The History of Puerto Rico: From the Spanish Discovery to the American Occupation

by Rudolph Adams Van Middeldyk, Martin Grove Brumbaugh (Editor)

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it.

This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.

Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. To ensure a quality reading experience, this work has been proofread and republished using a format that seamlessly blends the original graphical elements with text in an easy-to-read typeface.

We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Historical

304 pages, Paperback

First published December 31, 1975

Reviews

[Aaron · Rating 1 out of 5]

Like the review I am about to write, this was a brutal book. More a listing of historical data than a work of history. It was originally published in 1903. Much of what the author wrote was probably common knowledge at the time, perhaps even to natives of PR, but I needed more context. This would be a valuable book if a modern editor provided some background. I would only recommend this book to someone who has a decent knowledge of the West Indies and Puerto Rican history.
There are 42 short chapters and the two most interesting among them are 41 and 42! There are occasional paragraphs that don't make sense. The author often changes thought mid-paragraph without regard to coherence. I only stuck with it because I have an interest in Puerto Rico and the chapters are short. I kept hoping the next chapter would redeem the rest of the book. Sigh.

[Edward Ortiz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great resource for those conducting research. The book focuses on the arrival of the Spaniards to the island of Puerto Rico, their rule over the people, and includes good discussions about attempted insurrections, including the “Grito de Lares”. Even though the title mentions the American occupation, not a lot of details are found except for their arrival date and location of their disembarkation. Overall, it was a great book with plenty of footnotes for further exploration.

[Mike Harmon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Columbus came to Puerto Rico on his 2nd voyage to the New World in 1493. There he found the Taino Indians, who made the mistake of showing him a hand full of gold and their fate was sealed. The Tanio were not a laborious race to begin with and struggled on their own to survive poverty, pestilence, and hurricanes - the added weight of servitude did not suit them well and the race eventually wound distinct. Though loosely ruled for 4 Centuries by the Spanish, the island failed to produce much fortune for the Crown either. Gold production was meager and hindered by the poor working slaves. The importation of African labor did little to boost production. No one wanted to be on the Island and when gold fever struck Peru, anyone who could find the means to leave did so. Yet, the Spanish continued to hold Puerto Rico as it represented passage to the Greater Antilles of the West. They fought off invasions by Caribs and French Buccaneers, they fought off the English and the Hollanders. And yet they gained little. The United States invaded Puerto Rico in 1898 as part of the Spanish-American War and gained control of the island along with the Phillippines and Guam as a result. The Puerto Rican people of today, like inhabitants of the past, aren't prone to labor and seem to spend money as quickly as they receive it. The country has known poverty and strife since the arrival of Columbus...and I don't really see any signs of change.

[Robert · Rating 2 out of 5]

There is some worthwhile history in the first third of the book; the middle third has stretches of racist (sometimes contradictory) tangents (for example an aside about how lazy and indolent the native population was, unless, strangely, they are paid fairly and then may work 11 hours a day); and finally less useful speculation about the origins of the Caribs in the latter third. Along the way any hurricane recorded in Puerto Rico is put on a timeline. Some argument can be made to look the other way regarding the racist invective, this was still a time (early 1900's) when, for example, many animals were widely described as "stupid" and "villainous"; i.e., the conventions of language grate against our modern sensibilities. However, I am not one to admire this quaintness. It is more apparent to me that our culture has improved over time, and what is quaint to some readers strikes me as, well, stupid and villainous. Nonetheless, dealing with the ignorance of our ancestors can be edifying as it can shed light on history. In this case, the ignorance did not edify anything at all for me, but the first third and some other history sprinkled about afterward raise its value in my eyes from one star to two.

[MangoTango · Rating 3 out of 5]

History

this has a lot of detail on the early years. I mean DETAIL on the early years of the islands. slow read but very very very detailed.

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

very informative

I couldn’t stop reading this and now I know why my Puerto Rican people are so mixed and it was very informative for me. In all I find it very sad what has happened to the island, what continues to happen on the island. To this day I’m not sure why it’s not a state and or released of territory and their own country.

[David Sylvester · Rating 1 out of 5]

A very laborious read

A very laborious read and poorly written. The way it bounced back and forth to various read of time made it very hard to follow and frankly boring. Not a book I would recommend. My hope is that there is a much better written history of a place I love so much.

[BgirlBookworm · Rating 3 out of 5]

coursework reading

[Kristin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Come prepared, knowing that the book was written more than hundred years ago. You will feel it right away in the long, complex structures of sentences, old-school terms no longer in use, and recount of then contemporary events that make no sense to someone reading them in year 2022 with little or no previous context.

Other than that, you will learn a great deal of valuable information.

Here’s a note to the folks who republished this book: please try harder. With the poor binding, the book is literally falling apart. It could also use a bit of a comb-through to remove a few grammar mistakes and repetitive words.

[Tamara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Puerto Rico happens to be my favorite place in the world and so when I found this book on my iPad for free, I knew I had to download it. I already know a lot about this beautiful island but I am always interested in learning more. This book was o.k. as it did not give me too much more than the basic information of how the island came to be. There were also many times it lost me as there were references to other islands and even other countries which I was not sure how they fit in. I have read much better history books, and this one would not be on my list of recommended reads.

[Sam Motes · Rating 3 out of 5]

First half of this book was a very interesting look at the Spanish conquest of the island followed by the desperate fight for survival by a people isolated from their mother country. The extermination of the natives through pure greed and xenophobic patriotism was a very depressing read. The second half was more over the culture in the late 1800s at the time of the writing of the book but it was not a very compelling read.

[Migdalia · Rating 4 out of 5]

No illustrations?!

A book I'd been wanting to read for some time. My review is based solely, I guess, on the lack of illustrations. I didn't find any errors, just wish they'd included the illustrations instead of mentioning them. A bit frustrating.

[Luis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting read that that showed me how much I did not know of my own culture. Only issue is it just ends. There is no post mortem by the editor.

[Gabo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Saw that Puerto Rico has a lot of history with this book.

[Alicia]

Learned lots of thing that I didn't know. I'm more and more proud of being Puertorican.