OF THE PUERTO RICAN PEOPLE: A CARTOGRAPHY (PART I)
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November 19,,
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Iaino, Spanish, and African Roots
c. 2000 BC-1898
EARLY 1500s -1873
c. 2000 BC
Arawak/Tafno migrations from North and South America to the
Caribbean islands. The Tafno period begins in Puerto Rico
around the year 1200 AD, almost three centuries before Christopher Columbus' arrival to the island (1493) and the beginning of Spanish colonization ( 1508).
NOVEMBER 19 1493
With the financial support of the Spanish Crown, Christopher
Columbus arrives in Puerto Rico during his second voyage to
the New World.
Hispanicized black (ladinos) of Moorish descent were expelled
from Spain and brought to Puerto Rico by the Spaniards in the
early 1500s. Large numbers of enslaved black Africans were
introduced to the island after 1519, mostly from several West
African tribal regions. With the rapid decline of the Tafno indigenous population due to the violence of conquest, forced
labor, and illnesses, by 1530 over half of the island's total
population was of African origin. Three centuries later, thousands of additional slaves were brought to Puerto Rico
(between 1815-1845) to work in the expanding agricultural
economy. Slavery was not abolished until 1873.
1519-1540s
The conquest and colonization of Puerto Rico officially begins
under the command of Juan Ponce de Leon.
A small number of colonists from Puerto Rico migrate to
Mexico (starting in 1519) and Peru (starting in 1534), after
the Spanish Conquest of these two New World territories.
1765- EARLY 1800s
The Spanish Crown introduces reforms aimed at increasing
Puerto Rico's population and promoting economic development. It encourages immigration primarily from various regions
of Spain and there is also an increase in the black enslaved
labor to support the expansion of agricultural production.
1791-1804
A small number of French colonists left Haiti as a result of
slave rebellions against the colonial regime and the island's
declaration of independence from France in 1804. Some
come to Puerto Rico.
1810-1824
Spanish colonists and royalist supporters of the colonial
regime came to Puerto Rico from Venezuela and a few other
Spanish colonies in the Americas.
Poster Content by Edna Acosta-Belen
The Real Cedula de Gracias [Royal Decree of Graces] of 1815,
opens up trade with other countries besides Spain. New immigrants come to the island from over a dozen other countriesFrance, Corsica, Italy, Germany, Great Britain, Ireland, Scotland,
Holland, and the United States among them. They were
required to be Catholic and pledge their loyalty to Spain.
Strong commercial relations developed between Puerto Rico
and the United States in subsequent decades.
1860s- 1880
Small numbers of black contract workers from the British Caribbean are brought to Puerto Rico, along with enslaved black
Africans (until 1873), to increase the labor pool forthe numerous sugar mills.
Pro-independence political emigres (also known as separatists) were forced by Spanish colonial authorities to leave
Puerto Rico. Some settled primarily in New York City, but also in
Philadelphia and New Orleans; and other cities and countries
in Europe, Latin America, and the Caribbean.
Poster Series Design by Jorge Fish Rodriguez
Poster Content: Th e Puerto Rican Heritage Poste r Series was deve loped by Dr. Edna Acosta-Belen , Distinguished Professor in the Depa rtm ents of Lati n American, Caribbean, and U.S. Latino Studies (LACS) and Women's Studies at the University at Albany, SUNY.
Acknowledgments: We want to acknowledge the valuable assistance of the Centro Li brary and Archives and Centro Publications staff; of doctora l student Jacqueline Hayes at the Center for Liltino, Liltin American, and Caribbean Studies (CELAC) and Dr. Hui-Sh ien Tsao at the Center for Social and Demographic Analysis (CSDA), University at Albany, SUNY; and of Professors Vi rginia sanchez Korrol at Brooklyn Col lege, Edwin Meliindez and Edgardo Melendez at Hunter Col lege,
Carlos Rodriguez Fraticel li at the University of Puerto Rico-Rio Pied ras, and Christi ne E. Bose at the University at Albany, SU NY.
Bibliography: Edna Acosta -Belen and Carlos E. Santiago, Puerto Ricans in the United States: A Contemporary Portrait (Bou lder, CO: Lynne Rienner Pub lishers, 2006); cesar Ayala and Rafael Bernabe, Puerto Ricans in the American Century (Chapel Hi ll: University of North Carolina Press, 2007); Mario R. Cancel and Hector R. Feliciano, Puerto Rico: Su transformaci6n en e/ tiempo (San Juan: Editorial Cordillera, 2008); Centro History Task Force, Labor Migration Under Capitalism:
The Puerto Rican Experience (New York: Monthly Review Press, 1980); Francisco Moscoso and Uzette Cabrera, His tori a de Puerto Rico (Guaynabo, PR : Editoria l Santil lana, 2008); Fernando Pic6, A History of Puerto Rico: A Panorama of Its People (Princeton, NJ: Marcus Wiener, 2006); Virginia sanchez Korrol, From Colonia to Community: The History of Puerto Ricans in New York City (Berkeley: University of Ca lifornia Press, 1986. First edition, 1983); Francisco Scarano, Puerto Rico:
Cinco siglos de historia (San Juan: McGraw- Hill, 1993 ); and Blanca G. Silvestri ni, y Maria Do lores Luque de sanchez, Historia de Puerto Rico: Trayectoria de un pueblo (San Juan: Cultura l Puertorriquefia, 198 7) .
Note: lhe contemporary names of African nations used in th is map provide a rough approximation of the geograph ic origin of a large portion of the millions of enslaved black Africans from different tribes and regions brought to the Caribbean through the slave trade.
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