#Man found living on discovery island free#

The Foraker Act of 1900 established a civil government, ending rule by American generals and the Department of War.

The first years of the 20th century were marked by the struggle to obtain greater democratic rights from the United States. In 1898, during the Spanish–American War, Puerto Rico was invaded and subsequently became a possession of the United States.

#Man found living on discovery island free#

Free land was offered to those who wanted to populate the islands on the condition that they swear their loyalty to the Spanish Crown and allegiance to the Roman Catholic Church. The decree was printed in Spanish, English and French in order to attract Europeans, with the hope that the independence movements would lose their popularity and strength with the arrival of new settlers. Realizing that it was in danger of losing its two remaining Caribbean territories, the Spanish Crown revived the Royal Decree of Graces of 1815. Throughout most of the 19th century until the conclusion of the Spanish–American War, Puerto Rico and Cuba were the last two Spanish colonies in the New World they served as Spain's final outposts in a strategy to regain control of the American continents. The smallest of the Greater Antilles, Puerto Rico was a stepping-stone in the passage from Europe to Cuba, Mexico, Central America, and the northern territories of South America. Some brought their wives, while others married Puerto Rican women, and today there are many Puerto Rican families with Portuguese last names. In 1593, Portuguese soldiers, sent from Lisbon by order of Phillip II, composed the first garrison of the San Felipe del Morro fortress in Puerto Rico. The island was a major military post during many wars between Spain and other European powers for control of the region in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries. Located in the northeastern Caribbean, Puerto Rico formed a key part of the Spanish Empire from the early years of the exploration, conquest and colonization of the New World. The Taíno people's numbers went dangerously low during the later half of the 16th century because of new infectious diseases carried by Europeans, exploitation by Spanish settlers, and warfare. At the time of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World in 1493, the dominant indigenous culture was that of the Taínos. The history of Puerto Rico began with the settlement of the Ortoiroid people between 430 BC and AD 1000. Map of the departments of Puerto Rico during Spanish provincial times (1886).