Rio Grande De Loíz: The Spanish Conquest Of Puerto Rico

The early advent of the sixteenth century presents Loíza as a Taino Arawak Indian settlement, situated on the eastern area of the banks of the Cayrabon River (presently called Rio Grande de Loíza) at the time of the Spanish conquest of Puerto Rico in 1508, led by the leadership of Juan Ponce de Leon. First named Jaymanio by the Indians, the settlement was under the rule of the indigenous chieftess Yuiza when the Spaniards arrived. Believed to have married Pedro Mexia, a Spanish-born “mulatto” immigrant, baptized to Catholicism, Yuiza’s name is Christianized to “Luisa” thus becoming “Loíza” in later years. The discovery of gold in the river resulted in the “establishment of several colonies in the region.” The combination of Spanish avarice for gold, and the subjugation and exploitation of Taino natives toward the extraction of the metal soon generated Loíza into an area of economic importance. The imposition of harsh labor, however, also resulted in the Taino population to decrease …show more content…
By the end of the century the overall population of 37,500 Tainos throughout Puerto Rico was “reduced to near extinction through murder, enslavement, and disease, although not before some interbreeding took place, largely the rape of Taino women.” With the diminution of the Indian workforce, the colonizers resorted to bringing the African Negro to the Caribbean basin in order to maintain the extraction of the commodity; in 1513, African slaves first arrive in Puerto