Every day, Puerto Rico slowly adapts to the American way of life and gradually loses what remains of its culture. This may be because Puerto Rico is a Commonwealth of the United States. The poem “Coca Cola and Coco Frio” by Martin Espada is a great example of someone encountering the Americanized culture of Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico struggles to preserve its own identity. On July 25, 1898, American troops invaded Puerto Rico during the Spanish-American War. As Olga Jimenez de Wagenheim and Kal Wagenheim state: “The war marked new eras for both the United States and Puerto Rico. This was America's first major step as an imperialist power. The Spanish-American War was a small war, with immense consequences” (77). On December 10, 1898, the Treaty of Paris between the United States and Spain was signed, Spain ceded Puerto Rico to the United States. From there, the United States took full control of the island of Puerto Rico and "undertook a sustained Americanization campaign designed to restore Puerto Rico in its sympathies, opinions, and attitude toward life and toward the essentially American government” (Morris 7). The United States claimed that its intention in possessing the island was to liberate it from the Spanish, but the Puerto Ricans soon learned that they would only be a controlled possession of the United States, which made some natives very unhappy . In a short time, Puerto Rico went from being a Spanish possession to being owned by the United States. These sudden changes caused many problems in the political, economic and social status of Puerto Rico. With all these drastic changes happening, "the United States front...... middle of paper...... and the jíbara, seeking lazy and "cowardly" or rather "sensual and attractive,” would lead to negative implications regarding racism and stereotyping of Puerto Ricans in the future. Although it was never intended, the acquisition of Puerto Rico resulted in Puerto Rico becoming a colony of the United States, given the laws passed by Congress and the nature with which the United States attempted " to “Americanize” the island. Puerto Rico was a colonial government in the hands of Spain, and although Puerto Ricans hoped that with the American invasion, more freedom would be granted to them. Unfortunately, this did not change when the United States took control of the island. The social, economic, and political atmosphere also changed greatly, and these changes were not necessarily for the better or better than what Puerto Ricans had under the control of Spain..