A little bit of history...

On November 19, 1493 Christopher Columbus discovered the island in his second voyage to the New World. He named the island San Juan Bautista. He found the island populated by Taíno or also named Arawak Indians. The Taínos were  kind and peaceful people and they welcomed the new people and shared their homes and food and gave the Spaniards many gifts. Columbus thought this island to be very pretty. He also though about how kind the Indians were to him.

 Later on, Juan Ponce de León  came and colonized Borinquen in 1508 and became its first governor. The Spaniards were looking for treasures like gold. They made slaves of the Indians gradually killing them from overwork. Even after all the indians did for them, they still killed them off. The atmosphere of the soon to be Puerto Rico changed from kind and peaceful to rutheless and murderous. Soon, African families were brought to the island as even more slaves. The island remained economically undeveloped until 1830, when sugarcane and other crops and growing areas were developed. Many families from Spain and European countries moved to the island, slowly coming together with the Taíno Indians, forming a new ethnic group called Criollos (this is where we get the name for Puerto Rican cuisine, comida Criolla).

When Puerto Ricans started to push for their very own independence, Spain gave the island powers of self-government in 1897. But during the Spanish-American War of 1898, American troops came and invaded the island and Spain  was forced to surrender to the U.S. Since then, Puerto Rico has remained a U.S. territory. Its people were granted American citizenship under the Jones Act in 1917.  They were also allowed to vote for their own governor, beginning in 1948.  Now they can fully manage their government under a constitution made by them and for them. In 1952, Puerto Rico’s Constitution established self government. In 1954, Puerto Ricans carried out an armed attack in the U.S Congress toi gain more rights, but over the years the people of Puerto Rico have voted to keep their decent Commonwealth status.