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Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of iHeartRadio.

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Speaker 1: Hello and welcome to This Day in History Class, a

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Speaker 1: show that uncovers a little bit more about history every day.

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Speaker 1: I'm Gabe Luzier, and today we're looking at the moment

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Speaker 1: when the island of Puerto Rico changed hands from Spain

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Speaker 1: to the US, marking the end of one colonial era

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Speaker 1: and the beginning of another. The day was October eighteenth,

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Speaker 1: eighteen ninety eight. American troops raised the US flag over

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Speaker 1: Puerto Rico. The Spanish American War was drawing to a close,

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Speaker 1: and as part of the armistice, Spain had agreed to

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Speaker 1: relinquish control of its former colony to the US government.

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Speaker 1: It was a triumphant day for American policymaker, who saw

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Speaker 1: the island as both a crucial naval station in the

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Speaker 1: Caribbean and a lucrative outlet for surplus manufactured goods. But

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Speaker 1: for many Puerto Ricans, the raising of the flag signified

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Speaker 1: the loss of their hard fought autonomy. In eighteen ninety seven,

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Speaker 1: the island's one million inhabitants had been granted self rule

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Speaker 1: after four centuries of Spanish domination. Then just one year later,

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Speaker 1: they found themselves under the authority of yet another foreign power.

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Speaker 1: Situated between the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean,

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Speaker 1: the island of Puerto Rico was key to the expansion

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Speaker 1: of the Spanish Empire. In fifteen oh eight, Juan Ponce

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Speaker 1: de Leon established the first permanent Spanish settlement there at

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Speaker 1: the town of Capara. Then, in the centuries that followed,

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Speaker 1: the Spanish built a number of forts and outposts to

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Speaker 1: protect their growing colony from the raids of European pirates.

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Speaker 1: By the early eighteen hundreds, Spain had used the labour

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Speaker 1: of enslaved Africans to build a successful plantation economy on

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Speaker 1: the island, with sugar, tobacco, and coffee being its chief exports.

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Speaker 1: Although slavery was eventually abolished in Puerto Rico in eighteen

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Speaker 1: seventy three, the enslaved workers weren't emancipated. They had to

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Speaker 1: buy their freedom at a price determined by their former masters.

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Speaker 1: As a result, many continued to work on the same

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Speaker 1: plantations as before, with their new found wages going right

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Speaker 1: back into the pockets of their former enslavers. Many Puerto

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Speaker 1: Ricans bristled at this unjust arrangement, viewing it as yet

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Speaker 1: another example of Spain's repressive approach to governance. Within a

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Speaker 1: few years, the island's inhabitants began calling for an end

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Speaker 1: to Spanish rule in favor of an independent government, and

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Speaker 1: as Puerto Rico's indigenous, Spanish and African roots continued to

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Speaker 1: blend together into a unique national culture, the calls for

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Speaker 1: political and economic freedom grew ever louder. It took an

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Speaker 1: armed rebellion and several decades of persistent agitation, but in

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Speaker 1: late November of eighteen ninety seven, Spain finally granted Puerto

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Speaker 1: Rican's the right to self government. The victory had been

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Speaker 1: a long time coming, but would sadly prove short lived.

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Speaker 1: By the time the island held its first elections in

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Speaker 1: March of eighteen ninety eight, Spain and the United States

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Speaker 1: were at each other's throats for control of the Caribbean.

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Speaker 1: One month later, the Spanish American War began in earnest,

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Speaker 1: and after a series of crippling naval losses, Spain's surrender

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Speaker 1: seemed all but guaranteed. Nonetheless, the US moved forward with

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Speaker 1: an invasion of Puerto Rico in order to establish its

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Speaker 1: presence on the island. Prior to its peace talks with Spain.

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Speaker 1: On July fifteenth, eighteen ninety eight, some sixteen thousand American

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Speaker 1: troops landed at Guanica Bay and began capturing town after

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Speaker 1: town on their way north towards San Juan. They met

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Speaker 1: with little resistance from the locals, but before they could

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Speaker 1: reach the capital, the warring nations agreed to an armistice

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Speaker 1: and all military hostilities were called off. Three months later,

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Speaker 1: on October eighteenth, the last Spanish soldiers sailed back to Spain,

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Speaker 1: and the American flag was raised over public buildings all

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Speaker 1: across the island. The annexation of Puerto Rico was made

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Speaker 1: official that December, when the Treaty of Paris was signed

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Speaker 1: and the Spanish American War formally ended. The island would

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Speaker 1: remain under direct control of the US military for the

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Speaker 1: next two years, at which point a civilian government was established.

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Speaker 1: At first, many Puerto Rican citizens were optimistic about the

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Speaker 1: transfer of power from Spain to the United States. It

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Speaker 1: had come at the expense of their own self rule,

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Speaker 1: but the promise of American democratic values and economic development

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Speaker 1: made them hopeful about the future. However, most of those

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Speaker 1: hopes when unfulfilled during the first three decades of the

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Speaker 1: twentieth century, most local landowners were hit hard by trade tariffs,

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Speaker 1: causing them to lose most of their economic power to

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Speaker 1: North American companies, which ultimately seized control of sugarcane production.

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Speaker 1: And while Porto Ricans were given the right to elect

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Speaker 1: the lower chamber of the legislature, most of the true

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Speaker 1: power remained in the hands of officials appointed by the U. S. Government.

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Speaker 1: The US also made efforts to assimilate its new territory,

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Speaker 1: first by attempting to make English the island's official language,

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Speaker 1: and then in nineteen seventeen by extending U. S citizenship

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Speaker 1: to Puerto Ricans, whether they wanted it or not. In

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Speaker 1: the centuries since then, Puerto Rico has continued to call

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Speaker 1: for a more open and democratic political arrangement with the US,

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Speaker 1: as well as a clear definition of its territorial status.

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Speaker 1: As of nineteen fifty two, the island is an autonomous U.

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Speaker 1: S commonwealth with its own own elected governor and a

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Speaker 1: non voting congressional delegate. Opinions differ on just how well

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Speaker 1: that arrangement has served the people of Puerto Rico thus far.

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Speaker 1: Some residents are satisfied with the Commonwealth status, while others

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Speaker 1: believe the island should pick up where it left off

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Speaker 1: in eighteen ninety eight as a fully independent nation. But

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Speaker 1: according to a twenty twenty referendum, the majority of the

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Speaker 1: island citizens want Puerto Rico to become a full fledged state.

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Speaker 1: It's unclear whether that will actually happen, but the island

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Speaker 1: does have a few factors on its side, including its

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Speaker 1: size and population. Puerto Rico's land mass is actually bigger

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Speaker 1: than some states such as Delaware and Rhode Island, and

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Speaker 1: its population is well over three million people, six times

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Speaker 1: that of Wyoming. Out of all the US territories, Puerto

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Speaker 1: Rico definitely stands the best chance of achieving statehood, and

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Speaker 1: most of its residents seem eager to make that happen. Yet,

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Speaker 1: in a sad example of history repeating itself, that decision

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Speaker 1: isn't theirs to me. I'm Gabe Lucier and hopefully you

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Speaker 1: now know a little more about history today than you

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Speaker 1: did yesterday. You can learn even more about history by

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Speaker 1: following us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at TDI HC Show,

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Speaker 1: and if you have any comments or suggestions, you can

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Speaker 1: always send them my way by writing to this day

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Speaker 1: at iHeartMedia dot com. Thanks as always to Chandler Mays

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Speaker 1: for producing the show, and thank you for listening. I'll

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Speaker 1: see you back here again tomorrow for another day in

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Speaker 1: history class