puerto rico was declared a us territory in 1898.
puerto rico was declared a us territory in 1898.
when was puerto rico declared a us territory?
1898
beginning with christopher columbus's arrival on the island in 1493, spain colonized puerto rico. at the end of the spanish–american war in 1898, puerto rico was ceded to the united states. the united states then refused to pay the colony's creditors, asserting they held odious debt. prior to 1898, the people of puerto rico had spanish citizenship; after puerto rico stopped being part of spain, the people of puerto rico had neither independent nor colonial citizenship. in april 1900, president william mckinley signed the foraker act, which allowed popular election of only the house of representatives of puerto rico. the insular cases, a series of supreme court decisions issued in the early 1900's, defined puerto rico as an unincorporated "territory appurtenant and belonging to the united states, but not a part of the united states within the revenue clauses of the constitution." although legally defined as a commonwealth or protectorate, puerto rico's relationship with the united states, in which ultimate economic and political decision making rests with the u.s. federal government and citizens who reside in puerto rico do not enjoy full constitutional rights, was deemed by juan r. torruella to be a colonial one. the political status of puerto rico makes it subject to u.s. laws. the jones-shafroth act is one of these laws, which exempts interest payments from bonds issued by the government of puerto rico and its subdivisions from federal, state, and local income taxes (so called "triple tax exemption") regardless of where the bond holder resided. this right made puerto rican bonds attractive to municipal bond investors. this factor led puerto rico to issue bonds that were always attractive to municipal investors, regardless of puerto rico's account balances. puerto rico thus began to issue debt to balance its budget, a practice repeated for four decades since 1973. the island also began to issue debt to repay older debt, as well as refinancing older debt possessing low interest rates with debt possessing higher interest rates. in 1984, congress explicitly forbade puerto rico from declaring bankruptcy under chapter 9, title 11, united states code. between 1996 and 2006, congress eliminated the tax credits, contributing to the loss of 80,000 jobs on the island and causing its population to shrink and its economy to contract in all but one year since the great recession. because the constitution of puerto rico established that "all available resources" must first go towards payment of the commonwealth's general obligation bonds, in 2006, the commonwealth began issuing puerto rico sales tax revenue bonds, to avoid its constitution's limits by being paid directly into a separate urgent interest fund. sales tax was increased to 11%. the last property tax assessment was done in 1958. it was not until puerto rico enlarged its outstanding debt to $71 billion—an amount approximately equal to 68% of puerto rico's gross domestic product (gdp)—that puerto rican bonds were downgraded to non-investment grade (better known as "junk status" or speculative grade) by three bond credit rating agencies between february 4 and 11, 2014. this downgrade triggered bond acceleration clauses that required puerto rico to repay certain debt instruments within months rather than years. investors were concerned that puerto rico would eventually default on its debt. such a default would reduce puerto rico's ability to issue bonds in the future. puerto rico currently states that it is unable to maintain its current operations unless it takes drastic measures that may lead to civil unrest. there have already been protests over the austerity measures. these events, along with a series of governmental financial deficits and a recession, have led to puerto rico's current debt crisis.
puerto rican government-debt crisis
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