The Puerto Rico Reconstruction Administration
eBook - ePub

The Puerto Rico Reconstruction Administration

New Deal Public Works, Modernization, and Colonial Reform

  1. English
  2. ePUB (mobile friendly)
  3. Available on iOS & Android
eBook - ePub

The Puerto Rico Reconstruction Administration

New Deal Public Works, Modernization, and Colonial Reform

About this book

Honorable Mention, Living New Deal Book Award


An important New Deal program that shaped the relationship between Puerto Rico and the United States 


This book explores the history and impact of the Puerto Rico Reconstruction Administration (PRRA), the most important New Deal agency to operate in Puerto Rico and the largest created for any United States territory. Geoff Burrows demonstrates how the PRRA improved living conditions across the island in the wake of destructive hurricanes and the Great Depression, while at the same time producing a reformed, strengthened, and lasting colonial relationship between Puerto Rico and the United States.


Using previously untapped archival sources and a wide range of primary and secondary texts, Burrows follows the agency from its founding by President Roosevelt in 1935 to its ending in 1955, situating its public works program in both Puerto Rican and New Deal contexts. The PRRA built the Caribbean’s first modern cement plant; implemented widespread rural electrification through the building of seven hydroelectric dams; constructed hurricane-proof houses, schools, and hospitals; and improved transportation and communication across the island. Puerto Rican engineers, planners, and officials took a leading role in these initiatives, which provided them social mobility and transformed the island’s economy from agricultural to industrial.


The first institutional history and critical examination of the agency, The Puerto Rico Reconstruction Administration engages questions about the New Deal’s global reach. It investigates how New Deal agendas refashioned U.S. colonialism in Puerto Rico and indirectly contributed to the island’s current debt crisis and response to recent natural disasters such as Hurricane María.

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Yes, you can access The Puerto Rico Reconstruction Administration by Geoff G. Burrows in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in History & Economic History. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.

Information

Table of contents

  1. Cover
  2. Title Page
  3. Copyright Page
  4. Dedication
  5. Contents
  6. List of Figures
  7. Acknowledgments
  8. List of Abbreviations
  9. Introduction
  10. 1. San Felipe, San Ciprián, and the Election of 1932
  11. 2. From Relief to Reconstruction
  12. 3. Para Permanencia
  13. 4. The Road to Modernization
  14. 5. Rural Electrification
  15. Conclusion: From the New Deal to Today
  16. Notes
  17. Bibliography
  18. Index
  19. About the Author