The Americas

Puerto Rico / Boriken
AD 1509 - 1580

Puerto Rico lay to the east of Hispaniola, part of the Greater Antilles chain. Its pre-Columbian history is very vague but archaeological evidence states that it was first occupied by the Ortoiroid people who probably originated in the Orinoco Valley in South America before 5230 BC. They migrated into the Antilles, where their last traces date to AD 190. The Taino people became dominant in the region by the eleventh century AD.

The Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de Leon, was the first European to reach Florida. He also served in Spanish wars against the Moors of Granada, and in 1493 he accompanied Columbus on his second voyage to America. After helping to conquer Higuey on eastern Hispaniola he was made governor of that region. He was then sent out to conquer the island of Boriken or Boriquen (Puerto Rico) in 1508 after finding gold there. As the first Spanish Colonial governor of the island he made a fortune in gold, slaves and land.

3000 - 2000 BC

The Ortoiroid people migrate into the Greater Antilles chain of islands.

430 - 250 BC

The Ortoiroid people are replaced by the Saladoid, another tribe from the Orinoco Valley.

AD 200 - 400

The Saladoid people are replaced by the Igneri, yet another tribe from the Orinoco Valley.

c.AD 600?

The seafaring Taino people, a division of the Arawak group of American natives, probably arrive on the island around this date, mixing with the Igneri.

The Taino natives lived on Puerto Rico for over nine hundred years before the coming of the Spanish colonists

1493

The viceroy of Hispaniola, Christopher Columbus, lands in Puerto Rico on his second voyage from Spain, making landfall on 19 November. He names the island San Juan Bautista (St John the Baptist). While this name is later retained for the capital, the island is renamed Rich Port (Puerto Rico) by the time a member of the expedition, Juan Ponce de Leon, becomes its first governor.

1505

Failed to take up his office.

1504 - 1508

Following his arrival in the Americas in 1493 and a possible return to Spain, in 1504 Juan Ponce de Leon is made governor of part of eastern Hispaniola. Between 1506-1508, lured by reports of fertile land and rivers of gold, he explores Puerto Rico and is made its first Spanish Colonial governor to take up the post by the crown.

bef 1508 - 1510

Supreme Taino chief and friendly to Spain.

1509 - 1511

First Spanish governor of Puerto Rico. Later of Florida.

1511

Harsh treatment and diseases introduced by the Europeans have made life for the native Taino unbearable enough so that a short-lived rebellion is staged in June 1511. It is put down with force by the governor. In the same year, Ponce de Leon is urged by the king of Spain to investigate rumours of undiscovered lands to the north of Hispaniola. The crown is eager to keep out Diego Columbus, the unwanted viceroy of Hispaniola, and reward Ponce de Leon for his efforts.

1510 - 1511

Brother of Agueybana and leader of the rebellion against Spain.

1511 - 1513

1513 - 1514

The expedition to the north under Juan Ponce de Leon gets underway on 4 March. On 2 April land is sighted which is named Florida. Eventually they make landfall on the western coast, probably in the vicinity of Charlotte Harbour or Tampa Bay. After returning briefly to Puerto Rico and then Spain, Ponce de Leon is confirmed as the Spanish Colonial governor of Florida.

1513 - 1514

1514

Failed to take office.

1514 - 1515

1515 - 1519

Second term. Also governor of Florida (1514-1521).

1519

1519 - 1521

1521 - 1523

1523 - 1524

Archbishop of Puerto Rico.

1524 - 1529

Second term.

1528

The town of San German, in the south-west of the island, is sacked and burned by the French as part of their efforts to dislodge the Spanish from the strategically important location. Several more towns are subsequently attacked.

1529 - 1530

Second term. Also governor of Panama.

1530 - 1536

1536 - 1537

1537

1537 - 1544

1539

Construction of fully-fledged fortifications around San Juan begin. Three major forts are included in the plans of construction for the defences, but San German on the opposite side of the island remains undefended.

1544

1544 - 1546

1546 - 1550

1550 - 1555

1555

1555 - 1561

Second term.

1561 - 1564

1564 - 1568

1568 - 1574

1575 - 1579

1579

Acting governor and first native to hold the post.

1580

1580

Puerto Rico is reorganised into a more autonomous captaincy general.

Captaincy General of Puerto Rico
AD 1580 - 1896

In 1580, Puerto Rico became a captaincy general within the Spanish Colonies, headed for the most part by military figures. The move proved to be necessary due to the increased threat of piracy from the Caribbean, and the hope was that granting Puerto Rico administrative and military autonomy would effectively counter that threat, especially as Spain viewed it as the 'key to the Indies'. Ultimately, the changes failed to have a lasting effect.

1580 - 1581

1581 - 1582

1582 - 1593

1593 - 1597

1595

As part of the Anglo-Spanish War, English forces under Francis Drake and the earl of Cumberland attack and seize the island, holding it for several months until dysentery forces a withdrawal. The Spanish reoccupy and reinforce the island.

1597 - 1598

1598 - 1599

Second term.

1599 - 1602

1602 - 1608

1608 - 1614

1614 - 1620

1620 - 1625

1625 - 1630

1625

Dutch forces under Boudewijn Hendrick attack San Juan, but are forced back by Juan de Haro, although they set fire to the city as they retreat.

1631 - 1635

1635 - 1641

1641

1642 - 1643

1643 - 1648

1649 - 1655

1655 - 1660

1660 - 1664

1664 - 1670

1670 - 1674

1674

1674

1675 - 1678

1678 - 1683

1683 - 1685

1685 - 1690

1690 - 1695

1695 - 1697

Second term.

1697 - 1698

1698 - 1699

1699 - 1700

Second term.

1700 - 1703

Died 1703.

1702

A minor attack by the English on the town of Arecibo is unsuccessful.

1703

Acting governor (Jul-Oct).

1703

Mayor (October only).

1703

Mayor (October only).

1703 - 1705

Acting governor.

1705 - 1706

Acting governor.

1706 - 1708

Acting governor.

1708 - 1711

1711 - 1716

1716

Acting governor.

1716 - 1720

1720 - 1724

Second term.

1724

1724 - 1731

1731 - 1743

1743

Acting governor (Jun-Oct).

1743 - 1750

1751

Died 1751.

1751 - 1753

Acting governor.

1753 - 1757

1757 - 1759

Second term as acting governor.

1759 - 1760

Died 1760.

1760

Third term as acting governor (Mar-Nov).

1760 - 1766

1766 - 1768

1768 - 1769

Acting governor.

1769 - 1776

1776 - 1783

1783 - 1789

1789

Acting governor.

1789 - 1792

Died 1792.

1792 - 1794

Second term as acting governor.

1794 - 1795

1795 - 1804

1797

As part of the Napoleonic Wars, France and Spain declare war on Britain, so a British force of 7,000 troops and sixty-four ships under General Ralph Abercromby invades Puerto Rico, attempting to conquer the strategically important island. The captain general leads his forces in a successful defence.

Ramon de Castro y Gutierrez successfully defended Puerto Rico in 1797

1805 - 1809

1809 - 1820

1820

(May-Aug).

1820 - 1822

1820 - 1821

In 1820, a restoration of the Spanish constitution of 1812 is achieved in Cuba, but the following year Spain loses vast sections of New Spain to revolution and newly independent states. Puerto Rico remains loyal to the Spanish Colonies.

1822

Acting governor (Feb-May).

1822 - 1823

1823 - 1837

1837

(Jan-Dec).

1837 - 1840

1840 - 1844

1844 - 1847

1847 - 1848

1848 - 1851

1851 - 1852

1852 - 1855

1855

(Jan-Aug).

1855 - 1857

1857 - 1860

1860 - 1861

Acting governor.

1861 - 1862

1862

Acting governor (Mar-Apr).

1862 - 1865

1865 - 1867

1867 - 1868

1868

Between 24 September until October the island is gripped by the Lares Rebellion, which declares Puerto Rico to be a republic. The rebellion is quickly suppressed.

1868

Rebel leader in Sep-Oct.

1868 - 1870

1870 - 1871

1871 - 1872

1872

(Jul-Nov).

1872 - 1873

1873

(Feb-Apr).

1873 - 1874

1874 - 1875

Second term.

1875 - 1877

1877 - 1878

1878

Acting governor (Apr-Jun).

1878 - 1881

1878

President Buenaventura Baez of Dominican Republic is deposed in yet another coup in the country and this time he is exiled to Puerto Rico where he lives out his few remaining years.

1881 - 1882

Second term.

1882 - 1884

1884

Acting governor (Jul-Sep).

1884

(Sep-Nov).

1884

Second term as acting governor (Nov only).

1884 - 1887

1887

(Jan-Mar).

1887

(Mar-Nov).

1887 - 1888

Second term. Acting governor.

1888 - 1890

1890

Acting governor.

1890 - 1893

1893 - 1895

1895 - 1896

1896

Acting governor.

Governor General of Puerto Rico
AD 1896 - 1898

In 1896-1897, autonomy was granted to the island in order to satisfy demands for greater freedom. This involved the establishment of local government and parliament which was headed by a governor general. Unfortunately the move was too late, and the changes lasted less than two years before Spain lost all control of its territories in the Americas.

1896 - 1898

1898

Acting governor (Jan only).

1898

(11 Jan only). Died.

1898

Second term as acting governor (Jan-Feb).

1898

(Feb-Oct).

1898

Third term as acting governor (14-18 Oct only).

1898

Following a US invasion of Puerto Rico, Spain loses the Spanish-American War. With that it also loses much of the Spanish Caribbean, including Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Spanish East Indies (including Guam, the Marianna Islands, and the Philippines). Puerto Rico becomes an unincorporated territory of the USA.

The first US naval attack on Puerto Rico as part of the Spanish-American War took place on 6-10 June 1898, during which US Marines also took Guantanamo Bay on Cuba

Modern Puerto Rico (Borinquen)
AD 1898 - Present Day

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Together with Cuba, Jamaica, Haiti, and Dominican Republic, the island of Puerto Rico and several smaller islands which surround it form part of the Greater Antilles chain in the Caribbean. The capital is located at San Juan, which was founded by Spanish settlers in 1521. The country is neighboured by the British Virgin Islands, the Lesser Antilles, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and by Dominican Republic to the west. The Caribbean Sea divides it from Venezuela to the south.

The modern state is called the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, a self governing entity which is an unincorporated territory of the USA. The term 'territory' was used to describe thirty-one areas of North America which applied to become states between 1789-1959, such as Florida and Louisiana. Since 1898 and the Spanish-American War, the US has also administered unincorporated territories, these being overseas possessions which are under US jurisdiction but to which only selected parts of the US constitution are applied. The local name which is sometimes applied to the island, Borinquen, originates from the native Taino name of Boriken.

When originally conquered from Spain by the USA in the 1898 war, the US appointed its own governors to administer the island under military rule until 1935. From 1900, the Foraker Act allotted Puerto Rico with some of the elements of democratic government.

(Additional information by Alvin J Martinez.)

1898

First of several US military governors.

1898

1898 - 1899

1899 - 1900

1900

After being administered by US military governors for two years, the Foraker Act gives Puerto Rico some of the elements of democratic government, including a US-style House of Representatives. The judicial effect also follows US practice.

The Puerto Rico of the early twentieth century was still largely centred around an agrarian economy, although this gradually changed after the Second World War as the US drove development and industrialisation on the island

1900 - 1901

First US civilian governor.

1901 - 1904

1904 - 1907

1907 - 1909

1909 - 1913

1913 - 1921

1914

The House of Delegates votes unanimously in favour of independence from the USA, but this is rejected by the US Congress as being unconstitutional and in violation of the Foraker Act of 1900.

1917 - 1918

Puerto Rico plays its own role as an ally of the USA during the First World War against Germany and the Austro-Hungarian empire. Also in 1917, the country's populace gain US citizenship under the Jones-Shafroth Act.

1921

Acting governor (May only).

1921 - 1923

1923

Acting governor (Mar-Apr).

1923 - 1929

1929

Acting governor.

1929 - 1932

Son of US President Roosevelt.

1932 - 1933

Second term as acting governor.

1933 - 1934

1934

Acting governor (Jan-Feb).

1934 - 1939

1937

In the past few years several calls have been made in support of independence from the USA. Now the political party of Albizu Campos organised a protest in which numerous people in Ponce are killed by police. The country's 'Insular Police', a form of reservist army, opens fire on cadets and bystanders alike, despite their being unarmed. The attack is investigated by the US Hays Commission and is declared to be a massacre and 'police mob action' (it becomes known to history as the Ponce Massacre).

1939

Acting governor (Jun-Sep).

1939 - 1940

1940 - 1941

Acting governor.

1941

Acting governor (Feb-Jul).

1941

Second term as acting governor (Jul-Sep).

1941 - 1946

1941 - 1945

Puerto Rico joins the Second World War in association with the USA and as an ally of Great Britain on 8 December 1941, against Japan, Germany and Italy.

1942

In the aftermath of the Ponce Massacre, a bill is introduced to the US Congress on 2 April 1943 calling for independence for Puerto Rico. Ultimately the bill is defeated.

1946 - 1949

1947 - 1948

The US grants Puerto Ricans the right to democratically elect their own governor, which they do so the following year. Luis Munoz Marin is the first victorious incumbent.

1949 - 1965

First democratically-elected Puerto Rican governor.

1950

Demands for change by the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party result in a three-day revolt known as the Jayuya Uprising which begins on 30 October. Martial law is declared by the US authorities and the military is sent in to pacify the town. At the end of the revolt, two nationalists attempt to assassinate the US president, Harry Truman. One is killed, the other is taken alive.

The Jayuya Uprising lasted for three days from 30 October 1950

1952

Following a request by the USA, a local constitution is approved for Puerto Rico on 25 July.