When was puerto rico annexed by the us

The doctrine of Coverture stipulated that a U. The amendment allowed U. A subsequent amendment retroactively naturalized Puerto Rico-born residents. Taken together, these corrective amendments sought to collectively naturalize island-born Puerto Ricans who either did not acquire U.

It extended a statutory form of birthright or jus soli citizenship to Puerto Rico that was anchored in the Citizenship Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Even though the Jones Act citizenship was fairly short-lived , it was important historically. The Jones Act was not only the first law that collectively naturalized the majority of Puerto Ricans residing on the island, but also it was the first law that collectively naturalized the inhabitants of a territory that was not meant to become a state of the United States.

Although Congress had previously collectively naturalized individual Native American nations, and later all Native Americans, it had not treated the land they inhabited as territories or potential states for constitutional purposes.

To this extent, the Jones Act represented an advance for American citizenship: Never before had the country extended citizenship to an annexed, albeit unincorporated, territory that was not considered a state-in-the-making. Finally, the Jones Act citizenship was an early affirmation of a permanent and irrevocable relationship between Puerto Ricans and the United States. Once Congress clothed Puerto Ricans with U. Read as a whole, this patchwork of citizenship laws illustrate the contradictory U.

On the one hand, the United States continues to govern Puerto Rico as an unincorporated territory—and that is a foreign possession in a domestic or constitutional sense. Simultaneously, federal citizenship laws treat Puerto Ricans as members of the U. In part, these territorial laws create a two-storied home.

Citizens residing in the first floor—the mainland—enjoy the full legal and political rights of membership in the U. Please tell us your thoughts. We may edit your letter for length and clarity and publish it on our site. By continuing to use our website, you agree to our privacy and cookie policy.

No paywall. No ads. No partisan hacks. Ideas journalism with a head and a heart. Chief among them, what did the Jones Act actually do? To understand the Jones Act, it is best to start with a clarification of what the law was not. On July 26, at the behest of the Spanish government, the French ambassador in Washington, Jules Cambon, approached the McKinley Administration to discuss peace terms, and a cease-fire was signed on August The war officially ended four months later, when the U.

The U. Senate ratified the treaty on February 6, , by a margin of only one vote. The McKinley Administration also used the war as a pretext to annex the independent state of Hawaii. In , a group of Hawaii-based planters and businessmen led a coup against Queen Liliuokalani and established a new government. They promptly sought annexation by the United States, but President Grover Cleveland rejected their requests.

In , however, President McKinley and the American public were more favorably disposed toward acquiring the islands. Supporters of annexation argued that Hawaii was vital to the U.

After the signing of an armistice with Spain, the island was turned over to the U. S forces on October General John R. Brooke became military governor. In the first three decades of its rule, the U. However, during the s, a nationalist movement led by the Popular Democratic Party won widespread support across the island, and further U. Beginning in , Puerto Ricans could elect their own governor, and in the U. Congress approved a new Puerto Rican constitution that made the island an autonomous U.

The constitution was formally adopted by Puerto Rico on July 25, Movements for Puerto Rican statehood, along with movements for Puerto Rican independence, have gained a growing number of supporters on the island. In a referendum on the island's status, a majority voted for statehood. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us!

The Clean Water Act becomes law on October 18, Born in Milan, Ohio, in , Edison received little formal schooling, which was customary for most Americans at the time.