EARLY PUERTO RICAN NEW YORK
BY STUDENT
The words immigration and migration have become synonymous with the latin/o/x community and in many ways highlights our past challenges and experiences. Out of all the groups that were relocating and migrating I want to focus in on the Puerto Rican community which at the time was shifting toward massive migration to the New York City area. In this blog post I will talk about the migration of Puerto Ricans in the early to mid 1900’s. How does Puerto Rican population landscape of the early to mid 20thcentury?
Latino progress and migration were not a fast and booming endeavor, if anything it was a gradual and slow process that spanned from the early 1900 and has gradually increased to the early 2,000’s and even today. Before the initiation of the Jones Act there were less than 7,000 migrants from Puerto Rico to the united states and since then the number had steadily increased to 10,000 o the early 1900.The people of Puerto Rico today enjoy a level of living which, while substantially short of that achieved by the more industrially advanced nations, is comparable to that of the richest no industrialized areas. Thus, for example, estimates of per capita income in i949 indicate that Puerto Ricans had an average income (in terms of roughly equivalent purchasing power) larger by far than the majority of the people of the world and greater than all but four of the Latin American and Caribbean countries. Puerto Rico's per capita income of $295 was 5% per cent less than the top Latin American income of Argentina but almost exactly equal to that of Cuba, which is very much richer in natural resources; two and a half times that of Mexico; four times as large as that of the Dominican Republic; and over seven times as great as that of Haiti
Latino groups were in a constantly growing and evolving environment that had grown from less than 2,000 Puerto Ricans in 1910 to 13,000 in 1945, to over 700,000 in 1955 to ultimately the first million around the mid 1960’s. By 2010, Latinos numbered 2.4 million, 29% of the city’s population. In 1990, by contrast, they were 1.7 million representing 24%. Puerto Ricans were the largest single group during the last century. But the numbers appear to be rapidly changing. The projections of the demographers indicate that the next decennial census will register Dominicans as the largest group (some observers think they already are). Some years later, Mexicans are expected to attain that distinction.
| This picture is from about a study conducted in 2007 about the growing and evolving network of Latinos. This picture shows the influence and impact these countries have on New York City and how these nations stack up to each other. |
Today, Puerto Ricans serve New York in the city, state, and federal governments; in 1992, New Yorker Nydia Velázquez became the first woman of Puerto Rican descent to be elected to the U.S. Congress. The Puerto Rican Day parade has become the largest parade for any national or ethnic group in the city. Puerto Ricans have an ever expanding network and culture that expands to all aspect of life including media, sports, politics etc. this growing and dynamically expanding culture has influenced New York city as a staple for the city for it has embedded the roots of its history from the early 19thcentury until today.
SOURCES
Torres, Andres. “Latino New York: An Introduction.” NACLA, 23 Jan. 2014, nacla.org/news/2014/1/23/latino-new-york-introduction.
Sanchez Korrol, Virginia E. 1994. From Colonia to Community: The History of Puerto Ricans in New York City. Ch. 2 [31] Suggested: Bender,
The Library of Congress, immigration home/in Spanish harlem, Migrating to a New Land
Harvey S. Perloff, Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Economic History Association, The Journal of Economic History, Vol. 12, No. 1 (Winter, 1952), pp. 45-59, https://www.jstor.org/stable/2112904
Laird W. Bergad, November 2007, NEW YORK CITY’S LATINO POPULATION IN 2006, LATINO DATA PROJECT
This is an excellent post on the migration of Puerto Ricans to America. The statistics showing the amount of Puerto Ricans who have moved here is stunning. What do you think were some of the reasons why so many Puerto Ricans moved to America especially compared to other Latino countries? Also I like that you included the impact many Puerto Ricans have had on American and what impact and presence they have here.
ReplyDeleteI actually did a paper on Puerto Rican immigration as well as Mexican immigration. These statistics line up with what I found as well. During those time the US economy heavily relied on outside workers, even today. So much of the US foundation was built with the help of these immigrant workers.
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