An Unequal Society
By 1860, Puerto Rico had more than 583,000 inhabitants. About half were white and nearly half were people of color, including people of African, mixed, and Indigenous ancestry. Most residents were poor and illiterate, while agriculture struggled with weak infrastructure, natural disasters, and taxes imposed by Spain.
Slavery remained central to the economy. Spain abolished the slave trade to its colonies in 1835, but slavery itself continued in Puerto Rico until 1873. Earlier reforms freed some people born after 1868 or those over 60, but emancipation came with delays and conditions.
Resistance from Below
Slave revolts occurred repeatedly. The conspiracy organized by Marcos Xiorro in 1821 failed, yet it became part of Puerto Rican folklore. Resistance also grew among political reformers who opposed censorship, imprisonment, and unrestricted colonial rule.
On 23 September 1868, hundreds of people rose in the town of Lares. Led by figures including Ramón Emeterio Betances, Segundo Ruiz Belvis, Manuel Rojas, Mathias Brugman, Mariana Bracetti, and Lola Rodríguez de Tió, they demanded Puerto Rican independence. The Grito de Lares was quickly defeated, but its symbolism endured.
Reform—and Its Limits
The uprising helped accelerate political and social reforms. The Moret Law expanded freedom for some enslaved people, and slavery was formally abolished in 1873. Political parties emerged, ranging from those seeking assimilation into Spain to reformers demanding autonomy and independence.
The 1897 Charter of Autonomy finally granted Puerto Rico a measure of self-government. It arrived only months before the United States invasion.
The Grito de Lares failed militarily, but it changed the political imagination. A revolt that lasted briefly could still become a lasting national memory.