The Dawn of Disenchantment: Puerto Rican Self-Determination Movements at the Crossroads of Empire, 1868–1917

Puerto Ricans of different racial and social classes strived together to form a national identity. Additionally, Puerto Ricans of diverse racial and social backgrounds collaborated to form a national identity based on their shared experiences of Spanish colonialism and US occupation. The Puerto Rican economy was stagnant under Spanish colonialism. Thus, living conditions were dire for the majority of the population. Consequently, Puerto Ricans yearned for self-determination. The U.S. invasion in 1898 signaled social and political changes to come. The mixed-race creole elite now faced similar tribulations as the rural working-class. The rural working-class was socioeconomically oppressed and relied on the Non-White creole elite’s advocacy. Thus, Non-White criollo elites collaborated with the rural working-class to create and proliferate a unifying national identity which repudiated colonial rule and embraced Puerto Rican indigeneity.