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Map 2: San Juan Island, Puerto Rico.

The Spanish began developing defenses on San Juan Island, a beautiful barrier island on the north coast of Puerto Rico, in the 1530s. Only three and one-half miles long and one mile wide, the island lies where San Juan Harbor meets the Atlantic Ocean. Over the next 250 years, the Spanish built up its fortifications, and each location named on the map was at one point a defensive position.

Questions for Map 2

1. Where do you think the main fort should have been located in order to defend San Juan from an attack by sea? Why? What about an attack by land? Why?

2. What position seems the least effective in defending San Juan? Why?

* The map on this screen has a resolution of 72 dots per inch (dpi), and therefore will print poorly. You can obtain a high quality version of Map 2, but be aware that the file may take as much as 30 seconds to load with a 28.8K modem.