Puerto Rican Independence A Sisyphean Challenge

Lydia Ramirez

Date of Award

2010

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Social Sciences

First Advisor

Dungy, Kathryn

Keywords

Sovereignty, Albizu Campos, Carribean

Area of Concentration

International and Area Studies

Abstract

Since the 1800s Puerto Rico has been in a struggle for autonomy. The first movement for independence started with the Grito de Lares in 1868 and ended with the Spanish American War in 1898. After the the Foraker Act made Puerto Rico a �non-incorporated territory� a new wave of political parties formed. As Puerto Rico entered the Great Depression, the second independence movement blossomed. This movement was lead by Albizu Campos, leader of the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party, and Luis Mu�oz Mar�n, a journalist with connections in Washington. As the years passed, Albizu Campos became increasingly radical and was eventually incarcerated and Mu�oz Mar�n pulled further away from the cause of independence. By the early 1950s Mu�oz Mar�n was governor. He ratified the first Puerto Rican constitution with the United States, ended the independence movement by passing a law which made all pro-independence gatherings illegal, and espoused permanent Commonwealth status. In modern times the movement has cooled. Pro-independence groups are mainly underground and a series of plebiscites show the people voting consistently to remain a Commonwealth. It is possible that until the leaders of Puerto Rico with political and social power espouse the cause of independence, we will never see Puerto Rico gain its sovereignty.

Rights

This bibliographic record is available under the Creative Commons CC0 public domain dedication. The New College of Florida, as creator of this bibliographic record, has waived all rights to it worldwide under copyright law, including all related and neighboring rights, to the extent allowed by law.

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