Didn’t every other territory that became a state rely on its voters to decide when or if to start the statehood process? In my childhood, the flag had 48 stars. Then Alaska and Hawaii made the transition. They weren’t given statehood, they sought it.
Didn’t every other territory that became a state rely on its voters to decide when or if to start the statehood process? In my childhood, the flag had 48 stars. Then Alaska and Hawaii made the transition. They weren’t given statehood, they sought it.
So, yes and no. In 1901 the Supreme Court ruled in a case that no territory could be incorporated into "the American Family" until Congress "provides for" that incorporation. Basically, it means that Congress needs to rule to bring in a state, and they need to give reason and desire to bring that territory into the union on a more inclusive basis. This means it would need to pass first in the House, and then be brought before the Senate and pass there, too.
Considering Puerto Rico isn't allowed representatives, the provision would need to come from other members of Congress. Puerto Rico could have a popular vote and petition Congress to take up their case, but someone within Congress would need to champion it. It would then need to be passed, which would be the harder part, considering this has been a mostly Democrat idea.
That said, the latest poll results I could find said 52% of people in PR wanted to be a state, and the other 50-ish percent were split between an independence faction and a commonwealth faction (maintain status quo). That election/poll was done in 2020.
I just feel that the US has done its territories dirty for quite a long time, and that if we're encouraging dependency on the US like we did in Puerto Rico, we should also take responsibility. It's hypocritical of the USA to tax a territory without allowing them representation, and the only way we manage to get around it is because we only tax "some income" and we still "provide benefits" (reduced) for our territories.
Amílcar Antonio Barreto has some great insight on a lot of the political minefield that is territory politics, especially as they pertain to Puerto Rico. He's a Puerto Rican native, so I trust his voice and characterization of Puerto Rico a LOT more than any government or outside-in economist.
There is a major difference between Puerto Rico and other territories. There are four other territories besides Puerto Rico but not one of them had a population greater than 200,000 whereas Wyoming, the 50th state by population has almost 600,000. Puerto Rico on the other hand has 3.2 million people which would make it the 31 or 32nd largest state, outranking many other states. It is the largest example of an unrepresented population in the US.
Ah yes, the reason why the GOP will never go in with converting Puerto Rico to a state: it's too darn big and will vote too darn blue.
Even if the red presence in Puerto Rico was high enough, they wouldn't be able to gerrymander the districts quietly like everywhere else because there'd be too many eyes on the process of creating a NEW state rather than editing an existing one.
Thank you for that population information! I hadn't realized PR would be that impactful population-wise nor that it would place so highly in state size.
I was a young kid about 9 when both Alaska and Hawaii became states. I even remember the 49 star flag we had for about a minute (actually one year 😅) until the 50th state was brought in. I also remember there were huge debate because Alaska was going to be the first "discontiguous" state and Hawaii the second. There was a fair amount of sympathy for Hawaii because of the impact of Pearl Harbor at the start of WWII and as noted Alaska had lots of oil.
Not so much sympathy for Puerto Rico of course. They speak a lot of Spanish down there and we know Trump hates them. So that one will be difficult.
Didn’t every other territory that became a state rely on its voters to decide when or if to start the statehood process? In my childhood, the flag had 48 stars. Then Alaska and Hawaii made the transition. They weren’t given statehood, they sought it.
So, yes and no. In 1901 the Supreme Court ruled in a case that no territory could be incorporated into "the American Family" until Congress "provides for" that incorporation. Basically, it means that Congress needs to rule to bring in a state, and they need to give reason and desire to bring that territory into the union on a more inclusive basis. This means it would need to pass first in the House, and then be brought before the Senate and pass there, too.
Considering Puerto Rico isn't allowed representatives, the provision would need to come from other members of Congress. Puerto Rico could have a popular vote and petition Congress to take up their case, but someone within Congress would need to champion it. It would then need to be passed, which would be the harder part, considering this has been a mostly Democrat idea.
That said, the latest poll results I could find said 52% of people in PR wanted to be a state, and the other 50-ish percent were split between an independence faction and a commonwealth faction (maintain status quo). That election/poll was done in 2020.
I just feel that the US has done its territories dirty for quite a long time, and that if we're encouraging dependency on the US like we did in Puerto Rico, we should also take responsibility. It's hypocritical of the USA to tax a territory without allowing them representation, and the only way we manage to get around it is because we only tax "some income" and we still "provide benefits" (reduced) for our territories.
Amílcar Antonio Barreto has some great insight on a lot of the political minefield that is territory politics, especially as they pertain to Puerto Rico. He's a Puerto Rican native, so I trust his voice and characterization of Puerto Rico a LOT more than any government or outside-in economist.
There is a major difference between Puerto Rico and other territories. There are four other territories besides Puerto Rico but not one of them had a population greater than 200,000 whereas Wyoming, the 50th state by population has almost 600,000. Puerto Rico on the other hand has 3.2 million people which would make it the 31 or 32nd largest state, outranking many other states. It is the largest example of an unrepresented population in the US.
Ah yes, the reason why the GOP will never go in with converting Puerto Rico to a state: it's too darn big and will vote too darn blue.
Even if the red presence in Puerto Rico was high enough, they wouldn't be able to gerrymander the districts quietly like everywhere else because there'd be too many eyes on the process of creating a NEW state rather than editing an existing one.
Thank you for that population information! I hadn't realized PR would be that impactful population-wise nor that it would place so highly in state size.
This opinion piece in the Anchorage, Alaska, paper today:
https://us5-bcdn-ama.newsmemory.com/eebrowser/ipad/html5.check.24030714/ajax-request.php?action=loadImage&type=htmltext&pSetup=anchoragedailynews&issue=20241030&crc=WEpoTW42RUU2WUNjdk5OWlRvODQ4WmlSS1BUUDhHclhQaDIzNnh3N2pnYVNuTFFkaVZhM0crSzlTemEwR1dPOQ==&edition=Anchorage%20Daily%20News&verCdn=0&mtime=595E35D9
Wow, Alaska is typically considered a "RED" state. Very unusual.
Well, there was much political negotiations necessary for statehood....and the fact that oil was "discovered" in Alaska helped.
Were they given a choice?
Absolutely. The states' population must vote on statehood first. Puerto Rico did so in 2020, but the margin was thin, just 52% supported statehood.
I was a young kid about 9 when both Alaska and Hawaii became states. I even remember the 49 star flag we had for about a minute (actually one year 😅) until the 50th state was brought in. I also remember there were huge debate because Alaska was going to be the first "discontiguous" state and Hawaii the second. There was a fair amount of sympathy for Hawaii because of the impact of Pearl Harbor at the start of WWII and as noted Alaska had lots of oil.
Not so much sympathy for Puerto Rico of course. They speak a lot of Spanish down there and we know Trump hates them. So that one will be difficult.