Confronting the Crisis of the Slave-Based Plantation System in Puerto Rico: Bureaucratic Proposals for Agricultural Modernisation, Diversification and Free Labour, c. 1846–1852

By the late 1820s, Puerto Rico and Cuba had become Spain's only remaining colonies in the Americas and its major source of colonial returns. A decade later, however, the slave-based plantation system in Puerto Rico was beginning to show signs of stagnation due to the convergence of a number of...

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Published in:	Journal of Latin American studies 2010-02, Vol.42 (1), p.121-154
Main Author:	CHINEA, JORGE L.
Format:	Article
Language:	eng
Subjects:	18th century 19th century Administrative efficiency agricultura comercial Agricultural policy Antilhas Espanholas Antillas Españolas azúcar açúcar Bureaucracy Colonialism commercial agriculture Crop economics Crops Cuba Development planning Economic reform Economic structure exportaciones tropicales exportações tropicais Farm economics Farmers fazendas Forced labor Governors Haciendas Immigration imperio español International trade Islands Local economy Manufacturing Modernization plantaciones Plantations Porto Rico Productivity Puerto Rico Segundo Império Espanhol Slavery Slaves Social change Spain Spain's Second Empire Spanish Antilles Studies sugar Sugar crops Sugar industry Sugarcane tropical exports United States of America
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Summary:	By the late 1820s, Puerto Rico and Cuba had become Spain's only remaining colonies in the Americas and its major source of colonial returns. A decade later, however, the slave-based plantation system in Puerto Rico was beginning to show signs of stagnation due to the convergence of a number of domestic and international forces. In the late 1840s the Iberian colonial bureaucracy initiated a series of proposals to stimulate Puerto Rico's transformation into an agriculturally modern, diversified, free-labour economy. This initiative failed due to an adverse economic environment, administrative confusion and rivalries, and the failure of officials on the island to enlist the support either of local planters or those at the lower levels of society. This paper explores the reasons for this failure in detail. Para fines de los años 1820, Puerto Rico y Cuba eran las únicas colonias restantes que tenía España en Latinoamérica y constituían su mayor fuente de ingresos coloniales. Una década después, sin embargo, el sistema de plantación esclavista en Puerto Rico empezaba a mostrar signos de estancamiento debido a la convergencia de una serie de fuerzas locales e internacionales. A fines de los años 1840 la burocracia colonial ibérica inició una serie de propuestas para estimular la transformación de Puerto Rico en una economía agrícola moderna, diversificada y con fuerza de trabajo libre. Esta iniciativa falló dado el ambiente económico adverso, la confusión administrativa y las rivalidades existentes por un lado y, por el otro, el fracaso de los funcionarios en la isla para obtener el apoyo o de los terratenientes locales o de la gente en niveles más bajos de la sociedad. Este artículo explora en detalle las razones de tal fracaso. Já no final da década de 1820, as últimas colônias restantes da Espanha nas Américas eram Porto Rico e Cuba, sendo elas sua principal fonte de lucro colonial. Todavia depois de dez anos o sistema de plantio baseado em mão de obra escrava em Porto Rico apresentava sinais de estagnação devido a convergência de várias forças internas e internacionais. No fim da década de 1840, a burocracia colonial ibérica iniciou uma série de propostas para estimular a transformação de Porto Rico em uma economia rural moderna, diversificada, com trabalho assalariado. A iniciativa faliu devido a um ambiente econômico hostil, confusão e rivalidades administrativas, e ao fracasso de oficiais na ilha em ganhar apoio de fazendeiros locais e das camadas mais bai
ISSN:	0022-216X 1469-767X