Blackwell Reference Online

Extract

Ramón Emeterio Betances was a prominent Puerto Rican nationalist and social reformer during the latter half of the nineteenth century. He is considered by some to be the “father of the nation” as a result of his leadership of the early struggle for independence from Spain. His greatest fame came as a central organizer of the insurrection later known as the “Grito de Lares” (Cry of Lares), a seminal uprising against Spanish rule in 1868. Betances also campaigned actively for the abolition of slavery in Puerto Rico, which was finally achieved in 1873, eight years after the end of the US Civil War. Throughout, he was an ardent internationalist, working closely with radicals throughout the Caribbean, in the United States, and further afield in Europe.Born to a mixed-race father and a French mother, Betances was at home in several worlds from birth. He lived much of his life in France, but also spent time in the Dominican Republic, the United States, and the Virgin Islands. He studied medicine in Paris and became an accomplished surgeon with a strong focus on public health. While in France he witnessed the aftermath of the 1848 revolutions, and this experience, along with his active participation in freemasonry, colored his approach to social change. He prioritized secretive conspiracies but also cultivated well-known and powerful individuals to advocate publicly for independence and ... log in or subscribe to read full text