Some Thoughts on Puerto Rican “Loyalism” in the Nineteenth Century

Abstract

Throughout the nineteenth century, Puerto Rico remained a more or less loyal Spanish colony when nearby sister colonies were in revolt, but the literature about Puerto Rico's aloofness from Spanish American revolutionary movements leaves a number of unanswered questions. Whatever divisions there may have been within Pierto Rico in the days of Simon Bolivar are reflected in subsequent historical writings. If contemporaries could not agree on the wisest course of action, neither has any generation of twentieth century historians been in full accord as to what should have happened, or even as to what did happen, in nineteenth century Puerto Rico. Did rebellions of 1835, 1838, 1868, and 1897 indicate a valiant population suffering from brutal Spanish oppression, or did the repeated failures signify lack of support? Were Puerto Ricans as militant as other Spanish Americans, and if not, what is the explanation? Were Puerto Ricans loyal sons of Spain, or wise pragmatists, or victims of Spanish oppression, or cowards? Successive generations have endeavoured to answer these questions. Those who have written have done so from an awareness that Puerto Ricans helped Spanish forces to crush an uprising in Santo Domingo (1861-1865), that Cuba had longer and bloodier anti-Spanish rebellions (1868-1878, 1895-1898) than Puerto Rico, that in 1897 Queen Mother Maria Cristina bestowed upon Puerto Rico the title of Spain's ever faithful island, 1 and that in 1898, Puerto Ricans showed little resistance and considerable enthusiasm as Yankee invaders brought Spanish rule to an end 2 . Writers have also known that Puerto Ricans have continued to reject independence from their subsequent Mother Country, the United States, even in the second half of the twentieth century when nationalist sentiments were sweeping the world. Despite