What was going on in Puerto Rico and surrounding areas during the 19th century? I know Spain owned much of it but was there any political unrest? Were the mayors, judges and governors of their colonies from Spain? I'm just interested in the whole dynamic of live in that part of the world during that time. One reason why I am is because I am doing my family tree at the moment. I found a man named Genaro Vergne who is my great x3 grandfather who was the mayor of several towns in Puerto Rico and became a judge in the late 19th century. I want to picture in my mind what his life would of been like.
First to be specific, I'll say that what Spain owned in the Caribbean was Cuba and Puerto Rico in the 19th century, and they were both ruled by an imperial government, meaning, the governors were appointed, and the people living in the colonies had no representation. Now, in the beginning of the 19th century, the Peninsular War occurred, during which Napoleon installed his brother Joseph as king of Spain. Joseph summoned the Spanish parliament for the first time in a very long time, as his predecessor the Bourbon Ferdinand VII, like his predecessors, ruled as an autocrat. During this time, a man named Ramón Power y Giralt was elected to represent Puerto Rico in the Napoleonic Spanish Parliament. He was the first and last Puerto Rican to participate in the national government as a representative of Puerto Rico. He died in 1813, and the end of the Revolution meant the end of the new liberal constitution, and Power y Giralt's reforms on the island. The island continued to be ruled in a distant and colonial manner.
Slave trading in Puerto Rico ended in 1835. In 1870, the Moret Law granted freedom of womb to slaves, and in 1873, slaves were completely emancipated in Puerto Rico. (Cuba would have to wait until 1886 for slavery to be illegalized there.)
Around 1868, a Puerto Rican separatist movement became popular, beginning with the Lares revolt, but I personally don't know much about that. And finally, in 1898 was the Spanish-American War, which transferred ownership of Puerto Rico to the United States which has ruled it ever since - just as distantly and colonially as Spain before it.
I'm sorry for the unsourced reply, but I hope this provides at least a little bit of context for you.