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Puerto Rico at the Dawn of the Modern Age: Nineteenth - and Early-Twentieth-Century Perspectives
Critical Thinking

General view of harbor at San Juan, Porto Rico looking South.

[Detail] General view of harbor at San Juan, Porto Rico looking South.

Chronological Thinking: Creating and Interpreting Timelines

Photo of a statue of Columbus.

Columbus statue, San Juan. From "The History of Puerto Rico, from the Spanish Discovery to the American Occupation."

Use "The History of Puerto Rico, from the Spanish Discovery to the American Occupation" as the source to construct a timeline showing the history of Puerto Rico in the first 300 years following the arrival of Christopher Columbus. Draw the timeline down the center of a piece of paper. On the left side, show events in Puerto Rico; on the right, show events in Europe that influenced Puerto Rico's history. Based on your timeline, write a brief paragraph describing the links between European and Puerto Rican history.

Use the "In Search of a National Identity" essay to create a second timeline, this one showing the history of Puerto Rico in the nineteenth- and early-twentieth centuries and making links to events in the United States during the same time period. Based on your timeline, write a brief paragraph describing the links between U.S. and Puerto Rican history.

Do you find timelines useful in understanding links between events in different parts of the world? Explain your answer.