Grito De Lares Analysis

Prior to the military invasion and occupation of Puerto Rico in 1898, the Puerto Rican was already emigrating to the United States. Many of those heading to the mainland were “Puerto Rican revolutionaries who were conspiring on U. S. territory to break once and for all with the yoke of Spanish colonialism.” The four-century-old resilient stronghold of Spanish imperialism over the island was beginning to be confronted when, in 1868, the first pro-independence uprising against Spanish rule occurred in the town of Lares. The Grito de Lares (Cry of Lares) for “the abolition of slavery; the right to determine taxes; basic individual and collective freedom such as freedom of worship, freedom of the press, freedom of speech, and of assembly, and freedom of commerce,” inspired a number of Puerto Ricans to take over the town of Lares and declare independence from Spanish rule. It is interesting to note, “The leaders of the insurrection were all coffee farmers. The workers who seized Lares were coffee pickers. And those arrested by the revolutionaries were the major coffee merchants and creditors of the town.” Spaniard soldiers in the area engaged the insurgency, thereby quickly smothering out the flames of a revolutionary uprising against the empire. During the next thirty years several …show more content…
It is not our purpose to interfere with any existing laws and customs that are wholesome and beneficial to your people as long as they conform to the rules of military administration, of order and justice. This is not a war of devastation but one to give to all within the control of its military and naval forces the advantages and blessings of enlightened