invaded Puerto Rico during the Spanish–American War in 1898, many members of the Puerto Rican literary class welcomed them, believing that eventually Puerto Rico would be granted independence. Instead, the island was declared a territory of the United States. Many writers and poets expressed their opposition by writing about patriotic themes through their work. Twentieth-century migration to the United States During the early part of the 20th century, many Puerto Ricans moved to the eastern coast and mid-western parts of the United States in search of a better way of life. Most settled in cities such as New York and Chicago. There they faced ethnic and racial discrimination and other hardships. Jesús Colón, known as the father of the Nuyorican Movement, was discriminated against because he was Black and had difficulty speaking English. He wrote about his experiences, as well as the experiences of other immigrants, becoming among the first Puerto Ricans to do so in English. One of his works, A Puerto Rican in New York, preceded the literary movement known as the "Nuyorican Movement". Ultimately, the Nuyorican Movement significantly influenced Puerto Rican literature, spurring themes such as cultural identity and discrimination. The goal of the Nuyorican Movement is to maintain the cultural identity of the Puerto Rican people in a foreign land. This circle of intellectuals, writers, poets and playwrights express their experiences as Nuyoricans living in the United States, including those whose works eventually found mainstream audiences and scholarly attention: Nicholasa Mohr (El Bronx), Piri Thomas (Down These Mean Streets), Pedro Pietri (The Masses are Asses), Giannina Braschi (Yo-Yo Boing!), Esmeralda Santiago (When I Was Puerto Rican), and others. Foundational fiction Prominent 19th century Puerto Rican authors include Manuel A. Alonso, author of El Gíbaro (1849), a collection of verses whose main themes were the poor Puerto Rican country farmer. Eugenio María de Hostos wrote La peregrinación de Bayoán (1863), which used Bartolomé de las Casas as a spring board to reflect on Caribbean identity. After this first novel, Hostos abandoned fiction in favor of the essay which he saw as offering greater possibilities for inspiring social change. Alejandro Tapia y Rivera ushered in a new age of historiography with the publication of The Historical Library of Puerto Rico. Cayetano Coll y Toste published a historical work that illuminated Taínos culture in The Indo-Antillano Vocabulary is valuable. Manuel Zeno Gandía (1894) wrote La Charca about the mountainous