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A history of Puerto Rico’s relationship with the US


PAUL J. RICHARDS/AFP via Getty Images

A history of Puerto Rico’s relationship with the US

Puerto Rico and American flags



Muller, Luchsinger & Co. // Library of Congress

1898: Puerto Rico comes under US military control

Lithograph depicting Bonbardment of San Juan



Detroit Publishing Co. // Library of Congress

1900: Foraker Act creates a civilian government

Governor’s Palace with American Flag and sea wall in San Juan



Waldrop Photographic Co // Library of Congress

1906: Theodore Roosevelt becomes the first sitting US president to visit Puerto Rico

President Theodore Roosevelt visits Puerto Rico



Interim Archives // Getty Images

March 1917: Jones Act passes, Puerto Ricans gain US citizenship

Map showing United States Territories



Bettmann // Getty Images

May 1917: The Selective Service Act allows Puerto Ricans to be drafted into WWI

Military participate in parade in San Juan



Bettmann // Getty Images

1930s: Doctors in Puerto Rico push women into sterilizations as the only means of contraception

La Perla in San Juan



Hulton Archive // Getty Images

1932: The name of the island returns to Puerto Rico (from the Americanized Porto Rico)

Porto Rico archival illustration



Bettmann // Getty Images

1935: Puerto Rican Reconstruction Administration created

First Government Housing Project in Puerto Rico



Bettmann // Getty Images

1940s: Operation Bootstrap aims to diversify Puerto Rico’s economy

Man Working in Automobile Factory



HUM Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

1941: Puerto Rico’s island of Vieques is assigned as a US Naval Training Range

US naval ship



Bettmann // Getty Images

1947: Elective Governors Act allows Puerto Ricans to elect their own governor

President Truman signs Governor bill



Hulton-Deutsch Collection/Corbis via Getty Images

1948: Law 53, aka the Gag Law, is enacted

Communists interrogated in San Juan



Haywood Magee // Getty Images

1948: Puerto Rico gets its own Olympic team

Opening Ceremony for the 1948 Olympics in London



Bettmann // Getty Images

1950: Puerto Rico Federal Relations Act passes

Puerto Rican Legistlative Assembly in Session



International/United States Information Agency/PhotoQuest // Getty Images

1952: Puerto Rico becomes a US commonwealth

Group of women register to vote



Brian K. Grigsby/Pictures From History // Universal Images Group via Getty Images

1956: Puerto Rico is home to storage and testing of Agent Orange

A helicopter sprays defoliation agent in Vietnam



Bettmann // Getty Images

1967: Puerto Rico holds first status referendum

Puerto Rico and American flags fly over San Juan



RICARDO ARDUENGO/AFP via Getty Images

1978: UN Special Committee on Decolonization designates Puerto Rico a colony of the US

Raised fist in front of black and white Puerto Rican flag at protest



RICARDO ARDUENGO/AFP via Getty Images

1990s to 2020: Puerto Rico holds 5 non-binding referendums for statehood

Puerto Ricos Governor Ricardo Rossello with statehood referendum ballot



Joe Raedle // Getty Images

2017: Puerto Rico files for the largest municipal bankruptcy in US history

Puerto Rico Capitol Building



RICARDO ARDUENGO/AFP via Getty Images

2017-2022: Puerto Rico hit by a series of devastating earthquakes and hurricanes

Earthquake debris with Puerto Rican flag


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