Trade and politics in nineteenth century Puerto Rico

This dissertation studies the political behavior of merchants and landowners in nineteenth century Puerto Rico who chose adaptation rather than confrontation with Spain. The reasons for this lie in the social-economic structure, and are analyzed through a single locality study.;The municipality of Arecibo, on the northern coast of Puerto Rico provides the "micro" evidence. The rapid growth of the slave-based sugar economy determined the sugar planters' acceptance of the authoritarian political system reaffirmed in 1837. Discordant opinions emerged backed by the existence of alternative cash crop and a large number of day laborers. Abolitionist and other reformist tendencies were less likely to flourish in regions undergoing fast growth of the slave-based sugar economy, such as Arecibo.;In post-slavery Puerto Rico (1873-1898) the sugar crisis shaped the pro-Spanish political opinions of the sugar planters. Through diverse strategies and State support (especially from the colonial judiciary) sugar planters adapted to the economic contraction. The traditional muscovado hacienda survived. Old planter families preserved land and status.;Coffee was Puerto Rico's main crop in terms of value during the 1890s. The coffee economy was characterized by a persistent dispersion of land ownership, the orientation of trade networks towards Cuban and European ports, and large transfers of capital to Spain. The coffee interior remained un-revolutionary. The only fundamentally dissident propertied groups on the colonial political arena were certain urban sectors such as importers and retailers. Unlike post-slavery Cuba, where the 1890s sugar boom was followed by an insurrection against Spain, in post-slavery Puerto Rico sugar production declined, the coffee economy flourished and reformist (i.e., autonomist), rather than revolutionary, attitudes prevailed throughout the 1890s.;The prosperity resulting from the rising international prices for coffee strengthened the economic and political influence of the mercantile elite at the seaports. This intransigent mercantile group was forced out of power in 1897 by the new autonomous government. Landowners faced foreclosures and massive capital transfers to Spain. Amid the severe economic crises of 1897-98 landowners welcomed North American rule, along with coastal urban sectors which had been hoping for a new regime to overcome the prolonged economic contraction of the 1890s.