1.
United States dollar
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The United States dollar is the official currency of the United States and its insular territories per the United States Constitution. It is divided into 100 smaller cent units, the circulating paper money consists of Federal Reserve Notes that are denominated in United States dollars. The U. S. dollar was originally commodity money of silver as enacted by the Coinage Act of 1792 which determined the dollar to be 371 4/16 grain pure or 416 grain standard silver, the currency most used in international transactions, it is the worlds primary reserve currency. Several countries use it as their currency, and in many others it is the de facto currency. Besides the United States, it is used as the sole currency in two British Overseas Territories in the Caribbean, the British Virgin Islands and Turks and Caicos Islands. A few countries use the Federal Reserve Notes for paper money, while the country mints its own coins, or also accepts U. S. coins that can be used as payment in U. S. dollars. After Nixon shock of 1971, USD became fiat currency, Article I, Section 8 of the U. S. Constitution provides that the Congress has the power To coin money, laws implementing this power are currently codified at 31 U. S. C. Section 5112 prescribes the forms in which the United States dollars should be issued and these coins are both designated in Section 5112 as legal tender in payment of debts. The Sacagawea dollar is one example of the copper alloy dollar, the pure silver dollar is known as the American Silver Eagle. Section 5112 also provides for the minting and issuance of other coins and these other coins are more fully described in Coins of the United States dollar. The Constitution provides that a regular Statement and Account of the Receipts and that provision of the Constitution is made specific by Section 331 of Title 31 of the United States Code. The sums of money reported in the Statements are currently being expressed in U. S. dollars, the U. S. dollar may therefore be described as the unit of account of the United States. The word dollar is one of the words in the first paragraph of Section 9 of Article I of the Constitution, there, dollars is a reference to the Spanish milled dollar, a coin that had a monetary value of 8 Spanish units of currency, or reales. In 1792 the U. S. Congress passed a Coinage Act, Section 20 of the act provided, That the money of account of the United States shall be expressed in dollars, or units. And that all accounts in the offices and all proceedings in the courts of the United States shall be kept and had in conformity to this regulation. In other words, this act designated the United States dollar as the unit of currency of the United States, unlike the Spanish milled dollar the U. S. dollar is based upon a decimal system of values. Both one-dollar coins and notes are produced today, although the form is significantly more common
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Puerto Rico
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Puerto Rico, officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and briefly called Porto Rico, is an unincorporated territory of the United States located in the northeast Caribbean Sea. It is an archipelago that includes the island of Puerto Rico and a number of smaller ones such as Mona, Culebra. The capital and most populous city is San Juan and its official languages are Spanish and English, though Spanish predominates. The islands population is approximately 3.4 million, Puerto Ricos rich history, tropical climate, diverse natural scenery, renowned traditional cuisine, and attractive tax incentives make it a popular destination for travelers from around the world. Four centuries of Spanish colonial government transformed the ethnic, cultural and physical landscapes primarily with waves of African captives, and Canarian. In the Spanish imperial imagination, Puerto Rico played a secondary, in 1898, following the Spanish–American War, the United States appropriated Puerto Rico together with most former Spanish colonies under the terms of the Treaty of Paris. Puerto Ricans are natural-born citizens of the United States, however, Puerto Rico does not have a vote in the United States Congress, which governs the territory with full jurisdiction under the Puerto Rico Federal Relations Act of 1950. As a U. S. territory, American citizens residing on the island are disenfranchised at the level and may not vote for president. However, Congress approved a constitution, allowing U. S. citizens on the territory to elect a governor. A fifth referendum will be held in June 2017, with only Statehood, in early 2017, the Puerto Rican government-debt crisis posed serious problems for the government. The outstanding bond debt that had climbed to $70 billion or $12,000 per capita at a time with 12. 4% unemployment, the debt had been increasing during a decade long recession. Puerto Ricans often call the island Borinquen – a derivation of Borikén, its indigenous Taíno name, the terms boricua and borincano derive from Borikén and Borinquen respectively, and are commonly used to identify someone of Puerto Rican heritage. The island is also known in Spanish as la isla del encanto. Columbus named the island San Juan Bautista, in honor of Saint John the Baptist, eventually traders and other maritime visitors came to refer to the entire island as Puerto Rico, while San Juan became the name used for the main trading/shipping port and the capital city. The islands name was changed to Porto Rico by the United States after the Treaty of Paris of 1898, the anglicized name was used by the US government and private enterprises. The name was changed back to Puerto Rico by a joint resolution in Congress introduced by Félix Córdova Dávila in 1931, the ancient history of the archipelago known today as Puerto Rico is not well known. The scarce archaeological findings and early Spanish scholarly accounts from the colonial era constitute the basis of knowledge about them. The first comprehensive book on the history of Puerto Rico was written by Fray Íñigo Abbad y Lasierra in 1786, the first settlers were the Ortoiroid people, an Archaic Period culture of Amerindian hunters and fishermen who migrated from the South American mainland
3.
Hispaniola
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Hispaniola is the 22nd-largest island in the world, located in the Caribbean island group, the Greater Antilles. It is the second largest island in the Caribbean after Cuba, two sovereign nations share the 76, 192-square-kilometre island. The only other shared island in the Caribbean is Saint Martin, Hispaniola is the site of the first permanent European settlement in the Americas, founded by Christopher Columbus on his voyages in 1492 and 1493. The island was called by various names by its native people, fernández de Oviedo and de las Casas both recorded that the island was called Haiti by the Taíno. DAnghiera added another name, Quizqueia, but later shows that the word does not seem to derive from the original Arawak Taíno language. When Columbus took possession of the island in 1492, he named it Insula Hispana, meaning the Spanish Island in Latin and La Isla Española, meaning the Spanish Island, in Spanish. De las Casas shortened the name to Española, and when d‘Anghiera detailed his account of the island in Latin, he rendered its name as Hispaniola. Due to Taíno, Spanish and French influences on the island, historically the whole island was referred to as Haiti, Hayti, Santo Domingo, St. Domingue. The name Haïti was adopted by Haitian revolutionary Jean-Jacques Dessalines in 1804, as the name of independent Saint-Domingue. It was also adopted as the name of independent Santo Domingo, as the Republic of Spanish Haiti. Christopher Columbus inadvertently landed on the island during his first voyage across the Atlantic in 1492, where his flagship, a contingent of men were left at an outpost christened La Navidad, on the north coast of present-day Haiti. The island was inhabited by the Taíno, one of the indigenous Arawak peoples, the Taino were at first tolerant of Columbus and his crew, and helped him to construct La Navidad on what is now Môle-Saint-Nicolas, Haiti, in December 1492. European colonization of the began in earnest the following year. In 1496 the town of Nueva Isabela was founded, after being destroyed by a hurricane, it was rebuilt on the opposite side of the Ozama River and called Santo Domingo. It is the oldest permanent European settlement in the Americas, several 16th century writers estimated the 1492 population of Hispaniola at over 1 million people. Twentieth-century estimates of the range from 60,000 to 8,000,000. Harsh enslavement by Spanish colonists, redirection of food supplies and labor towards the colonists, had a impact on both mortality and fertility over the first quarter century. Colonial administrators and Dominican and Hyeronimite priests observed that the search for gold, demographic data from two provinces in 1514 shows a low birth rate consistent with a 3. 5% annual population decline
4.
Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands
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Located on the island is the territorial capital and port of Charlotte Amalie. As of the 2010 census, the population of Saint Thomas was 51,634 about 48. 5% of the US Virgin Islands total, the district has a land area of 31.24 square miles. The island was settled around 1500 BC by the Ciboney people. They were later replaced by the Arawaks and then the Caribs, christopher Columbus sighted the island in 1493 on his second voyage to the New World. The Dutch West India Company established a post on Saint Thomas in 1657, the first congregation was the St. Thomas Reformed Church, which was established in 1660 and was associated with the Dutch Reformed Church. Denmark-Norway conquered the island in 1666, and by 1672 had established control over the island through the Danish West India. The land was divided into plantations and sugarcane became the primary economic activity. As a result, the economies of Saint Thomas and the islands of Saint John and Saint Croix became highly dependent on slave labor. In 1685, the Brandenburgisch-Africanische Compagnie took control of the trade on Saint Thomas. Saint Thomass fine natural harbor became known as Taphus for the establishments located nearby. In 1691, the settlement there was renamed Charlotte Amalie in honor of the wife of Denmarks King Christian V. It was later declared a port by Frederick V. In December 1732, the first two of many Moravian Brethren missionaries came from Herrnhut Saxony in present-day Germany to minister to them, distrusted at first by the white masters, they lived among the slaves and soon won their confidence. From 1796 a small Jewish community developed in Charlotte Amalie and it established a historic synagogue, Beracha Veshalom Vegmiluth Hasidim, the oldest synagogue in continuous anywhere in the United States or its external territories. The first British invasion and occupation of the Danish West Indies occurred at the end of March 1801 when a British fleet arrived at St Thomas, Denmark-Norway accepted the Articles of Capitulation the British proposed and the British occupied the islands without a shot being fired. The British occupation lasted until April 1802, when the British returned the islands to Denmark-Norway, the second British invasion of the Danish West Indies took place in December 1807 when a British fleet captured St Thomas on 22 December and Santa Cruz on 25 December. Denmark-Norway did not resist and the invasion was bloodless and this British occupation of the Danish West Indies lasted until 20 November 1815, when Britain returned the islands to Denmark. While the sugar trade had brought prosperity to the free citizens
5.
Fajardo, Puerto Rico
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Fajardo is a small city and municipality in Puerto Rico located in the east region of the island, bordering the Atlantic Ocean, north of Ceiba and east of Luquillo. Fajardo is spread over 7 wards and Downtown Fajardo, which serves as the center of the city. It is both a city of the Fajardo Metropolitan Statistical Area and the San Juan-Caguas-Fajardo Combined Statistical Area. Fajardo is the hub of the majority of recreational boating in Puerto Rico and a popular launching port to Culebra, Vieques, and it is also the home to the largest Marina in the Caribbean, called Puerto del Rey. The town contains various hotels and inns, off shore, near Fajardo, a few islets can be found. These are Icacos, Palominos, Palominito, and Diablo, among other uninhabited coral islands, Fajardo was founded in 1760,1773 or 1774 as Santiago de Fajardo. It was one of the used by the Americans to invade Puerto Rico. Rodgers ordered some of his men ashore, which included Puerto Rican volunteers, thomas, Isla Nena Air and Vieques Air Link. Fajardos beaches are bounded by calm, clear water ideal for snorkeling, seven Seas Beach offers plentiful water sports facilities, offshore points for sailing, snorkeling and plenty of scuba diving. Fajardo is also home to one of the few Bioluminescent Lagoons in the world, nightly trips are offered by kayak by local companies who give educational tours. Las Cabezas de San Juan Light House - One of the oldest lighthouses in Puerto Rico, only one used for nautical reasons in the entire island. Laguna Grande - One of the few Bioluminescent bays in the world, Puerto del Rey Marina - Biggest marina in the Caribbean. U. S. Customs House - Constructed in 1930 still in use by the U. S. Customs & Border Protection, seven Seas Beach - One of the most beautiful beaches on the island. Classified Blue Flag for its sanitary health guarantees, las Cabezas de San Juan Reserve - Home to mangroves and to the lighthouse. Fajardo Port - Used by locals and tourists to visit the island municipalities of Vieques, town Square - One of the most charming, antique styled, town squares of Puerto Rico. Fajardo is also home to pharmaceutical and bio-sciences companies, due to its rich ports and closeness to smaller islands, Fajardo is also known for its fishing industries. George Torres, Mario Morales and Mario Butler were three of the most famous players to play for that franchise, in 2007, the team returned once again to the BSN. The team known as the Titanes de Morovis was moved to Fajardo, unlike the NBA and other sports leagues in the United States, Puerto Rican franchises rarely leave the original name of the franchise when they move to a different city
6.
Caguas, Puerto Rico
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Caguas is located 20 miles from San Juan and 40 miles from Ponce. It is known as El Valle del Turabo or La Ciudad Criolla, Caguas is both a principal city of the San Juan-Caguas-Guaynabo Metropolitan Statistical Area and the San Juan-Caguas-Fajardo Combined Statistical Area. Caguas was founded on January 1,1775 as San Sebastián del Piñal de Caguax, Caguax was a local Taíno chief and early convert to Christianity. Caguas construction was finished in 1779, in 1820 it was declared a valley, in 2002, Caguas was the site of the 2002 USAF Hercules air disaster. Caguas is located in the largest valley in Puerto Rico, the Valle de Caguas which it shares with Gurabo and part of Aguas Buenas. It is located approximately 30 minutes from the coastline both on the east and the north, and is divided from the Gurabo portion of the valley by the river of the same name. It is east of Aguas Buenas and Cidra, north of Cayey, south of San Juan and it also shares borders with Guayama and Patillas via a five-point border, with Cayey and San Lorenzo. At this point there are two tall antennas which provide signal to Puerto Ricos principal TV stations such as WKAQ-TV and WAPA-TV, no road passes exactly at this point, and it can be approached nearby through Puerto Rico Highway 184. Being a valley, Caguas has the distinction of being relatively flat except near the borders with all the mentioned municipalities except Gurabo, the Río Grande de Loíza divides this municipality from Gurabo. Other Rivers, Río Turabo, Río Caguitas, Río Cañaboncito, Río Bairoa and Río Cañas. The climate is classified as a Tropical monsoon climate, meaning the mean temperature from month to month is never less than 64.4 °F. Rainfall is common in relative abundance throughout most of the year, the land, however, is fertile and deep. Three of the first five Puerto Ricans that played Major League Baseball in the U. S. at one point in their careers played for the Criollos de Caguas, the Criollos de Caguas basketball team, founded in 1968 by Dr. Héctor Tato Dávila and Lcdo. Libertario Pérez Rodríguez, hasnt enjoyed as much success as their baseball counterparts, however in the early 2000s, they showed a lot of progress by reaching the national playoffs various times. The team is a member of the BSN, in 2006, the team won its first BSN national basketball championship, defeating Flor Melendez and his Santurce Crabbers in five games. The Criollas de Caguas womens volleyball team has won 9 national Puerto Rico titles and has made it to the more than 15 times. The team is a member of the Liga de Voleibol Superior Femenino, in September 2005 City Mayor William Miranda Marin levied the first Municipal tax in Puerto Rico via city ordinance. Area Merchants now charge a one cent tax for every dollar spent on all retail businesses, the tax has become known around the island as the Willie Tax
7.
Humacao, Puerto Rico
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Humacao is a municipality in Puerto Rico located in the eastern coast of the island, north of Yabucoa, south of Naguabo, east of Las Piedras, and west of Vieques Passage. Humacao is spread over 10 wards and Humacao Pueblo and it is part of the San Juan-Caguas-Guaynabo Metropolitan Statistical Area. The region of what is now Humacao belonged to the Taíno region of Jumaca, the region was led by cacique Jumacao. The Taíno settlement was located on the shores of what is called now the Humacao River, in the letter, Jumacao argued that their people were virtually prisoners of Spain. It is said that King Charles was so moved by the letter that he ordered the Governor to obey the terms of the treaty, during the early 16th Century, the region was populated by cattle ranchers. However, since most of them resided in San Juan. At the beginning of the 18th Century, specifically around 1721–1722, still, some settlers remained and by 1776, historian Fray Íñigo Abbad y Lasierra visited the area and wrote about the population there. By 1793, the church was recognized as parish and the settlement was recognized as town. By 1894, Humacao was recognized as a city, due to its thriving population, buildings and structures like a hospital, a theater, and a prison were built in the city. In 1899, after the United States invasion of the island as a result of the Spanish–American War and this lasted until 1914, when the Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico voted on splitting both towns again. Recently, Humacao has been led by mayor Marcelo Trujillo Panisse for more than a decade, a basketball star in his early years, Trujillo has pushed for the development of infrastructure facilities for sports and the fine arts in the city. On March,2008, a new Roman Catholic diocese was established as the Fajardo-Humacao diocese and its first bishop is Monsignor Eusebio Chebito Ramos Morales, a maunabeño who was rector of the Humacaos main parish in the 1990s. Humacao is located in the southeast coast of Puerto Rico and it is bordered by the municipalities of Naguabo to the north, Yabucoa to the south, and Las Piedras to the west. The Atlantic Ocean borders the city in the east, Humacao is located in the region of the Eastern Coastal Plains, with most of its territory being flat. There are minor elevations to the southwest, like Candelero Hill, Humacaos territory covers 45 square miles. Two islands belong to Humacao, Cayo Santiago and Cayo Batata, Humacaos hydrographic system consists of many rivers and creeks like Humacao, Antón Ruíz, and Candelero. Some of its creeks are Frontera, Mariana, and Del Obispo, one of the most notable tourist mainstays is the Palmas del Mar resort, which is the islands largest resort. This megaresort is composed of over 3,000 acres of land, the resort contains over 20 tennis courts, two world-class golf courses, beaches, several restaurants and a riding center
8.
Danish West Indies
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The Danish West India Guinea Company annexed the uninhabited island of Saint Thomas in 1672 and St. John in 1675. In 1733, Saint Croix was purchased from the French West India Company, when the Company went bankrupt in 1755, the King of Denmark-Norway assumed direct control of the three islands. The Danish West Indies was occupied by Britain in 1801–1802 and 1807–1815, the final stage of the triangle was the exportation of cargo of sugar and rum to Denmark. The economy of the Danish West Indies was dependent on slavery, after a rebellion, slavery was officially abolished in 1848, leading to the near economic collapse of the plantations. In 1852, the sale of the increasingly unprofitable colony was first debated in the Danish parliament, Denmark tried several times to sell or exchange the Danish West Indies in the late 19th and early 20th century, to the United States and the German Empire respectively. The islands were sold for 25 million dollars to the United States. Prince Frederick organized a mission to Barbados in 1647 under Gabriel Gomez and the de Casseres brothers, but it. It was not until Erik Smits private 1652 expedition aboard the Fortuna was successful that interest in the West Indies trade grew into an interest in the creation of a new Danish colony. Smits 1653 expedition and an expedition of five ships were quite successful. In August two years later, a Danish Flotilla was destroyed by a hurricane, Smit returned from his fourth expedition in 1663 and formally proposed the settlement of St. Thomas to the king in April 1665. After only three weeks deliberation, the scheme was approved and Smit was named governor, Smit died of illness, and a second band of privateers stole the ship and used it to trade with neighboring islands. The Danish formed a Board of Trade in 1668 and secured a treaty with Britain, providing for the unmolested settlement of uninhabited islands. The Danish West India Company was organized in December and formally chartered by King Christian V the next year on March 11,1671, den forgyldte Krone was ordered to run ahead and wait but ended up returning to Denmark after the Færøe under Capt. Bang was delayed for repairs in Bergen, the Færøe completed her mission alone, establishing a settlement on St. Thomas on May 25,1672. From an original contingent of 190 –12 officials,116 company employees, another 75 died within the first year, leaving only 29 to carry on the colony. Further instructions in 1688 to establish a settlement on St. John seem not to have acted on until Governor Bredal made an official establishment on March 25,1718. The islands quickly became a base for attacking ships in the vicinity. Possession of the island was disputed with the Scottish in 1698
9.
British Virgin Islands
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The British Virgin Islands, officially the Virgin Islands, are a British overseas territory located in the Caribbean to the east of Puerto Rico. The islands make up part of the Virgin Islands archipelago, the islands constitute the US Virgin Islands. The 150-square-kilometre British Virgin Islands consist of the islands of Tortola, Virgin Gorda, Anegada. About 15 of the islands are inhabited, the capital, Road Town, is situated on Tortola, the largest island, which is about 20 km long and 5 km wide. The islands had a population of about 28,000 at the 2010 Census, of whom approximately 23,500 lived on Tortola, British Virgin Islanders are classed as British Overseas Territories citizens and since 2002 have had an entitlement to take up full UK citizenship. Although the territory is not part of the European Union and not directly subject to EU law, the official name of the territory is still simply the Virgin Islands, but the prefix British is often used. This is commonly believed to distinguish it from the neighbouring American territory which changed its name from the Danish West Indies to Virgin Islands of the United States in 1917. Moreover, the territorys Constitutional Commission has expressed the view that every effort should be made to encourage the use of the name Virgin Islands. In 1968 the British Government issued a memorandum requiring that the stamps in the territory should say British Virgin Islands. This was likely to prevent confusion following on from the adoption of US currency in the Territory in 1959, the Virgin Islands were first settled by the Arawak from South America around 100 BC. The Arawaks inhabited the islands until the 15th century when they were displaced by the more aggressive Caribs, the first European sighting of the Virgin Islands was by Christopher Columbus in 1493 on his second voyage to the Americas. Columbus gave them the fanciful name Santa Ursula y las Once Mil Vírgenes, shortened to Las Vírgenes, there is no record of any native Amerindian population in the British Virgin Islands during this period, although the native population on nearby Saint Croix was decimated. The Dutch established a permanent settlement on the island of Tortola by 1648, in 1672, the English captured Tortola from the Dutch, and the English annexation of Anegada and Virgin Gorda followed in 1680. Meanwhile, over the period 1672–1733, the Danish gained control of the islands of Saint Thomas, Saint John. The British islands were considered principally a strategic possession, but were planted when economic conditions were particularly favourable, the British introduced sugar cane which was to become the main crop and source of foreign trade, and slaves were brought from Africa to work on the sugar cane plantations. In 1917, the United States purchased St. John, St. Thomas, the British Virgin Islands were administered variously as part of the British Leeward Islands or with St. Kitts and Nevis, with an administrator representing the British Government on the islands. The islands gained separate status in 1960 and became autonomous in 1967. Since the 1960s, the islands have diversified away from their traditionally agriculture-based economy towards tourism and financial services and they are located in the Virgin Islands archipelago, a few miles east of the US Virgin Islands
10.
RMS Rhone
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RMS Rhone was a UK Royal Mail Ship owned by the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company. She was wrecked off the coast of Salt Island in the British Virgin Islands on 29 October 1867 in a hurricane and she is now a popular Caribbean wreck dive site. RMSP ships carried mail, passengers, horses, and cargo on regular scheduled routes and its first services had been between Southampton and the Caribbean, but in 1851 it added a new route between Southampton and Rio de Janeiro. This growing trade, and a number of ships lost at sea, in June 1863 RMSP ordered Rhone from the Millwall Iron Works on the Isle of Dogs, London and her sister ship Douro from Caird & Company in Greenock. The pair was initially to work the Rio de Janeiro route and they were similar but not identical. Both were handsome ships, but Rhone was considered to have finer lines. At this time the Admiralty supervised Royal Mail Ship contracts, during building the Admiralty surveyor criticised Rhones bulkheads and water tight compartments. Revisions were made, and the ship was completed to the surveyors satisfaction, Rhone had an iron hull, was 310 feet long, had a 40-foot beam and 2,738 GRT. She was a sail-steamer, rigged as a two-masted brig and her compound steam engine developed 500 NHP and gave her a speed of 14 knots on her sea trials. In her contract the ship cost £25 17s 8d per ton and she had a bronze propeller, which was only the second ever made of this alloy. She had also a surface condenser in order to save and re-use water in her boilers and she was the first ship so equipped to visit Brazil, so in port in 1865 the Emperor of Brazil, Pedro II, came aboard and visited her engine room to see it. Rhones passenger capacity was 253 first class,30 second class and 30 third class, on 9 October 1865 she left Southampton on her maiden voyage to Brazil. At first she suffered from overheated bearings, but once this was resolved she became a fast and her next five voyages were also to Brazil. Rhone proved her worth by weathering several severe storms, in January 1867 Rhone made her final voyage to Brazil, after which RMSP transferred her to the Caribbean route, which at the time was more lucrative and prestigious. On 19 October 1867 Rhone drew alongside RMS Conway in Great Harbour, the original coaling station they needed had been moved from the then Danish island of St. Thomas due to an outbreak of yellow fever. The storm which subsequently hit was later known as the San Narciso Hurricane and they decided to transfer the passengers from Conway to the unsinkable Rhone, Conway was then to head for Road Harbour and Rhone would make for open sea. As was normal practice at the time, the passengers in Rhone were tied into their beds to prevent them being injured in the stormy seas. Conway got away before Rhone but was caught by the end of the storm
11.
Grito de Lares
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The Grito de Lares —also referred to as the Lares uprising, the Lares revolt, the Lares rebellion, or the Lares revolution—was the first major revolt against Spanish rule in Puerto Rico. The short-lived revolt was planned by Ramón Emeterio Betances and Segundo Ruiz Belvis and it began on September 23,1868, in the town of Lares, for which it is named, and spread rapidly to various revolutionary cells throughout the island. In the 1860s, the government of Spain was involved in conflicts across Latin America. It became involved in a war with Peru and Chile, and had to address slave revolts in Cuba and this board, the Junta Informativa de Reformas de Ultramar would be formed by representatives of each overseas province, in proportion to their collective population. The board would meet in Madrid, then report to the Minister of State, the Puerto Rican delegation was freely elected by those eligible to vote, in what was one of the first exercises of political openness in Spain. However, Acosta could convince the Junta that abolition could be achieved in Puerto Rico without disrupting the local economy, beyond abolition however, proposals for autonomy were voted down, as were other petitions to limit the governor generals power over virtually every aspect of life in Puerto Rico. Once the Junta members returned to Puerto Rico, they met with community leaders in a famed meeting at the Hacienda El Cacao in Carolina. Ramón Emeterio Betances, who supported independence from Spain and had been exiled by the Spanish government twice by that time, was invited by Ruiz, Betances then suggested an outright, island-wide rebellion, with a proclamation of independence as soon as possible. To Acostas horror, many of the meetings attendees sided with Betances, the Lares uprising, commonly known as the Grito de Lares, occurred on September 23,1868, but was planned well before that date. A group led by Dr. Ramón Emeterio Betances and Segundo Ruiz Belvis founded the Revolutionary Committee of Puerto Rico on January 6,1868 from their exile in the Dominican Republic. Betances authored several Proclamas, or statements attacking the exploitation of the Puerto Ricans by the Spanish centralist system and these statements soon circulated throughout the island as local dissident groups began to organize. Among them, Los Diez Mandamientos de los hombres libres written in exile in Saint Thomas in November 1867. It is directly based on the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, adopted by Frances National Assembly in 1789, eduvigis Beauchamp Sterling, named Treasurer of the revolution by Betances, provided Mariana Bracetti with the materials for the Revolutionary Flag of Lares. The flag was divided in the middle by a white Latin cross, a white star was placed in the upper left blue corner. The Revolutionary Committee named twelve of their members as generales, the stronghold of the movement were towns located in the mountains, on the western part of the island. On September 20, Francisco Ramírez Medina held a meeting at his house in which the insurrection was planned, cancela instructed Manuel María González to deliver all of the acts and important papers in regard to the meeting to Manuel Rojas. Juan Castañón, a captain stationed in Quebradillas, overheard two cell members commenting that on September 29 the troops at Camuy would be neutralized by poisoning the bread rations. Castañón and his men then entered Gonzálezs residence and confiscated the documents of Medinas meeting, the cell leaders at the Lanzador del Norte cell in Camuy were soon arrested
12.
Santo Domingo
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Santo Domingo, officially Santo Domingo de Guzmán, is the capital and largest city in the Dominican Republic and the largest metropolitan area in the Caribbean by population. In 2010, its population was counted as 965,040, the city is coterminous with the boundaries of the Distrito Nacional, itself bordered on three sides by Santo Domingo Province. Santo Domingo is the site of the first university, cathedral, castle, monastery, the citys Colonial Zone was declared as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. Santo Domingo was called Ciudad Trujillo, from 1936 to 1961, after the Dominican Republics dictator, Rafael Trujillo, following his assassination, the city resumed its original designation. Santo Domingo is the cultural, financial, political, commercial and industrial center of the Dominican Republic, Santo Domingo also serves as the chief seaport of the country. The citys harbor at the mouth of the Ozama River accommodates the largest vessels, temperatures are high year round, with a cool breeze around winter time. At the time, the territory consisted of five chiefdoms, Marién, Maguá, Maguana, Jaragua. These were ruled respectively by caciques Guacanagarix, Guarionex, Caonabo, Bohechío, dating from 1496, when the Spanish settled on the island, and officially from 5 August 1498, Santo Domingo became the oldest European city in the Americas. Bartholomew Columbus founded the settlement and named it La Nueva Isabela, in 1495 it was renamed Santo Domingo, in honor of Saint Dominic. Santo Domingo came to be known as the Gateway to the Caribbean, in June 1502, Santo Domingo was destroyed by a major hurricane, and the new Governor Nicolás de Ovando had it rebuilt on a different site on the other side of the Ozama River. The original layout of the city and a portion of its defensive wall can still be appreciated today throughout the Colonial Zone. Diego Colon arrived in 1509, assuming the powers of Viceroy, in 1512, Ferdinand established a Real Audiencia with Juan Ortiz de Matienzo, Marcelo de Villalobos, and Lucas Vazquez de Ayllon appointed as judges of appeal. In 1514, Pedro Ibanez de Ibarra arrived with the Laws of Burgos, rodrigo de Alburquerque was named repartidor de indios and soon named visitadores to enforce the laws. In 1586, Francis Drake captured the city and held it for ransom, an expedition sent by Oliver Cromwell in 1655 attacked the city of Santo Domingo, but was defeated. The English troops withdrew and took the less guarded colony of Jamaica, in 1697, the Treaty of Ryswick included the acknowledgement by Spain of Frances dominion over the Western third of the island, now Haiti. From 1795 to 1822 the city changed several times along with the colony it headed. The city was ceded to France in 1795 after years of struggles, it was captured by Haitian rebels in 1801, recovered by France in 1802. In 1821 Santo Domingo became the capital of an independent nation after the Criollo bourgeois within the country, led by José Núñez de Cáceres, the nation was unified with Haiti just two months later
