Puerto Rico's History

 Puerto Rico was settled by the Ortoiroid people, who came South Americas main land around 2000 B.C.E. It's said that little is known about the Ortoiroid people and their culture or what kind of impact they had when they settled, the only thing that people know is that they were hunters and fishermen. The Ortoiroid were the first people to inhabit Puerto Rico but the slowly faded out of the island around 400 B.C.E and the Taino people can next to settle on the island. They'd come to the island between the 7th and 11th centuries, their major contribution to Puerto Rico was establishing agriculture, and growing primary crops like yuca, or cassava ( another name for yuca.). The Taino people named the island Boriken or Land of the Valiant Lord, which is a term that the country of Puerto Rico use today to reference both the island and people on the island. 

By the time the Spanish came to conquer the island it had already been attacked by the rival Caribs.  When Spain had claimed Puerto Rico as their own, the indigenous people were taken over by them and enslaved to work on plantations. The Taino people were ravaged by European diseases within a very short period of time; those who were not killed by illness worked to death. In the 19th century, many revolts against the Spanish rulers by the native-born, or Criollos, took place. These include the 1809 San Germán conspiracy. and the 1898 Ciales, San Germán and Sabana Grande uprisings.

Many Puerto Ricans were motivated to free South America from Spanish rule by Simón Bolívar's ideals. They gained their independence from Spain in 1898, and became free from Spanish rule from then on. The culture of Puerto Rico is complex, like all Caribbean islands, combining European, African, Asian, and American elements to create an entirely new identity. In the architecture of larger port cities like San Juan, Ponce, and Mayaguez, the influence of Spanish culture is most predominant. It is not solely the result of Spanish and American imperialism that Puerto Rico is. Influences from both the Taino and African slaves are still evident on the island. This can be seen in particular in the Santeria faith, which incorporates elements of Catholicism with the Yoruba people's West African culture, who were enslaved and brought to Puerto Rico to work on sugar plantations. Influences from Africa it can also be used in the cuisine of Puerto Rico. Mofongo, a dish consisting of mashed plantains, is one of the best examples of that influence. Three of the islands I'm considering adopting are Haiti, Aruba, and Saba.