate new ideas ”

“ Let me just say that I think it's important for the people of Puerto Rico and the Congress to decide consciously whether or not they want to remain as a territory, or to move towards a configuration that is a permanent one -- either statehood or independence. And I think it's important to make a conscience decision along those lines.
Now, again, we, as a task force, are not -- we are not taking sides on which way. And if Puerto Rico chooses to remain as a territory or a commonwealth, then more power to them; or if they choose the -- one of the two permanent options. ”

“ The Jerome fathers on their way to la Española, in 1516, touched at what they describe as "the port of Puerto Rico, which is in the island of San Juan de Boriquén," and the treasurer, Haro, wrote of them on January 21, 1518: " ... They have done nothing during the year, and the inhabitants are uncertain and fear changes. This is the principal cause of harm to the Indians. It is necessary to dispose what is to be done ... ”

“ The introduction of negroes into the island was to be perpetually free. Direct commerce with Spain and the other Spanish possessions was to be free for fifteen years, and after that period Puerto Rico was to be placed on the same footing with the other Spanish colonies. ”

“ To this considerable part of the population of Puerto Rico the name of "jíbaros" is applied; they are the descendants of the settlers who in the early days of the colonization of the island spread through the interior, and with the assistance of an Indian or negro slave or two cleared and cultivated a piece of land in some isolated locality, where they continued to live from day to day without troubling themselves about the future or about what passed in the rest of the universe. ”

“ The farmers we see at work have their oxen harnessed to rude plows by the horns. The ground is so rich it is not necessary to plow it very deep.
An acre of good land here will produce more vegetables and fruit than in most other countries.
Riding through the country we see plantations of coffee, sugar cane or tobacco, and also stock farms. Puerto Rico is fertile from the mountain tops to the sea. It is rich in pasture lands, shaded with groves of palm trees, and watered by hundreds of streams. ”

“ Q I just have one last issue I wanted to discuss with you guys. You very clearly say in the recommendation that it is the people of Puerto Rico -- and you reiterated that in this conference -- that it is the people of Puerto Rico that would have to make a choice as to status, right? ”

“ No orchestra is complete without it, and one can hear the scratching of this instrument almost any time, at any home in Puerto Rico.
Sunday is a day not of rest, but of merry making. During the early morning hours the Puerto Ricans go to church. After church, they hurry away to the cockpit or to the bull ring in the suburbs of the town.
Very early in the morning we see numbers of roosters staked out by short strings to pegs driven in the sidewalks. These are the game-cocks which furnish to the Puerto Rican his favorite amusement and opportunity for gambling. ”

“ From the beginning of the war many officers and privates, residents of Puerto Rico, enlisted to serve against the French, and large sums of money, considering the island's poverty, were subscribed among the inhabitants to aid in the defense of the mother country. ”

“ The substantial people of Puerto Rico know that it is immensely to their interest to cut loose from Spain, and be grafted on to the United States. The greater part of their trade is with this country, and Spain has been bleeding them for the privilege of carrying it on. Now they can send their coffee, sugar, tobacco, tropical fruits, etc., directly to this market, get American prices for them, and buy American goods in return at regular American prices. ”

“ PUERTO RICO. Puerto Rico, the smaller of the two islands which Spain held in the West Indies, was discovered by Columbus in 1493 and occupied by soldiers under Ponce de Leon early in the sixteenth century. It lies well outside the Caribbean sea, in the open Atlantic, and for this reason it is not at all affected climatically, as Cuba is, by proximity to the continent. Its climate is determined mostly by the ocean, whose breezes sweep constantly over the entire island, tempering deliciously the tropical heat, of the sun. ”

“ At no period of its history has Porto Rico enjoyed great prosperity. Besides the causes already indicated the evil character of many of the white settlers conspired to retard its development. In 1515 its European population may have been 400. Until 1782 the island was divided into the eastern district of Puerto Rico and the western one of San Germán. In 1513 the arrival of its first bishop, who later also exercised the function of general inquisitor, added one more to the discordant elements ruling the island. ”

“ There’s no question this is a trying time for folks in Puerto Rico. They’ve seen too many jobs lost and too many neighbors leave in search of better opportunity elsewhere. It’s clear that it’s time for Puerto Rico to chart a new course and make a fresh start. ”

“ Puerto Rico includes the main island, where 99.7 percent of the population (1990 census) lives on approximately 97.3 percent of the land, and numerous small islands and cays (see Figure 7-8) . The main island is about 100 miles long by 35 miles wide. Most of the other islands are uninhabited except for the largest ones, Culebra and Vieques, which lie between the main island and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The capital, the municipio of San Juan, was home to 12.4 percent of Puerto Rico’s inhabitants in 1990. ”