Persistent Poverty and Environmental Issues in Puerto Rico The United States annexed Puerto Rico during the Spanish-American War of 1898. Between 1898 and 1901, U.S. government officials began to come up with a new doctrine to conquer nations and what their roles would be in relation to the United States interests. It allowed them to conquer territories throughout the world for military and economic purposes without Congress giving them relief. To allow this to happen, the U.S. created backup information for the Constitution in a sense that would allow them to govern Puerto Rico and the other territories taken during the Spanish-American War. Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands and the U.S. Virgin Islands are some …show more content…
Congress is allowed absolute power to perform its own laws in extending or keeping constitutional provisions in unincorporated territories. Thus, only basic constitutional rights are performed in unincorporated territories, not the full list of civil rights listed in the Constitution that United States citizens have for themselves in the states. So, unincorporated territories can be safely considered foreign places and are governed as one too. This means that as long as the U.S. government is not violating the basic constitutional rights of Puerto Ricans, Congress can choose to treat Puerto Rico as a foreign country for its own interests. Moreover, people of these territories are considered U.S. citizens, pay federal taxes, and can freely travel within the U.S. without any problems. Although, these states do not get a vote in Congress like states do. Puerto Rico cannot send its own representatives to Congress when a law is to be passed to protect their own interests sadly. They each send a delegate to the House who have all powers of a representative besides voting rights. Puerto Rico is allowed to send delegates to political conventions, but any votes coming from them will not count in the electoral vote, which is what makes a person president, so in …show more content…
citizenship. The Jones Act did not change Puerto Rico's status as an unincorporated territory, so people born in Puerto Rico were considered U.S. citizens on paper only basically. The lingering concern among lawmakers and policymakers is that Puerto Ricans are not given a true citizenship as on paper they are U.S. citizens, but the place in which they live is so off pace with what the U.S. is doing that it's really nothing. As a result, Puerto Rico has many U.S. citizens, but there land is considered an unincorporated territory. Puerto Rico and its government, leaders, and people are a separate territory that belongs to the United States, but is not a part of it directly. Putting this all into retrospect, Puerto Rico and all the other territories annexed by the U.S. are alone. Puerto Rico can vote for its own state hood however many times they please, but the final say can only come from the voting members of Congress. Congress has no interest in allowing Puerto Rico its own statehood either as it will just allow for more competition for no reason. The members of Congress have not embraced the culture of Latin Americans, which is why they will probably never get their own statehood. The only reason, the U.S. annexed the
II. Body a. Should Puerto Rico become a state? i. How would it benefit the government? ii. The.
Americans wanted to project their power to the entire hemisphere and the only way to exercise it is by acquiring a republic. Citizens of three countries did not fully acquire the independence they thought they were entitled to. Cuba got nominal independence because of the Platt Amendment, Puerto Rico became a territory but was not called as citizens of America, and instead they were called Puerto Ricans, while the Philippines were denied statehood.
The United States should not annex the Philippine islands, the Philippines, already a country of their own should not be forced to adapt to American culture and civilization. Prior to the annexation of the Philippines, America had major conflict with Spain in order to free Cuba from their brutal tactics for dominance. Tension continued to rise, until President Mckinley decided to take action and go to war against Spanish forces to enable a more stable government as well as provide protection for the citizens of Cuba. After months of fighting, the Spanish admitted defeat and began discussing peace terms of the Treaty of Paris. In this treaty Cuba was guaranteed independence, also the Spanish were forced to give up Guam and Puerto Rico. They Spanish also complied to selling the Philippines to the U.S for 20 million. However, the Filipinos wanted independence, not just a change in who governed them, this desire led many Philippine citizens to break out, beginning the Philippine- American war, which lasted three years, and caused the death of over two hundred thousand American and Filipino citizens.
In fact, Puerto Rico became a US territory in 1898, when it was acquired from Spain after the Spanish-American War. It gave Puerto Ricans the right to receive Federal Aid, but the citizens couldn't vote for the US president. writes, Statehood supporters say Puerto Rico would benefit economically from increased tourism and investment. Opponents, however, point out that if Puerto Rico were to become a state, residents would have to pay federal income tax. Some also fear the loss of the island’s unique culture and identity.
The commonwealth of Puerto Rico (Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico), known to most Americans as simply Puerto Rico, exists as one of two territories owned by the United States1. Being a territory of the United States, Puerto Ricans possess common citizenship, currency, and defense. However, even though Puerto Ricans are United States citizens they do not pay any kind of federal income taxes. Therefore, they cannot vote in presidential elections. Puerto Rico is under the jurisdiction of the United States customs, and are allowed free movement of people and merchandise with the United States. They have established their own constitution, and have a greater amount of independence than possessions. Although they are only a territory of the United States, they have remained ethnically diversified2.
After the Spanish-American war, Spain granted the United States with full ownership of the island of Puerto Rico, which largely benefited the United States with profitable agricultural land, in the same way, Puerto Rican citizens were all benefited when they received U.S. citizenship, this granted them with greater opportunities that awaited them in the United States. However, despite their citizenship, Puerto Ricans are yet to have a vote in national U.S. elections. The ownership of the island has mostly benefited the United States as it is able to control the land, and impose tax and restrictions. Due to this, Puerto Rico transformed from a local economy, to one that is dominated by external U.S. companies. Because of many programs that have been implemented in order to stimulate economic development, the economy has progressed. However, one of the negative side effects left the population dealing with high income tax, as well as leading the economy further away from the local farmers and into the capitalist economy of the United States. It seems as if the relationship between the United States and Puerto Rico benefit the capitalist country and its economy but fails to befit much of the islands population as they are later faced with high income tax and high unemployment rates. Because of the high unemployment, the Puerto
During the late 1800s, several powerful countries were looking into expanding their land, and imperializing. The cultures of the imperialized lands were highly impacted and caused a response. The most valid document relating to the indigenous responses to Western Imperialism in both the Hawaiian Islands and Africa is “Hawaii’s Last Queen on American Annexation” By Queen Liliuokalani. During the late 1800’s, America participated in the Spanish-American war, annexing the Philippine islands. Spain originally annexed the Philippines, but revolts and revolutions took place in the islands in order to disintegrate Spanish rule. This then gave them the motivation to conquer more “halfway stops” in order to get all the way to the war grounds in western Europe. This time period is very important to the annexation of Hawaii because large countries were looking to annex smaller, not as powerful, island countries for natural resources, geopolitics, and land.
After the Spanish American War, Many Spanish territories had been ceded such as Guam, Puerto Rico, and Cuba while the Philippines islands were sold to the United States. Cuba was recognized as an independent nation, but Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines were set to be annexed. The Philippines in particular was outraged and fought a war with the United States to gain its independence. The decision to annex was not unanimous as many people, including the Filipinos, Senators, American citizens, and even colored citizens were opposed to the annexation.
At the end of the war, America had gained the territories of Hawaii, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines. These new territories provided a release for the social and economic pressure that built up in the pre-war period. Businessmen saw these territories as new markets, where they could sell goods and harvest natural resources. Religious missionaries saw these new territories as a way to convert the inhabitants. Americans in favor of expansion were met with opposition by the Anti- Imperialist league. They argued that annexing territories violated the spirit of the constitution, and that unconstitutional behavior abroad would lead to unconstitutional behavior at home. Ultimately, this debate was won by the pro- Imperialist side, which would shape the foreign policy of the U.S. for the coming
For 113 days during the summer of 1898, the United States was at war with Spain. Neither the president of the United States, nor his cabinet, nor the the queen of Spain, nor her ministers wanted the war wanted the war. It happened eventhough they made their best efforts to prevent it. It happened because of ambition, miscalculation, and stupidity; and it happened because of kindness, wit, and resourcefulness. It also happened because some were indifferent to the suffering of the world’s wretched and others were not (O’Toole 17). By winning the war the United States proved the the rest of the world and to itself that it could and would fight against foreign nations. For many years, world power had been concentrated in the countries in Europe. Nations such as Great Britain, France, Germany, and Spain had the most influence in global affairs. But a shift in power was gradually taking place as the United States matured. The young nation gained wealth and strength. Its population grew immensely, and many people believed it would become a major world power (Bachrach, 11) Spain was one of the many European countries that had territory in the United States. Spain controlled mostly some islands off the coast of Central America. The most important of these were Cuba and Puerto Rico. The United States was led to believe that the Spanish mosgoverned and abused the people of these islands. In fact, Spain did overtax and mistreat the Cubans, who rebelled in 1868 and again in 1895. Thus, the American people felt sympathetic toward the Cuban independence movement. In addition, Spain had frequently interfered with trade between its colonies and the United States. Even though the United States had been a trading partner with Cuba since the seventeenth century, Spain sometimes tried to completely stop their trade with Cuba. In Spain doing so, this sometimes caused damage to U.S. commercial interests. The United States highly disagreed with Spain’s right to interfere with this trade relationship. (Bachrach, 12) The United States was also concerned that other trading and commercial interests were threatened by the number of ships and soldiers Spain kept in the area. If the United States had to fight a war with Canada or Mexico, these Spanish forces could quickly mobilize against the United States.
1) Besides acquiring the Philipine Islands and Guam, the US also took possession of Wake Island in the central Pacific
The United States had taken part of an agreement in 1898 called The Treaty of Paris. This treaty officially ended the Spanish-American War. The United States acquired three new territories, including Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines. The nation had all this new land, and they could not decide what they wanted to do with it. This was one of the first opportunities the nation had to begin imperialism and it consequently started disputes between Americans.
According to Fox News Latino, Puerto Rico has been suffering due to its debt to the United States of approximately $2 billion dollars from its two decades recession. On July 1, Puerto Rico is expected to make a payment of these $2 billion but, in practicality, will not be able to come up with the asking payment by the date therefore risking having their public transit and hospitals closed as well as decreased police forces. In order for Puerto Rico to be stable this bill needs to be approved by congress then signed by the president all before July 1 or else the people of Puerto Rico will suffer. Congress is discussing a bill to allow Puerto Rico to file a national bankruptcy in all of its commerce, because countries are not allowed to file for bankruptcy, and therefore will be able to slowly build up resources to pay the debt or at least the interest on the debt. In passing this bill, the country is faced with another struggle where they would suffer minimum wage cuts to support the country, as well as having a control board to make decisions for the country to build up their financial
As a republic, Puerto Rico has a government that exercises political control over its citizens. As with any republic, a social contract exists between government and citizens in which citizens give up certain freedoms in order to enjoy the protection and comforts that a functioning government can provide. As a U.S. territory, Puerto Rico shares our three branches of government: legislative, executive, and judicial. Focusing on the judicial branch, one must look at the criminal justice system, which consists of policing, courts and corrections.
...oric Puerto Rican community enriches our American culture as well as the diverse opinions in our class. The web pages of our Latino students strongly reflect the fact that these students have not lost their identities. Thus, if Puerto Ricans living in the United States have not lost their identity why should one fear that becoming a state will make Puerto Ricans on the island loose their culture.