Constructing a Colonial People: Puerto Rico and the United States, 1898-1932

297 Pages·2001·33.74 MB·English

by  Pedro A. Caban, Pedro A. Cab·n Rutgers University

Constructing a Colonial People
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Constructing a
Colonial People
Puerto Rico and the
United States, 1898-1932
Pedro A. Caban
Westview Press
A Member of the Perseus Books Group
All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No part of this publication may be re-
produced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photo-
copy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from
the publisher.
Copyright © 1999 by Westview Press, A Member of the Perseus Books Group
Published in 1999 in the United States of America by Westview Press, 5500 Central Avenue, Boulder,
Colorado 80301-2877, and in the United Kingdom by Westview Press, 12 Hid's Copse Road, Cumnor
Hill, Oxford OX2 9JJ
Find us on the World Wide Web at www.westviewpress.com
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Caban, Pedro A. (Pedro Angel)
Constructing a colonial people: Puerto Rico and the United
States, 1898-1932 / Pedro A. Caban.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index,
ISBN 0-8133-3903-0
1. United States—Foreign relations—Puerto Rico. 2. Puerto Rico-
Foreign relations—United States. 3. United States—Foreign
relations— 1897-1901. 4. United States—Foreign relations—20th
century. 5. Imperialism—United States—History. I. Title.
E183.8.P8C33 1999
327.7307295—dc21 99-28134
CIP
The paper used in this publication meets the requirements of the American National Standard for
Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials Z39.48-1984.
10 9 8 7
To Pedro Cab&n Caribe and
Maria Herndndez Jimenez
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Contents
List of Tables ix
Acronyms xi
Acknowledgments xi
Introduction 1
The United States and Puerto Rico, 1
Class Structure and Economic Transformation, 2
Puerto Rico: Sugar Bowl and Gateway to Latin America, 4
Identifying Allies in the Colony, 5
Politics Before 1898: Divided Loyalties, 6
The Colonial State, 8
The Colony on the Verge of Collapse, 9
The Chapters, 10
Positioning the Study, 12
1 U.S. Imperialism and the New Colonial Era 15
Extending the Empire Overseas, 15
The Panacea: Promoting Expansion to Avert Domestic Crisis, 20
Puerto Rico's Place in the War of 1898,29
2 Military Occupation, 1898-1900:
Building the Colonial State 41
The War Department and Colonial Rule, 41
Dismantling the Autonomous Government, 46
The Early Economics of Colonialism, 67
The Economic Aftermath of the Military Regimes, 79
The Legacy of the Military Period, 80
3 The Foraker Act: The Politics and
Economics of Colonial Legislation 83
Manifest Destiny and Imperialism, 83
New Territories and Alien Peoples: The Great Debate, 85
Tariff: The Overriding Political Issue of the Moment, 91
viz
viii Contents
Puerto Rico and U.S. Commercial Policy in Latin America, 103
Regional Hegemony and Puerto Rico's Colonial Status, 105
The Colonial State and the Transformation of Puerto Rico, 114
4 The Colonial State at Work: The Executive Council
and the Transformation of Puerto Rico, 1900-1917 122
The Executive Council: Agency for "Americanization," 122
New Schools and Alien Ideas, 126
Building the Foundations for Economic Expansion, 139
Laws, Cops, and Jails, 152
The Executive Council and "Americanization," 161
5 Resistance and Acommodation 162
Political Realignments and the New Colonizers, 162
Local Alliances and the Americanizing Mission, 163
The Federal Party: Resisting the Colonial Imprint, 164
The Early Republicans; Local Agents of Americanization, 169
Fine-Tuning the Colonial Regime;
Financing Subordination, 171
The Union Puertorriquena: Struggle for
Autonomy and Tradition, 182
The Empire Strikes Back, Almost, 187
Potential Unity and Fragmentation, 194
Congress Attacks the Sugar Trusts, 195
6 A New Beginning and the Growing Crisis of Legitimacy 198
The Jones Act Tinkering with the Colonial Formula, 198
The New and Improved Colonial State, 205
Women and the Vote:
Making Universal Suffrage Really Universal, 210
The Political Party System: The Politics of the Impractical, 216
Mitigating the Effects of the Depression, 229
7 The FLT, the Socialists, and the
Crisis in Colonial Management 235
The Beginnings, 235
Americanization and the Political Process, 239
The Repressive State and the FLT, 241
The Bureau of Labor, 245
Private Wealth, Social Poverty, and Policy Crisis, 250
References 25
Index 273
Tables
4.1 Statistics on Public Education System 138
4.2 Composition of Selected Merchandise Imports to
Puerto Rico, 1901 -1920 148
4.3 Expenditures and Disbursements:
Coercive Apparatus of the State 160
ix