The Impact Of The Puerto Rican Migration

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The Puerto Rican Migration
The island of Puerto Rico has not been free from any country since 1493 when Christopher Columbus first discovered it. Because of his discovery, Puerto Rico belonged to Spain for more than 400 years. Eventually there was the Spanish-American War, where the United States won over countries like Cuba, the Philippines, Guam and Puerto Rico. When Spain signed the Treaty of Paris in 1898, Puerto Rico became part of the United States of America. This document states that must Spain relinquish all ownership of Puerto Rico and the other Spanish colonies mentioned before. After this was settled, Puerto Rico had a military government for two years. In the year 1900 the United States implemented The Foraker’s Act. This law …show more content…

One of the biggest impact was to the economy. When they were a Spanish colony they had the option to export their goods to other countries in the Caribbean and in Europe. According to Robert C McGreevery, one of the biggest export was coffee, and it was sold more expensive in Europe than in the Caribbean while Puerto Rico was still a Spanish colony. Apparently, many Europeans would prefer Puerto Rican coffee because of its “strong and distinctive flavor” (McGreevey 2012). With the change from a Spanish colony to a United States territory, there were laws stating that Puerto Rico could only export goods to the United States of America, and from there it could be then exported somewhere else. Thus, Puerto Ricans started losing their jobs as agricultures since it was too expensive to export goods from the island. The goods were also not selling at the same price and rate because it had competition selling at lower …show more content…

The State decided to create “Operacion Manos a la obra” also known as Operation Bootstrap in 1947, as a result of the decline in agricultural work in Puerto Rico. Operation Bootstrap was created to industrialize the island and according to Julio C. Pol, this plan was great for the economic growth of the island. This plan had some financial incentives to help restore the infrastructure and labor. Operation Bootstrap exempt US companies from paying taxes, that way they would bring their companies in to Puerto Rico and would create more employment opportunities. “In 1949, the United States Department of Commerce estimated that the 1,998 manufacturing establishments in Puerto Rico employed 55,000 Puerto Ricans,” as stated by Juan Ruiz Toro. This plan was benefiting both parties because Puerto Ricans gained jobs, and the industries would not have to pay taxes and could pay less for labor. By 1967, Operation Bootstrap was a success according to Ruiz because it converted Puerto Rico from an agricultural economy to an industrial one. This also brought better health care and education to the island. It is said that this was one of the fastest economic expansions in

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