Puerto Rican Folkloric Dance

Sembrando Herencia 2005
Puerto Rico Mi Patria

History behind the Musical
by Dr. Tekina-eiru Maynard (2005)

The British Invasion of 1797

The British fleet anchored off Cangrejos Point, in Pinones, a few miles east of the walled city of San Juan. 3,000 troops landed to take control of Cangrejos and surround San Juan by land. But to their surprise, the British discovered Puerto Rico was no easy prey. Advance rumors of the impending invasion gave the energetic Governor Ramon de Castro time to mobilize the standing troops, summon the native militia, and call on every able bodied citizen throughout the island. The British discovered the heroism of the Puerto Rican people -- 20,000 in all -- farmers, fisherman, ordinary men and women who came from the mountains, coastal towns, and cities to save the island with whatever they had, machetes, lances, farming implements!

For two weeks the battles raged on. Centuries of construction and repair of San Juan's fortresses provided the capitol city with a massive stronghold. Relentless fire from the city's forts barred the British from scaling the city walls. The militia prevented them from reaching the capital on foot, while armed citizens kept them from food supplies.

On the morning of May 1st, instead of being greeted to the renewed sounds of enemy fire, the Puerto Rican people woke to an eery silence. The British had abandoned their camps during the night in what seemed a hurried retreat that left large amounts of equipment, artillery and munitions, horses, beds, rations and cookware behind. Following their trail, the Puerto Ricans found the British embarking on their ships in great haste.

A popular legend by Coll y Toste tells of a miracle that caused the British retreat: on the night of April 30th the Bishop of San Juan called the whole city to come with lighted candles to participate in a night-long prayerful procession through the city to ask St. Ursula and the Seven Thousand Virgins to save Puerto Rico. By midnight the British took the ringing of church bells and growing lights in the city for massive reinforcements from the countryside, and returned to their ships in a hasty retreat.

In recognition of the peoples' heroism King Carlos IV bestowed the Seal of Spain on the City and the people of Pinones were rewarded with ownership of the land they lived on. The herosim of the Puerto Rican people during this invasion was historic, not only because they saved Puerto Rico from a takeover that would have completely changed their history. But more importantly because this invasion formed a Puerto Rican conscious collective -- it was the moment in history when the people began to identify the island as their own, "Puerto Rico, Mi Patria."

References:

• Alonso, Maria M, and Flores, Milagros, "The Eighteenth Century Caribbean & The British Attack on Puerto Rico in 1797," National Parks Service, 1997.
• Jimenez de Wagenheim, Olga, "Puerto Rico: An Interpretive History from Pre-Columbian Times to 1900," Markus Wiener Pub., 1998.
• Morales Carrion, Arturo, "Puerto Rico: A Political and Cultural History," W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 1983.
• Sarcano, Francisco, "Puerto Rico: Una Historia Contemporanea," McGraw-Hill, 1999.
• Coll y Toste, Cayetano, "The Eleven Thousand Virgins", from "Puerto Rican Tales: Legends of Spanish Colonial Times," Ediciones Libero, Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, 1977.
• Phelps de Cordova, Loretta, "Five Centuries in Puerto Rico," Publishing Resources, Inc., San Juan, Puerto Rico, 1998.
• Pico, Fernando, and Rivera Izcoa, Carmen, "Puerto Rico Tierra Adentro y Mar Afuera: Historia y cultura de los Puertorriquenos," Ediciones Huracan, Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico, 1991.
• "Los Fuertes del Viejo San Juan," Guia Oficial Parque Nacional. Division de Publicaciones del Servicio Nacional de Parques, 2002.
• Morales Carrion, Arturo, "Puerto Rico y La Lucha Por la Hegemonia en el Caribe: Colonialismo y contrabando, siglos XVI-XVIII", Editoral de la Universidad de Puerto Rico, 1995.
• Gonzalez Vales, Luis, "El ataque britanico a Puerto Rico de 1797 en la Gaceta de Guatemala," Revista del Instituto de Cultural Puertorriquena, Octubre-Diciembre 1970.
• Morales Carrion, Arturo, "Puerto Rico and the Non Hispanic Caribbean: A Study in the Decline of Spanish Exclusivism," Univeristy of Puerto Rico Press, 1952.
• Guisti Cordero, Juan A., "Pinones si se Acuerda: 200 Anos de la participacion negra en la victoria sobre la invasion inglesa," Boletin de la Asociacion de Residentes de Pinones/Comite 1979-1997, May 1997.