Laura Briggs' Reproducing Empire: Race, Sex, Science, and U.S. Imperialism in Puerto Rico

For most of its history, Puerto Rico has been controlled by an outside power, and its people oppressed. While Puerto Rico is currently a U.S. territory, Spanish colonialism has had a significant impact on the island’s development and identity. The history of the island itself is proof of this fact, demonstrating each step Puerto Rico took to reach its current state. By examining the stages of Spanish control that Puerto Rico experienced, we can determine how each stage affected the structure and identity of Puerto Rico.

Before we Critique the bourgeoisie in Puerto Rico, we must first understand how they came to be. How did a nation of enslaved people produce individuals who would rather subjugate themselves and other for fringe benefits? In the present day, Puerto Rico is officially known as the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. But make no mistake about it Puerto Rico is a colony. A colony that has never experienced freedom for the last 525 years. In 1493, Columbus landed on the island now known as Puerto Rico, claiming the island for Spain, even though a vibrant group of people, The Taino’s, already called the island home. From 1493 to 1898, the Spanish killed thousands of indigenous people and enslaved thousands of Africans, and robbed Puerto Rico of its natural

Ida B. Wells, an African-American woman, and feminist, shaped the image of empowerment and citizenship during post-reconstruction times. The essays, books, and newspaper articles she wrote, instigated the dialogue of race struggles between whites and blacks, while her personal narratives, including two diaries, a travel journal, and an autobiography, recorded the personal struggle of a woman to define womanhood during post-emancipation America. The novel, _THEY SAY: IDA B. WELLS AND THE RECONSTRUCTION OF RACE_ , provides an insight into how Ida B. Wells's life paralleled that of

The articles “The Myth of the Latin Woman: I Just Met a Girl Named Maria” written by Juthish Oriz Cofer and “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack” by Peggy McIntosh are two essays covering the topic of race and gender. With a focus on privilege and race, one may assume that these two articles say the same thing, while in reality that is not true. As McIntosh and Cofer come from two different backgrounds and social standing, the authors offer two very unique views on the subject matter. Due to Cofer being a Puerto Rican woman and McIntosh being white woman, the two are opposites when it comes to white privilege and how it has effected them. This allows for them to give different views on the subject within the papers. Each articles differ in the audience, the purposes, and the appeals used within. On the other hand, both works are similar with the end goal and intended audience. As a member of the audiences targeted by both of these authors, I was able to connect to both of their writings due to the many different ways the two authors connected to their audiences.

The first instance of colonialism forced upon the inhabitants of the Dominican Republic was the “discovery” by Christopher Columbus on October 12, 1492. Ernesto Sagas and Orlando Inoa presented the interaction in their book The Dominican People: A Documentary History. The confrontation between these two diametrically opposed cultures proved to be “far from equal; the Amerindians’ Stone Age culture was no match for European military technology. The initial encounter took place on the Caribbean island of Hispaniola, part of which is now the Dominican Republic” (Inoa pg. 1). This was the first step in a trek through five and a half centuries of Dominican Republic history, and unfortunately much of it was filled with

A recent documentary, The Last Colony, about the relationship between Puerto Rico and the US involved several Puerto Rican politicians who gave their opinion on the matter. Kenneth D. McClintock, Secretary of State of Puerto Rico and a firm believer of statehood, stated that “Statehood is the only antidote for what ails Puerto Rico” (Marquez). This is an example of people who firmly believe Puerto Ricans are Americans and we’re on a path to becoming a real American. On the other hand, María Lourdes Santiago, 25th Senate of Puerto Rico and Vice President to the Puerto Rico Independence Party, had this to say “We are not Americans. We will never be Americans.” (Marquez). This is an example of people who believe Puerto Rico is better off without the US and wish for

The United States gained Puerto Rico in 1898 through the Treaty of Paris, signed after the Spanish-American. Although the Puerto Rican community initially embraced U.S. intervention in 1898, hoping that the land of the free would finally bring liberty to the island, the following years were full of disillusionment. The sad reality was that the U.S. had no intention of ever giving up control of Puerto Rico because of its strategic location in the Caribbean. The United States government tried to Americanize the island. Which was acceptable for the island in the eyes of the elite until their power was being threatened. The elite’s on the island looked to the Jibaro as their symbol of national identity.

Lopez used many resources to piece together an understanding and educational opinion in regards to United States influence within Puerto Rico, and the causes and effects of birth control movements. She discovered that there was a large intrigue with Neo-Malthusianism within the United Sates during the time that they were colonizing Puerto Rico. According to Lopez, intrigue with Neo-Malthusianism along slide of a Eugenic ideology was the majority cause for the significant loss of Reproductive Freedom among Puerto Rican women. She does acknowledge that Puerto Rican women were not the only to

Eric William in chapters seven and nine of his book, “From Columbus to Castro”, provides his readers with an in-depth knowledge about the political and economic history of the Caribbean. Eric William gives his readers the story of how Europeans “discovered” the Caribbean and how they governed it. Thus the various events that took place right from the time of Christopher Columbus, focusing on the colonial sweepstakes pursued by France, England, the Netherlands, Spain, and Denmark. The main idea of chapter seven is how the Caribbean came to be the cock pit of European rivalry and wars in the latter parts of the fifteenth century up to the eighteenth century, an interesting tale of adventure, greed and cruelty. What William offers

Puerto Rico, a name synonymous with finding it’s identity. Has had its woes in that search of identity. After suffering the colonialism of Spain, Puerto Rico was then won by the US in the Spanish American war. Puerto Ricans, deep-rooted in culture and tradition start the journey of searching for better. In the 1950s, after being a territory of the US for 51 years. We see huge emigration from Puerto Rico to the US. The Puerto Rican government played a crucial role in the Puerto Rican migration after world war II. The emigration numbers sky rocket in the 1950s and there is a reason it did. In this paper, I’ll prove that Puerto Ricans migrated to the US in search of a better life because of the post war economic conditions, population increase,

To begin, although both articles explore slavery and its steps towards abolition in Puerto Rico they utilize different methodologies and present diverging causes and effects for its eradication in the 19th century. Iguina’s piece examines slavery from a social perspective by revealing the experiences of slaves on the sugar plantation La Esperanza, whereas Nowara analyzes slavery through rather economic and political lenses. Freedom in the Making argues that the driving

The effects of early United States colonialism on the economy of Puerto Rico shows how its hypocritical and possessive treatment of the island had an impact on the development of Puerto Rico. While the U.S. expanded trade and industry, it continued to exercise control over many aspects of the Puerto Rican economy, taking advantage of the Puerto Rican people and exploiting the

Judith Ortiz coffer show the difficulties puerto rican people imagrating to the us through Her literary works including the story of my body, the myth of the Latin woman, and the Latin deli.

Diane Lourdes Dick’s (2015) piece on “U.S Tax Imperialism in Puerto Rico” argues that U.S. domain over Puerto Rico’s tax and fiscal policies constitutes the destruction of Puerto Rico’s economic system. She states that “Puerto Rico’s ambiguous political status and historic lac of formal legal process for restructuring its public debts are partly responsible for a mounting crisis, which has inspired hand-wringing and speculation on Wall Street” (Dick 2015, p.8). Dick phrases this lack of input as U.S. tax imperialism, similar to that of Pierluisi and Backiel, since it is based on the argument that the island’s lack of a voice in its fiscal matters contributes to its fiscal status (Dick 2015). She states that the traditional narrative on U.S. policies presents them as “generous and benevolent compared to Puerto Rican tax and economic policies, which are portrayed as grasping and even guileful” (Dick 2015, p.7). However, she claims that the island’s current

Myrmarie Graw-Gonzalez is a Professor of the Social Science Department of the Gateway High School at the Osceola County School District, in Kissimmee, Florida. She has received her Masters of Arts in History with the distinction award of Cum Laude, from the University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras Campus. Her dissertation is entitled "Puerto Rico and the American Dream: A closer connection to the suburban: Case study of Levittown, Toa Baja, Puerto Rico”.