Criollos ante el 98: la cambiante imagen del dominio español durante su crisis y caída en Puerto Rico, 1889-1899

Abstract

At the end of the 19^th Century, the evocation of a "heroic" and "hidalga" Spain was a commonplace in the writings of the Porto Rican Creoles. This image acted both as a source of inspiration for their greatest achievements, and as a source of legitimation for their power ambitions within the colonial society. At the same time, from a regenerationist and critical viewpoint the Creoles condemned a second image of Spain, that of the privileges and the oligarchies. They assumed themselves as both Spaniards and Spain-loving; nevertheless, through racist assumptions regarding and alledged Anglosaxon superiority they also accepted the new colonial domination under the United States as a duty imposed by reason.