The Impact of American Colonial Rule on Puerto Rican Society

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The Impact of American Colonial Rule on Puerto Rican Society

In 1982 a journalist by the name of Luis Lòpez Nieves published an article in La Claridad, a well-respected pro-independence news weekly in Puerto Rico. The article revealed new information concerning the history of the American invasion of Puerto Rico. According to Nieves the U.S. did not raid the island on July 25, 1898, rather a few days earlier in a town called Seva. Apparently in this town the people did not only resist the Americans but defeated the Americans by forcing them back to sea, where they then decided to reenter the island through Guanica on July 25, 1898. Once the U.S. gained control of the island the military returned to the town of Seva with the intentions of erasing its existence forever.

The majority of the people who read this article believed it was true, despite continual efforts by Puerto Rican historians to tell everyone that the article was a hoax. In fact, people were so affected by this story that thousands protested the American government, calling them murderers. Many also went to the town in Puerto Rico where Nieves claimed the town of Seva was massacred in order to give their respect to those that supposedly died in the resistance.

What was it that caused thousands of Puerto Ricans to blindly embrace this fictional story of Puerto Rican resistance? The desire to have the ability to defend their honor and say, "We have resisted the Americans," was most likely a major reason for the strong belief in Nieves’ story. Throughout the island’s history, its people have been labeled as docile creatures. This symbol has developed because they have never been able to unite in order to fight for their independence, making it seems as if they are a submissive people. Numerous factors such as having misleading ideas concerning U.S. intentions toward the island and class divisions between the Puerto Ricans have contributed to their extensive history as a colony.

When Puerto Ricans found out that the Americans were taking control of Puerto Rico, many helped them fight off the Spaniards. They were under the impression that the land of the free was coming to liberate the island of its oppressors. As Reverend Henry Carroll reported to President McKinley in 1898 on the conditions of the island, "They expect under American sovereignty that the wrongs of centuries will be righted…(Trìas-Monge 36).

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