United States Capitol Shooting Incident (1954) - Historical Context

Historical Context

After four hundred years of colonial domination under the Spanish Empire, Puerto Rico finally received its autonomy in 1898 through a Carta de Autonomía (Charter of Autonomy). This Charter of Autonomy was signed by Spanish Prime Minister Práxedes Mateo Sagasta and ratified by the Spanish Cortes.

Just a few months later, the United States claimed ownership of the island as part of the Treaty of Paris which concluded the Spanish-American War.

In 1901, the first civilian U.S. governor of Puerto Rico, Charles Herbert Allen, installed himself as president of the largest suger-refining company in the world, the American Sugar Refining Company. This company was later renamed as the Domino Sugar company.

In effect, Charles Allen leveraged his governorship of Puerto Rico into a controlling interest over sugar interests on the island.

This gave rise to the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party which maintained that, as a matter of international law, the Treaty of Paris could not empower the Spanish to "give" what was no longer theirs.

The Nationalist movement was intensified by the Ponce Massacre and the Rio Piedras Massacre, which showed the violence which the United States was prepared to use, in order to maintain its colonial regime in Puerto Rico. The profits generated by this one-sided arrangement were enormous.