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The first inhabitants of Puerto Rico are the Taino, who live in small villages led by a chief. Despite their knowledge of agriculture , they grow pineapples and sweet potatoes and supplement their diet with seafood. They call the island Boriken.
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On his voyage to the indes, Christoper arives on a island and claims it for spain. Also he named it San Juan Bautista.
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who had accompanied Columbus and worked to colonize nearby Hispaniola. On a well-protected bay on the north coast, he founds Caparra, where the island's first mining and farming begins.
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Colonists fixed numbers of Tainos for no wage and forced labor in the gold mines. When several priests protest, the crown requires Spaniards to pay native laborers and to teach them the Christian religion; the colonists continue to treat the natives as slaves.
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European diseases begin to devastate the Taino population. The natives rebel but armed Spanish win out. Ponce de León orders 6,000 shot. survivors flee to mountains or leave the island.
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African slaves are brought to the island by the Spanish as laborers in the gold mines.
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Coffee arrives on the island, it is important export. Sugarcane production, previously increased through the establishment of large plantations using African slaves.
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The slave population reaches more 13,300, although their proportion of the island's total population falls due to the continuing influx of European colonists.
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The brief Spanish-American War, in which the United States wins Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Philippines, and other colonial possessions from Spain.
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post-war wave of Puerto Rican immigration to the United States begins. Most come searching for employment opportunities in the booming economy.
