HIS 476 Puerto Rico - Identity and Nation
This course will examine the complex history of Puerto Rico both as a nation and as a culture. Puerto Rico has a rich and complex history built out of a long struggle as a colony, territory, and Caribbean nation. Since the first peoples, the Taínos, arrived centuries ago, the island has faced tremendous challenges and changes with the encounter of Spanish travelers, enslaved peoples from Africa, and U.S. soldiers after 1898. This course will examine the history of the island since 1492 and will also consider how Puerto Rican identity has been created outside of the island as Puerto Ricans moved to the United States in large numbers in the twentieth century.