Puerto Rican Labor History 1898–1934: Revolutionary Ideals and Reformist Politics

163 Pages·2017·2.149 MB·English

by  Carlos Sanabria

Puerto Rican Labor
History 1898–1934
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Puerto Rican Labor
History 1898–1934
Revolutionary Ideals
and Reformist Politics
Carlos Sanabria
LEXINGTON BOOKS
Lanham • Boulder • New York • London
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Published by Lexington Books
An imprint of The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc.
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www.rowman.com
Unit A, Whitacre Mews, 26-34 Stannary Street, London SE11 4AB
Copyright © 2018 by Lexington Books
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by
any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval
systems, without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer who
may quote passages in a review.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Sanabria, Carlos, 1950– author.
Title: Puerto Rican labor history, 1898–1934 : revolutionary ideals and
reformist politics / Carlos Sanabria.
Description: Lanham : Lexington Books, [2018] | Includes bibliographical
references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2017037425 (print) | LCCN 2017045892 (ebook) | ISBN
9781498537841 (electronic) | ISBN 9781498537834 (cloth : alk. paper)
Subjects: LCSH: Labor movement—Puerto Rico—History. | Labor unions—Puerto
Rico—History. | Working class—Puerto Rico—History.
Classification: LCC HD8236 (ebook) | LCC HD8236 .S26 2018 (print) | DDC
331.88097295/09041—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017037425
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of
American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper
for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992.
Printed in the United States of America
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In memory of Mario Roche Velázquez, 1932–2014
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Contents
List of Tables ix
List of Organizations xi
Acknowledgments xiii
Introduction 1
1 The Dire Conditions of the Working Class 15
2 Visions of a Better Future 35
3 Dramatizing Revolutionary Ideals 57
4 Reformist Politics 73
5 The Influence of the American Federation of Labor 97
Conclusion 129
Bibliography 137
Index 143
About the Author 147
vii
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Tables
1.1 Total Numbers of Acres under Coffee Cultivation 19
1.2 Total Numbers of Acres under Sugar Cultivation 20
1.3 Volume and Value of Puerto Rican Sugar Exports 21
1.4 Total Number of Acres under Tobacco Cultivation 21
1.5 Tobacco Production in Pounds 22
1.6 Value of Puerto Rican Tobacco Exports 22
1.7 Females Working in Cigar Factories 23
1.8 Dressmakers and Seamstresses Not Employed in Factories 24
1.9 Value of Needlework Exports 24
5.1 Santiago Iglesias’s Salary as a Paid Labor Organizer for the
American Federation of Labor, 1901–1929 115
5.2 Other Federación Libre de los Trabajadores de Puerto Rico
Organizers Paid by the American Federation of Labor,
1905–1924 116
5.3 American Federation of Labor Defense Fund Support of
Workers on Strike in Puerto Rico, 1906–1923 117
5.4 Federación Libre de los Trabajadores de Puerto Rico
Organizers Who Reported on Their Activities in the
American Federationist, 1903–1929 120
5.5 Growth of the Federación Libre de los Trabajadores de
Puerto Rico, 1904–1930 123
ix
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