How Did the United States Take Puerto Rico?

TL;DR

The United States took Puerto Rico from Spain in 1898, imposed political control, reorganized its economy around American interests, and made the island strategically valuable as a military outpost. Puerto Ricans received citizenship without full constitutional rights, while independence activists faced imprisonment, police violence, extensive surveillance, informant networks, and detailed political files known as the Carpetas.

Transcript

• [Johnny] It's easy to forget that the US still has colonies, (dramatic music) but we don't actually use the word colony, we prefer words like unincorporated territory or commonwealth. These are places where people are subject to US rule, but don't enjoy the full rights that other Americans do. I wanna tell you about one of them, Puerto Rico. When... Read More

Key Insights

• Puerto Rico became a United States possession in 1898 after Spain transferred the island following the war. Rather than liberating the former Spanish colony, the United States established political control and began appointing American officials who often lacked knowledge of Puerto Rican language, culture, and society.
• American economic policy transformed Puerto Rico into a sugar-centered colony. United States banks issued predatory loans, foreclosed on land, and converted acquired property into sugar farms, while politically connected American businesses benefited from public funds and increasingly dominated the island's productive assets.
• Shipping and currency policies increased Puerto Rico's dependence on the mainland. Goods entering the island had to travel on American ships with American crews, raising local prices, while the devaluation and prohibition of Puerto Rico's currency caused residents to lose almost half their wealth overnight.
• Puerto Rican citizenship did not provide full constitutional equality. Congress granted citizenship shortly before a major global war, allowing Puerto Rican men to be sent into combat, while Supreme Court decisions had established the island as an unincorporated territory where the Constitution did not fully apply by 1922.
• Corporate control and low wages produced severe social hardship by the 1930s. Big banks owned 60% of sugar farms, 80% of tobacco farms, and all railroads and shipping facilities, while Puerto Rican workers earned less than four cents per hour amid growing poverty and malnutrition.
• Puerto Rico served as an important American military outpost because of its Caribbean location. The island helped protect trade routes and refuel ships, leading to expanding bases and installations, while thousands of tested bombs left behind what the account describes as one of America's most hazardous waste sites.
• The Puerto Rican independence movement combined political participation, labor action, protest, and resistance. Led by Pedro Albizu Campos, nationalists attracted ordinary residents frustrated by exploitation, but police killings, retaliatory violence, imprisonment, a disputed trial, and the Palm Sunday massacre escalated the conflict.
• The surveillance campaign targeted broad networks surrounding suspected political dissidents. FBI agents and Puerto Rican police monitored calls, letters, relationships, debts, school records, photographs, license plates, and wedding guests, while payments, coercion, and manipulation recruited informants and fractured families, friendships, and communities.

Questions & Answers

Q: How did the United States acquire Puerto Rico?

The United States acquired Puerto Rico in 1898 after entering a war against the faltering Spanish Empire and defeating Spain. Although the United States presented its involvement as an effort to liberate Spanish colonies, Puerto Rico was transferred from Spanish authority to American authority during a quiet ceremony in San Juan, beginning direct United States political control over the island.

Q: How did American rule change Puerto Rico's economy?

American rule redirected Puerto Rico's economy toward sugar production and outside ownership. Appointed officials supported American-owned businesses, while United States banks offered predatory loans, foreclosed on Puerto Rican land, and converted it into sugar farms. By the 1930s, big banks owned 60% of sugar farms, 80% of tobacco farms, and all railroads and shipping facilities.

Q: Why did shipping and currency policies hurt Puerto Ricans?

Puerto Rico was required to receive goods on American ships operated by American crews, which raised prices for local residents. At the same time, the United States government devalued and then prohibited the local currency. According to the account, these monetary changes caused every Puerto Rican to lose almost half of their wealth overnight and deepened dependence on mainland shipments.

Q: What does Puerto Rico's unincorporated territory status mean?

A series of Supreme Court cases had established Puerto Rico as an unincorporated territory by 1922. In the account's explanation, this status meant that the United States Constitution did not fully apply on the island. Puerto Ricans were therefore subject to American rule and had received citizenship, but they did not enjoy the same full rights as Americans living within incorporated parts of the country.

Q: Why was Puerto Rico strategically important to the United States?

Puerto Rico's position extending into the Caribbean made it useful for protecting trade routes and refueling ships. The United States consequently developed more military bases and installations across the island. It also tested thousands of bombs there, leaving behind a location described in the account as one of the most hazardous waste sites in the United States.

Q: Who was Pedro Albizu Campos and what did he seek?

Pedro Albizu Campos was a Puerto Rican independence leader from a poor background who attended Harvard, graduated as valedictorian from Harvard Law School, served the United States during World War I, and helped draft Ireland's independence constitution. He returned to Puerto Rico seeking complete separation from the United States and led nationalists through elections, strikes, organization, and resistance.

Q: How did authorities respond to Puerto Rican nationalists?

Authorities expanded and armed the police, killed four nationalists at a university event in 1935, and arrested Pedro Albizu Campos after nationalists retaliated by killing the police chief. Campos received a disputed trial and a ten-year sentence. Months later, police attacked a peaceful Palm Sunday protest, killing 19 people and wounding more than one hundred.

Q: How did the FBI surveil Puerto Rican independence supporters?

FBI agents worked with Puerto Rican police to identify, monitor, and sabotage people considered politically subversive. Surveillance extended beyond nationalists to friends, partners, children, colleagues, creditors, and neighbors. Agents intercepted calls and letters, gathered personal records, cultivated informants through payments and coercion, and documented targets in detailed political files known as the Carpetas.

Summary & Key Takeaways

• After defeating Spain in 1898, the United States took Puerto Rico instead of granting it independence. American-appointed officials gained political control, directed public resources toward American-owned businesses, and helped transform the island into a sugar-based economy dominated by outside banks, companies, shipping requirements, and mainland dependence.

• Puerto Ricans received United States citizenship, but Supreme Court cases had classified the island as an unincorporated territory by 1922, meaning the Constitution did not fully apply there. Meanwhile, low wages, concentrated corporate ownership, poverty, malnutrition, military expansion, bombing tests, and restrictions on Spanish intensified resentment toward American rule.

• Pedro Albizu Campos and the nationalists organized for independence through elections, strikes, protests, and resistance. Authorities answered with arrests, a disputed trial, shootings, executions, and the Palm Sunday massacre. The FBI and Puerto Rican police later built an extensive surveillance system using intercepted communications, informants, personal records, and files called the Carpetas.