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Descendants of former Puerto Rican slaves in 1898, the year the United States invaded Puerto Rico. Ramón Power y Giralt was a Puerto Rican naval hero, a captain in the Spanish navy who had risen to become president of the Spanish Courts. Power Y Giralt was among the delegates who proposed that slavery be abolished in Puerto Rico.
In the 19th century, slavery in Puerto Rico was increased, as the Spanish, facing economic decline with the loss of all of its colonial territories in the Americas aside from Cuba and Puerto Rico, established and expanded sugar cane production in the island. Since 1789, slaves in Puerto Rico were allowed to earn or buy their freedom.
In 1859, Ruiz Belvis returned to Puerto Rico and befriended Ramón Emeterio Betances, joining "The Secret Abolitionist Society" founded by Betances. The society baptized and emancipated thousands of black slave children. The event, which was known as "aguas de libertad" (waters of liberty), was carried out at the Cathedral of Mayagüez. [4]
On March 22, 1873, slavery was legally abolished in Puerto Rico but slaves were not emancipated; they had to buy their own freedom, at whatever price was set by their last masters. They were also required to work for another three years for their former masters, for other colonists interested in their services, or for the state in order to pay ...
The next major wave of West African slaves into Puerto Rico came after The Royal Decree of Graces of 1789, which allowed Spanish subjects in the Caribbean to participate in the business of slave trade and labor, particular importing slaves from the Gold Coast.
Spanish settlement of Puerto Rico began in the early 1500s shortly after the formation of the Spanish state in 1493 (continuing until 1898 as a colony of Spain) and continues to the present day. The most significant Spanish immigration wave occurred during the colonial period, continuing with smaller numbers arriving during the 20th century to ...
Here, Acosta presented the argument for the abolition of slavery in Puerto Rico. That same year, whilst in Madrid, Acosta was made a member of the Spanish Royal Academy of History, for his work in the editing of Fray Iñigo Abbad y Lasierra's Historia geografica, civil y natural de la isla de San Juan Bautista de Puerto Rico.
The Spanish government compensated slave owners 125 pesetas for each slave emancipated under the Moret Law. Slavery was abolished for Puerto Rico (but not for Cuba) in 1873 and finally, without exceptions, in 1886.