Puerto Rico en la conmoción de Hispanoamérica Historia y cartas íntimas 1820-1823 (Spanish Edition)

Eighty-five letters left Puerto Rico in June, 1823, never to reach their destination in Spain. They deal with personal (domestic and commercial) affairs, but frequently allude to the great public events of the time: wars of national liberation in America, while a French invasion in Spain put an end to the second constitutional period Spanish history. The letter writers were men and women; refugees in Puerto Cabello (Venezuela) surrounded by the Colombian army; residents of San Juan and many towns on the Island; farm laborers, merchants and government employees; exiles from the wars of independence and European Spaniards in search of fortune. This book consists of two major sections: a historical essay that describes the political situation in Spain, South America and Puerto Rico, for 1820-1823, and the transcription of the letters with explanatory notes. The text contributes three important novelties to Puerto Rican historiography: a comprehensive account of the period of greatest personal liberty for the citizens of the country during the entire Spanish domination; a detailed study of the newspaper contents and tensions regarding freedom of the press; and the collection of letters from 1823, a new source to investigate issues of mentalities, gender, class and race, histories of immigrants and subjects that do not appear commonly in official documents.