Group Four: Political Transformations And The Populatoin 1765-1823

1. Group Four: Political Transformations And The Populatoin1765-1823

2. The Atlantic revolution • Population increase: • population increased between 1730 and 1780, this growth gave agriculture: production, manufacturing and trade. • Agriculture was intensified in order to feed, clothe, shoe, and house growing populations of Europe and America. • Higher demand for tropical products. • Increase in slave trade with the west coast of Africa. • Increase in production in textile workshops in England, Netherlands, and France. • Direct and Indirect taxation: • Was declared by the French and English government on to the citizens because they could not afford the wars that where caused by the competition of markets. • Many planters, merchants and professionals wanted no part in housing British soldiers, these arguments were carried into debates between the British Parliament and the colonial assemblies. • American war of Independence. • Treaty of Paris- Independence of the 13 colonies. • Only given to them because of the low level of support for the war in England.

3. The Atlantic Revolution continued.. • France invested heavily in the American War of Independence. • Economic recession was added to the public debt but the aristocracy was opposed to giving a greater amount of the direct taxation. • The taking of Bastille • People angered by the higher prices for food and the daily political discussions took the principal fort in the city named Bastille. • In 1792 monarchy in France was abolished • Revolutionary ideas were gaining acceptance in some circles of government officials, small tradesmen, and artisans. • In saint Dominique the same revolutionary ideology spurred the resistance to slavery. • French revolution inspired the nationalist sentiments in Germany, Italy, and Poland.

4. The Spanish State in Puerto Rico • By the second half of the eighteen century the question was: How to make Puerto Rico more profitable for the Spanish Crown? • People such as Alejandro O’Reilly, Miguel de Muesas, Inigo Abad, and James O’Dally set up many different formulas for liberalizing trade and land tenure, importing slaves, and promoting agriculture to answer that question. • All of these options assumed that the solution would be handed from the Council of the Indies. • Puerto Rican history has suffered from a tendency to interpret the island’s subsequent development in those same terms.

5. The Spanish State in Puerto Rico • There was little coinage (money) in circulation leaving the island on the slightest pretext. -- To facilitate trade, the government had to grasp to any solution. Including the issue of vouchers. • The cabildos of San Juan and San German attended to the regulation of urban existence and reclaimed their former right to supervise the rural areas. • The Council members meet on Mondays in which they expressed their opinions.

6. The State in the Atlantic Vortex, 1797-1823 The Revolutionary Era upset the political institutions in Puerto Rico. - The Treaty of Basel - Haitian occupation - British capture of Trinidad The British attack - The Spanish regime threatened the British government - Lightning attacks - General Ralph Abercromby and admiral Henry Harvey attack Trinidad successfully - Puerto Rico prepares its defense - British could not enter the bay La Punta de Cangrejos - British landing was interfered - Francisco de la Cuerda’s vacation home became Abercromby’s - Destroyed bridge at Martin Pena

7. The State in the Atlantic Vortex, 1797-1823 Continued… The militias entered San Juan - Took part in the defense against the British - Abercromby surrendered and his word are: “It appearing, therefore, that no act of vigour on our part, nor that any combined operation between the sea and the land service could in any manner avail, I determine to withdraw.” - April 30th the invaders leave Puerto Rico’s victory - suffered 200 dead, wounded, and prisoners - British withdrawal - San Juan obtained title of “most noble and most loyal” What if Abercromby did not surrender, would San Juan obtain its titile?

8. Spain Occupied French Revolution -French troops occupied Spain -Between 1792 and 1815 war with European powers -France survives -System of compulsory military service -Payed for the loss of freedom and rights Napoleon Bonaparte -Rose to prominence during the Revolutionary War -Crowned himself emperor (1803) -Persuaded renouncement of crown in favor of Joseph Bonaparte, his older brother -Napoleon’s troops occupied Spain War Breaks Out (1808) -Started in Madrid spread to all Spain -A Junta was issued -Toribio Montes announces that Puerto Rico would join Spain against France -French did not fight back Critical Question What if Toribio Montes never announced that Puerto Rico would join Spain against France, would the French have fought back?

9. Spain Occupied Continued… Cabildos of San Juan -Wrote instructions: -Free trade -More workers for landowners -Better agriculture Squatters -Sanjuaneros wanted squatters to work for them -Coamenos wanted to give the squatters land Salvador Melendez -Puerto Rico’s governor -Got rid of Cabildo of San Juan -prevented priests from having contact with people in Caracas -Exiled some from the island -Incarcerated scenarists in El Morro -Took away money used to support refugees from Venezuela The old government of San Juan de Cabildo did not want to communicate with the new political order.

10. Cedula de Gracias • Ferdinand VII • Napoleon forced out • Constitution of Cadiz Cedula de Gracias: • Granted in 1815 by Spain • New economic rights to Cuba and Puerto Rico

11. Second Constitutional Period Economic Recession: • Shortage of credit and commerce • Economic problems led to Second Constitutional Period • New government and laws

12. Second Constitutional Period 1822 1823 1826 • Governor De la Torre uses combined civil and military powers • Crown loses American dominance except Cuba and Puerto Rico • 2-Stem Government • Francisco Gonzalez de Linares and Miguel de la Torre

13. Overview of Chapter 9 • Puerto Rico’s population rapidly increased between 1765 and 1823. • Greater population growth had to do with higher birthrates and mortality rates, while working in harsh conditions. • On the other hand the immigrants both voluntarily and were forced to take part in the booming population.

14. Forced and Voluntary Immigrants • People from areas such as Africa, Europe, and America came to live in Puerto Rico for various different reasons between 1765 and 1823. • Some came as slaves, convicts, and refugees while others came voluntarily due to difficult personal circumstances and their attraction to Puerto Rico. • Some of the immigrants died from diseases and tropical fevers after arrival while others were healthy enough to leave a mark in the society of Puerto Rico.

15. The Convicts • The convicts were part of the thousands of people who were forced to move to Puerto Rico • Came from Spain & Spanish America • Between 1763 and 1783 they performed the hard labor that turned San Juan into a indestructible fortress • In 1774 the crown decided to settle on the Island the convicts who had already served their sentences instead of returning them to Spain • One of the problems with these former prisoners who could not return to Spain is that they become semi nomadic squatters or smugglers

16. The Irish • Not as numerous as the convicts, they left the English Caribbean colonies where they had been taken and indentured servants for about 6-7 years or to serve sentences for political activities • They formed a circle of Hacendados and merchants and were responsible for the sugar boom in areas of Rio Piedras and Guaynabo • They took root in Puerto Rico and they are an important part of Puerto Rican Society • Surnames creolized as Solivan (Sullivan), Morfi (Murphy), Clas (Class)

17. The Africans • The Africans were the most numerous and significant people that arrived in Puerto Rico • Many stayed and intermarried with Spaniards and Amerindians • Did not come from the Coastal areas of West Africa but from the interior • Estimated fifteen thousand came arrived between 1774 and 1807 many of which were children and adolescents • Enormous influence came from the Minas, Lucumis, Wolofs, Angolans, Carabalis and others

18. French and Dominicans • Haitian revolution draws many French and Dominicans to flee Santo Domingo to west part of PR. • This helps development of western part of island greatly, due to the expertise of French coffee growers and also the many skilled Dominican professionals ( doctors, teachers, and officials.) They blended well into the western island society.

19. Napoleanic Post War Era • Many soldiers in Europe who had finish serving in the war were looking for a new beginning. • Immigrants were drawn to PR from France, the U.K., the Netherlands, Germany and Italy. • Not all migration expected. ( people who wanted to invest in economy and who accepted the laws of the island were accepted.)

20. Settlement of Interior • Like most places that are colonized we see that in PR that while the city is open to immigration, this causes people to move inland I search of better agricultural opportunity. • 1765- 1824 we see rises in population of inland settlements. (Utuado, Pepino, Caguas, Las piedras.)

21. Settlement of Interior, continued • The distribution of the former hatos and the distribution of untitled land made large quantities of cheap land available. • In 1819, Junta de TerrenosBaldios began granting plots and titles for uncultivated lands. • However, a lot of spontaneous squatting where families would find a piece of land. Then they would clear it burn it and begin to raise cattle or chickens.

22. Important Points • It is important to understand the impact Africans had on the island of PR. They played a key role in economic growth. • It is important to understand the diversity of the island pertaining to the different groups that migrated to the island at this point in history.