econd part of the 19th century, thousands of black immigrants came to Vieques to work on the sugar cane plantations. They arrived from the nearby islands of St. Thomas, Nevis, St. Kitts, St. Croix, and many other Caribbean islands, some of them arrived as slaves and some as independent economic migrants. By the time of settlement of Vieques the Eastern Caribbean was post-Emancipation but some arrived as contract labor. Since this time black people have formed an important part of Vieques� society.
United States colonial period
In 1898, after Spain's defeat in the Spanish�American War, Vieques, along with mainland Puerto Rico, was ceded to the United States.
In the 1920s and 1930s, the sugar industry, on which Vieques was totally dependent, went into decline due to falling sugar prices and industrial unrest. Many locals were forced to move to mainland Puerto Rico or Saint Croix to look for work.
In 1941, while Europe was in the midst of World War II, the United States Navy purchased about two thirds of Vieques as an extension to the Roosevelt Roads Naval Station nearby on the Puerto Rican mainland. The original purpose of the base (never implemented) was to provide a safe haven for the British fleet should Britain fall to Nazi Germany. Much of the land was bought from the owners of large farms and sugar cane plantations, and the purchase triggered the final demise of the sugar industry. Many agricultural workers, who had no title to the land they occupied, were evicted.
After the war, the US Navy continued to use the island for military exercises, and as a firing range and testing ground for bombs, missiles, and other weapons in a manner not unlike Kaho?olawe in the Hawaiian Islands.
Protests and departure of the United States Navy
Main article: United States Navy in Vieques, Puerto Rico
The continuing post-war presence in Vieques of the United States Navy drew protests from the local community, angry at
