Puerto Rico Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ==History== {{Main|History of Puerto Rico}} ===Pre-Columbian era=== [[File:Taino Village.JPG|thumb|A 20th-century reconstruction of an 8th-century [[Taíno]] village, located at the [[Tibes Indigenous Ceremonial Center|spot]] where their ballpark and remains were discovered in 1975, in the aftermath of [[Hurricane Eloise]]<ref>Carmelo Rosario Natal. ''Ponce En Su Historia Moderna: 1945–2002.'' Secretaría de Cultura y Turismo. Gobierno Municipal de Ponce. Ponce, Puerto Rico. 2003. p. 141.</ref>]] The ancient history of the archipelago which is now Puerto Rico is not well known. Unlike other indigenous cultures in the New World ([[Aztec]], [[Mayan civilization|Maya]] or [[Inca]]) which left behind abundant archeological and physical evidence of their societies, scant artifacts and evidence remain of the Puerto Rico's earliest population. Scarce archaeological findings and early Spanish accounts from the colonial era constitute all that is known about them. The first comprehensive book on the history of Puerto Rico was written by [[Fray Íñigo Abbad y Lasierra]] in 1786, nearly three centuries after the first Spaniards landed on the island.<ref>{{cite book |last=Abbad y Lasierra |first=Iñigo |title=Historia Geográfica, Civil y Natural de la Isla de San Juan Bautista de Puerto Rico|url=https://archive.org/details/historiageografi00abba |year=1866 }}</ref> The first known settlers were the Casimiroid. They were followed by the relatively more well-known [[Ortoiroid people]] who were an [[Archaic period in the Americas|Archaic Period]] culture of [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|Amerindian]] hunters and fishermen who migrated from the South American mainland. Some scholars suggest Ortoiroid settlement dates back about 4,000 years.<ref name="Rouse">Rouse, Irving. ''The Tainos : Rise and Decline of the People Who Greeted Columbus'' {{ISBN|0-300-05696-6}}.</ref> An archeological dig in 1990 on the island of [[Vieques, Puerto Rico|Vieques]] found the remains of a man, designated as the ''[[Puerto Ferro Archaeological Site|Puerto Ferro Man]]'', which was dated to around 2000 BC.<ref>{{cite news |author=Mahaffy, Cheryl |title=Vieques Island – What lies beneath |date=28 January 2006 |newspaper=Edmonton Journal |url=http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news/travel/story.html?id=eb3c0119-8328-4b52-96ed-4a63763160f7 |access-date=11 February 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071011092855/http://canada.com/edmontonjournal/news/travel/story.html?id=eb3c0119-8328-4b52-96ed-4a63763160f7 |archive-date=11 October 2007 }}</ref> The [[Ortoiroid people|Ortoiroid]] were displaced by the [[Saladoid]], a culture from the same region that arrived on the island between 430 and 250 BCE.<ref name=Rouse/> The [[Igneri]] tribe migrated to Puerto Rico between 120 and 400 AD from the region of the [[Orinoco]] river in northern South America. The Archaic and Igneri cultures clashed and co-existed on the island between the 4th and 10th centuries.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Machlan |first=Morgan D. |date=1990 |title=Archeology and the Ethno-Tyrannies |journal=American Anthropologists |volume=92 |issue=615}}</ref> Between the 7th and 11th centuries, the [[Taíno]] culture developed on the island. By approximately 1000 AD, it had become dominant. At the time of Columbus' arrival, an estimated 30,000 to 60,000 Taíno Amerindians, led by the ''[[cacique]]'' (chief) [[Agüeybaná (The Great Sun)|Agüeybaná]], inhabited the island. They called it ''Boriken'', popularly said to mean "the great land of the valiant and noble Lord".<ref>{{cite web |author=Pedro Torres |work=Taíno Inter-Tribal Council Inc. |title=The Dictionary of the Taíno Language |url=http://members.dandy.net/~orocobix/tedict.html |access-date=11 February 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060213164808/http://members.dandy.net/~orocobix/tedict.html |archive-date=13 February 2006 }}</ref> The natives lived in small villages, each led by a cacique. They subsisted by hunting and fishing, done generally by men, as well as by the women's gathering and processing of indigenous [[cassava]] root and fruit. This lasted until Columbus arrived in 1493.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news/travel/story.html?id=eb3c0119-8328-4b52-96ed-4a63763160f7 |title=Vieques Island: What lies beneath |author=Cheryl Mahaffy |date=30 January 2006 |newspaper=Edmonton Journal |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071011092855/http://canada.com/edmontonjournal/news/travel/story.html?id=eb3c0119-8328-4b52-96ed-4a63763160f7 |archive-date=11 October 2007 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.newberry.org/exhibits/PuertoRico.html |title=500 Years of Puerto Rican History through the Eyes of Others |publisher=The Newberry Library |website=Newberry.org |date=12 July 2008 |access-date=30 October 2011 |archive-date=11 October 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111011191138/http://www.newberry.org/exhibits/PuertoRico.html }}</ref> ===Spanish colony (1493–1898)=== {{Further|Columbian Viceroyalty|New Spain|Captaincy General of Puerto Rico}} [[File:RUIDIAZ(1893) 1.083 JUAN PONCE DE LEÓN.jpg|thumb|upright| Artist's depiction of [[Juan Ponce de León]], Puerto Rico's first governor]] ====Conquest and early settlement==== When [[Christopher Columbus|Columbus]] arrived in Puerto Rico during his second voyage on 19 November 1493, the island was inhabited by the Taíno. They called it ''Borikén'', spelled in a variety of ways by different writers of the day.<ref name=Brau1>{{cite book|last=Brau|first=Salvador|title=Puerto Rico y su historia: investigaciones críticas|year=1894|publisher=Francisco Vives Moras|location=Valencia, Spain|pages=[https://archive.org/details/puertoricoysuhi00braugoog/page/n33/mode/2up 27]–40|url=https://archive.org/details/puertoricoysuhi00braugoog|language=es}}</ref> Columbus named the island ''San Juan Bautista'', in honor of St [[John the Baptist]].{{efn|Today, Puerto Ricans are also known as Boricuas, or people from Borinquen.}} Having reported the findings of his first travel, Columbus brought with him this time a letter from [[Ferdinand II of Aragon|King Ferdinand]]<ref>{{cite web |title=King Ferdinand's letter to the Taino-Arawak Indians |url=http://www.let.rug.nl/usa/documents/before-1600/king-ferdinands-letter-to-the-taino-arawak-indians.php |publisher=University of Groningen |access-date=27 March 2015 |archive-date=21 March 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150321192743/http://www.let.rug.nl/usa/documents/before-1600/king-ferdinands-letter-to-the-taino-arawak-indians.php |url-status=live }}</ref> empowered by the [[Inter caetera]], a [[papal bull]] that authorized any course of action necessary for the expansion of the [[Spanish Empire]] and the Christian faith. [[Juan Ponce de León]], a [[lieutenant]] under Columbus, founded the first Spanish settlement of [[Caparra Archaeological Site|Caparra]] on 8 August 1508. He later served as the first [[List of Governors of Puerto Rico|governor]] of the island.{{efn|[[Vicente Yañez Pinzón]] is considered the first appointed governor of Puerto Rico, but he never arrived from Spain.}} Eventually, traders and other maritime visitors came to refer to the entire island as Puerto Rico, and San Juan became the name of the main trading and shipping port city. At the beginning of the 16th century, Spanish people began to colonize the island. Despite the [[Laws of Burgos]] of 1512 and other decrees for the protection of the indigenous population, some Taíno Indians were forced into an [[encomienda]] system of [[Slavery in the Spanish New World colonies|forced labor]] in the early years of colonization. The population suffered extremely high fatalities from epidemics of European [[infectious]] diseases such as [[smallpox]].{{efn|[[PBS]], to which they had no natural [[immunity (medical)|immunity]].<ref>{{cite book |author1=Arthur C. Aufderheide |author2=Conrado Rodríguez-Martín |author3=Odin Langsjoen |title=The Cambridge encyclopedia of human paleopathology |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qubTdDk1H3IC |year=1998 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-55203-5 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=qubTdDk1H3IC&pg=PA204 204] |access-date=18 October 2020 |archive-date=16 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230316173835/https://books.google.com/books?id=qubTdDk1H3IC |url-status=live }}</ref> For example, a [[smallpox]] outbreak in 1518–1519 killed much of the Island's indigenous population.<ref>{{cite book |first=George C. |last=Kohn |title=Encyclopedia of Plague and Pestilence: From Ancient Times to the Present |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tzRwRmb09rgC&pg=PA160 |publisher=Infobase Publishing |year=2008 |page=160 |isbn=978-0-8160-6935-4 |access-date=18 October 2020 |archive-date=8 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240208215043/https://books.google.com/books?id=tzRwRmb09rgC&pg=PA160#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref> "The first ''repartimiento'' in Puerto Rico is established, allowing colonists fixed numbers of Tainos for wage-free and forced labor in the gold mines. When several priests protest, the crown requires Spaniards to pay native laborers and to teach them the Christian religion; the colonists continue to treat the natives as slaves."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/americancollection/woman/timeline.html |title=Masterpiece Theatre – American Collection – Almost a Woman – Puerto Rico: A Timeline |publisher=Pbs.org |access-date=14 April 2014 |archive-date=22 February 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140222221840/http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/americancollection/woman/timeline.html }}</ref>}}{{efn|Poole (2011) "[The Taíno] began to starve; many thousands fell prey to smallpox, measles and other European diseases for which they had no immunity [...]"<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.smithsonianmag.com/people-places/What-Became-of-the-Taino.html |title=History, Travel, Arts, Science, People, Places – Smithsonian |publisher=Smithsonianmag.com |access-date=14 April 2014 |archive-date=7 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131207130050/http://www.smithsonianmag.com/people-places/What-Became-of-the-Taino.html }}</ref>}}{{efn|[[PBS]] "[The Taíno] eventually succumbed to the Spanish soldiers and European diseases that followed Columbus's arrival in the New World in 1492."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/spirits/html/body_taino.html |title=taino |website=PBS |access-date=14 April 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130208073734/https://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/spirits/html/body_taino.html |archive-date=8 February 2013}}</ref>}}{{efn|[[Yale University]] "[...] the high death rate among the Taíno due to enslavement and European diseases (smallpox, influenza, measles, and typhus) persisted."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.yale.edu/gsp/colonial/puerto-rico/ |title=Puerto Rico – Colonial Genocides – Genocide Studies Program – Yale University |publisher=Yale.edu |access-date=14 April 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130520120915/http://www.yale.edu/gsp/colonial/puerto-rico/ |archive-date=20 May 2013}}</ref>}} ====Colonization under the Habsburgs==== [[File:Hendricksz 1625 attack on San Juan, Puerto Rico.jpg|thumb|[[Battle of San Juan (1625)|1625 attack on San Juan]] by [[Boudewijn Hendricksz]]]] In 1520, [[Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor|King Charles I of Spain]] issued a royal decree collectively emancipating the remaining Taíno population. By that time, the Taíno people were few in number and their culture extirpated.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.yale.edu/gsp/colonial/puerto-rico/index.html |title=Puerto Rico – Colonial Genocides – Genocide Studies Program |publisher=Yale University |access-date=30 October 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110908234849/http://www.yale.edu/gsp/colonial/puerto-rico/index.html |archive-date=8 September 2011}}</ref> [[slavery in the Spanish Empire|Enslaved Africans had already begun to be imported]] to compensate for the native labor loss, but their numbers were proportionate to the diminished commercial interest Spain soon began to demonstrate for the island colony. Other nearby islands, like [[Cuba]], [[Hispaniola]], and [[Guadeloupe|Guadalupe]], attracted more of the slave trade than Puerto Rico, probably because of greater agricultural interests in those islands, on which colonists had developed large sugar plantations and had the capital to invest in the [[Atlantic slave trade]].<ref name="Stark">{{cite journal |title=A New Look at the African Slave Trade in Puerto Rico Through the Use of Parish Registers: 1660–1815 |last=Stark |first=David M. |journal=Slavery & Abolition |year=2009 |volume=30 |issue=4 |pages=491–520 |doi=10.1080/01440390903245083|s2cid=144704852 }}</ref> The colonial administration relied heavily on the industry of enslaved Africans and creole blacks for public works and defenses, primarily in coastal ports and cities, where the tiny colonial population had hunkered down. With no significant industries or large-scale agricultural production as yet, enslaved and free communities lodged around the few littoral settlements, particularly around San Juan, also forming lasting [[Afro–Puerto Ricans|Afro]]-[[Criollo people|Criollo]] communities. Meanwhile, in the island's interior, there developed a mixed and independent peasantry that relied on a subsistence economy. This mostly unsupervised population supplied villages and settlements with foodstuffs and, in relative isolation, set the pattern for what later would be known as the [[Jíbaro (Puerto Rico)|Puerto Rican Jíbaro culture]]. By the end of the 16th century, the Spanish Empire was diminishing and, in the face of increasing raids from European competitors, the colonial administration throughout the Americas fell into a "[[Siege mentality|bunker mentality]]". Imperial strategists and urban planners redesigned port settlements into military posts to protect Spanish territorial claims and ensure the safe passing of the king's silver-laden [[Spanish treasure fleet|Atlantic Fleet]] to the [[Iberian Peninsula]]. San Juan served as an important port-of-call for ships driven across the Atlantic by its powerful [[Atlantic Ocean#Climate|trade winds]]. West Indies convoys linked Spain to the island, sailing between [[Cádiz]] and the [[Spanish West Indies]]. The colony's seat of government was on the fortified [[Isleta de San Juan|Islet of San Juan]] and for a time became one of the most heavily fortified settlements in the [[Spanish West Indies|Spanish Caribbean]] earning the name of the "[[City Wall of San Juan|Walled City]]". The islet is still dotted with various forts and walls, such as [[La Fortaleza]], [[Castillo San Felipe del Morro]], and [[Castillo San Cristóbal (San Juan)|Castillo San Cristóbal]], designed to protect the population and the strategic [[Port of San Juan]] from the raids of the European competitors and corsairs. In 1625, in the [[Battle of San Juan (1625)|Battle of San Juan]], the [[Dutch people|Dutch]] commander [[Boudewijn Hendricksz]] tested the defenses' limits like no one else before. Learning from [[Francis Drake]]'s previous [[Battle of San Juan (1595)|failures here]], he circumvented the cannons of the castle of San Felipe del Morro and quickly brought his 17 ships into the [[San Juan Bay]]. He then occupied the port and attacked the city while the population hurried for shelter behind El Morro's moat and high battlements. Historians consider this event the worst attack on San Juan. Though the Dutch set the village on fire, they failed to conquer El Morro, and its batteries pounded their troops and ships until Hendricksz deemed the cause lost. Hendricksz's expedition eventually helped propel a fortification frenzy. Constructions of defenses for the San Cristóbal Hill were soon ordered so as to prevent the landing of invaders out of reach of El Morro's artillery. Urban planning responded to the needs of keeping the colony in Spanish hands. ====Late colonial period==== [[File:Hacienda La Fortuna Francisco Oller 1885 Brooklyn Museum.jpg|thumb|Sugar [[hacienda]]s, like the one depicted above, ran a significant portion of the Puerto Rican economy in the late 19th century. |alt=|left]] During the late 16th and early 17th centuries, Spain concentrated its colonial efforts on the more prosperous mainland North, Central, and South American colonies. With the advent of the lively [[House of Bourbon|Bourbon Dynasty]] in Spain in the 1700s, the island of Puerto Rico began a gradual shift to more imperial attention. More roads began connecting previously isolated inland settlements to coastal cities, and coastal settlements like [[Arecibo, Puerto Rico|Arecibo]], [[Mayagüez, Puerto Rico|Mayagüez]] and [[Ponce, Puerto Rico|Ponce]] began acquiring importance of their own, separate from San Juan. By the end of the 18th century, merchant ships from an array of nationalities threatened the tight regulations of the [[Mercantilism|Mercantilist system]], which turned each colony solely toward the European metropole and limited contact with other nations. U.S. ships came to surpass Spanish trade and with this also came the exploitation of the island's natural resources. Slavers, which had made but few stops on the island before, began selling more enslaved Africans to growing sugar and coffee plantations. The increasing number of Atlantic wars in which the Caribbean islands played major roles, like the [[War of Jenkins' Ear]], the [[Seven Years' War]] and the [[Atlantic Revolutions]], ensured Puerto Rico's growing esteem in [[Madrid]]'s eyes. On 17 April 1797, Sir [[Ralph Abercromby]]'s fleet invaded the island with a force of 6,000–13,000 troops,<ref>Confirmation of troop count is unattainable, only Spanish and Puerto Rican sources are available regarding troop count.</ref> which included German soldiers and Royal Marines and 60 to 64 ships. Fierce fighting continued for the next days with Spanish troops. Both sides suffered heavy losses. On Sunday 30 April the British ceased their attack and began their retreat from San Juan. By the time independence movements in the larger Spanish colonies gained success, new waves of loyal European-born immigrants began to arrive in Puerto Rico, helping to tilt the island's political balance toward the Crown. [[File:Castillo San Felipe del Morro SJU 06 2019 6598.jpg|thumb|The 16th-century Spanish colonial-era [[Castillo San Felipe del Morro|Castle San Felipe del Morro]], in [[San Juan, Puerto Rico|San Juan]]]] In 1809, to secure its political bond with the island and in the midst of the European [[Peninsular War]], the [[Junta (Peninsular War)|Supreme Central Junta]] based in [[Cádiz]] recognized Puerto Rico as an overseas [[Provinces of Spain|province of Spain]]. This gave the island residents the right to elect representatives to the recently convened [[Cortes of Cádiz]] (effectively the Spanish government during a portion of the [[Napoleonic Wars]]), with somewhat equal representation to mainland Iberian, Mediterranean ([[Balearic Islands]]) and Atlantic maritime Spanish provinces ([[Canary Islands]]). [[Ramón Power y Giralt]], the first Spanish parliamentary representative from the island of Puerto Rico, died after serving a three-year term in the Cortes. These [[Spanish Constitution of 1812|parliamentary and constitutional reforms]] were in force from 1810 to 1814, and again from 1820 to 1823. They were twice reversed during the restoration of the traditional monarchy by [[Ferdinand VII of Spain|Ferdinand VII]]. Immigration and commercial trade reforms in the 19th century increased the island's ethnic European population and economy and expanded the Spanish cultural and social imprint on the local character of the island.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Puerto Rico |url=https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/books/first/m/monge-puertorico.html |access-date=2023-08-20 |website=archive.nytimes.com |archive-date=20 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230820221316/https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/books/first/m/monge-puertorico.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Minor [[Slave rebellion|slave revolts]] had occurred on the island throughout the years, with the revolt planned and organized by [[Marcos Xiorro]] in 1821 being the most important. Even though the conspiracy was unsuccessful, Xiorro achieved legendary status and is part of the [[folklore of Puerto Rico]].<ref name="GB">[[Guillermo A. Baralt]], ''Slave revolts in Puerto Rico: conspiracies and uprisings, 1795–1873''; Markus Wiener Publishers. {{ISBN|978-1-55876-463-7}}</ref> ====Politics of liberalism==== [[File:Intentona de Yauco.jpg|thumb|left|The flag flown by Fidel Vélez and his troops during the ''[[Intentona de Yauco]]'' revolt of 1897.]] In the early 19th century, Puerto Rico spawned an [[Independence movement in Puerto Rico|independence movement]] that, due to harsh persecution by the Spanish authorities, convened in the neighboring island of [[Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands|St. Thomas]]. The movement was largely inspired by the ideals of [[Simón Bolívar]] in establishing a [[United Provinces of New Granada]] and [[Venezuela]], that included Puerto Rico and Cuba. Among the influential members of this movement were Brigadier General [[Antonio Valero de Bernabé]] and [[María de las Mercedes Barbudo]]. The movement was discovered, and Governor [[Miguel de la Torre]] had its members imprisoned or exiled.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.raquelrosario.net/Historias%20Claridad%20Mercedes%20Bar.pdf |title=María de las Mercedes Barbudo; Primera mujer independentista de Puerto Rico; ''CLARIDAD''; December 1994; p. 19 |access-date=30 October 2011 |archive-date=25 January 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120125005706/http://www.raquelrosario.net/Historias%20Claridad%20Mercedes%20Bar.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> With the increasingly rapid growth of independent former Spanish colonies in the South and Central American states in the first part of the 19th century, the Spanish Crown considered Puerto Rico and Cuba of strategic importance. To increase its hold on its last two New World colonies, the Spanish Crown revived the [[Royal Decree of Graces of 1815]] as a result of which 450,000 immigrants, mainly Spaniards, settled on the island in the period up until the American conquest. Printed in three languages—[[Spanish language|Spanish]], [[English language|English]], and [[French language|French]]—it was intended to also attract non-Spanish Europeans, with the hope that the independence movements would lose their popularity if new settlers had stronger ties to the Crown. Hundreds of non-Spanish families, mainly from [[Corsican immigration to Puerto Rico|Corsica]], [[French immigration to Puerto Rico|France]], [[German immigration to Puerto Rico|Germany]], [[Irish immigration to Puerto Rico|Ireland]], [[Italy]] and [[Scotland]], also immigrated to the island.<ref name="Graces"/> Free land was offered as an incentive to those who wanted to populate the two islands, on the condition that they swear their loyalty to the Spanish Crown and allegiance to the [[Catholic Church|Roman Catholic Church]].<ref name="Graces">{{cite web |url=http://www.ensayistas.org/antologia/XIXE/castelar/esclavitud/cedula.htm |title=Real Cédula de 1789 "para el comercio de Negros" |language=es |publisher=Ensayistas.org |access-date=30 October 2011 |archive-date=20 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210720165149/https://ensayistas.org/antologia/XIXE/castelar/esclavitud/cedula.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> The offer was very successful, and European immigration continued even after 1898. Puerto Rico still receives Spanish and European immigration. [[File:1868 Lares Revolutionay Flag.svg|thumb|The Lares revolutionary flag of 1868, also known as the "First Puerto Rican Flag" in Puerto Rico]] Poverty and political estrangement with Spain led to a small but significant uprising in 1868 known as ''[[Grito de Lares]].'' It began in the rural town of [[Lares, Puerto Rico|Lares]] but was subdued when rebels moved to the neighboring town of [[San Sebastián, Puerto Rico|San Sebastián]]. Leaders of this independence movement included [[Ramón Emeterio Betances]], considered the Father of the Puerto Rican independence movement, and other political figures such as [[Segundo Ruiz Belvis]]. Slavery was abolished in Puerto Rico in 1873, "with provisions for periods of apprenticeship".<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url=http://www.britannica.com/blackhistory/article-24160 |title=Ways of ending slavery |encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]] |access-date=29 April 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130309101044/http://www.britannica.com/blackhistory/article-24160 |archive-date=9 March 2013}}</ref> [[File:IMG 2972 - Abolition Park in Ponce, Puerto Rico.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Monument commemorating the [[Slavery in colonial Spanish America|1873 abolition of slavery]] in Puerto Rico, located in [[Ponce, Puerto Rico|Ponce]]]] Leaders of ''Grito de Lares'' went into exile to [[New York City]]. Many joined the [[Revolutionary Committee of Puerto Rico|Puerto Rican Revolutionary Committee]], founded on 8 December 1895, and continued their quest for Puerto Rican independence. In 1897, [[Antonio Mattei Lluberas]] and the local leaders of the independence movement in Yauco organized another uprising, which became known as the ''[[Intentona de Yauco]]''. They raised what they called the [[Flag of Puerto Rico|Puerto Rican flag]], which was adopted as the [[national flag]]. The local conservative political factions opposed independence. Rumors of the planned event spread to the local Spanish authorities who acted swiftly and put an end to what would be the last major uprising in the island to Spanish colonial rule.<ref name="HMPR">{{Cite book |title=Historia militar de Puerto Rico |first=Héctor Andrés |last=Negroni |author-link=Hector Andres Negroni |publisher=Sociedad Estatal Quinto Centenario |year=1992 |language=es |isbn=978-84-7844-138-9 }}</ref> In 1897, [[Luis Muñoz Rivera]] and others persuaded the liberal Spanish government to agree to grant limited self-government to the island by [[Decree|royal decree]] in the Autonomic Charter, including a [[Bicameralism|bicameral legislature]].<ref>[http://www.proyectosalonhogar.com/enciclopedia_ilustrada/Carta_Autonomica.htm] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150109192703/http://www.proyectosalonhogar.com/enciclopedia_ilustrada/Carta_Autonomica.htm|date=9 January 2015}} Retrieved: 8 January 2015. Carta Autonómica de Puerto Rico, 1897.</ref>{{Self-published inline|date=August 2021}} In 1898, Puerto Rico's first, but short-lived, autonomous government was organized as an "overseas province"{{citation needed|date=August 2021}} of Spain. This bilaterally agreed-upon charter maintained a governor appointed by the [[Monarchy of Spain|King of Spain]]—who held the power to annul any legislative decision{{citation needed|date=August 2021}}—and a partially elected parliamentary structure. In February, Governor-General [[Manuel Macías y Casado|Manuel Macías]] inaugurated the new government under the Autonomic Charter. General elections were held in March and the new government began to function on 17 July 1898.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.solboricua.com/history2.htm#usa |title=USA Seizes Puerto Rico |year=2000 |work=History of Puerto Rico |publisher=solboricua.com |access-date=30 September 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140515120148/http://www.solboricua.com/history2.htm#usa |archive-date=15 May 2014 }}</ref>{{Self-published inline|date=August 2021}}<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.topuertorico.org/history4.shtml |title=History |access-date=1 October 2007 |author=Magaly Rivera |publisher=topuertorico.org |archive-date=12 October 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111012174815/http://www.topuertorico.org/history4.shtml |url-status=live }}</ref>{{Self-published inline|date=August 2021}}<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.loc.gov/rr/hispanic/1898/chronpr.html |title=Chronology of Puerto Rico in the Spanish–American War |work=The World of 1898: The Spanish–American War |publisher=Hispanic Division, Library of Congress |access-date=30 December 2017 |archive-date=4 January 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180104123909/http://www.loc.gov/rr/hispanic/1898/chronpr.html |url-status=live }}</ref> {{Clear}} ====Spanish–American War==== {{Main|Spanish–American War|Puerto Rican Campaign|Treaty of Paris (1898)}} [[File:Bombardment of San Juan, Porto (sic) Rico LCCN2001695573.jpg|thumb|Artistic rendering of the 1898 [[Bombardment of San Juan]] by American forces during the [[Spanish–American War]]]] In 1890, Captain [[Alfred Thayer Mahan]], a member of the Navy War Board and leading U.S. strategic thinker, published a book titled ''[[The Influence of Sea Power upon History]]'' in which he argued for the establishment of a large and powerful navy modeled after the British [[Royal Navy]]. Part of his strategy called for the acquisition of colonies in the Caribbean, which would serve as coaling and naval stations. They would serve as strategic points of defense with the construction of a canal through the [[Isthmus of Panama]], to allow easier passage of ships between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.<ref name="SP">Jorge Rodriguez Beruff, ''Strategy as Politics'', Universidad de Puerto Rico: La Editorial; p. 7; {{ISBN|978-0-8477-0160-5}}</ref> [[File:First Company of native Puerto Ricans in the American Army.jpg|thumb|left|upright|The first company of Puerto Ricans enlisted in the U.S. Army, within a year of the U.S. invasion.]] [[William H. Seward]], the Secretary of State under presidents [[Abraham Lincoln]] and [[Andrew Johnson]], had also stressed the importance of building a canal in [[Honduras]], [[Nicaragua]] or [[Panama]]. He suggested that the United States annex the [[Dominican Republic]] and purchase Puerto Rico and Cuba. The [[United States Senate|U.S. Senate]] did not approve his annexation proposal, and Spain rejected the U.S. offer of {{Nowrap|160 million}} dollars for Puerto Rico and Cuba.<ref name="SP"/> Since 1894, the United States [[Naval War College]] had been developing [[contingency plan]]s for a war with Spain. By 1896, the [[Office of Naval Intelligence|U.S. Office of Naval Intelligence]] had prepared a plan that included military operations in Puerto Rican waters. Plans generally centered on attacks on Spanish territories were intended as support operations against Spain's forces in and around Cuba.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2f0Gf0DQfmUC&pg=PA72 |author=David F. Trask |title=The War with Spain in 1898 |pages=72–78 |publisher=University of Nebraska Press |access-date=6 February 2011 |isbn=978-0-8032-9429-5 |year=1996 |archive-date=8 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240208215204/https://books.google.com/books?id=2f0Gf0DQfmUC&pg=PA72 |url-status=live }}</ref> Recent research suggests that the U.S. did consider Puerto Rico valuable as a naval station and recognized that it and Cuba generated lucrative crops of sugar, a valuable commercial commodity which the United States lacked prior to the development of the [[sugar beet]] industry in the United States.<ref>Jorge Rodriguez Beruff, ''Strategy as Politics'', La Editorial; Universidad de Puerto Rico; p. 13; {{ISBN|978-0-8477-0160-5}}</ref> On 25 July 1898, during the [[Spanish–American War]], the U.S. invaded Puerto Rico with a landing at [[Guánica, Puerto Rico|Guánica]]. After the U.S. prevailed in the war, Spain ceded Puerto Rico, along with the [[Philippines]] and [[Guam]], to the U.S. under the [[Treaty of Paris (1898)|Treaty of Paris]], which went into effect on 11 April 1899; Spain relinquished sovereignty over [[Cuba]], but did not cede it to the U.S.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://avalon.law.yale.edu/19th_century/sp1898.asp |title=Treaty of Peace Between the United States and Spain |date=10 December 1898 |work=The Avalon Project at the Yale Law School |publisher=Yale Law School, Lillian Goldman Law Library |access-date=16 October 2010 |archive-date=8 July 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120708063629/http://avalon.law.yale.edu/19th_century/sp1898.asp |url-status=live }}</ref> ===American territory (1898–present)=== ====U.S. unincorporated organized territory==== The United States and Puerto Rico began a long-standing metropolis-colony relationship.<ref>Truman R. Clark. ''Puerto Rico and the United States, 1917–1933.'' 1975. University of Pittsburgh Press. p. 129.</ref> This relationship has been documented by numerous scholars, including U.S. Federal Appeals Judge [[Juan Torruella]],<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/28/us/juan-torruella-groundbreaking-us-appeals-judge-dies-at-87.html ''Juan Torruella, Groundbreaking U.S. Appeals Judge, Dies at 87: He was the only Hispanic to serve on the First Circuit court in Boston. In July he moved to overturn a death sentence in the Boston Marathon bombing.''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210911004323/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/28/us/juan-torruella-groundbreaking-us-appeals-judge-dies-at-87.html |date=11 September 2021 }} Sam Roberts. The New York Times. 28 October 2020. Accessed 15 December 2020.</ref> U.S. Congresswoman [[Nydia Velázquez]],<ref>[https://thehill.com/latino/517921-hopes-for-dc-puerto-rico-statehood-rise ''Hopes for DC, Puerto Rico statehood rise.''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210819000559/https://thehill.com/latino/517921-hopes-for-dc-puerto-rico-statehood-rise |date=19 August 2021 }} Marty Johnson and Rafael Bernal. The Hill. 24 September 2020. Accessed 15 December 2020.</ref> Chief Justice of the Puerto Rico Supreme Court [[José Trías Monge]],<ref>José Trías Monge. ''Puerto Rico: The trials of the oldest colony in the world.'' Yale University Press. 1997. p.3. {{ISBN|978-0-300-07618-9}}</ref> and former [[Albizu University]] president Ángel Collado-Schwarz.<ref>Angel Collado-Schwarz. ''Decolonization Models for America's Last Colony: Puerto Rico.'' Syracuse University Press. 2012. {{ISBN|0-8156-5108-2}}</ref>{{efn|For additional references to Puerto Rico's current (2020) colonial status under U.S. rule, see Nicole Narea,<ref>[https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/news/live-results-for-puerto-ricos-statehood-referendum/ar-BB1aF94A ''Live results for Puerto Rico's statehood referendum.''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210914030428/https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/news/live-results-for-puerto-ricos-statehood-referendum/ar-BB1aF94A |date=14 September 2021 }} Nicole Narea. MSN Microsoft News. 5 November 2020. Accessed 15 December 2020.</ref> Amy Goodman and Ana Irma Rivera Lassén,<ref>[https://www.democracynow.org/2020/11/6/puerto_rico_ana_irma_rivera_lassen ''Puerto Ricans Vote to Narrowly Approve Controversial Statehood Referendum & Elect 4 LGBTQ Candidates.''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210908232158/https://www.democracynow.org/2020/11/6/puerto_rico_ana_irma_rivera_lassen |date=8 September 2021 }} Amy Goodman and Ana Irma Rivera Lassén. Democracy Now! 6 November 2020. Accessed 15 December 2020.</ref> David S. Cohen<ref>[https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/the-political-travesty-of-puerto-rico-196852/ ''The Political Travesty of Puerto Rico: Like all U.S. territories, Puerto Rico has no real representation in its own national government.''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210908232211/https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/the-political-travesty-of-puerto-rico-196852/ |date=8 September 2021 }} David S. Cohen. RollingStone. 26 September 2017. Accessed 15 December 2020.</ref> and Sidney W. Mintz.<ref>Sidney W. Mintz. ''Three Ancient Colonies: Caribbean Themes and Variations.'' Cambridge Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. 2010. p. 134.</ref> Additional sources are available.}} In the early 20th century, Puerto Rico was ruled by the U.S. military, with officials including the governor appointed by the [[president of the United States]]. The [[Foraker Act]] of 1900 gave Puerto Rico a certain amount of civilian popular government, including a popularly elected [[House of Representatives of Puerto Rico|House of Representatives]]. The upper house and governor were appointed by the United States. [[File:First Supreme Court PR.JPG|thumb|The first [[Supreme Court of Puerto Rico]], appointed pursuant to the [[Foraker Act]]|alt=|left]] Its judicial system was reformed{{citation needed|date=November 2020}} to bring it into conformity with the [[Law of the United States|American federal courts system]]; a [[Supreme Court of Puerto Rico|Puerto Rico Supreme Court]]{{citation needed|date=November 2020}} and a [[United States territorial court|United States District Court]] for the unincorporated territory were established. It was authorized a nonvoting member of Congress, by the title of "[[Resident commissioner of Puerto Rico|Resident Commissioner]]", who was appointed. In addition, this Act extended all U.S. laws "not locally inapplicable" to Puerto Rico, specifying, in particular, exemption from U.S. Internal Revenue laws.<ref name=status>{{cite web |url=http://charma.uprm.edu/~angel/Puerto_Rico/reporte_status.pdf |title=Report by the President's task force on Puerto Rico's Status |date=December 2005 |access-date=1 October 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070925184244/http://charma.uprm.edu/~angel/Puerto_Rico/reporte_status.pdf |archive-date=25 September 2007 }}</ref> The Act empowered the civil government to legislate on "all matters of legislative character not locally inapplicable", including the power to modify and repeal any laws then in existence in Puerto Rico, though the U.S. Congress retained the power to annul acts of the Puerto Rico legislature.<ref name="status"/><ref>{{cite book |author=Efrén Rivera Ramos |title=American Colonialism in Puerto Rico: The Judicial and Social Legacy |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=J5l55R3_mPoC |year=2007 |publisher=Markus Wiener Publishers |isbn=978-1-55876-410-1 |pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=J5l55R3_mPoC&pg=PA54 54–55] |access-date=18 October 2020 |archive-date=8 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240208215204/https://books.google.com/books?id=J5l55R3_mPoC |url-status=live }}</ref> During an address to the Puerto Rican legislature in 1906, President [[Theodore Roosevelt]] recommended that Puerto Ricans become [[Citizenship of the United States|U.S. citizens]].<ref name="status"/><ref>{{cite news |title=Porto Rico En Fete: President's Auto Tour Amid Shower of Roses: He Promises Citizenship |newspaper=The Washington Post |page=1 |date=22 November 1906 |id={{ProQuest|144628701}} }}</ref> In 1914, the Puerto Rican House of Delegates voted unanimously in favor of independence from the United States, but this was rejected by the U.S. Congress as "unconstitutional", and in violation of the 1900 [[Foraker Act]].<ref name="Gonzalez" /> ====U.S. citizenship and Puerto Rican citizenship==== {{Main|Puerto Rican citizenship}} In 1917, the U.S. Congress passed the [[Jones–Shafroth Act]] (popularly known as the Jones Act), which granted Puerto Ricans born on or after 25 April 1898 U.S. citizenship.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Louisiana Purchase and American Expansion: 1803–1898 |first1=Sanford |last1=Levinson |first2=Bartholomew H. |last2=Sparrow |location=New York |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishers |year=2005 |pages=166, 178 |quote=U.S. citizenship was extended to residents of Puerto Rico by virtue of the Jones Act, chap. 190, 39 Stat. 951 (1971)(codified at 48 U.S.C. § 731 (1987)) }}</ref> Opponents, including all the Puerto Rican House of Delegates (who voted unanimously against it), claimed the U.S. imposed citizenship to draft Puerto Rican men for [[American entry into World War I|America's entry into World War I]] the same year.<ref name="Gonzalez">Juan Gonzalez; ''Harvest of Empire'', pp. 60–63; Penguin Press, 2001; {{ISBN|978-0-14-311928-9}}</ref> The Jones Act also provided for a popularly elected Senate to complete a [[Bicameralism|bicameral]] [[legislative assembly]], as well as a [[bill of rights]]. It authorized the popular election of the Resident Commissioner to a four-year term. [[File:Puerto Ricans in WWII.jpg|thumb|Soldiers of the [[65th Infantry Regiment (United States)|65th Infantry]] training at [[Camp Santiago]], Salinas, Puerto Rico (August 1941)]] Natural disasters, including a major [[1918 San Fermín earthquake|earthquake]] and [[tsunami]] in 1918 and several [[hurricane]]s, as well as the [[Great Depression]], impoverished the island during the first few decades under U.S. rule.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://redsismica.uprm.edu/spanish/tsunami/index.php |title=Sistema de Alerta de Tsunamis de Puerto Rico y el Caribe |publisher=Red Sísmica de Puerto Rico |language=es |access-date=6 February 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110123161343/http://redsismica.uprm.edu/Spanish/tsunami/index.php |archive-date=23 January 2011}}</ref> Some political leaders, such as [[Pedro Albizu Campos]], who led the [[Puerto Rican Nationalist Party]], demanded a change in relations with the United States. He organized a protest at the [[University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus|University of Puerto Rico]] in 1935, in which [[Río Piedras massacre|four were killed]] by police. In 1936, U.S. senator [[Millard Tydings]] introduced a bill supporting independence for Puerto Rico; he had previously co-sponsored the [[Tydings–McDuffie Act]], which provided independence to the [[Philippines]] following a 10-year transition period of limited autonomy. While virtually all Puerto Rican political parties supported the bill, it was opposed by [[Luis Muñoz Marín]] of the [[Liberal Party of Puerto Rico]],<ref name="Gatell"/> leading to its defeat<ref name="Gatell">{{Cite journal |jstor = 2510353|title = Independence Rejected: Puerto Rico and the Tydings Bill of 1936|journal = The Hispanic American Historical Review|volume = 38|issue = 1|pages = 25–44|last1 = Gatell|first1 = Frank Otto|year = 1958|doi = 10.2307/2510353}}</ref> In 1937, Albizu Campos' party organized a protest in [[Ponce, Puerto Rico|Ponce]]. The Insular Police, similar to the [[National Guard of the United States|National Guard]], opened fire upon unarmed cadets and bystanders alike.<ref name=1937inquiry /> The attack on unarmed protesters was reported by U.S. Congressman [[Vito Marcantonio]] and confirmed by a report from the Hays Commission, which investigated the events, led by [[Arthur Garfield Hays]], counsel to the [[American Civil Liberties Union]].<ref name=1937inquiry>{{cite web |url=http://www.llmc.com/TitleLLMC.asp?ColID=3&Cat=136&TID=7037&TName=Ponce%20Massacre,%20Com.%20of%20Inquiry,%201937 |title=Report of the Commission of Inquiry on Civil Rights in Puerto Rico. The Commission, 70p, np, May 22, 1937 |publisher=Llmc.com |access-date=14 August 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101214194610/http://llmc.com/TitleLLMC.asp?ColID=3&Cat=136&TID=7037&TName=Ponce%20Massacre%2C%20Com.%20of%20Inquiry%2C%201937 |archive-date=14 December 2010 }}</ref> Nineteen people were killed and over 200 were badly wounded, many shot in the back while running away.<ref name="5yrs">[http://www.cheverote.com/reviews/marcantonio.html "Five Years of Tyranny", Speech before the U.S. House of Representatives.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120112031601/http://www.cheverote.com/reviews/marcantonio.html |date=12 January 2012 }} The entire speech is contained in the ''Congressional Record'' of {{Nowrap|14 August}}, 1939. It is reported in the Congressional record, and various other publications elsewhere, that among those shot in the back was a 7-year-old girl, Georgina Maldonado, who "was killed through the back while running to a nearby church"</ref><ref>{{cite web |author=Antonio de la Cova |url=http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/ponce-1937.htm |title=Photos of police shooting with rifles (from positions previously occupied by marchers and bystanders) at bystanders running away |publisher=Latinamericanstudies.org |access-date=30 October 2011 |archive-date=23 January 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120123113117/http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/ponce-1937.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> The Hays Commission declared it a massacre and police mob action,<ref name="5yrs" /> and it has since become known as the [[Ponce massacre]]. In the aftermath, on 2 April 1943, Tydings introduced another bill in Congress calling for independence for Puerto Rico, though it was again defeated.<ref name="status" /> During the latter years of the [[Franklin D. Roosevelt|Roosevelt]]–[[Harry S. Truman|Truman]] administrations, the internal governance of the island was changed in a compromise reached with Luis Muñoz Marín and other Puerto Rican leaders. In 1946, President Truman appointed the first Puerto Rican-born governor, [[Jesús T. Piñero]]. Since 2007, the [[Puerto Rico Department of State]] has developed a protocol to issue certificates of [[Puerto Rican citizenship]] to Puerto Rican residents. In order to be eligible, applicants must have been born in Puerto Rico, born outside of Puerto Rico to a Puerto Rican-born parent, or be an American citizen with at least one year of residence in Puerto Rico. ====U.S. unincorporated organized territory with commonwealth constitution==== In 1947, the U.S. Congress passed the ''Elective Governor Act'', signed by President Truman, allowing Puerto Ricans to vote for their own [[governor of Puerto Rico|governor]]. The first elections under this act were held the following year, on 2 November 1948. On 21 May 1948, a bill was introduced before the [[Puerto Rican Senate]] which would restrain the rights of the independence and Nationalist movements on the island. The Senate, controlled by the {{lang|es|Partido Popular Democrático}} ([[Popular Democratic Party (Puerto Rico)|PPD]]) and presided by [[Luis Muñoz Marín]], approved the bill that day.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://academiajurisprudenciapr.org/en/revistas/volumen-vii/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120327121629/http://academiajurisprudenciapr.org/en/revistas/volumen-vii/ |title=La obra jurídica del Profesor David M. Helfeld (1948–2008) |first=Carmelo |last=Delgado Cintron |archive-date=27 March 2012}}</ref> This bill, which resembled the anti-communist [[Smith Act]] passed in the United States in 1940, became known as the {{lang|es|Ley de la Mordaza}} ([[Gag Law (Puerto Rico)|Gag Law]]) when the U.S.-appointed governor of Puerto Rico, [[Jesús T. Piñero]], signed it into law on 10 June 1948.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.topuertorico.org/history5.shtml |title=Puerto Rican History |publisher=Topuertorico.org |date=13 January 1941 |access-date=20 November 2011 |archive-date=2 May 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190502215211/http://www.topuertorico.org/history5.shtml |url-status=live }}</ref> Under this new law, it would be a crime to print, publish, sell, or exhibit any material intended to paralyze or destroy the insular government; or to organize any society, group or assembly of people with a similar destructive intent. It made it illegal to sing a patriotic song and reinforced the 1898 law that had made it illegal to display the [[flag of Puerto Rico]], with anyone found guilty of disobeying the law in any way being subject to a sentence of up to ten years imprisonment, a fine of up to US$10,000 ({{Inflation|US|10000|1948|r=-3|fmt=eq}}), or both.{{efn|Cockcroft (2001; in Spanish) "[La Ley 53] fué llamada la 'pequeña ley Smith', debido a la semejanza con la Ley Smith de Estados Unidos [...]"<ref>{{cite book |first=James |last=Cockcroft |title=América Latina y Estados Unidos: historia y política país por país |publisher=Siglo XXI Editores |language=es |year=2001 |access-date=24 September 2013 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rUGFqxW_zHQC&q=peque%C3%B1a%20ley%20smith%20puerto%20rico&pg=PA383 |isbn=978-968-23-2332-4 |archive-date=8 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240208215042/https://books.google.com/books?id=rUGFqxW_zHQC&q=peque%C3%B1a%20ley%20smith%20puerto%20rico&pg=PA383#v=snippet&q=peque%C3%B1a%20ley%20smith%20puerto%20rico&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref>}}<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.topuertorico.org/history5.shtml |title=Puerto Rican History |publisher=Topuertorico.org |date=13 January 1941 |access-date=20 November 2011 |archive-date=2 May 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190502215211/http://www.topuertorico.org/history5.shtml |url-status=live }}</ref> According to Dr [[Leopoldo Figueroa]], the only non-PPD member of the Puerto Rico House of Representatives, the law was repressive and in violation of the First Amendment of the [[U.S. Constitution]], which guarantees [[Freedom of Speech]]. He asserted that the law as such was a violation of the civil rights of the people of Puerto Rico. The law was repealed in 1957.<ref name="LG">{{cite web |url=https://issuu.com/jaimepartsch/docs/jes_s_t._pi_ero_y_la_guerra_fria?mode=a_p |title=La Gobernación de Jesús T. Piñero y la Guerra Fría |publisher=Issuu.com |access-date=18 April 2014 |archive-date=13 July 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140713132356/http://issuu.com/jaimepartsch/docs/jes_s_t._pi_ero_y_la_guerra_fria?mode=a_p |url-status=live }}</ref> In the November 1948 election, Luis Muñoz Marín became the first popularly elected governor of Puerto Rico, replacing U.S.-appointed Piñero on 2 January 1949. [[File:US 65th Infantry Regiment.Painting.Korean War.Bayonet charge against Chinese division.jpg|thumb|Painting of a bayonet charge by the [[U.S. 65th Infantry Regiment]], made up of Puerto Rican troops, against a Chinese division during the [[Korean War]]]] ===={{lang|es|Estado Libre Asociado}}==== <!---probably duplicates below. needs editing---> In 1950, the U.S. Congress granted Puerto Ricans the right to organize a [[constitutional convention (political meeting)|constitutional convention]] via a referendum; voters could either accept or reject a proposed U.S. law that would organize Puerto Rico as a "commonwealth" under continued U.S. sovereignty. The [[Constitution of Puerto Rico]] was approved by the constitutional convention on 6 February 1952, and by 82% of voters in a March referendum. It was modified and ratified by the U.S. Congress, approved by President Truman on 3 July of that year, and proclaimed by Governor Muñoz Marín on 25 July 1952—the anniversary of the landing of U.S. troops in the [[Puerto Rican Campaign]] of the [[Spanish–American War]], until then celebrated as an annual Puerto Rico holiday. Puerto Rico adopted the name of {{lang|es|[[Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico]]}} (literally 'Associated Free State of Puerto Rico'<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=DcMh3sI0daAC&pg=PA56 ''Responses from Hon. Luis G. Fortuño to questions from Senator Domenici.''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230405061748/https://books.google.com/books?id=DcMh3sI0daAC&pg=PA56 |date=5 April 2023 }} Hearing before the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources on the Report by the President's Task Force on Puerto Rico's Status. United States Senate. One Hundredth Ninth Congress. Second Session. U.S. Senate 109–796. 15 November 2006. (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office. 2007. p. 56.) Retrieved 13 December 2012.</ref>), officially translated into English as [[Commonwealth (United States insular area)|Commonwealth]], for its [[body politic]].{{efn|However, as Robert William Anderson states on page 14 of his book "Party Politics in Puerto Rico" (Stanford, California: Stanford University Press. 1965.), "No one disputes the ambiguous status of the current Commonwealth. It is illustrated in the very different images conjured up by the English term "commonwealth" and the Spanish version, Estado Libre Asociado (literally, free associated state). The issue seems to be whether this ambiguity is a purposeful virtue or a disguised colonial vice."}}<ref>{{cite web |title=Constitution of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico – in Spanish |url=http://www.lexjuris.com/lexprcont.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111114003340/http://www.lexjuris.com/lexprcont.htm |archive-date=14 November 2011 |access-date=30 October 2011 |publisher=Lexjuris.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Constitution of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico – (English translation) |url=http://topuertorico.org/constitu.shtml |access-date=30 October 2011 |website=ToPuertoRico.org |archive-date=25 November 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111125081800/http://www.topuertorico.org/constitu.shtml |url-status=live }}</ref> Congress would continue governing fundamental aspects of Puerto Rican society, including citizenship, currency, the postal service, [[foreign policy]], military defense, commerce and finance, and other matters.<ref name="books.google.com">{{cite book |last1=Levinson |first1=Sanford |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ayINMX_RtkEC&pg=PA166 |title=The Louisiana Purchase and American Expansion, 1803–1898 |location=Lanham |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |pages=166–67 |last2=Sparrow |first2=Bartholomew H |year=2005 |isbn=978-0-7425-4984-5 |access-date=5 November 2012 |archive-date=11 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240111012531/https://books.google.com/books?id=ayINMX_RtkEC&pg=PA166#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref> In 1967 Puerto Rico's Legislative Assembly polled the political preferences of the Puerto Rican electorate by passing a [[plebiscite]] act that provided for a vote on the status of Puerto Rico. This constituted the first plebiscite by the Legislature for a choice among three status options (commonwealth, statehood, and independence). In subsequent plebiscites organized by Puerto Rico held in 1993 and 1998 (without any formal commitment on the part of the U.S. government to honor the results), the current political status failed to receive majority support. In 1993, Commonwealth status won by a plurality of votes (48.6% versus 46.3% for statehood), while the "none of the above" option, which was the [[Popular Democratic Party (Puerto Rico)|Popular Democratic Party]]-sponsored choice, won in 1998 with 50.3% of the votes (versus 46.5% for statehood). Disputes arose as to the definition of each of the ballot alternatives, and Commonwealth advocates, among others, reportedly urged a vote for "none of the above".<ref>[https://fas.org/sgp/crs/row/RL32933.pdf ''Political Status of Puerto Rico: Options for Congress.'' Report RL32933. By Keith Bea and R. Sam Garrett, Congressional Research Service. Dated {{Nowrap|June 19}}, 2009. p. 29. Table B-1: Puerto Rico Status Votes in Plebiscites and Referenda, 1967–1998. p. 29.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190928232129/https://fas.org/sgp/crs/row/RL32933.pdf |date=28 September 2019 }}. Retrieved 5 December 2009.</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://electionspuertorico.org/1993/summary.html |title=1993 Status Plebiscite Vote Summary |publisher=Electionspuertorico.org |date=14 November 1993 |access-date=30 October 2011 |archive-date=6 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200706225746/http://electionspuertorico.org/1993/summary.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://electionspuertorico.org/1998/summary.html |title=1998 Status Plebiscite Vote Summary |publisher=Electionspuertorico.org |date=13 December 1998 |access-date=30 October 2011 |archive-date=27 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201027150333/https://electionspuertorico.org/1998/summary.html |url-status=live }}</ref> <!---probably duplicates the above. Needs editing---> In 1950, the U.S. Congress approved ''Public Law 600'' (P.L. 81-600), which allowed for a democratic [[referendum]] in Puerto Rico to determine whether Puerto Ricans desired to draft their own local constitution.<ref>Act of {{Nowrap|3 July}}, 1950, Ch. 446, 64 Stat. 319.</ref> This Act was meant to be adopted in the "nature of a compact". It required congressional approval of the Puerto Rico Constitution before it could go into effect, and repealed certain sections of the ''Organic Act of 1917''. The sections of this statute left in force were entitled the ''Puerto Rican Federal Relations Act''.<ref name="View">{{cite web |url=http://www.puertoricousa.com/english/views.htm |title=View of Congress, the Courts and the Federal Government |publisher=Puertoricousa.com |access-date=30 October 2011 |archive-date=7 October 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111007182356/http://www.puertoricousa.com/english/views.htm |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.puertorico-herald.org/issues/2004/vol8n42/CBOnNatureV.html |title=On The Nature of Commonwealth V |publisher=Puertorico-herald.org |access-date=30 October 2011 |archive-date=26 November 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111126131757/http://www.puertorico-herald.org/issues/2004/vol8n42/CBOnNatureV.html |url-status=live }}</ref> U.S. Secretary of the Interior [[Oscar L. Chapman]], under whose Department resided responsibility of Puerto Rican affairs, clarified the new commonwealth status in this manner:{{Blockquote|The bill (to permit Puerto Rico to write its own constitution) merely authorizes the people of Puerto Rico to adopt their own constitution and to organize a local government...The bill under consideration would not change Puerto Rico's political, social, and economic relationship to the United States.<ref>[http://www.puertorico-herald.org/issues/2002/vol6n30/LetPRDecideHow2End-en.html "Let Puerto Rico Decide How to end its Colony Status: True Nationhood Stands on the Pillar of Independence"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210914030430/http://www.puertorico-herald.org/issues/2002/vol6n30/LetPRDecideHow2End-en.html |date=14 September 2021 }}. Rosalinda de Jesus. ''The Allentown Morning Call''. Republished by the ''Puerto Rico Herald''. July 21, 2002. San Juan, Puerto Rico. Retrieved June 21, 2012.</ref><ref>[http://www.independencia.net/ingles/let_pr_decide "Let Puerto Rico Decide How To End Its Colony Status"] {{dead link|date=May 2017|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}. Rosalinda De Jesus. ''The Morning Call''. 21 July 2002. Retrieved 21 June 2012.</ref>}} {{External media | float = right | video1 = [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_71hkXrTTf8 Puerto Rico], U.S. Embassy in Vienna, 24 October 2014 | video2 = View newsreel scenes in Spanish of the {{YouTube|RfOJj0nmGEU|''Puerto Rican Nationalist Party Revolts of the 1950s''}} }} On 30 October 1950, Pedro Albizu Campos and other nationalists led a three-day revolt against the United States in various cities and towns of Puerto Rico, in what is known as the [[Puerto Rican Nationalist Party Revolts of the 1950s]]. The most notable occurred in [[Jayuya]] and [[Utuado]]. In the Jayuya revolt, known as the [[Jayuya Uprising]], the Puerto Rican governor declared [[martial law]], and attacked the insurgents in Jayuya with infantry, artillery and bombers under control of the Puerto Rican commander. The [[Utuado Uprising]] culminated in what is known as the Utuado massacre. Albizu Campos served many years in a federal prison in [[Atlanta]], for seditious conspiracy to overthrow the U.S. government in Puerto Rico.<ref>{{cite web|last=García|first=Marvin|title=Dr. Pedro Albizu Campos|url=http://www.nl.edu/academics/cas/ace/resources/campos.cfm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051224214401/http://www3.nl.edu/academics/cas/ace/resources/campos.cfm|archive-date=24 December 2005|access-date=28 April 2006|publisher=National-Louis University}}</ref> On 1 November 1950, Puerto Rican nationalists from New York City, [[Griselio Torresola]] and [[Oscar Collazo]], [[Truman assassination attempt|attempted to assassinate]] President [[Harry S. Truman]] at his temporary residence of [[Blair House]]. Torresola was killed during the attack, but Collazo was wounded and captured. He was convicted of murder and sentenced to death, but President Truman commuted his sentence to life. After Collazo served 29 years in a federal prison, President [[Jimmy Carter]] commuted his sentence to time served and he was released in 1979.[[File:Salaried-employees-in-puerto-rico-during-operation-bootstrap.png|thumb|Chart demonstrating how the [[economy of Puerto Rico]] shifted from [[agriculture in Puerto Rico|agriculture]] to [[manufacturing in Puerto Rico|manufacturing]]. It shows how the salaried employees during Operation Bootstrap significantly increased manufacturing jobs (green line) while decreasing agricultural jobs (blue line).]] During the 1950s and 1960s, Puerto Rico experienced rapid industrialization, due in large part to {{lang|es|Operación Manos a la Obra}} ([[Operation Bootstrap]]), an offshoot of [[Franklin D. Roosevelt|Franklin Delano Roosevelt]]'s [[New Deal]]. It was intended to transform Puerto Rico's economy from agriculture-based to manufacturing-based to provide more jobs. Puerto Rico has become a major tourist destination, as well as a global center for pharmaceutical manufacturing.<ref name="pharma">{{cite web |url=http://www.pharmaceuticalonline.com/article.mvc/Puerto-Ricos-Pharmaceutical-Industry-40-Years-0003 |title=Puerto Rico's Pharmaceutical Industry |date=20 September 2006 |access-date=18 November 2010 |archive-date=11 May 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110511170716/http://www.pharmaceuticalonline.com/article.mvc/Puerto-Ricos-Pharmaceutical-Industry-40-Years-0003 |url-status=live }}</ref> ====21st century==== {{further|Proposed political status for Puerto Rico|President's Task Force on Puerto Rico's Status|}} On 15 July 2009, the [[Special Committee on Decolonization|United Nations Special Committee on Decolonization]] approved a draft resolution calling on the government of the United States to expedite a process that would allow the Puerto Rican people to exercise fully their inalienable right to self-determination and independence.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2009/gacol3193.doc.htm |title=Members Hear Petitioners Speak up for Independence, Statehood, Free Association |publisher=General Assembly of the United Nations |date=15 June 2009 |access-date=11 August 2017 |archive-date=9 April 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200409222101/https://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2009/gacol3193.doc.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> On 6 November 2012, a two-question referendum took place, simultaneous with the general elections.<ref name="oslpr1">[http://www.oslpr.org/2009-2012/leyes/pdf/ley-283-28-Dic-2011.pdf ''Ley Numero 283 del 28 de diciembre de 2011.''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190412031116/http://www.oslpr.org/2009-2012/leyes/pdf/ley-283-28-Dic-2011.pdf |date=12 April 2019 }} Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico. 28 December 2011. Retrieved 10 January 2012.</ref><ref>[http://www.caribbeanbusinesspr.com/news03.php?nt_id=62931&ct_id=1 ''Fortuño calls for status vote next August.''] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111124013232/http://www.caribbeanbusinesspr.com/news03.php?nt_id=62931&ct_id=1 |date=24 November 2011 }} John Marino. Caribbean Business. Released on 4 October 2011. Retrieved 8 December 2011.</ref> The first question, voted on in August, asked voters whether they wanted to maintain the current status under the territorial clause of the U.S. Constitution. 54% voted against the status quo, effectively approving the second question to be voted on in November. The second question posed three alternate status options: statehood, independence, or [[Compact of Free Association|free association]].<ref>{{cite web |author=casiano communications |url=http://www.caribbeanbusinesspr.com/news03.php?nt_id=62931&ct_id=1 |title=Fortuño calls for status, legislative reform votes on 12 August 2012 |publisher=Caribbeanbusinesspr.com |date=4 October 2011 |access-date=30 October 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111124013232/http://www.caribbeanbusinesspr.com/news03.php?nt_id=62931&ct_id=1 |archive-date=24 November 2011 }}</ref> 61.16% voted for statehood, 33.34% for a sovereign free-associated state, and 5.49% for independence.<ref>{{cite news |title=Puerto Rico votes on whether to change relationship with US, elects governor and legislators |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/puerto-rico-votes-on-whether-to-change-relationship-with-us-elects-governor-and-legislators/2012/11/06/d87278ae-288b-11e2-aaa5-ac786110c486_story.html |agency=Associated Press |newspaper=Washington Post |access-date=6 November 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120114122818/http://www.hispanicmarketinfo.com/2011/12/23/census-2010-puerto-rico-dominicans-and-other-immigrants-a-growing-population/ |archive-date=14 January 2012}}</ref>{{Failed verification|date=June 2021}} On 30 June 2016, President [[Barack Obama]] signed into law ''H.R. 5278: [[PROMESA]]'', establishing a Control Board over the Puerto Rican government. This board will have a significant degree of federal control involved in its establishment and operations. In particular, the authority to establish the control board derives from the federal government's constitutional power to "make all needful rules and regulations" regarding U.S. territories; The president would appoint all seven voting members of the board; and the board would have broad sovereign powers to effectively overrule decisions by Puerto Rico's legislature, governor, and other public authorities.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://policy.house.gov/legislative/bills/hr-5278-puerto-rico-oversight-management-and-economic-stability-act-2016-promesa |title=H.R. 5278, Puerto Rico Oversight, Management and Economic Stability Act of 2016 (PROMESA) |date=6 June 2016 |website=Policy.house.gov |access-date=14 July 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160819125905/https://policy.house.gov/legislative/bills/hr-5278-puerto-rico-oversight-management-and-economic-stability-act-2016-promesa |archive-date=19 August 2016 }}</ref> Puerto Rico held its [[2020 Puerto Rican status referendum|statehood referendum]] during the 3 November 2020 general elections; the ballot asked one question: "Should Puerto Rico be admitted immediately into the Union [[51st state|as a State]]?" The results showed that 52 percent of Puerto Rico voters answered yes.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://elecciones2020.ceepur.org/Noche_del_Evento_92/index.html#en/default/PLEBISCITO_Resumen.xml |title= 2020 Puerto Rican status referendum |publisher= elecciones2020.ceepur.org |date= 5 November 2020 |access-date= 6 November 2020 |archive-date= 3 November 2020 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20201103191716/https://elecciones2020.ceepur.org/Noche_del_Evento_92/index.html#en/default/PLEBISCITO_Resumen.xml |url-status= live }}</ref> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! 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