Puerto Rico-Historia

The history of Puerto Rico began with the settlement of the archipelago of Puerto Rico by the Ortoiroid people between 3,000 and 2,000 BC. Other tribes, such as the Saladoid and Arawak Native Puerto Ricans, populated the island between 430 BC and 1000 AD. At the time of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World in 1493, the dominant indigenous culture was that of the Taínos. The Taíno people's numbers went dangerously low during the later half of the 16th century because of new infectious diseases carried by Europeans, exploitation by Spanish settlers, and warfare. Located in the northeastern Caribbean, Puerto Rico formed a key part of the Spanish Empire from the early years of the exploration, conquest and colonization of the New World. The island was a major military post during many wars between Spain and other European powers for control of the region in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries. In 1593, Portuguese soldiers, sent from Lisbon by order of Phillip II, composed the first garrison of the San Felipe del Morro fortress in Puerto Rico. Some brought their wives, while others married Puerto Rican women, and today there are many Puerto Rican families with Portuguese last names. The smallest of the Greater Antilles, Puerto Rico was a stepping-stone in the passage from Europe to Cuba, Mexico, Central America, and the northern territories of South America. Throughout most of the 19th century until the conclusion of the Spanish-American War, Puerto Rico and Cuba were the last two Spanish colonies in the New World; they served as Spain's final outposts in a strategy to regain control of the American continents. Realizing that it was in danger of losing its two remaining Caribbean territories, the Spanish Crown revived the Royal Decree of Graces of 1815. The decree was printed in Spanish, English and French in order to attract Europeans, with the hope that the independence movements would lose their popularity and strength with the arrival of new settlers. Free land was offered to those who wanted to populate the islands on the condition that they swear their loyalty to the Spanish Crown and allegiance to the Roman Catholic Church. In 1898, during the Spanish-American War, Puerto Rico was invaded and subsequently became a possession of the United States. The first years of the 20th century were marked by the struggle to obtain greater democratic rights from the United States. The Foraker Act of 1900, which established a civil government, and the Jones Act of 1917, which made Puerto Ricans U.S. citizens, paved the way for the drafting of Puerto Rico's Constitution and its approval by Congress and Puerto Rican voters in 1952. However, the political status of Puerto Rico, a Commonwealth controlled by the United States, remains an anomaly.

Puerto Rico es un de las islas que pertenece a las Antillas Mayores. Se localiza entre el mar Caribe y el océano Atlántico, al este de la República Dominicana y al oeste de las Islas Vírgenes Estadounidenses. La \"isla grande\" es de forma casi rectangular, con una superficie de alrededor de 3435 millas cuadradas (cerca de 9000 kilómetros cuadrados). A su geografía se le agregan las islas-municipio Vieques y Culebra, así como las islas de Mona, Desecheo y Caja de Muertos. Puerto Rico adquirió extremada importancia en el esquema de navegación que se inició a finales del siglo XV, entre Europa, África y América, gracias a las corrientes oceánicas formadas por la corriente ecuatorial del norte, la corriente del Golfo, la del Atlántico Norte y la de las Islas Canarias. Las rutas comerciales obligaban a los barcos a llegar a América siempre a través del arco de las Antillas menores, específicamente muy cerca de la Dominica. En ese contexto geopolítico, Puerto Rico fue siempre la primera isla de las Antillas Mayores en el paso de las flotas hacia puertos caribeños de extrema importancia económica como lo fueron Cartagena de Indias (actual Colombia), Veracruz (actual México), Portobelo o Nombre de Dios (actual Panamá). Fue así que, como parte del plan integral de defensa del Caribe español, la isla fue considerada \"la llave de las Indias.\" Este detalle marcaría su destino como colonia del imperio español entre los siglos XVI al XIX. Siglos más tarde, finalizando el XIX, Estados Unidos, tras la guerra Hispano-Estadounidense, anexó la Isla como parte de los acuerdos con España contenidos en el Tratado de París de diciembre de 1898. Sin embargo, la historia de Puerto Rico no comenzó en 1508 con la conquista y colonización por parte del entonces incipiente imperio Español. La historia de las Antillas en general, se remonta al sexto milenio de la era antes de Cristo, momento en que arribaron a sus costas sus primeros pobladores. Los especialistas aseguran que el punto de partida de estos migrantes primarios se debe ubicar en América del Sur (nordeste de Venezuela y Colombia), América del Norte (península de la Florida) y, posiblemente, en América Central (península de Yucatán). En esa historia antillana prehispánica Puerto Rico tuvo un lugar prominente y protagónico.