Many of America's 19th century territorial acquisitions became formal states in the 20th century but one notable exception is Puerto Rico. So why didn't it become a state? To find out watch this short and simple animated history documentary.

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Puerto Rico, here, is currently a territory of the United States, but as you'll probably know, it isn't a state.

Much like Alaska and Hawaii, it was annexed in the second half of the 19th century.

But unlike the other 2 territories, Puerto Rico never made the leap from being a territory to a fully fledged state.

What stopped Puerto Rico from becoming a state?

So to begin, Puerto Rico was a Spanish colony up until 1898.

This was after Spain and the United States got into a bit of a scuffle over a main sinking and a general American desire for empire building.

The Spanish tried to resist but the United States won handily, and in the peace treaty it got Guam, the Philippines and Puerto Rico.

This was shortly after Hawaii was annexed by the US and 30 years after Alaska had been too.

But where Hawaii and Alaska differ from Puerto Rico is that the continental US saw them differently and those that live in the territories wanted different things.

Hawaii, for example, was largely ignored by the mainland United States for decades and served as a useful naval base in the North Pacific with some limited resources.

Whereas for Alaska, the US government took a much kinder stance towards it in the 1940s because of the advances in aviation.

The US was concerned about Japan, the Soviet Union, and to a lesser extent, Britain during this time, and Alaska was well positioned to deal with them.

It was a similar distance from all 3 of them, so it made a good transport hub.

And also, it was useful for stationing long-range bombers there, just in case.

In 1958, Alaska was offered a referendum on statehood, which 80% wanted, and so it was soon accepted.

Very shortly after this, Hawaii was offered the same.

Now, this was slightly more controversial, since many American lawmakers were worried about a majority non-white state sending senators and congressmen to do things like vote on laws and stuff.

However, the US was under pressure from the United Nations to decide what Hawaii was going to be.

And so, to avoid accusations of empire, President Eisenhower offered the territory a vote on becoming a state.

Over 90% of Hawaiians supported the move, and so in 1959 it joined as America's 50th state.

So why didn't Puerto Rico get the same treatment?

The United Nations also took a dim view of America keeping it as a territory, but the difference was in the attitudes of the Puerto Ricans to the United States.

From before its annexation until the outbreak of World War I, the island had a strong independence movement, and very few people there wanted to become Americans.

Yet, after Puerto Ricans were given citizenship in 1917, the desire for independence slowly faded and people came to prefer a loose association with the United States.

This didn't mean that everybody was happy with the arrangement, and when the island's status was reviewed in the 1950s, small-scale armed revolts broke out across the island.

Despite this, most Puerto Ricans were happy to remain a US territory.

They didn't get any seats in Congress, but no representation meant no taxation, and so those who lived there didn't have to pay federal income tax.

As for the opinion of successive US governments, they didn't want to deal with a potential upheaval that extra senators and congressmen would bring, and during the 1950s and 1960s, when certain political and social issues were at the forefront of American thought, there were concerns about omitting another state whose population was overwhelmingly non-white and whose population was about 3 times larger than both Alaska and Hawaii's combined.

As such, in the American political tradition, it was time for can-kicking, something which continues to this day as opinions on the island slowly move towards being more and more pro-statehood.

I hope you enjoyed this episode and a special thanks to my patrons James Bizonette, Kelly Moneymaker, Sky Chappell, Korsha Wolf, Jerry Lambdin, Jordan Longley, Adam Stalter, Marcus Arsner, YN Hockey, Spencer Lightfoot, Rod D.

Martin, Words About Books podcast, Captain Psydog, Gustav Swan, Marvin Casal, Camoon Yoon, Winston K Wood, Boogily Woogily, Daniel Tobian, Miss Iset, Aaron the White, Corey Turner, The McWhopper, Alex Schwin, Anthony Beckett, Copper Tone, Maggie Patskowski, Shuenin, Spinning 3 Plates and Charles the First.


Speaker 0: Puerto Rico, here, is currently a territory of the United States, but as you'll probably know, it isn't a state. Much like Alaska and Hawaii, it was annexed in the second half of the 19th century. But unlike the other 2 territories, Puerto Rico never made the leap from being a territory to a fully fledged state. So why not? What stopped Puerto Rico from becoming a state?

So to begin, Puerto Rico was a Spanish colony up until 1898. This was after Spain and the United States got into a bit of a scuffle over a main sinking and a general American desire for empire building. The Spanish tried to resist but the United States won handily, and in the peace treaty it got Guam, the Philippines and Puerto Rico. This was shortly after Hawaii was annexed by the US and 30 years after Alaska had been too. But where Hawaii and Alaska differ from Puerto Rico is that the continental US saw them differently and those that live in the territories wanted different things.

Hawaii, for example, was largely ignored by the mainland United States for decades and served as a useful naval base in the North Pacific with some limited resources. Whereas for Alaska, the US government took a much kinder stance towards it in the 1940s because of the advances in aviation. The US was concerned about Japan, the Soviet Union, and to a lesser extent, Britain during this time, and Alaska was well positioned to deal with them. It was a similar distance from all 3 of them, so it made a good transport hub. And also, it was useful for stationing long-range bombers there, just in case.

In 1958, Alaska was offered a referendum on statehood, which 80% wanted, and so it was soon accepted. Very shortly after this, Hawaii was offered the same. Now, this was slightly more controversial, since many American lawmakers were worried about a majority non-white state sending senators and congressmen to do things like vote on laws and stuff. However, the US was under pressure from the United Nations to decide what Hawaii was going to be. And so, to avoid accusations of empire, President Eisenhower offered the territory a vote on becoming a state.

Over 90% of Hawaiians supported the move, and so in 1959 it joined as America's 50th state. So why didn't Puerto Rico get the same treatment? The United Nations also took a dim view of America keeping it as a territory, but the difference was in the attitudes of the Puerto Ricans to the United States. From before its annexation until the outbreak of World War I, the island had a strong independence movement, and very few people there wanted to become Americans. Yet, after Puerto Ricans were given citizenship in 1917, the desire for independence slowly faded and people came to prefer a loose association with the United States.

This didn't mean that everybody was happy with the arrangement, and when the island's status was reviewed in the 1950s, small-scale armed revolts broke out across the island. Despite this, most Puerto Ricans were happy to remain a US territory. They didn't get any seats in Congress, but no representation meant no taxation, and so those who lived there didn't have to pay federal income tax. As for the opinion of successive US governments, they didn't want to deal with a potential upheaval that extra senators and congressmen would bring, and during the 1950s and 1960s, when certain political and social issues were at the forefront of American thought, there were concerns about omitting another state whose population was overwhelmingly non-white and whose population was about 3 times larger than both Alaska and Hawaii's combined. As such, in the American political tradition, it was time for can-kicking, something which continues to this day as opinions on the island slowly move towards being more and more pro-statehood.

I hope you enjoyed this episode and a special thanks to my patrons James Bizonette, Kelly Moneymaker, Sky Chappell, Korsha Wolf, Jerry Lambdin, Jordan Longley, Adam Stalter, Marcus Arsner, YN Hockey, Spencer Lightfoot, Rod D. Martin, Words About Books podcast, Captain Psydog, Gustav Swan, Marvin Casal, Camoon Yoon, Winston K Wood, Boogily Woogily, Daniel Tobian, Miss Iset, Aaron the White, Corey Turner, The McWhopper, Alex Schwin, Anthony Beckett, Copper Tone, Maggie Patskowski, Shuenin, Spinning 3 Plates and Charles the First. And Charles I.

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Why didn't Puerto Rico become a US State? (Short Animated Documentary)