Influence of the Spanish on Puerto Rican Society :: Puerto Rico History Historical Essays

Influence of the Spanish on Puerto Rican SocietyIn the histories of Colonial Latin America there is one common case and that is the importation of slaves as a labor force. The resulting consequences for the territory are critical if we are to understand the development of the society. In Puerto Rico these consequences deal chiefly with African mold on the peasantry, the corrective measures taken thereafter to misrepresent the African influence, and the results of these corrective measures.The Tainos, the natives of Puerto Rico, were extensive agriculturalists as well as a highly organized pile. They developed techniques, such as irrigation, which was new to cultivation and at the same time increased the productivity of their crops, like the yuca their important staple. Another unique feature to the Taino society was the relationship between human race and woman. The Tainos gender roles were markedly different from those of the European nations. For example the matrilinear ar rangements allowed both men and women to run short the chiefs of their respective villages. Spanish settlers were critical, upon arrival, of the Taino lifestyle. Un heaven-sently Taino influence is rarely felt due to their rapid demise.Although the natives of Borikn were Taino, it is argued that the first Puerto Ricans were discolor Puerto Ricans. Spanish occupation virtually eliminated Native influences by the way of the decimation of the people as a result of disease brought across the atlantic by the Spanish settlers. In this way the Taino were minimally influential in forming a new cultural identity. The descendants of the first African slaves had already become black Puerto Ricans(Gonzlez 10) when Spaniards from the canary islands arrived to replace those who had left in search of riches in Peru and Mexico. For this reason it is feasible to accept the notion that the Puerto Ricans were in incident black Puerto Ricans. (Gonzlez 10) The African presence was more of a factor i n the formation process of the Puerto Rican identity. Of the massive numbers of slaves who survived the voyage there were those who were fortunate enough to escape into the hinterland. Here they found refuge from the hardship of woodlet labor along with the opportunity to join the peasantry that also searched for refuge. The jbaros utilise the broken topography of the interior as an ally in its struggle with the expanding lolly plantations (Scarano 6) This intermixing of the two cultures forged several similarities.