At the time, Puerto Rico and Cuba also suffered a severe economic crisis because of increasing tariffs and taxes imposed by the Spanish central government on most import and export goods.

However, in 1865, the central government in Madrid, finally attempted to appease the growing discontent in all its overseas provinces by setting up a "board of review" to receive complaints from provincial representatives.

[2][3] The Puerto Rican delegation was freely elected by those eligible to vote (male Caucasian property owners) in what was one of the first exercises of political openness in Spain.

However, Acosta could convince the Junta that abolition could be achieved in Puerto Rico without disrupting the local economy, including its Cuban members, who frowned upon implementing it in Cuba because of its much higher numbers of slave labor.

Emilio Castelar y Ripoll, once he became minister for foreign affairs in 1870, finally approved an abolition bill and praised the efforts of the Puerto Rican members, who were sincerely moved by Acosta's arguments.

Once the Junta members returned to Puerto Rico, they met with local community leaders in a famed meeting at the Hacienda El Cacao in Carolina, in early 1865.

Betances authored several Proclamas, or statements attacking the exploitation of the Puerto Ricans by the Spanish centralist system and called for immediate insurrection.

[7][8] It is directly based on the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, adopted by France's National Assembly in 1789, which contained the principles that inspired the French Revolution.

[5] Secret cells of the Revolutionary Committee were established in Puerto Rico by Mathias Brugman, Mariana Bracetti and Manuel Rojas bringing together members from all sectors of society including landowners, merchants, professionals, peasants, and slaves.

[13] Juan Castañón, a captain stationed in Quebradillas, overheard two cell members commenting that on September 29 the troops at Camuy would be neutralized by poisoning the bread rations.

Led by Rojas and Juan de Mata Terreforte, the poorly trained and sparsely armed rebels reached the town by horse and foot at around midnight.

The Republic of Puerto Rico was proclaimed at (2:00 am local time) under the presidency of Francisco Ramírez Medina at the church and the revolutionaries offered freedom to the slaves who joined them.

President Ramírez Medina appointed Government officials as follows: The next day, on September 24, the rebel forces departed to take over the next town, San Sebastián del Pepino.

Meanwhile, in Madrid, Eugenio María de Hostos and other prominent Puerto Ricans were successful in interceding with President Francisco Serrano, who had himself just led a revolution against the monarchy in Spain.

In an effort to appease the already tense atmosphere on the island, the incoming governor, José Laureano Sanz, dictated a general amnesty early in 1869 and all prisoners were released.

When he learned about the failed revolt, he interrupted his law studies and traveled to the United States, where he immediately went to the Cuba Revolutionary Junta and offered his services.

During the years immediately following the Grito, there were minor pro-independence protests and skirmishes with the Spanish authorities in Las Marías, Adjuntas, Utuado, Vieques, Bayamón, Ciales and Toa Baja (Palo Seco).