MODERN COLONIzATION AND ITS CONSEQUENCES: THE EFFECTS OF U.S. EDUCATIONAL POLICy ON PUERTO RICO'S EDUCATIONAL STRATIFICATION, 1899-1910 *

Abstract

"The debate regarding the impact of the early U.S. colonial experiment in Puerto Rico has downplayed the role of changes in educational institutions brought about by U.S. colonial policies on the island's social stratification. This study focuses on understanding how U.S. colonial education policy in Puerto Rico during the period 1899-1910 - the initial expansion of public primary schooling in Puerto Rico - affected the distribution of literacy and Englishlanguage skills among children and young adults. Taking advantage of the expansion in public primary schools across municipalities during 1899-1907 to identify the causal effects of the policy changes, we find that literacy skills increased moderately among the young population, but that English-language skills improved dramatically, especially among females. We also find that, although race-based differentials in literacy rates decreased during this period, English literacy gains were greater among native-born whites. These findings provide evidence that U.S. educational policies altered the stratification dynamics present at the turn of the century in a complex manner, by closing racial educational gaps at the bottom of the distribution, but expanding them at the top."

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