Essay Sample on US-Puerto Rico Alliance: A Century of History

Introduction

The history of the relationship between Puerto Rico and the USA began around 1898 during the war between Spain and the USA. At the time, Puerto Rico was a Spanish territory that had, for a long time, been through an oppressive and unfair regime. Since Puerto Rico was a Spanish regime, it was invaded by the USA, but instead of oppressing them, the USA issued a decree to protect the Puerto Ricans and their properties. These promises prompted Puerto Ricans to side with the Americans in the fight against Spain, with the hope that after the USA's victory, their lives would change for better. However, soon after Spain had conceded to the USA, the USA failed to keep its promise to the Puerto Ricans. Instead, the USA denied Puerto Ricans their independence, both economically and politically, and even made it worse than the previous Spanish regime (Rodriguez, 1990).

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First, Puerto Ricans were denied the chance to have elected leaders, and instead, the USA chose their own leaders and created their own colonial system. Secondly, the economy of Puerto Ricans, which primarily depended on the farming of coffee, tobacco, sugar and cattle rearing was significantly disrupted by the USA invasion since the Americans were only interested in sugarcane farming and therefore made Puerto Rico a sugarcane economy with a majority of the owners being Americans (Rodriguez, 1990). By 1920, the sugarcane economy was drastically declining, there were no reinvestments, and the Puerto Ricans population was exponential increases. The declining economy and the high population led to increased rates of unemployment and poverty rates increased dramatically (Rodriguez, 1990). Overall, as a result of the decline in the economy, the living conditions in Puerto Rico became dire and desperate, which forced some Puerto Rican workers to migrate to the USA in the 1930s in search of better living conditions.

Waves of Migration of Puerto Rican to the USA

The first wave of migration was between 1900 and 1945. This wave was mainly characterized by the movement of workers who migrated to the USA when employment opportunities were better there compared to their homeland Puerto Rico. During this period, unemployment rates were high due to the dramatic increase in the Puerto Rican population (Rodriguez, 1990). The growth in population was mainly associated with better medical care that was initiated by the Americans. With the high population, the supply of labor was in excess of the economy, and thus, many citizens were unemployed and therefore migrated to the USA (Rodriguez, 1990). However, during the great economic depression in the 1930s, some Puerto Rican immigrants migrated back to their country as a result of the harsh economic times. These migrants mainly settled in New York City, Brooklyn, and Manhattan, among other areas.

The second wave of migration, which is often referred to as the great migration happened between 1946 and 1964 after the World War II era. Immigrants during this period were motivated by the readily available employment opportunities in the USA, the demand for cheap labor in the USA, their participation in the army was also significantly increased during the World War II since they were viewed to be superior to the white soldiers, travel restrictions to and from the USA were also lowered, and travel was made more accessible and cheaper as a result of surplus pilots and aircrafts (Rodriguez, 1990). During this period, the immigrants expanded their presence in New York City, among other areas in the USA, where Puerto Rican migrants had settled during the first wave.

The third wave of migration happened between 1965 and the present day and is often referred to as the revolving-door migration. This wave is characterized by an unstable pattern of migration to and from the USA with a high dispersion of the immigrants in the USA (Rodriguez, 1990). During this wave, more and more Puerto Ricans have migrated back to Puerto Rico, mainly due to a lack of employment opportunities in major cities such as New York City, where a majority had settled (Rodriguez, 1990). During this wave, a majority of the immigrants also dispersed to other regions in the USA apart from New York and other areas where they had initially settled in search of better opportunities.

Works Cited

Rodriguez, C. E. (1990). Puerto Ricans: Immigrants and Migrants, a Historical Perspective. Portfolio Project.