Puerto Rican Commission
Encyclopedia
The Puerto Rican Commission was a political group composed of prominent, pro-American Puerto Rican expatriates that accompanied a U.S. expeditionary force
Expeditionary warfare
Expeditionary warfare is used to describe the organization of a state's military to fight abroad, especially when deployed to fight away from its established bases at home or abroad. Expeditionary forces were in part the antecedent of the modern concept of Rapid Deployment Forces...
sent to assist in the invasion of Puerto Rico during the Spanish-American War
Spanish-American War
The Spanish–American War was a conflict in 1898 between Spain and the United States, effectively the result of American intervention in the ongoing Cuban War of Independence...
of 1898. The Commission or "volunteers", as they were otherwise known, that landed at Arroyo
Arroyo, Puerto Rico
Arroyo is a municipality located along the southern coast of Puerto Rico and bordered by the Caribbean Sea, east of the municipality of Guayama and northwest of the municipality of Patillas. Arroyo is spread over 5 wards and Arroyo Pueblo...
on 1 August 1898 consisted of: Pedro Juan Besosa, José Budet, Domingo Collazo, Mateo Fajardo, Emilio González, Antonio Mattei Lluveras, Rafael Marxuach y Abrams
Marxuach
Marxuach is a Catalan surname shared by the following people:*Javier Grillo-Marxuach*Francisco J. Marxuach*Acisclo Marxuach y Plumey*Jaume Marxuach i Flaquer*José María Marxuach Echavarría*Rafael Marxuach y Abrams*Teófilo Marxuach y Plumey...
, Rafael Muñoz, and Warren Sutton (the only American in the group). Once disembarked, the Commission assisted in effectuating the transition of police, administrative, juridical
Jurisprudence
Jurisprudence is the theory and philosophy of law. Scholars of jurisprudence, or legal theorists , hope to obtain a deeper understanding of the nature of law, of legal reasoning, legal systems and of legal institutions...
, and–most importantly–political power to American military and civilian authority. Many of the original Commission "volunteers" had, pre-war, promoted insurgent and annexation
Annexation
Annexation is the de jure incorporation of some territory into another geo-political entity . Usually, it is implied that the territory and population being annexed is the smaller, more peripheral, and weaker of the two merging entities, barring physical size...
ist causes, as a result of which they had awoken the vigilance of Spanish
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
authorities. The Puerto Rico Commission's 1 August 1898 landing at Arroyo was both the definitive manifestation and the fruition of their annexationist and pro-American goals.