puerto rico became a us territory in 1492.
puerto rico became a us territory in 1492.
when did the puerto rico became a us territory?
1492
since the transfer of sovereignty of puerto rico from spain to the united states, the relationship between puerto rico and the us has been evolving. on april 11, 1899, the peace treaty between spain and the usa (the 1898 treaty of paris) became effective, and established a military government in puerto rico. this was short lived, since the following year (april 2, 1900) congress enacted the foraker act, which established a civil government and free trade between puerto rico and the usa. puerto ricans, although incapable of electing members of the territory's executive branch, but were now able to elect their local representatives and a resident commissioner to the us congress, who had voice but no vote. in 1917, the enactment of the jones-shafroth act the territory of puerto rico was organized and statutory us citizenship was granted to its residents.
statehood movement in puerto rico
an economically evolving puerto rico called for a new advancement in political status. powerful, innovative puerto rican leaders including luis muñoz rivera, josé de diego, rosendo matienzo cintrón, manuel zeno gandía, luis lloréns torres, eugenio benítez castaño, and pedro franceschi contributed to the rise of multiple successful political parties. however, the birth of multiple political groups led to a diversion of the island's interests: uniting as a statehood with the us, becoming a us territory commonwealth, or declaring independence altogether. in 1900, the partido federal (federal party) was formed during the us military rule of the island after the spanish–american war. it was formed by luis munoz rivera and other members of the autonomist party. the partido federal favored immediate transformation of puerto rico into an organized unincorporated territory and eventually join us statehood. the partido obrero socialista de puerto rico (socialist labor party of puerto rico) were founded by santiago iglesias pantin. overtime the partido obrero socialista de puerto rico was also in favor of statehood with the us. the partido federal campaigned for assimilation into the united states and wanted to develop prosperously with their best interests under the new us administration. they wanted to fully integrate us law and government. their plan was to become a territory and have representation through a delegate and eventually become a us state with no restrictions. the partido obrero socialista de puerto rico did not advocate for independence. instead party leader, santiago iglesias pantin, advocated for statehood and change in economic policies which were influenced by his practice in founding the federación regional de trabajadores (regional workers federation) and labor newspaper "ensayo obrero". the party was based on the principles of the socialist labor party of america and received much support from american colonial authorities. after the dissolution of the federal party, luis muñoz rivera and josé de diego founded the "partido unionista de puerto rico" (unionist party of puerto rico) in 1904. the unionist party of puerto rico aimed to secure “the right of puerto rico to assert its own personality, either through statehood or independence.” the beginning of the partido independentista, the independence party, was in 1909. rosendo matienzo cintrón, manuel zeno gandía, luis lloréns torres, eugenio benítez castaño, and pedro franceschi founded the party which was the first political party whose agenda was the independence of puerto rico. another change occurred during the year the party was founded. the olmsted amendment changed the foraker act, which was designed to switch the puerto rican government from a military one to a government ran by the civilians. instead, the olmsted act called for the government to be managed solely under the executive branch.
history of puerto rico