Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
History
Puerto Rico occupies a crucial juncture in the geographical and political history of the Amer-
icas. Without a doubt, the most defining event in Puerto Rico's history was the nearly 400
year rule of the Spanish, whose checkered history of colonization, genocide, military tri-
umph and defeat are seen everywhere. Colonized by Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León
in 1508, the island contains the oldest European-founded settlement under US jurisdiction.
Long before Sir Walter Raleigh and the Pilgrim Fathers had endeavored to understand the
lands across the tempestuous Atlantic, the first granite ramparts of El Morro fort in Old San
Juan had already been chiseled into place, guarding one of the safest and easily defended
harbors in the Caribbean. Nearly 500 years later, they're still there.
One recent genetic study of 800 Puerto Ricans found 61% had mitochondrial DNA from a female Amerindian ancestor, 27% in-
herited mitochondrial DNA from a female African ancestor and 12% had mitochondrial DNA from a female European ancestor.
Puerto Rico's history is flavored with contrast and contradiction and it is not easy to
quickly grasp. While there are no living indigenous communities, the bloodlines of ancestral
Puerto Ricans have been traced to more than half the population. While technically a US
commonwealth, some natives still feel the island should be a full-blown American state, oth-
ers an independent nation, and still more, a compromise solution that is neither of the above.
Then there is the singular cultural breakdown: the caustic blending of ancient Taíno with en-
slaved generations of Africans, melding with European, Caribbean and even Lebanese ele-
ments. What you're left with is the beguiling essence of modern Puerto Rico: a proud Carib-
bean nation with distinctly Latin temperament and abundant cultural exchange with the Un-
ited States.
Juan Ponce de León and the Spanish Discovery of Puerto Rico and Florida, by Robert H Fuson, sheds some light on the man who
founded modern Puerto Rico.
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