Talk:Ramón Power y Giralt/Archive 1

Archive 1

There is a fervid desire by some to embellish the past with their wishes for the present. To say that Ramon Power was the "first to fight for self-determination" is an overstatement. First let us go to the direct historical documents, not Monclova's wishful thinking. The elective Junta's instructions to Ramon Power embody the dominant thought current among the dominant elites from which he emerged. They are quoted in Eugenio Fernandez Mendez's "Cronicas de Puerto Rico". The "informe de Don Pedro Irizarri, alcalde ordinario de San Juan sobre las instrucciones que debian darse a Don Ramon Power, diputado por Puerto Rico ante las Cortes Espanolas para promover el adelantado economico de la isla (1809)"(Report of instructions to Ramon Power, deputy in the Courts, to promote the economic advance of the island). The document ask to present to the feet of "nuestro muy amado monarca Fernando VII, y en su nombre la Suprema Junta Gubernativa de Espana e Yndias (sic)" (much loved monarch Fernando VII, and in his name, the Supreme Junta of Spain and Indies). The report calls Puerto Rico "o amada Patria" (o beloved homeland), but in no place intimates separation (as stirred in the Mainland), and yet seeks amended crown-appointed government structures (separation of civil and military administrators, as well as economic and trade liberalization) with some increased local autonomy. It also advocates for increased immigration and defense of slavery.

Puerto Rico in the first part of the 19th century was changing. Loyalist colonists from the now rebellious states in South-Central America began to emigrate to the island. These colonists, loyal to the crown authorities, also viewed with fear the successful slave insurrection that had occured in the neighboring French colony, now Haiti. There were desire to protect the institution of slavery, but limit and control the numbers of slaves, such that situations Slaves (vastly outnumbered Whites) similar to Haiti would not arise. On the other hand, they wished new economic freedoms for trade and local development. The document though notes the shortage of hands for agriculture, and recommends that the Crown consider among the alternatives "introduccion de negros esclavos de la costa de Afica o de espanoles indios del Continente y de los espanoles de las Islas Canarias" (African slaves, Native indians from the other mainland Spanish colonies, or spaniards from the Canary Islands). Like many in his day, Jefferson in the United States, Power and the Junta represent the ruling elite.

Another source, though also somewhat patriotically hagiographic, is Carlos Carderas (Hombres y Mujeres de Puerto Rico), who cites the Junta Central in Puerto Rico: " Puerto Rico no propiamente una colonia o factoria, com las otras naciones, sino parte integrante de la monarquia Espanola". While hints of a wish for more local autonomy are present in these documents, to say Ramon and the Junta wished for self-determination is incorrect. True independence adherents in Puerto Rico (Ruiz Belvis and Betances) will arise in decades to follow, not here. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.220.199.185 (talk • contribs)

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