In The Community
Though slavery was declared to be abolished, slaves themselves on the island were not freed from their masters. Instead, slaves had to buy their freedom from their last masters at a price of their master’s choosing. Additionally, slaves needed to work an additional three years as compensation to their masters for the future loss of their labor. Spanish slave owners were paid approximately 35 million pesetas (or $250,573 in modern money) per slave by the Spanish government.
Indemnity bond paid to slave owners Source
The slave trade in Puerto Rico had a long history on the island, as was common on many Spaniard colonized islands at the time. When Christopher Columbus sailed to Puerto Rico in November of 1473, the native Taíno indigenous population suffered unimaginable suffering from Spanish colonization. After years of enslavement, starvation, and mistreatment, the Taínos quickly dwindled down. In 1517, African slaves were then introduced to the island.
Former slaves in Puerto Rico
In 1560, Puerto Rican slave owners began the practice of branding their slaves with stamps on their foreheads to be able to identify which slaves were brought legally and to prevent their kidnappings on the island. This practice ended in 1784, and in 1818 the children of slaves were permitted to be bought out of their slave agreements after they were baptized.
Emancipation Day in Puerto Rico is typically used to celebrate the history of the island centered around famous Afro-Puerto Ricans and by dancing plena or bomba. Though emancipation was a great thing for the many slaves that worked to maintain the sugar plantations on the island, slavery lived on the island for almost 350 years before its abolishment.
The celebration of emancipation in Puerto Rico is a reminder of the resilience of Afro-Puerto Ricans but it’s also a reminder that Africans were often subject to complicated rules before they were truly set free, which many would argue, to this day aren’t truly set free at all.
Thanks to a recent lift on restrictions that worked to prevent the island’s government from accessing relief, Puerto Rico is ready to tap into over $69 billion dollars in aid that has been largely withheld until now. Restrictions originally included federal oversight to supervise the spending of the aid, incremental grant requirements that severely limited what could be done at the time, and more oversight from its federally-mandated financial oversight board, a result of the controversial 2016 Puerto Rico Oversight, Management, and Economic Stability Act (PROMESA).
Some of the most crucial parts of this aid come at an important time: $20 billion in funding is now available to invest into Puerto Rico’s infrastructure. The devastation from Maria presented an opportunity to improve and update the island’s power grid after 1.5 million customerswere without power for almost 11 months after the storm, making this the largest blackout in US history.
Governor Pierluisi celebrated this victory, and the elimination of the federal financial oversight board. The governor cites this as a win since it will eliminate any hurdles to getting the aid into the hands of towns that need the most support.
Pierluisi’s tweet above reads, “We have worked hard to earn the trust that now our local officials deserve, the ones who have demonstrated their dedication to the responsible management of these funds.”
