Preface
Introduction
PART I: DISCOVERY AND CONQUEST
Boriquén
The Indian Way of Life
The First Settlers
Queen Isabella’s Order
“The Grasping Avarice of the White Men”
The Indians Rebel
PART II: THE COLONIZATION
The Costly Colony
“Criollos” and “Blancos”
The Xivaros
Slavery Laws
Masters and Slaves
PART III: THE SPIRIT OF NATIONHOOD
Sailing to San Juan
“Arriba, Puerto Ricans!”
“You Shall Be Free”
The Day Puerto Rico Became a Nation
The Abolition of Slavery
“The Troubles at Porto Rico”
The Autonomist Concept
PART IV: MANIFEST DESTINY
Puerto Rico as a Permanent Possession
“A Dangerous Neighbor”
“Have We Not Suffered Long Enough?”
“Seize San Juan”
Our Flag Raised in Puerto Rico
“To the Inhabitants of Porto Rico”
Soldier
Diary of the War
PART V: “CITIZENS OF PORTO RICO”
“The Puerto Rican Inhumanity”
“We Are Becoming Americanized”
“They Are Loyal”
“Discipline for Porto Rico”
Dining With President Taft
“Inverted Terms”
PART VI: AMERICAN CITIZENSHIP
“An Idle Dream”
“The Future of My Country”
“Treachery and Disenchantment”
PART VII: THE GRIM YEARS
Ireland in America?
Sweatshops on the Spanish Main
“The Gentleman’s Time Has Expired”
Lindbergh’s Visit
“The Sad Case of Porto Rico”
“Joker in the Deck”
The Rise of Albizu Campos
Rebellion in Puerto Rico
Violence and Nationalism
PART VIII: “JALDA ARRIBA!”
“A Time of National Crisis”
“Puerto Rico Is the Center”
“We Had Better Wait”
The Bard of Politics
Blanca Canales(1906-1996) and the Jayuya Revolt
“I Love My Country”
Worker in the Cane
Don Abelardo
The Status Dilemma
A Yankee from Massachusetts
“The Conscience of His People”
PART IX: EXODUS
The Early Days
“What Is Prejudice?”
Long Night’s Journey
“I’m Freezing to Death”
American-born “Foreigners”
“Hispanos” and “Marine Tigers”
Down These Mean Streets
Harlem Si, Tammany No
“My Parents, They Cry with Joy”
“El Barrio’s Worst Block”
Bilingualism in El Barrio
Neo-Rican Jetliner
PART X: THE DIVIDED NATION
“Nation and Homeland”
“From a Jail in Puerto Rico”
“Cancio and Compassion”
The Cuban Invasion of Puerto Rico
A Day at the Bodega
“They Lose Heart”
The Young Lords
The Year 2000
Trade or Treason
The FBI Dossiers
“Citizens Yet Foreigners”
The Vieques Controversy
The Status Dilemma
Social Struggle against the U.S. Navy in Vieques, PR:
Two Movements in History
The Diaspora Factor: Stateside Boricuas and the Future of Puerto Rico
PART XI: PUERTO RICO IN CRISIS
Introduction by Luis Martínez-Fernández
The Effect of 936
President’s Task Force Report
Sample Ballot 2012 Plebiscite
Will Puerto Rico Become the 51st US State
U.S. Supreme Court Reinterprets Puerto Rico’s Sovereignty
Capital Over People 372
The Roots of Puerto Rico’s Debt Crisis
Bill Establishing the Oversight Board
Puerto Rico: How Do We Know 3,000 People Died
as a Result of Hurricane Maria?
Puerto Ricans in Florida: 2010-2017
Puerto Rico’s Democratic Revolt
Puerto Rico Protestors Got Creative: Dancing, Singing, Diving
At the Heart of the Movement: Puerto Rican Women and the
Toppling of Governor Roselló 4
Observation of the 2020 Election and Plebiscite xxx
COVID-19 in Puerto Rico xxx
Index