The History of Puerto Rico

R.A. Van Middeldyk
History of Puerto Rico, by R.A.
Van Middeldyk

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Title: The History of Puerto Rico From the Spanish Discovery to the
American Occupation
Author: R.A. Van Middeldyk
Release Date: May 5, 2004 [EBook #12272]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
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HISTORY OF PUERTO RICO ***

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The Expansion of the Republic Series.

THE HISTORY OF PUERTO RICO

FROM THE SPANISH DISCOVERY TO THE AMERICAN
OCCUPATION

BY R.A. VAN MIDDELDYK

EDITED BY MARTIN G. BRUMBAUGH, PH.D., LL.D.
PROFESSOR OF PEDAGOGY, UNIVERSITY OF
PENNSYLVANIA AND FIRST COMMISSIONER OF EDUCATION
FOR PUERTO RICO

COPYRIGHT, 1903
[Illustration: Columbus statue, San Juan.]

EDITOR'S PREFACE
The latest permanent possession of the United States is also the oldest
in point of European occupation. The island of Puerto Rico was
discovered by Columbus in 1493. It was occupied by the United States
Army at Guanica July 25, 1898. Spain formally evacuated the island
October 18, 1898, and military government was established until
Congress made provision for its control. By act of Congress, approved
April 12, 1900, the military control terminated and civil government
was formally instituted May 1,1900.
Puerto Rico has an interesting history. Its four centuries under Spanish
control is a record of unusual and remarkable events. This record is
unknown to the American people. It has never been written
satisfactorily in the Spanish language, and not at all in the English

language. The author of this volume is the first to give to the reader of
English a record of Spanish rule in this "pearl of the Antilles." Mr. Van
Middeldyk is the librarian of the Free Public Library of San Juan, an
institution created under American civil control. He has had access to
all data obtainable in the island, and has faithfully and conscientiously
woven this data into a connected narrative, thus giving the reader a
view of the social and institutional life of the island for four hundred
years.
The author has endeavored to portray salient characteristics of the life
on the island, to describe the various acts of the reigning government,
to point out the evils of colonial rule, and to figure the general
historical and geographical conditions in a manner that enables the
reader to form a fairly accurate judgment of the past and present state
of Puerto Rico.
No attempt has been made to speculate upon the setting of this record
in the larger record of Spanish life. That is a work for the future. But
enough history of Spain and in general of continental Europe is given
to render intelligible the various and varied governmental activities
exercised by Spain in the island. There is, no doubt, much omitted that
future research may reveal, and yet it is just to state that the record is
fairly continuous, and that no salient factors in the island's history have
been overlooked.
The people of Puerto Rico were loyal and submissive to their parent
government. No record of revolts and excessive rioting is recorded. The
island has been continuously profitable to Spain. With even ordinarily
fair administration of government the people have been self-supporting,
and in many cases have rendered substantial aid to other Spanish
possessions. Her native life--the Boriquén Indians--rapidly became
extinct, due to the "gold fever" and the intermarriage of races. The peon
class has always been a faithful laboring class in the coffee, sugar, and
tobacco estates, and the slave element was never large. A few
landowners and the professional classes dominate the island's life.
There is no middle class. There is an utter absence of the legitimate
fruits of democratic institutions. The poor are in every way objects of

pity and of sympathy. They are the hope of the island. By education,
widely diffused, a great unrest will ensue, and from this unrest will
come the social, moral, and civic uplift of the people.
These people do not suffer from the lack of civilization. They suffer
from the kind of civilization they have endured. The life of the people
is static. Her institutions and customs are so set upon them that one is
most impressed with the absence of legitimate activities. The people
are stoically content. Such, at least, was the condition in 1898. Under
the military government of the United States much was done to prepare
the way for future advance. Its weakness was due to its effectiveness. It
did for the people what they
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