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.
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.