Most of the land was owned by wealthy landlords, loyal to the Spanish Crown, who at times were cruel and did not provide any type of medical or basic rights to their workers.

Emerson was trying to make his way back to a ship which would take him away from Puerto Rico when he realized that an attack on San Juan by the United States was sure to occur.

"[7] After the Spanish–American War Puerto Rico was annexed by the United States under the terms of the Treaty of Paris of 1898, ratified on December 10, 1898.

The U.S. occupation brought about a total change in Puerto Rico's economy and polity and did not apply democratic principles to the colony.

Puerto Rico was classified as an "unincorporated territory" which meant that the protections of the United States Constitution did not automatically apply because the island belonged to the U.S., but was not part of the U.S.[10] In 1899, the New York Times published a description of Puerto Ricans as "uneducated, simple-minded and harmless people who were only interested in wine, women, music and dancing" and recommended that Spanish should be abolished in the island's schools and only English should be taught.

[11] Schools became the primary vehicle of Americanization, and initially all classes were taught in English, which also made for a large dropout rate.

On December 18, General John Rutter Brooke received a telegraph, at the United States Army General Headquarters in San Juan, stating that "White Eagle" and his men set fire to a plantation in the town of Juana Díaz and that they were headed towards San Juan.

[1] On December 26, 1898, Maldonado wrote a letter to Eugenio Deschamps, the editor of the newspaper Correo de Puerto Rico requesting that he be pardoned and in which he explained his situation and why he acted against the authorities.

[1] A crowd of admirers gathered at Plaza Las Delicias in Ponce and received the news of Maldonado's exoneration with cheers.

In 1905, the editor of the Our Islands and Their People, a U.S. based publication, published the photo, which was taken during the Intentona de Yauco of 1897, where Fidel Vélez and Maldonado unfurled the Puerto Rican flag, under the title of "White Eagle and his band of Outlaws".

[16][17] Puerto Rican folksinger Roy Brown wrote and dedicated to Maldonado a song titled "Águila Blanca.

Many times was he accused By the senseless opinion Of bandit and thief Because with clean nobility He fought the abuses Of the Hispanic oppression