Between the 7th and 11th centuries, the Taíno culture dominated the Greater
Antilles, an archipelago that includes Cuba, Puerto Rico, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Culebra and a number of smaller islands. “It is estimated that at the
time of Columbus’ arrival in 1493 approximately 50,000 Taíno inhabited the
island they called Boriquen.” The Taíno chief, Agueybana, greeted the
Spanish explorers in peace and welcome. Columbus
named the island San Juan after
Saint John the Baptist, but it was soon after referred to as Puerto Rico because of the gold found
there.
The first Spanish colony on Puerto Rico was founded by Ponce de León in 1508 in Caparra, a settlement that is now called Pueblo Viejo. Ponce de León was appointed governor. Under his rule the peaceful native were forced into labor in the gold mines. Many contracted smallpox and infectious diseases brought to the island from Spain and died, so that by the time Spain issued a decree emancipating the Taínos in 1520, the native population was nearly wiped out. To replace his lost forced labor force Ponce de León began the importation of black slaves from West Africa.
A year after the Spanish landed on Puerto Rico, Pope Julius II issued a Papal Bull claiming Hispaniola and the surrounding islands for the Church and erecting the first province in the New World under the title of Our Lady of the Annunciation. However, King Ferdinand reserved the right to any tithes of gold, silver or precious stones found in the New World to the Crown. In 1511 the Pope erected three new dioceses in the New World; two in Hispaniola on the Islands of Santo Domingo and Concepcion de la Vega) and one on the Island of San Juan (Puerto Rico). In 1513 Father Alonso Manso was transferred from Salamanca to San Juan to serve as Bishop, “arriving at a time when the island possessed only two European settlements, some two hundred white people and about five hundred native Christians.”
The first Spanish colony on Puerto Rico was founded by Ponce de León in 1508 in Caparra, a settlement that is now called Pueblo Viejo. Ponce de León was appointed governor. Under his rule the peaceful native were forced into labor in the gold mines. Many contracted smallpox and infectious diseases brought to the island from Spain and died, so that by the time Spain issued a decree emancipating the Taínos in 1520, the native population was nearly wiped out. To replace his lost forced labor force Ponce de León began the importation of black slaves from West Africa.
A year after the Spanish landed on Puerto Rico, Pope Julius II issued a Papal Bull claiming Hispaniola and the surrounding islands for the Church and erecting the first province in the New World under the title of Our Lady of the Annunciation. However, King Ferdinand reserved the right to any tithes of gold, silver or precious stones found in the New World to the Crown. In 1511 the Pope erected three new dioceses in the New World; two in Hispaniola on the Islands of Santo Domingo and Concepcion de la Vega) and one on the Island of San Juan (Puerto Rico). In 1513 Father Alonso Manso was transferred from Salamanca to San Juan to serve as Bishop, “arriving at a time when the island possessed only two European settlements, some two hundred white people and about five hundred native Christians.”
