Puerto Rico, Chapter 13: Puerto Rico Becomes a Vast Sugar Plantation - Essay Example

Puerto Rico was under Spanish colonial rule when the US invaded. Here, it is reminded that the real reason behind a country invading another country is economic rather than political. The paradox of history that played out in Puerto Rico was unique in a sense - the very sugar trade that was the most attractive source of revenue from this colony for Spain, became a channel of communication between the Spanish-Caribbean colonies of Spain and United States as almost all the traders were from the US (Pico, 233).

An interesting aspect of this sugar economy has been that it was to the benefit of the United States rather than Spain that it flourished in this Spanish colony (Pico, 233). The US invasion had become historically inevitable as US investments grew heavily in Puerto Rico (Pico, 233). For the US, Puerto Rico was a strategically important place to fulfill its military ambitions. Also, the US saw a good market in this developing economy, for its manufactured goods. This was why this island was both politically and economically important for the US.

But all these factors that prompted colonialization had a negative impact on the Puerto Rican economy as well as social development (Vergne, 5). The sugar industry never grew into a full-fledged and independent national industry but remained dependent on foreign markets like the Spanish and the US markets and the export duty imposed by Spain on Puerto Rican sugar crushed the industry (Vergne, 5). And all the profit that was generated from the sugar industry was siphoned off by the US colonizers as Puerto Rico became just the producers of raw sugar for US refineries (Vergne, 31).

After elaborating upon the backdrop of US invasion by discussing the socio-political-economic scenario, this chapter has come to the immediate cause of invasion and dealt with it briefly. It has to be remembered that the immediate cause of the war between Spain and the US over Puerto Rico was the accusation made by US against Spain regarding the explosion of a battleship that was stationed in Havana port. Here, the role of North American newspapers in creating public opinion in US in favor of the war is also briefly described.

The secret societies and militant gangs that emerged in the Puerto Rican scene during the Spanish-American imbroglio were not looked upon by North American media as a historical happening but instead violence began to be attributed to Puerto Ricans as an inherent quality. It is also reminded that cultural exchanges under an unequal power structure is so problematic that even now those misconceptions have happened to stay intact in the US society as a whole (Pico, 233). In this way, along with the economic and political history of Puerto Rico, the author has also weaved a parallel narrative of Puerto Rico’s socio-cultural history (Pico).

This narrative shows that the stereotype of the violent Puerto Rican gangster was created during this period. The strategic and military details of the invasion have also been depicted in an extensive manner. This has drawn attention to the second paradox in the United States’ Puerto Rican war. Though it was to give support to the Creoles that the US invasion started, a Creole riot erupted and US troops were eventually compelled by the circumstances to give support