Abolish of Slavery in Puerto Rico

During the 1850s to 1880s Latin America was going through a time period of liberal push for trade and modernization. But for Puerto Rico this was not the case. During this time Puerto Rico was still under Spanish rule. This meant that they were not free to make decisions as they wished during this time period. The biggest even that happened to them during this time period was the abolition of slavery on March 22, 1873. This new law impacted all of Puerto Rico but freeing 5% of there population. This movement freed over 29,335 slaves from captivity. This wasn’t by their choice either. There was a huge anti-slavery movement in Spain during this time which ended up taking effect in Spain as well. But even with this new law in place very little changed in Puerto Rico. There was little to no change in the social classes and they still ended up doing the same work but just with a different tag to their names.

            Slavery being over was and still is a big deal till this day. But in 1873 the only thing that changed for slaves was now they had higher pay at the plantations, and they still weren’t completely free for three more years to gain freedom completely. This was a big win for slaves and a big step forward the Puerto Rico as a whole. But it wasn’t just the slaves that gained out of the Abolish. Slave owners were actually paid for their loss of the slaves during this time as well. During this time period this battle was far from over, the new law of Abolishing slavery was a step forward for the new world and something they could build on.

Words Cited:

“Abolition of Slavery in Puerto Rico.” The World of 1898: The Spanish American War. The Library of Congress. Accessed March 3, 2020. https://www.loc.gov/rr/hispanic/1898/slaves.html.

Acosta, Ivonne. “Abolition of Slavery (1873).” Enciclopedia de Puerto Rico. Puerto Rican Endowment for the Humanities. Accessed March 3, 2020. https://enciclopediapr.org/en/encyclopedia/abolition-of-slavery-1873/.

Allende-Goitía, Noel. “Puerto Rico.” In Encyclopedia of Free Blacks and People of Color in the Americas, by Stewart R. King, 2012. http://0-search.credoreference.com.dewey2.library.denison.edu/content/entry/foffree/puerto_rico/0?institutionId=4607.

By: Brennan South