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Christopher Columbus’s second voyage to the New
World in 1493 marks the begining of a documented History of Puerto Rico. Queen
Isabella and King Ferdinand financed the trip in hopes for new discoveries and
riches. The Conquistadors found an island paradise abundant with fertile soil,
fruit trees, and fresh water springs. Columbus named the island San Juan
Bautista after St. John the Baptist. The Spanish gradually built relations with
the Taino Indians, inhabitants of the island. With their permission Ponce and
his men built a settlement on the northeastern part of the island. They
constructed a modest fortress, and accommodations for the small settlement of
Caparra. The settlers converted many Indians to Christianity, and taught them
how to read and write. But, in time the Spaniards began to force the Indians to
mine gold for them. Many Indians began to die of diseases and exhaustion.
The Indian resentment toward the settlers spread. A bloody rebellion sparked a
battle, the insurrection of 1511. The Spaniards were victorious and
consequently, the Indians became subjects of the Crown with the same rights as
the Spanish, but with very little guarantees. In time, the two classes began to
intermarry, and gradually a new race, the Puerto Rican, emerged. The name Puerto
Rican came from Puerto Rico, " the city of the rich port" built in the
northeastern part of the island near Caparra. Later, the name Puerto Rico came
to refer to the entire island, and San Juan, the name Columbus gave to the
island initially, ultimately referred to this rich port. San Juan is now
officially the capitol of Puerto Rico. Puerto
Rico was a great source of wealth for the Spanish Crown, but by early sixteenth
century, the the gold deposits were exhausted.
In the middle of the century a coffee industry gradually emerged and Puerto Rican coffee became the best in the world. Unlike Cuba
and the Dominican Republic, slavery never became an acceptable practice in the
culture or economy of Puerto Rico. As a result the island became a magnet for
free Negroes and slaves seeking freedom.
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