1815-1898







Puerto Rico, 1898-1970



In the SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR (1898), the US Navy also sailed to Puerto Rico. Spain sold the island, as well as Cuba and the Philippines for US $ 20,000,000.
In 1900, Puerto Rico became an incorporated territory. In 1917 Puerto Rico's status changed to that of an unincorporated territory. The early governors pursued a policy of AMERICANIZATION, including the promotion of English language. During the term of office of impopular governor E. M. REILLY (1921-1923), the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party was founded, lead by LUIS MUNOZ RIVERA.
In 1940, US citizenship was extended to all Portoricans. From 1948, Portorican governors were no more appointed by the U.S. president, but elected. This was not sufficient to appease Portorican sentiment; an attempt to assassinate the governor in 1948 narrowly failed, as did an attempt undertaken by two Portoricans to assassinate president Truman in 1950.
In 1952 the Portoricans adopted a new constitution, that of the COMMONWEALTH OF PUERTO RICO. In 1967, a plebiscite was held to determine Puerto Rico's status; only 1 % opted for independence, 39 % for statehood (i.e. full integration into the U.S.), 60 % to maintain commonwealth status.
The Portorican economy, though better off than that of many other Caribbean nations, lagged far behind that of the continental United States. Starting in the 1940es, Portorican emigration into the continental states (New York and elsewhere) began; the musical WEST SIDE STORY features a Portorican community in New York.
In the Korean War, a Portorican Regiment was part of the U.S. contingent.





EXTERNAL
FILES 		Timeline of Puerto Rican History, from Welcome to Puerto Rico
Articles from Infoplease : Puerto Rico
Articles from Catholic Encyclopedia : Porto Rico
DOCUMENTS For a MAP of Puerto Rico see the CIA World Factbook
Flag of Puerto Rico, from FOTW
REFERENCE Jan Rogozinski, A Brief History of the Caribbean (1992) London : Penguin 1994 [G]
Chapter XXVIII : Our Orphan Island, pp.423-435, in : John Gunther, Inside Latin America, NY : Harper & Bros. [G]
Article : Porto Rico, in : Britannica Book of the Year 1913 pp.959-962 [G]
Article : Puerto Rico, in : Britannica Book of the Year 1944 pp.578-579, 1945 pp.579-580, 1950 pp.576-577, 1951 p.581, 1952 pp.581-582, 1953 pp.590-591, 1954 p.590, 1955 p.639, 1956 p.577, 1957 p.640, 1958 pp.573-574, 1959 pp.573-574, 1960 p.575, 1961 pp.584-585, 1962 pp.57-94, p. 575, 1963 pp.676-677 [G]
Article : Colonies and Dependent Territories, in : Britannica Book of the Year 1964 pp.265-268 [G]
Article : Colonies and Other Dependencies, in : Britannica Book of the Year 1965 pp.255, 1967 pp.220-222 [G]
Article : Dependent States : Puerto Rico, in : Britannica Book of the Year 1969 pp.273, 276, 281, 1970 p.281, 1971 pp.266-267, 271 [G]
Article : United States : Porto Rico, in : Statesman's Yearbook 1910 pp.551-553, 1919 pp.622-624, 1924 pp.629-632, 1925 pp.633-635, 1926 pp.615-617, 1928 pp.621-623, 1929 pp.616-619, 1932 pp.620-622 [G]
Article : United States : Puerto Rico, in : Statesman's Yearbook 1937 pp.650-652, 1943 pp.660-662 [G]
Article : US : Puerto Rico, in : Statesman's Yearbook 1970-1971 pp.703-705 (data of 1969-1970) [G]
Article : Porto Rico, in : Americana Annual 1927 pp.699-700, 1928 pp.641-643, 1930 pp.630-631, 1931 pp.619-620, 1932 pp.588-589 [G]
Article : Puerto Rico, in : Americana Annual 1933 pp.646-648, 1934 pp.493-494, 1935 pp.594-595, 1936 pp.613-614, 1937 pp.599-600, 1943 pp.618-619, 1944 pp.598-599, 1945 pp.607-608, 1946 pp.628-630, 1947 pp.593-594, 1957 pp.650-652, 1961 pp.617-618, 1962 pp.624-625, 1963 pp.554-555, 1964 pp.550-551, 1965 p.594, 1967 p.572, 1968 p.560, 1969 p.568, 1970 p.573 [G]
Article : Puerto Rico (Porto Rico), in : International Year Book 1898 pp.657-658 [G]
News from Porto Rico, from "The Great Round World and What is Going on in it" Vol.III No.17, May 1899, pp.596-597 [G]



This page is part of World History at KMLA
First posted in 2001, last revised on November, 1st 2007

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