Puerto Rico's Revolt For Independence

El Grito De Lares

Olga Jimenez De Wagenheim

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2019
• Print ISBN: 9780367284862
• eBook ISBN: 9781000308792
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• Subtopic: International Relations
• Index: Politics & International Relations

This book is a socioeconomic interpretation of Puerto Rico's first and most significant attempt to end its colonial relationship with Spain. Looking at the imperial policies and conditions within Puerto Rico that led to the 1868 rebellion known as "El Grito de Lares, " Dr. Jiménez de Wagenheim compares the colonization of Puerto Rico with that of Spanish America and explores the reasons why the island's independence movement began decades after Spain's other colonies in the region had revolted. Through the extensive use of previously unresearched archive material, she examines the economic and social backgrounds of the leaders of the rebel movement, corrects many errors of earlier accounts of the revolt, and offers new interpretations of its impact on Spanish-Puerto Rican relations.

II
The Rebels and Their Motives: Leaders and Followers

Ramon Emeterio Betances (1827-1898), leader of the Lares Conspiracy.

Segundo Ruiz Beluis (1829-1867), conspirator with Betances.

Ana Maria (Mariana) Bracetti Cuevas (1825-1903). sewed the revolutionary flag.

II The Rebels and Their Motives: Leaders and Followers

According to the official literature, the majority of the rebels charged with taking part in the uprising were ungrateful foreigners, bankrupt industrialists and farmers, desperate jornaleros, vagabonds, criminals and adventurers.¹ But a more dispassionate review of the documents generated by the same official authorities demonstrates that the majority of the insurgents were Puerto Ricans, representatives of the social and racial diversity that existed in the colony.

The Rebels’ Birthplace

Based on the information the prisoners provided to the courts, 93 percent of the suspects (see Table IV) were born in Puerto Rico. In other words, of the 551 who were ultimately charged, 512 were known to have been born on the island. Of those born in Puerto Rico, 485 specified the municipality on the island in which they were born (see Table IV).

Nearly 97 percent (468) of the 485 persons born on the island were born in western Puerto Rico. Only 17 were born in the towns of the northeast. The towns of Mayaguez and Pepino accounted for more than one third of the suspected rebels. Although 27 towns contributed their sons to the armed struggle, 10 towns supplied 85 percent of them.

Despite the official propaganda, only 7 percent of the persons suspected, arrested, and/or jailed were foreign-born (see Table V). Among those are included 14 Spaniards, who as Europeans would be considered foreign-bora by the rebels.

The evidence that so few foreigners were linked to the uprising proves to be an important fact. For we have been led to believe that what took place in Lares was not only of minor importance, but was the work of a handful of malcontents who were led by ungrateful foreigners.

TABLE IV
Number and percent of suspects, born in Puerto Rico, by municipality

	Number	Percent
Total number of suspects	551	100.0
Born in Puerto Rico	512	93.0
With known place of birth on the island	485	88.0
Place of birth in Puerto Rico not known	27	5.0
Birthplace, by municipality Pepino (San Sebastián)	84	15.2
Mayagüez	81	14.7
Lares	48	8.7
Aguadilla	33	6.0
Anasco	33	6.0
San Germán	30	5.4
Quebradillas	29	5.3
Isabela	28	5.1
Moca	25	4.5
Camuy	20	3.6
Yauco	13	2.4
San Juan	11	2.0
Aguada	10	1.8
Arecibo	8	1.5
Cabo Rojo	6	1.1
Utuado	5	*
Manatí	4	*
Ponce	4	*
Sábana Grande	3	*
Adjuntas	2	*
Trujillo Bajo	2	*
Caguas	1	*
Hatillo	1	*
Guayanilla	1	*
Juana Díaz	1	*
Maricao	1	*
Naguabo	1	*

Sources: For this Table we used the replies given by the rebels to the questions asked by the courts. These appeared throughout the five boxes and the eighteen piezas found in the Archivo General de Puerto Rico (AGPR) concerning the Lares uprising. Also useful was Judge Navascues' Report to Audiencia of 19 February 1869, found in AGPR, FGEPR, La Revolución de Lares 1868, Caja 181, Pieza 48.

*Number represents less than one percent.

TABLE V
Number and percent of suspects, born in foreign countries, by country of origin

	Number	Percent
Total number of suspects	551	100.0
Born in countries other than Puerto Rico	39	7.0
Birthplace, by country of origin:
Spain	14	2.5
Venezuela	9	1.6
Santo Domingo	4	*
Dutch Caribbean	3	*
Africa	3	*
Italy	3	*
France	2	*
Mexico	1	*

Source: This table was compiled from information provided by the rebels themselves. Also useful was Judge Navascues' Report to Audiencia, 19 February 1869, found in AGPR, FGEPR, La Revolución de Lares 1868, Caja 181,Pieza 48.

*Number represents less than one percent.

The Rebels’ Place of Residence

Information about a suspect's residence was eagerly sought by the courts. Knowledge of a person's residence allowed the judge to gather information about the prisoner's conduct, political inclinations, and, the extent of his economic solvency. Generally, those with little or no property were fined 500 escudos (about 250 pesos), while those of means had their estates attached.

So vital was this information that the residence of only five of all the suspects remained a mystery to the authorities. It should be noted that nearly 60 percent of the prisoners were residents of the municipalities of Lares and Mayagüez.

Generally, all new residents within these municipalities were at once suspected. Movement of residence was cause enough for the authorities to arrest a great number of persons in the municipalities of Pepino, Camuy and San Germán (see Table VI).

TABLE VI
Number and percent of rebels residing in Puerto Rico in 1868, by municipality

...

	Number	Percent
Total number of suspects	551	100.0
Known person with residences in Puerto Rico	546**	99.0
Places of residences:
Lares	169	30.6
Mayagüez	160	29.0

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• About the Book and Author
• Dedication
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• List of Tables
• Preface
• Introduction
• I The "New" Colonization: A Profile of Puerto Rico
• II The Rebels and Their Motives: Leaders and Followers
• III The Conspiracy Leading to El Grito de Lares
• IV The Republic Is Proclaimed
• V Capture and Imprisonment of the Rebels
• Conclusion
• Bibliography
• Index