Senate Resolution No. 558

BY: Senator SEPULVEDA

MEMORIALIZING Governor Kathy Hochul to proclaim
March 22, 2023, as Puerto Rican Emancipation Day in
the State of New York

WHEREAS, The Island of Puerto Rico annually observes and celebrates
their emancipation of African slaves on March 22, 1873, which began
under the sovereign rule of Spain; and

WHEREAS, The first European to visit the island was Christopher
Columbus in November 1493, and claimed Puerto Rico as an important
colony of the Spanish Empire; and

WHEREAS, Given its abundance of minerals, precious metals and
agriculture, the Spaniards began to exploit Puerto Rico's natural
resources by enslaving the Tainos, the indigenous habitants of the
Island; and

WHEREAS, Eventually, the Spanish conquerors encountered a labor
shortage because European diseases were spread throughout the island and
decimated the local Taino populations; and

WHEREAS, In 1517, the Spanish Crown authorized the importation of
African slaves to Puerto Rico to address the labor shortage, and
permitted its subjects to import 12 slaves each, thereby beginning the
slave trade in their colonies; and

WHEREAS, The early use of slaves in Puerto Rico was in mining gold,
but once the mining ceased, demand for slaves was driven by sugar
plantations; under the Caribbean sun, these slaves toiled from dusk to
dawn; and

WHEREAS, Soon thereafter, these abhorrent work conditions led to 20
violent revolts which left many slaves dead or seriously injured; and

WHEREAS, Through the efforts of abolitionists such as Ramon Emeterio
Betances, Segundo Ruiz Belvis, Jose Julian Acosta, Francisco Mariano
Acosta and Julio L. de Vizcarrondo, and 10 years after President Abraham
Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation in the United States, 356
years of African slavery in Puerto Rico was abolished; and

WHEREAS, On March 22, 1873, the Spanish National Assembly abolished
slavery in Puerto Rico, however, the victory was bittersweet; the slaves
had to buy their own freedom, at whatever price was set by their last
masters; consequently, the former slaves had to work for another three
years for their former masters as compensation; and

WHEREAS, Today, African cultural is an integral part of the Puerto
Rican Community in all aspects of education, art, literature, music, and
food; and

WHEREAS, With close to one million Puerto Rican residents in New
York State, spanning from Buffalo to New York City, "La Isla del

Encanto" ("The Island of Enchantment") remains a constitutive sibling of
our home state; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, That this Legislative Body pause in its deliberations to
memorialize Governor Kathy Hochul to proclaim March 22, 2023, as Puerto
Rican Emancipation Day in the State of New York; and it be further

RESOLVED, That copies of this Resolution, suitably engrossed, be
transmitted to The Honorable Kathy Hochul, Governor of the State of New
York; The Honorable Pedro Pierluisi, Governor of the Commonwealth of
Puerto Rico; the New York Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic and Asian
Legislative Caucus; and the Puerto Rican/Hispanic Task Force.