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Essay On Puerto Rico

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In 1493 Christopher Columbus found Puerto Rico and claimed it for Spain. While under the Spanish rule Puerto Rico and Cuba were the only two colonies that stayed loyal to Spain by not going against them to gain their independence. The Spanish imported slaves to Puerto Rico in 1517. The slaves were forced to work in the mines and on the field growing ginger and sugar. Ginger and Sugar were raw material that Puerto Rico was best known for. During the Spanish-American war Cuba tried to rebel against Spain to gain their independence. The Cuban revolt failed but the Cubans forced Spain to abolish slavery in 1886. In 1896 President McKinley had the U.S.S. Marine to go to Cuba and get American citizens from there who are in danger. The Marine ship blew up on February …show more content…

Since they were citizens of the US it wasn’t hard to get into the US compared other immigrants coming. It took awhile for them to start migrating to the US because they couldn't afford the long trip. It wasn’t until around 1945 when Puerto Ricans went to urban areas, mainly New York, to find jobs since back at the island their economy was starting to go down. “According to Ronald Larsen, author of The Puerto Ricans in America, many of the jobs were in New York City’s garment district. The city also provided the sort of low-skilled service industry jobs that non-English speakers needed to make a living on the mainland.” (Green 4). For many years, even today, poverty has been a big issue for Puerto Ricans. “ The U.S census reported that about 25% of Puerto Ricans living in the United States and about 85% living in Puerto Rico are living in poverty.” (Green 7). There was also an increase of violence, drugs, and over crowding. More and more islanders started coming to New York and started staying

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