The Saber and Scroll
nearly everywhere else .” 28 She described slums throughout the island as “ shocking hell-holes ” and mentioned that they were decreasing in size due to the help of the United States . Growth within the middle class also encouraged Gruber to describe 1960s Puerto Rico as a place that was undergoing a capitalist “ revolution .” 29
Earl Parker Hanson , one of Gruber ’ s contemporaries , echoed her sentiments . Hanson ’ s Transformation : The Story of Modern Puerto Rico was published in 1955 and it praised Puerto Rico ’ s capitalist transformation . In the book , Hanson believed that capitalism increased the “ human energies ” of the Puerto Ricans . In his eyes this led to Puerto Ricans increasing their attempts to remedy problems that plagued the island . The person who would go on to encapsulate the very essence of “ human energies ” would be Luis Muñoz Marin . This man was not just Puerto Rico ’ s first democratically elected governor , but he was also the prime depiction of how a Puerto Rican could be considered a model American . 30
Marin had become so venerated among Americans and Puerto Ricans that he was given the moniker , the “ George Washington of Puerto Rico .” 31 Being revered as something close to a deity — as George Washington is oftentimes considered throughout American history — Marin became the epitome of an American gentleman . According to Ralph Hancock , Marin not only studied , but he attended the prestigious Georgetown University , and had a successful career as a poet .
One of Marin ’ s poems that Hancock really enjoyed , states :
I have broken the rainbow Against my heart
As one breaks a useless sword against a knee .
I have blown the clouds of rose color and blood color beyond the farthest horizons .
I have drowned my dreams
In order to glut the dreams that sleep for me in the veins of men who sweated and wept and raged
To season my coffee … 32
Hancock believed that this poem “ articulates feelings ” Marin “ had for the complex social problems of Puerto Rico .” 33 Hancock was by no means wrong . Marin was known for adopting American commercial practices to grow the market of Puerto Rico in hopes of lessening poverty on the island . Between the 1940s and 1960s , suburbs began to be developed , slums were subsisting , “ highways networks ” were being paved , and megastores made their ways into “ most old town centers .” 34
The capitalist revolution that Americans believed was occurring in Puerto Rico was precisely what the Truman Doctrine tried to achieve in the region . Puerto Rico served as an example for Americans to use to articulate that capitalism was more effective than communism . Puerto Rico and Puerto Rican ’ s image improved as a result .
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