Land Reform, Democracy, and Economic Interest in Puerto Rico

Curtis, Thomas D., Land Reform, Democracy, and Economic Interest in Puerto Rico, Tucson: Division of Economic and Business Research, College of Business and Public Administration, University of Arizona, 1966.

Table of Contents:

I. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF PUERTO RICO
Spanish Conquest and Colonization: 1493 – 1898
Land Tenure Established by Spain
Transition to American Control
Land Concentration and Sugar Production
Summary

II. ECONOMIC INTEREST GROUPS AND LAND TENURE IN PRE-WAR PUERTO RICO
American Sugar Interests
Puerto Rican Landlords and Businessmen
Independent Small Scale Farmers
The Landless Tenant Farmers
Urban and Migrant Laborers
The Roman Catholic Church
The Relationship Between Class, Market and Industry Structures

III. THE DEVELOPMENT OF PUERTO RICO’S POLITICAL STRUCTURE UNDER AMERICAN RULE
De facto Control of Puerto Rico’s Political Institutions
The Rise of Insular Political Parties
Summary

IV. THE LAND TENURE PROGRAM AND THE PEACEFUL REFORM IN PUERRTO RICO
Economic Reform and Revolution
The Popular Democratic Party and the Land Tenure Problem
The Election of 1940 and Land Reform
The Land Law of 1941
Land Reform and the Property Structure
General Economic and Political Effects of Land Reform
Modifications of Puerto Rico’s Land Program

V.GENERAL CONCLUSIONS

BIBLIOGRAPHY

See also Preconditions to Land Reform: A Comparison of Pre-Revolutionary America With Pre-Reform Puerto Rico.