The Silence of the Black Militia: Socio-Historical Analysis of the British Attack to Puerto Rico of 1797

Using the theory of silencing developed by Haitian anthropologist Michel-Rolph Trouillot this essay analyses the British attack to the island of Puerto Rico in 1797. It argues that Puerto Rican historiography neglected and silenced the pivotal role of Black Puerto Ricans in this historical event. This historical reflection also proposes a new way to revise the hegemonic historical discourse, which contributes in the marginalization of Black Puerto Ricans from the construction of the island‟s national identity.


Introduction
On his acclaimed book Silencing the Past.
Power and the Production of History,

Haitian anthropologist Michel-Rolph
Trouillot analyzes the participation of human beings on the historical process.
According to him (1995:23-25), people perform like agents in the evolution of history for they occupy a singular position in a specific structure. As a cast, they exist and develop a certain understanding of their existence, or they progress depending on historical particularities. As subjects, they define the terms that will be used to describe their own situation.
After outlining this theory on the value and power of history as stated by several schools, in the following chapters Trouillot exemplifies how many events, actors, and subjects have been silenced from the historiography of the Haitian Revolution. The author argues that the scarce of sources should not represent an excuse to avoid studying any historical event. He reiterates that a historian also plays a vital role on choosing an event, the documentary sources, the characters involved in it, as well as in the interpretation of facts. All these elements combined produce a text, or historical narrative, but they also serve as a weapon to empower a society and its individuals.
A historian has the power to point out a fact, or to reduce it into silence. If he or she opts to present history from a partial point of view-which Trouillot calls "one-sided historicity" (1995:14)-, or from a specific perspective-"single-site historicity"-, the historian fails to her/his duty to present facts from a more representative approach. This occurred before, and still happens with many historians whose interest in seeking alliance to either the "one-side" or the "one-site" end up silencing peoples and events.
If, on the contrary, all findings were interpreted and exposed from a wider perspective, many populations and ethnic groups traditionally marginalized and oppressed could have been empowered. Many historians (Scarano 1993;Giusti 1998;Morales Carrión 1952;Zapatero 1964;Franco1964)  Enslaved persons were placed at the bottom of that system. That castes category classified people of color using nouns such as: "mestizos," "blacks," and "morenos". The last two of these classes will determine the evolution of the Puerto Rican society at a certain point in history.  (Stark 1996;Chinea 2005) confirm that most dwellers of these communities were blacks, free mulattoes, and refugees from British colonies. including the occasions when he backed the colonial government when the subsidies did not arrive on time. One of there were instances for groups within the "castes" to attain social mobility. For example, the system of pureza de sangre or pure blood, the conversion to Catholicism, and enlisting to the militia were many of the strategies used by blacks to improve their condition. Some observers of the Spanish colonial system were misled by these nuances and interpreted them as "positive/progressive" even "benevolent." These characteristics were attributed when the Spanish slave society was compared with the French system. A classic study of this nature is Frank Tannenbaum, Slave and Citizen: the Negro in the Americas. Beacon Press. Boston, [1946]1992. Apparently, the "uniqueness" of the Spanish colonial system also inspired abolitionists who used their naïve anecdotes to embark into the anti-slavery crusade. Finally, the many opportunities for upward mobility of colored Puerto Ricans in the 19th century is the main focus of Kay Kinsbruner Peter Voelz (1993:118) argues that the service of slaves in the military was the sole discretion of the captain of the attacked ship, and adds the many reasons considered to enroll both slaves and free color men in the militia: 1) the absence of white men, 2) the belief that blacks were more resistant to tropical illnesses, 3) the fact that many of these slaves were already trained for combat in Africa, and 4) the need of counting on military units in case of an emergency. 9 Peter Voelz and other authors refer to "caza indios" as "Indian fighters." However, this term is a euphemism that avoids the animalization of Indians implicit in the Spanish concept. On the one hand, the expression "Indian fighters" makes one think that both forces are equally matchedone fights the other-, and that anyone could win. On the other hand, "Indian hunters" means that some men were hired to hunt Indians, as superior to them for the hunter"s knowledge and strategies underestimate and threaten the animals" instinct for survival. It is a struggle between civilization and savagery. Considering this essay a study based on how the status quo silences historical events, it is imperative to understand euphemisms as one of the strategies used by the Power to "sanitize" its faults. As stipulated earlier, the majority of the black population was agglutinated on seaside towns, and the census showed that many of those individuals were free black men. Obviously, the organization of the military reflects the racial parameters and hierarchies intrinsic to the system.

The British Attack of 1797
The previous section gathers the social and political background of Puerto Rico, and also how susceptible was the island under the battle to control the Caribbean. In the city of San Juan there is a sculpture known as "La Rogativa" that was built based on this legend. It pays tribute to the women whose prayers saved the island. The artist commissioned for this sculpture was New Zealand"s native Lindsay Daen (1923Daen ( -2001. Daen was invited by the government of Puerto Rico in 1955 as part of a cultural program that was been developed on the island. He lived in old San Juan for more than forty years and contributed to the cultural production of the island. He was a member of the Royal Art Society in Sydney, whose artwork was exhibited worldwide. Also, Daen has important sculptures in the United States including the cities of Philadelphia and New York. His interpretation of the sculpture is inspired by the legend, which is documented in the work by Cayetano Coll y Toste.   Germán, 1996. [T]hey were spotted, and received a shooting load that blacks backfired because this kind of people have no ability [my emphasis] to act within discipline and appropriateness" (Tapia y Rivera 1854:572).
It is possible for De Castro to mean that those men were no members of the black militia, and were only free blacks recruited for the mission. Brau (2000:183) take for granted that the black battalion   (1996) already stated that the celebration of the