nPostednon September 23, 2014
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| This is the church of Lares, with a memorial to the Grito in front. |
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nImaginenbeing in the town of Lares, Puerto Rico, on this date in 1868. n
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nAngroup of men come into town at midnight. They loot the stores andnoffices that are owned by peninsulares (men born in Spain),nand they take over the city hall. They enter the church and place anrevolutionary flag on the High Altar.
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nAtn2:00 a.m. they declare Puerto Rico, colony of Spain, to be henceforthnthe Republic of Puerto Rico.
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nAnrebellion has begun!
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| The flag of Lares is considered Puerto Rico’s first flag. |
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| This is Puerto Rico’s modern flag. |
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nActually,nSpain’s forces put the revolt down in short order—even though morenrebels rose up elsewhere on the island of Puerto Rico.
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nBut thenrebellion did have some effect, because Spain gave the Puerto Ricansnmore freedom to rule themselves. n
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nAboutnthirty years later, Spain gave Puerto Rico all the rights of othernautonomous regions of Spain.
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nBut the very next year Spain ceded thenisland to the United States as the “spoils of war” after thenSpanish-American War.
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nThenU.S. granted Puerto Ricans citizenship, and they also have the rightnof self-rule. For years, while still under Spanish rule, PuertonRicans had not been able to celebrate the Grito de Lares as anholiday, but some nationalists encouraged celebrations from 1911 on. n
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nSomethingnI would like to see…
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nInknow that Puerto Rico has some beautiful beaches, but I really enjoynlooking at old cemeteries, and the CementerionSanta María Magdalena de Pazzis looksnpretty gorgeous! Look at this beautiful tomb sculpture:
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SomethingnI would like to hear…
SomethingnI would like to hear…n
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nApparently Puerto Rico’s capital, San Juan, has all these old cafes and bars with jukeboxes, and people notnonly play the songs on the jukeboxes, they sing along as well. Andnsometimes the singing crowds spill out onto the cobblestoned street.nI think it would be fun to walk along a street in San Juan, listeningnto own crowd’s enthusiastic singing fade away just as another crowd’snrendition of another song becomes audible.
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SomethingnI would like to taste…
SomethingnI would like to taste…n
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nThenicy treat called limbernis a cross between shaved ice and sorbet. A man named Eddie has beennserving a variety of delicious flavors of limber (but only a fewnchoices a day) in plastic Dixie cups for decades now.
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nLearnnmore about Puerto Rico with this earlier post – and with thenlinks it includes to even earlier posts!
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nBynthe way…
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nIfnyou were wondering why this holiday is called “Grito de Lares,”nthe word grito means “cry,” and an earlier revolutionnagainst Spain, Mexico’s revolution, began with “el Grito denDolores,” which means “Cry of Dolores.” (Dolores was thentown in Mexico where the revolution began.) So Puerto Rico’s use ofnthe word “cry” honors that successful revolt from about half ancentury earlier.
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nAlsonon this date:
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nAutumnnbegins with the equinox in the Northern Hemisphere
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nNational Day in Saudi Arabian
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nAnniversarynof Lewis and Clark’s return from the Corps of Discovery
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nPhysicistnFizeau’s birthday
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nNationalnVoter Registration Day
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nPlannahead:
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nPlannahead:
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nChecknout my Pinterest boards for:
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nSeptembern holidays
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nSeptembern birthdays
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- Historicaln anniversaries in September
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nAndnhere are my Pinterest boards for:
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