the "Americanization" process of Puerto Rico. 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. 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. Schools became the primary vehicle of Americanization, and initially all classes were taught in English, which also made for a large dropout rate. Maldonado and his men continued to harass the wealthy plantation owners with the exception that now he also harassed the American military authorities. On August 16, 1898, Major General Guy Vernon Henry sent a message from Utuado to General Miles in Ponce, telling him that the "White Eagle" and his men were operating in the area of Jayuya and that he needed reinforcements to pursue them. 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. 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. He went on trial and with the help and testimony of Deschamps was exonerated against all the charges against him. A crowd of admirers gathered at Plaza Las Delicias in Ponce and received the news of Maldonado's exoneration with cheers. The United States considered anyone to oppose their rule and authority in the island to be an Anti-American and as such labeled Maldonado a bandit. 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". Later years