Organized Reservations

Puerto Rico should become the 51st state because nearly 54 percent, or 922,374 people, wanted statehood. Even three American Presidents Gerald Ford, George Bush I, and even Reagan supported statehood. Also “For me, being a U.S. citizen is a lot more than carrying a passport,” says Caraballo-Sandoz. “I’m very hopeful that one day we are going to be a state of the Union.” The people of Puerto Rico deserve better than the way they are being treated. Puerto Ricans

Theme: Geography - Territorial Acquisition - Throughout The nation's history the United States has expanded through the acquisition of new territories. These acquisitions have had both positive and negative effects on the United States.

Ever since white men came to the New World, they were never at peace with the native peoples. One of the first white men to come to North America was Sir Walter Raleigh, who took the Indians he met as slaves as early as 1584. In the years that followed, settlers forced the Native Americans further and further west. By the year 1850, there had been many attempts at peaceful negotiations and uprisings on both sides, but the government eventually decided that reservations were the only way to contain the Indians and have peace. These reservations took away their pride, freedom, and way of life. Native Americans in reservations today are still plagued by lack of food and shelter, health and

Puerto Rico would get 2 senate seats, 5 in house reps & Puerto Ricans would be able to vote for the president. Puerto Rico would have lots of economic growth. Puerto Ricans businesses don’t pay corporate taxes. So the U.S would benefit & P.R. Puerto Rico has a debt of over 70 billion dollars. That’s a lot of money for a little island. So if Puerto Rico became a state It would slowly go away because it would be getting a extra 20 billion dollars. Puerto Rico’s economy isn’t growing because businesses don’t want to open up on the island. The reason is Puerto Rico doesn’t know if it will stay a commonwealth, become a state, or become independent. So if Puerto Rico became a state, the economic growth would be huge. Right now Puerto Rico’s average salary is around 20,00 dollars a year. If Puerto Rico became a state that average might double. Even though Puerto Ricans would now have to pay full taxes, their salary would go up , that goes to the U.S. but eventually the money goes back to Puerto Rico. That whole system in the end benefits Puerto Rico. It benefits the U.S. also because the U.S. gets a extra 2 billion. That money would eventually pull the U.S out of their debt to (Should Puerto Rico become America’s 51st state?).

The purchase more than doubled the size of the country. The new territory covered roughly 828,000 square miles of land from the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains and from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico. Through the Louisiana Purchase, the US acquired 13 states for our new growing country. These 13 states are Montana, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, Nebraska, Iowa, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Louisiana. The downside of the new territory was that fact that there were Indians roaming in the lands.

On April 10th, 1869, the United States Congress established the Board of Indian Commissioners. This establishment authorized the President of the United States to organize a board of ten or less people to oversee all aspects of Native American policy. The Board of Indian Commissioners was a committee that advised the United States federal government on Native American policy. The committee also had the purpose to inspect the supplies that were delivered to Indian reservations to ensure that the government fulfilled the treaty obligations to tribes. President Ulysses S. Grant wanted to come up with a new policy, which would be more humane, for Native American tribes. The policy would be known as the Peace Policy, which aimed to be free of political corruption. The Peace Policy was prominent on Native American reservations, where Christian Churches and the Office of Indian Affairs, would provide Native Americans with moral Indian agents who would establish churches and schools, teach agriculture. Therefore, creating the sense of “civilizing” and/or “Americanizing.” Within the Board of Indian Commissioners, annual reports were commenced. One of these reports, The Seventeenth Annual Report of the Board of Indian Commissioners of 1885, is an extremely contradictory document, which attempts to dismantle traditions, treat Native Americans in an inhumane manner, and regress any progress the United States government had with Native Americans.

The third attempt at having The Kingdom of Hawai’i annexed was a false claim by the United States declaring Hawai’i territory of the United States because it was a Neutral State. The United States Congress and President McKinley signed into law a Joint Resolution, which they claimed Hawai’i annexed by the United States of America and was now U.S. territory; this claim was a violation of war between the Hawaiian Kingdom and the United States. The United States claimed due to concern Hawai’i might become part of the European Nation’s Empire they needed resolution claiming Hawaii’s Annexation. But Hawai’i disputed the claim stating Hawai’i could not be annexed thru a Joint Resolution and that a Joint Resolution is not a treaty; it is a congressional act on behalf of the United States. The congressional act can only affect U.S. territory and Hawai’i was not a U.S. territory or state to be claimed

In the beginning, America consisted of 13 colonies that were owned by the British.  After we had won our independence in 1776, we had bigger aspirations than just the 13 colonies.  The goal was to make America span from coast to coast, spreading democracy, capitalism, and American ideals across the now country.  This was rooted in the belief of Manifest Destiny.  This was the belief that America should span from coast to coast because we were the best.  Our first major land deal to further this goal was the Louisiana Purchase.  In exchange for 15 million dollars, (or about 233 million adjusted for inflation), America would receive a large portion of the Americas from France.  This purchase includes land from modern day states such as Louisiana, Oklahoma, Kansas, North and South Dakota, Arkansas, Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska, Minnesota, Northern Texas,

CB created a great career for himself that allowed him to have autonomy. He explained to us that he worked hard to get the job he had and he was able to make his own schedules and work as often as he wanted. Even though he was able to choose when he worked he usually was there when the other people who are part of his company, including his children, were there. CB explained to us that he was able to work on the reservations still doing his masonry work laying bricks to build things for them. This is when he realized how different life on the reservation was from the way that he was living life off of the reservation. He told us that he wished he wasn’t sent to the boarding school so that he was more fluent in Ojibwe and so he could have been more aware of the practices that they used and still use on the

In the story of reservation blues by sherman alexie the opening chapter starts off with the literary device of foreshadowing. “ In the one hundred and eleven years since the creation of the spokane indian reservation in 1881, not one person, indian or otherwise, had arrived there by accident. Wellpinit, the only town the reservation, did not exist on most maps, so the black stranger surprised the whole tribe when he appeared with nothing more than the suit he wore and guitar slung over his back.”(pg.1 Alexie, S. (2014). Reservation blues. Grove Press) The opening scene in this chapter gave me the feel of an mystical spooky setting. This lead me to believe that this character “ Robert Johnson” would have a big part in this story. Robert johnson is an

The Indian Territory is admitted to compose part of the United States. In all our maps, geographical treatises, histories, and laws, it is so considered. In all our intercourse with foreign nations, in our commercial regulations, in any attempt at intercourse between Indians and foreign nations, they are considered as within the jurisdictional limits of the United States, subject to many of those restraints which are imposed upon our own citizens. They acknowledge themselves in their treaties to be under the protection of the United States; they admit that the United States shall have the sole and exclusive right of regulating the trade with them and managing all their affairs as they think proper; and the Cherokees in particular were allowed by the Treaty of Hopewell, which preceded the Constitution, to send a deputy of their choice, whenever they think fit, to Congress.

This law is no longer part applicable in today's world. At first, as the Americans invaded these Islands and were waving their flags like a baton twirling marcher, the people thought the American laws would be adopted. Contrarily, the laws did not apply as the new territories were "belongings of the United States, but were not part of the United States". Furthermore, the territories are inhabited by "alien races" that may not understand "Anglo-Saxon principles" (Downes v. Bidwell 184). The stating that the Supreme Court makes is that these inhabitants are not ruled by the Constitution because they are too "different" and are found incapable to comprehend anything. I believe this displays the racism of America, which deprives people of basic civil rights. Unfortunately, until this day the law is still in use. In a case where five Guamanians filed a lawsuit against the United states Government to change this rule, the Obama administration rebutted with the "..Insular cases..."(Leneuoti Fiafia vs. United States of America 9). This means that the United States views these people as third-class citizens, that have no value. This also displays the hypocrisy of the country, the “post racial” country clearly displays racism as it follows such an outdated law in

For some reason the statehood would have an negative impact on PR’s standard living or economy, then resentment may developed, which can be dangerous for the Puerto Ricans. If PR is admitted into the United State as a state, their fifteen percent of unemployment rate will contributes to America’s unemployment rate, and their seven billion dollars debt could cause an economic crisis in America and if the statehood of PR is admitted to the United State, English will become their primary language and spanish roots and culture will wither away. Some say that PR will make the US poor. Because of  fifty percent of PR are below poverty line and it’s economy is terrible and second the US will have to give them seven billion dollars for statehood and the US is already in some much debt, how could the US ever afford paying of the bill. Not only will it have a effect of their culture, causes some kind of resentment but it will also can also increase the poverty and crime rate of the United

There are several economic reasons that can be argued against Puerto Rico becoming a state. First, the current unemployment rate is 11.7%, which would rank the highest in the nation. Puerto Rico has the lowest per capita income at around $7000, half of the poorest U.S. state (Mississippi). Thus it would cost the U.S. Government approximately 3-4 billion a year for 10 years to get Puerto Rico up to par with the other states. The 936 tax code, which grants U.S. companies federal tax exemptions for their operations in Puerto Rico,

The San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation, in southeastern Arizona, was established in 1872 as a reservation for the Chiricahua Apache tribe, who were forcibly removed from their original homelands. Also known as "Hell's Forty Acres", due to deplorable health and environmental conditions, the area really serves as a dumping ground for those unwanted by the United States. As stated by Richard J. Perry, the author of Apache Reservation: Indigenous Peoples and the American State, “On the San Carlos Reservation today, about ten thousand Apache live on a 1.8 million acre tract. Government agents in the late nineteenth century demarcated the region in what they considered to be an essentially worthless part of the territory.” (10). Perry also comments