Why do so many people argue about how Puerto Rico became a territory? Several historians believe that Puerto Rico was made a US Territory by The Foraker Act of 1900. Other historians say that The Jones-Shafroth Act of 1917 made it a US Territory. Some might also say it was World War I. This essay will tell you about, Puerto Rico, all three things, and also which one is truly correct. Before starting to truly explain things, let me explain how this whole thing started.
At the beginning is how Puerto Rico was discovered. Puerto Rico was found by Christopher Columbus on his second voyage to the Americas, when he was trying to find his fort on Hispaniola called La Navidad which was destroyed. Then Juan Ponce de Léon stumbled across Puerto Rico again while on his search to find the mystical “Fountain of Youth”. Then for the next three hundred years, Spain will rule Puerto Rico with an iron fist until 1898 when the Spanish-American War broke out and the USA got Puerto Rico for themselves. The Spanish-American War was a three month war that started on April 25, 1898 and ended on August 12, 1898. The war was started when the USS Maine blew up on February 15, 1898 by a supposed underwater mine. The Americans blamed the Spanish even though there is no evidence leading to that the USS Maine was blown up by an underwater mine. If there were
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The Puerto Ricans could still not elect their own governor but now the got their own Puerto Rican House of Representatives would now have 39 representatives and 19 senators.It also gave Puerto Ricans a bill of rights and allowed the people elect the Resident Commissioner instead of the President choosing. But on the downside, the actual Puerto Rican citizenship started decreasing, the reason why is because as the US citizenship started increasing, the Puerto Rican citizenship started
Puerto Rico might be better off staying a commonwealth because Puerto Rico doesn’t have to pay income taxes to the U.S.A.
Spanish American War: It was a war that happened in 1898 between Spain and the United States.
The Spanish American War marked the emergence of the United States as a world power. This brief war lasted less than four months from April 25 to August 12, 1898. A number of factors contributed to the United States decision to go to war against Spain. These included the Cuban struggle for independence, American imperialism and the sinking of the United States warship “Maine”. As a result of the war Spain ceded Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines to the United States. The United States in turn, paid Spain $20,000,000 for public property in the Philippine
Denis was able to discuss a lot of important keys in Wednesday conference such as, the Jones Act in 1917, the Ponce Massacre, Albizu Campos and many more. He mentions how the United States has made policies and acts that have only benefited the Untied States and affect negatively the economy of Puerto Rico and now having a debt of 72 billion dollars. The Jones Act in 1917 gave Puerto Ricans U.S. citizenship, but like Nelson said the United States now expected the Puerto Ricans to become part of the military and fight in World War I and other wars. In fact, there was a time where Puerto Ricans were obligated sign up, go to war and we're always on the first line during the wars. He mentioned Albizu Campos, a lawyer graduated from Harvard Law School, and his involvement in Puerto Rico’s fight for Independence and how this cause the FBI to be always on his tail. Albizu Campos was in jail for 25 years and during those years in 1937 the Ponce Massacre took place. It was a Sunday were families went to peacefully protest the US Government imprisonment of Albizu Campos on sedition charges and it ended in a police shooting killing 19 civilians and more than 200 wounded. Events like this, not known by many people including Puerto Ricans, are one of the many things Nelson told the audience during the
On April 25, 1898 the United States declared war on Spain following the sinking of the Battleship Maine in Havana harbor on February 15, 1898. The war ended with the signing of
I think this is the most important aspect of being a commonwealth because I don’t have to sacrifice my religion, culture, or language which is something very important to us, Puerto Ricans. Due to the Jones Act of 1917, we were granted a U.S citizenship, allowing us to travel back and forth between the U.S and Puerto Rico (Perez y Gonzalez 2011: 1843). This is very important to me and my family, otherwise my family living in the United States would not be able to come and see us all the time and vice versa! Therefore, I would never want to lose this benefit that the U.S has given us.
The opportunities which are available to every unemployed worker in the United States are training programs, health insurance assistance, and food and emergency aid. With these programs available to the unemployed in the United States, it is helping put America back to work, and giving people the opportunity to go back school to be retrained in a new field of work which they didn’t have the chance to do in the past. Since Puerto Rico isn’t a state they don’t have these programs that assist the unemployed to help them get back to work, in turn it’s causing a big problem for their economy.
The Spanish American War started in 1898 and lasted about four months. Although the war might have seemed focused on freeing Cuba from Spain and gaining independence for Cuba and the Philippines, it was actually stimulated by nationalism and commercialism. Commercialism was a major factor when declaring war because the United States depended on Cuba and the Philippines for trade and business with other countries, especially in Asia and Latin America. Another major factor for the war was that the United States wanted to spread its Anglo-Saxon culture around the world and emerge as a world-wide power. Other minor motives for the war include the United States coming to the aid of the Cubans in their revolt against Spain and the feeling that
The first reason for the Spanish American War was public opinion. In 1895, American citizens took notice of a Cuban revolt against their corrupt Spanish oppressor. The Cuban insurgents reasoned that if they did enough damage , the US might move in and help the
Puerto Rico is an island that is impacted by not having enough land for cultivation. The Three thousand four hundred and ninety-two square miles of this island is about seventy-five percent hills or mountains (Worldmark Encyclopedia of the States b). With the large amount of land consisting of hill or mountains, Puerto Rico has limited amounts of natural resources. While under Spanish colonial rule, the island was largely neglected because of its limited mineral resources. Following the Spanish-American war in 1898, the U.S. took over control of the island. The U.S. found itself in control of an island that produced small scale amounts of sugar and coffee. The U.S would then expand the sugarcane operations and establish markets to use as a viable trade resource.
Since Puerto Rico was first discovered by Christopher Columbus on November 19, 1493, and Spanish colonization ensued in 1508, Puerto Rico has experienced all of these pressures of identity and culture.
One hundred years ago, in 1898, the United States was fighting the Spanish-American War. The victory over Spain made the United States a colonial power. The Spanish colonies of Cuba, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines, as well as the formerly independent nation of Hawaii, became American possessions.
Not many may know that Puerto Rico is considered to be American territory. Soon people all over America will know because Puerto Rico could possibly become the fifty first state or could be separated from America completely. Most of Puerto Ricans would like statehood 61% to be exact, this citizens would like to be united with America once and for all. There are some Puerto Ricans would like to be free association and the amount is 33% citizens who want a relationship without political territory with a degree of statehood with America. The last percentage are the citizens who want to be independent which is 5%. As the percentage shows most Puerto Ricans would like to become the fifty first state of America and add one more star onto America.
Puerto Rico 's governor, who is the head of government, and the members of the legislative branch are appointed by the Governor with the approval of the Senate to serve until they reach age 70. Due to the status of Puerto Rico as a territory of the United States, its residents cannot vote in the U.S. presidential elections.
However, in Spain there was a belief of the United States planning the explosion to began a war. With all of the tension between the two countries, about two months after the attack, there was an outbreak of warfare known as the Spanish-American War. The attack on the ship was in February of 1898 and the war began in April of the same year. It ended in August, 1898 when both countries signed the Treaty of Paris guaranteeing Cuban independence, and forcing Spain to sign Guam and Puerto Rico over to the United States.