Puertorriquenos History
How slavery impacted the Puerto Ricans and their culture
The start of
slavery:
In the beginning Puerto Rico was more of peasant society. There wasn't much slavery. According to an article by Katherine Bowman, slaves was brought in the year 1513. Then by the nineteenth century the slave population develop on the island. Spanish were importing Africans. After this happening, the culture started to combine with each other. Many people used it as cultural identity.
The culture impact
between Puerto Ricans and Africans:
A culture combination between Africans and Puerto Ricans, was a dance called Bomba. Bomba was dance created from both cultures. From the article by, Randy Banner, from New York Times, Bomba is an important use of communication among tribes. It absorbed, "Spanish dance idioms and was performed throughout Puerto Rican society." This dance was used for many things important to the slaves at those times. The dance was used by former slaves and others, "As part of their search for cultural identity." In this dance there are only three instruments, Cua, Maraca, and a Bomba Barrel.
Who resisted in slavery?
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In the times of slavery, of course there were people that didn't agree with it. One of those people who didn't was a man named Xiorro. An article by, Jae Jones, explained how he lead the way, "planned and organized an uprising against masters and the colonial government of Puerto Rico." This planned was going out on July 27th, during the festival celebrations. The plan was, several slaves was to escape from different plantations, "and go to the sugar cane fields to retrieve the weapons hidden prior to the revolt." In the time of slavery, resistance was of course, hard. In the island Puerto Rico, if you disrespected a master, didn't even have to be your own, you will receive 50 lashes, and then to go to your masters to get more punishment.
Websites:
“Slave Revolt in Puerto Rico in 1821 Planned by Marcos Xiorro.” Black Then, blackthen.com/slave-revolt-in-puerto-rico-in-1821-planned-by-marcos-xiorro/.
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​Banner, Randy. “A Ritual Dance, Rooted in Slavery, That's Not Just a Dance.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 10 Sept. 2000, www.nytimes.com/2000/09/10/nyregion/city-lore-a-ritual-dance-rooted-in-slavery-that-s-not-just-a-dance.html.
