How Did Puerto Rico Influence Spanish Culture

Puerto Rico is an archipelago that is currently a territory of the United States of America with its official name being, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico; however, it is often referred to by Puerto Ricans as Borinquen, a term derived from the name given to the island by its original Taíno natives, Borikén. The Taíno natives were the last group of people to live on the island unphased by the outside world and are also the most well known pre-columbian settlement of Borinquen due to the greater number of archaeological remains and Spanish documents from the era; the period the Taíno people inhabited the island is currently known as the Taíno phase (Picó 12).

Puerto Rico, whose word meaning is “rich port” in Spanish, is a beautiful Island located in the middle of the Caribbean. Its strategic location made it a must have territory to the Spaniards who colonized it over four hundred years before the United States took a special interest. It all started in the year 1898, with the Treaty of Paris Puerto Rico now is property of the United States. After centuries of being led by Sevilla and Madrid, Puerto Rico was now forced to look upon Washington. The series of events leading the Spanish-American War changed Puerto Rico permanently. From changing the Island’s name from Porto Rico to Puerto Rico to Americanizing the Puerto Rican people in all ways possible, the acquisition of Puerto Rico from the United States had numerous economic, social and political impacts.

At the beginning the Spanish thought that the US would invade Cuba. But they were wrong, Because the first battle to ever happen took place in a Spanish colony on the other side of the world. On the Philippines. The second war happened in the Caribbeans, after that the Americans troops invaded Puerto Rico on July 25. In 1898 both the United States and Spain met in Paris to agree on a treaty. While talking Spain freed Cuba and turned over the islands of Guam in the Pacific and Puerto Rico in the West Indies to the United States. Spain also sold the Philippines to the US for $20 million. The treaty of Paris is what ended the Spanish American

Immigration to the United States has been occurring for centuries now. For years people from all different parts of the globe have dreamed of living in the United States, which is known to many foreigners as the land of opportunity. There are so many ethnic groups that exist in the United States that it has become known as the melting pot of the world. The Puerto Rican's migration to the United States was not an easy process. The Puerto Ricans faced discrimination in many walks of life in the USA. They were taken advantage of because they were naive and vulnerable to this new life. Eventually, in the twentieth century, the Puerto Ricans realized that they could stand

Puerto Rico and many other countries have been influenced by a variety of cultures. These countries

Puerto Rico is one of the twenty-eight Caribbean island nations and is slightly smaller than the state of Connecticut. Its climate is tropical, rainy, and warm. The population of the island is 3,994,259 and its capital is San Juan (Atienza, Cardona). According to the 2008 U.S. Census, America is home to over 4 million Puerto Ricans, 25 percent of them living in New York with an estimated 900,000 living in New York City (Kittler, Sucher, Nelms 263). Since there is such a large amount of Puerto Ricans living within New York, their food and culture have made an impact on the cuisine of these highly populous cities. There are many restaurants in New York City along with other major cities that include traditional Puerto Rican foods which will be discussed throughout the paper. Puerto Rican culture is extremely interesting and worth reading about!

American victory in the Spanish-American War brought Cuba, the Philippines and Puerto Rico into the American orbit. The war proved very popular with the American public. It was short and the America easily triumphed. What to do with the newly acquired territories proved controversial. The war turned America into and international imperial power. In 1900 a group started to fight what they perceived as the anti-American values of imperialism. The Anti-Imperialist League believed that imperialism went against the republican values of the American Revolution. They had no problem with expansion so long as the rights of the governed remained protected. Their major problem was how the former Spanish colonies became part of America. The population

"Puerto Rico...is a people with a history, with its own idiosyncrasy....I don't think we are a random assortment of people that are cohabiting on the one hundred by thirty-five miles which is the size of our island. I think we're more than that. I think we're a nation that has a history that was established from the time before colonization. First there were natives on our island who were the aborigines, the Taíno Indians. Then came the era of Spanish colonization. Then comes the importation of slaves, which brings the African element also. That is, we are a national

Before Christopher Columbus sailed to Hispaniola with his men, there was a "native Arawak, or Taino, population of three million people or more, well fed, with cultivated fields, lots of children, living in peace...years later, there were fewer than 27,000 who had not fallen victim to the sword, the savages of forced labor, and diseases heretofore unknown to them. The Spaniards called the island La Ysla Española, which in use became Hispaniola" (iacenter.org). Rather than choosing to live together in peace with the Taino, Columbus killed them all of in order to form a new country filled with slaves. Saint Domingue was considered to be a slave island because the economy relied much on both sugar cane production and the wealthy white planters

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

Puerto Rico's Lands came to United States in the aftermath of the Spanish-American War in 1898 along with Cuba and the Philippines, as Cuba was immediately granted independence it took the Philippines until 1946, right after World War Two to be granted independence . Initially the name of Puerto Rico was changed by the military to Porto Rico this lasted until 1932 when the United States Congress changed it back to Puerto Rico the original name. This was a part of the “Americanization” that occurred in Puerto Rico. In 1899 when the island joined the United States it was classified as an unincorporated territory which means they were a part of the United States but no parts of the Constitution was incorporated into the rule. So in 1917 Woodrow Wilson President at the time granted all Puerto Ricans Citizenship. In which made them eligible to be drafted into the United States Army in time for World War One. Compared to Hawaii who joined the U.S as a Territory in 1898 all there citizens were granted United States Citizenship the same year. During the time between 1898 and 1952 as a part of the Americanization process

Progression of a nation, the dream of every elected official and citizen of any country is seen as right for the pursuit of a sustainable nation. However, Puerto Rico has not moved forward since being ruled by the Spaniards. After the Spanish American war in 1898, the US gained control of Puerto Rico and it was back to page one. Puerto Rico has been called a territory, the last colony, and some officials call it Estado liberated Asociado, in English a Free Associated State. They are not considered part of the United States even though they are given citizenship. Puerto Rico has not progressed since they do not have their own legislature, and an appointed official from the United States would decide its approval. In the 2012 election

Because of Treaty of Paris, Spain renounced all claim to Cuba, Guam and Puerto Rico to the United States. The Spanish-American War was an important point in the history of both countries. Spain’s

Music in Cuba is comprised of a large number of facets that extends beyond just that of musical styles and sounds, including unique instruments, performance and styles of dance. Cuban music culture is regarded as incredibly rich and influential and can be argued to be the most significant music culture in Latin America. The root of Cuban music traditions can be stemmed back to a strong influence by West African and European cultures and music, with African rhythm being fused with Spanish and European music brought by the settlers. It was this combination of African and European immigrants that fused the sound of Cuban music, with the African slaves introducing the sounds of percussion and rhythm that was known to them from home. This saw many different types of drums be introduced to Cuba, primarily the bongos, congas and bata drums.

The economies of Cuba and Puerto Rico are very similar during the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries. As Spain colonized these two islands in the 16th century under the idea that gold was abundant. Thus in turn the islands became a safe port for Spain and her vessels. It also set out to be a huge migration from the Spain to the islands, because everyone was set to search for gold. . This turned out to be short lived as the mining of gold peaked in 1517 till 1819. By Spain using Cuba and Puerto Rico for mining gold they needed slave laborers as the local Indians. The Indians soon became unsatisfied with their new conditions of living, they became hostile and many not able to cope with being slaves committed suicide and genocide. By 1540 – 1550