e American soldiers would come in and occupy the town. This systematic retreat and take over was repeated until the Spanish finally left the city of San Juan, and on October 18, 1898, the Spanish flag was lowered and the American flag was raised (Figueroa, Oct. 8). Now why would Puerto Ricans welcome the American soldiers after they fought many times to defeat other invading forces, and why not stay loyal to Spain like the 400 hundred years before? I have come to the conclusion that Puerto Ricans were sick and tired of being stepped on by Spain. Puerto Ricans had consistently gone to the government of Spain to ask for more autonomy and control of issues that pertained to them, but Spain always said no. The Americans were seen as a glimmer of hope and promise for a brighter future. They were going to give Puerto Ricans the freedom they all had been craving for so long. Not to mention that it would probably have been suicide to go up against the well equipped U.S. forces. But why not help a people that were eventually going to help you and your situation? And this is exactly what many Puerto Ricans did. General Nelson Miles of the U.S. troops in fact gave a promise to the Puerto Rican people. "We have not come to make war upon the people of a country that for centuries has been oppressed but on the contrary to bring you protection. . . to promote your prosperity, and to bestow upon you the immunities and blessings of the liberal institutions of our government" (Fernandez, 3). But a couple of months later, on February 6, 1899, a treaty was signed that made Puerto Rico and the Philippines colonies of the United States of America. This became known as the Treaty of Paris (Fernandez, 8). The United States also put a heavy burden on Puerto Rico’s economy. Puerto Rico could almost exclusively only trade with the United States and was under their shipping laws now. Many of Puerto Rico’s trading partners now stopped coming be...
