The island of Borinquen was discovered by Christopher Columbus in 1493 during his second voyage to the New World. There was little interest in the island, however, until 1508. In that year, Juan Ponce de Leon and others established the city of Caparra. The natives fought against the Spanish invasion successfully at first, but after forty years of war, they were finally beaten. By 1550, because of slavery, wars, and sickness, the Indian population had mainly disappeared from the island. The history of this Spanish colony is one of the hurricanes, disease, and attacks by Caribbean Indian tribes from other islands, by the Dutch, the English, and the French. Despite these problems, the population increased, and the people established several towns and fortifications. Agriculture began to support the area.
The island belonged to the Viceroyalty of Santo Domingo between 1509 and 1526. After that, for eight years, it depended directly on Spain and the Council of the Indies. From 1534 to 1821, it was part of the Viceroyalty of New Spain (Mexico). Judicially Puerto Rico belonged to the Audiencia of Santo Domingo until 1527, when it passed to the Audiencia of New Spain. Puerto Rico became an intendancy under the Viceroyalty of New Spain in 1782 and remained as such until 1821 when it became a dependency of Spain again. After 1850 a growing unrest on the island, and a desire to be free from Spanish domination, developed.
During the Spanish-American War in 1898, the wish for freedom was partially realized. Puerto Rico escaped the Spanish clutch only to become part of the United States as a protectorate. It wasn’t until 1952 that the U.S. Congress approved a Puerto Rican constitution. Since then, the island has been a free territory of the United States. Today the country is divided into eight provinces or departments, subdivided into municipalities.