The Puerto Rican Community - Essay Example

It later fought for its independence from the U.S and a civil government was established with an independent constitution, even though until today its political status remains inconsistent and irregular. The Pre-Colonial Period It was established by the settlement of the Ortoiroid culture emanating from Orinoco in South America which took place about 4000 years ago, and it’s from Ortoiroid that the place got its name from a man named Puerto Ferro. Years later, the Ortoiroid were displaced by the Saladoid culture coming from the same region.

The Arawaks too settled in the area and from here the Taino culture developed and became dominant with time. During this period, the population lived in small groups headed by a chief, known as a Casique, and lived on hunting, gathering and fishing. This culture was finally extinguished by the Spanish colonization. Their current culture is now more associated with the modern Puerto Rico but traces of the Taino culture can still be found from items such as musical instruments e.g. the guiro and the maracas, (Green, 2010).

Colonization Period The colonization began in 1493 by Christopher Columbus from Cadiz and upon his landing he started by renaming it San Juan Baustista to honor the memory of St John the Baptist. Settlement, caparra, first took place in 1508 and was conducted by Juan Ponce de Leon who was a lieutenant under Columbus and was the first governor of the region, before it was abandoned for a nearby islet, Puerto Rico for its suitable harbor. The second settlement was in San German in 1511 which later adopted the name Puerto Rico.

Colonization was done through enslaving rules known as encomienda where the natives were required to provide labor in exchange of military protection until 1952 when the Roman Catholic championed for laws to end exploitation and unfair treatment of indigenous people as well as establishment of schools. The region was the first ecclesiastical headquarters and also the general headquarters for the Spanish inquisition in the whole world. Following the revolt of the community against Spanish colonization in 1511, Ponce De Leone retaliated back frustrating their attempts and as a result the population was invaded by diseases, violence and a high rate of suicidal cases.

Te colonization process also involved bringing in of slaves from Africa. Other European Colonizers Several jurisdictions also made attempts to take away control of the region from Spain including the Caribbean and other European powers. For example, the French viciously attacked most of the settlements by Spain making it hard for Spain to maintain control. Spain spent the following number of years trying to retaliate and this led to the construction of the several forts some of which last even today such as the Fort San Cristobal and Fort San Jeronimo.

There were attempts too from England in 1595 but they were unable to overcome the Spanish defense and when the British finally conquered the island it had to abandon it due to a dysentery outbreak. The Dutch too made their attempt but they too had to leave after being defeated by the French. This strengthened the island and in 1779 it was able to fight in the American Revolutionary War led by Bernardo De Galvez