U.S. territories had several essential steps toward statehood. They had to reach a population of 60,000, according to the Northwest Ordinance of 1787, and then they could draft a constitution. This document had to plan a republican government (for example, it could not be a socialist state or a monarchy) and must uphold basic human rights laid out in the U.S. Constitution. Once Congress created an enabling act for the territory, they could review the document and ask for changes. Once the constitution was approved, Congress could admit the new state.
Often we look at Puerto Rico’s constitution in the same way. Congress passed Public Law 600, Puerto Rico’s enabling act, in 1950. Puerto Rico drafted a constitution, Congress asked for changes, Puerto Rico complied, and Congress approved the constitution. Now Puerto Rico is just waiting to be admitted as a state. All that is true. But there’s more to it.
A timeline of the Puerto Rico Constitution
Mónica A. Jiménez, in her book Making Never-Never Land: Race and Law in the Creation of Puerto Rico, writes that from 1949 to 1950, Puerto Rico Governor Marin Muñoz and Resident Commissioner Fernos Isern worked to develop the enabling act which passed in 1950. “However,” she says, “the initial groundwork for the law was laid a few years earlier with the Tydings-Piñero bill of 1946.”
The timeline should begin a but earlier.
The 1947 Tydings-Pinero bill was a do-over of the 1936 Tydings Bill. Both were bills intended to make Puerto Rico independent. The 1936 bill planned a yes/no referendum on independence. The 1947 bill offered the now-familiar referendum giving a choice among independence, statehood, and “the Dominion of Puerto Rico” which gave a choice of U.S. or Puerto Rico citizenship and a mixture of characteristics similar to later “enhanced commonwealth” ideas. While the 1936 bill was an obvious (and to some Puerto Rico leaders, offensive) attempt to get rid of Puerto Rico, the 1946 bill may have planted the seeds of the discredited “commonwealth” idea. Keeping the current territory status was not offered. Both these bills died in committee.
In 1947, Puerto Rico voters gained the right to elect their own governor, and in 1948 Luis Muñoz Marín became the first popularly elected governor of Puerto Rico.
In 1950,Public Law 600 authorized Puerto Rico to draft its own constitution through a local constitutional convention. The convention drafted a constitution, the people voted on it, Congress required changes — as often happened with territories — and President Truman approved the final version. However, Fernos Isern continued to hope for — and push for — something more like “enhanced commonwealth.” In hearings about Public Law 600, he said, “should Puerto Rico adopt its own constitution, it would certainly constitute a compact between the United States and Puerto Rico.” He also pushed, in a series of letters to various members of the federal government, for agreement that such a compact existed and that Puerto Rico was no longer a territory. The federal government rejected those claims and was adamant that the relationship between the U.S. and Puerto Rico had not changed.
In 1952, the Puerto Rico Constitution took effect on July 25, now celebrated as Constitution Day.
In 1959, Fernos Isern introduced a bill “To provide for amendments to the compact between the people of Puerto Rico and the United States.” Again, it was rejected.
Ever since
With the adoption of the constitution, Puerto Rico took on the official name “the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico,” and the arguments about the supposed compact and the nature of territory status continued for another 64 years. The Spanish-language name of the territory was Estado Libre Asociado (ELA), or Free Associated State. Puerto Rico was not a free associated state, but the “commonwealth” party was not ready to give up. Many members of the party still aren’t, but it was in 2016 that the Supreme Court and the imposition of PROMESA showed that Puerto Rico was not and never had been a sovereign state.
Artist Karlo Andrei Ibarra produced a death announcement for ELA. Jiminez describes “a procession through the streets…led by a group of lloronas,” placing a coffin marked “ELA” outside the headquarters of the “commonwealth” party.
In short, Puerto Rico has a constitution, just as all the territories which have become states already did. It’s a normal part of preparation for statehood. Leadership at the time hoped that the constitution would change Puerto Rico’s political status, but it didn’t. Puerto Rico is still an unincorporated territory belonging to the United States. Now it has been 74 years. It’s way past time for Puerto Rico to gain the rights and responsibilities of a state. Tell your legislators to make it happen!
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