Why does the United States not want Puerto Rico to become the 51st state?

The United States mainland (consolidated territory) has 50 states, one special zone, and several overseas territories (non consolidated territory).

Overseas territories used to be colonies with less power than states. For example, overseas territories did not have the right to elect the President of the United States. Overseas territories are divided into several types, from large to small, according to their rights: two autonomous states, Puerto Rico and the Northern Mariana Islands, two non autonomous states, Guam and the United States Virgin Islands, colonial American Samoa and other islands.

From the perspective of the territorial division of the United States, if Puerto Rico goes further and becomes a state of the United States, the rights of Puerto Ricans will increase accordingly.

Puerto Rico, an autonomous state of the United States in the Caribbean Sea, is located in the northwest of the Lesser Antilles Islands, east of Dominica, about 1600 kilometers away from the Florida Peninsula, with an area of about 13792 square kilometers.

The main island of Puerto Rico Islands is Puerto Rico, about 180 kilometers from east to west and 56 kilometers from north to south. Puerto Rico Island is dominated by mountains and hills, which run from east to west. The highest point, Punta Peak, is about 1338 meters above sea level.

Puerto Rico has a population of about 3.2 million (2023), with 75.8% of whites and 12.4% of blacks mainly of Spanish descent. 95% of people speak Spanish, and the official languages are Spanish and English.

San Juan, the capital of Puerto Rico, is located on the northern coast of Puerto Rico Island, with the central latitude of 18 ° 24 ′ 23 ″ north latitude.

In 1493 (the sixth year of Emperor Xiaozong's Hongzhi's reign), Columbus came to Puerto Rico on his second voyage, after which Spain ruled the island. The Spaniards built many fortresses near San Juan, fought with other European powers, and successfully withstood the attacks of France, the Netherlands and Britain. In 1809, Puerto Rico became an overseas province of Spain.

In 1898 (the 24th year of Emperor Guangxu of the Qing Dynasty), the Spanish American War broke out, and the U.S. military occupied Puerto Rico. At that time, the island had a population of about 950000, becoming a U.S. colony.

Puerto Rico has two major characteristics. One is that Hispanics accounted for a high proportion. At that time, the demand for slaves introduced from Africa was large, but the supply was in short supply. There were few Indians left on the island. Second, most people on the island speak Spanish as their first language, and only a few people can speak fluent English.

Because of the above two characteristics, the United States did not regard Puerto Rico as a territory. At that time, Puerto Rico's status was only slightly better than that of the Philippines.

In 1917, in order to recruit Puerto Rican soldiers to participate in the First World War, the United States gave Puerto Ricans citizenship. At that time, the population exceeded 1.2 million.

Since then, Puerto Rico has promoted five referendums to become a state of the United States, but none of them has succeeded.

Puerto Ricans are Americans, and their passports are no different from those of native Americans in the world. What is the difference between Puerto Rico and the United States mainland?

Native Americans have the right to elect a president, while Puerto Rico does not. However, when Puerto Ricans immigrated to the mainland, they had the right to vote. Conversely, when native people settled in Puerto Rico, they lost their right to vote. Puerto Rico is not represented in the United States Senate; There are representatives in the House of Representatives, but they have only the right to speak without the right to vote.

Since the United States occupied Puerto Rico in 1898, five new states have been established. We can roughly understand some principles and conditions for the establishment of new states from the situation of these five states.

In 1907 (the 33rd year of Emperor Dezong's reign in the Qing Dynasty), Oklahoma Territory and Indian Territory were merged to form the 46th state of Oklahoma in the United States. As early as 1803, the United States purchased Louisiana from France, including Oklahoma. That is to say, the United States officially established a state 104 years after acquiring the land. Why? Before its establishment, Oklahoma was divided into Oklahoma Territory and Indian Territory. It took 104 years for the United States to import English speaking whites into Oklahoma territory. In addition, the number of aborigines in Indian territory was significantly reduced. When the United States merged and founded the state, English speaking whites had occupied an absolute dominant position.

In 1912, New Mexico and Arizona were established one after another, becoming the 47th and 48th states in the United States. These two states are close to Mexico and were captured from Mexico in the American Mexican War in 1846. There are many Hispanic whites in New Mexico and Arizona, as well as many Indian aborigines. This is similar to the situation in Mexico, where Spanish is the first language. It took 66 years for the United States to change the population structure of the two states, and the language has also been assimilated. English has become the largest language.

In January 1959, the territory of Alaska was upgraded to the 49th state of the United States, with a population of only 224000. As early as 1867, the United States bought Alaska from Russia. Before Alaska was upgraded to a state, all the states in the United States were connected, and Canada was still separated from Alaska and the mainland of the United States.

Alaska covers an area of about 1.7179 million square kilometers, nearly 20% of the area of the United States. It is the largest state in the United States and tens of thousands of square kilometers more than Xinjiang in China. Alaska has a cold climate and sparse population, with a population of about 740000 (2020), ranking 48th among the 50 states in the United States.

Alaska was founded late because of its cold climate, small population, Russian people and enclave. Later, Alaska found a huge amount of minerals, and the Russian people also washed away a little. After 92 years of purchase, Alaska became a state of the United States.

In August 1959, Hawaii territory was upgraded to the 50th state in the United States, with a population of about 630000. The Hawaiian Islands are located in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, about 3700 kilometers away from the mainland of the United States. Hawaii covers an area of about 28300 square kilometers, of which the land area is about 16600 square kilometers. In 1898, Hawaii was officially incorporated into the territory of the United States, but it was not yet a state. At that time, its population was about 120000.

Hawaii is located in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. The United States occupies Hawaii, which not only ensures the security of the west coast, but also acts as a springboard to invade countries in East Asia and Southeast Asia. The United States controls the Hawaiian Islands militarily, but in terms of population structure, the white people who speak English are not as many as the Japanese with yellow skin. In addition, other mixed races make the population structure very chaotic.

During World War II, Japan raided Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, taking advantage of the number of Japanese spies and knowing the layout of the US forces in Hawaii. The World War II also gave the United States an opportunity. After the war, the United States moved the Japanese in its territory to concentration camps in 10 local states, and the Japanese in Hawaii almost cleaned up. In 1959, Hawaii became the 50th state in the United States. Without World War II, it would be very difficult for the United States to make a place where the Japanese are the largest ethnic group into a state.

Puerto Ricans wanted to improve their status and become a state of the United States, so they held five referendums in 1967, 1993, 1998, 2012 and 2017.

In 2017, more than 97% of the votes voted for Puerto Rico to become a state in the United States, but the turnout was only 23%. Puerto Ricans also know that what they say does not count. Many people did not participate in the voting. The final result depends on the attitude of the United States official.

Today, Puerto Rico's population structure is still dominated by Hispanics, who speak Spanish. In 2000, Puerto Rico's population reached more than 3.8 million, but after the financial crisis in 2007, it began to grow negatively. Puerto Rico is heavily indebted, unemployment is high, and many public schools are closed. The financial crisis has led to people with some ability to speed up their departure to make a living in the United States.

The highly educated people with strong ability left, Puerto Rico owed more debt, and the unemployment rate remained high, forming a vicious circle. The weaker ones also began to give up their places of residence and moved to the United States from thousands of miles away, even if they could only live in tents in restaurants or on the streets.

The rate of population loss in Puerto Rico is very fast, falling to 3.14 million (2021), and many people are pessimistic that it will fall below 1.5 million. However, Puerto Rico seems to have stabilized in the past two years, with a population of about 3.2 million (2023).

Some people describe the United States as a tyrant, and Puerto Rico as a concubine, whose status will not be improved and who is not allowed to part.

Puerto Rico is located in the sea area between North and South America, at the junction of the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, and has an important strategic position. However, the US Virgin Islands, 64 kilometers east of Puerto Rico Island, is a non autonomous state with a lower status and a much smaller area than Puerto Rico, but has the same strategic position.

In short, Puerto Rico's demographic structure, coupled with economic problems, is unlikely to become the 51st state of the United States, and its strategic position has also been weakened by the United States Virgin Islands.