Jones–Shafroth Act: Difference between revisions

For the law regarding sailor rights, see the Jones Act

The Jones-Shafroth Act (1917), successor to the Foraker Act of 1900, conferred full United States citizenship on all citizens of Puerto Rican. It created the present system of government in Puerto Rico by creating a government mirroring the government structure of the United States. It Act extended conscription to the island, which sent thousands of soldiers to the U.S. Army. Powers were separated among an Executive, Judicial, and Legislative branch. The law also provided civil rights to the individual, and created a locally elected bicameral legislature. The two houses were a Senate consisting of 19 members and a 39-member House of Representatives.

The Governor of Puerto Rico was appointed by the President of the United States, and not elected. All cabinet officials had to be approved by the United States Senate, and the United States Congress had the power to veto any law passed by the Puerto Rican Legislature. Washington maintained control over fiscal and economic matters and exercised authority over mail services, immigration, defense and other basic governmental matters. Puerto Rico was not given an electoral vote. It was given the right to elect a delegate who would sit and speak, but not formally vote, in the House of Representatives. (The Constitution allowed only full-fledged states to have electoral votes or votes in Congress.)

The impetus for this legislation came from a complex of both local and mainland interests. Puerto Ricans lacked internationally recognized citizenship; but the local council was wary of "imposing citizenship." The Jones act also restricted economic trade with other countries. Luis Munoz Rivera, the resident commissioner in Washington, argued in its favor, giving several significant speeches in the House of Representatives. On 5 May 1916 he demanded: "Give us now the field of experiment which we ask of you. . . . It is easy for us to set up a stable republican government with all possible guarantees for all possible interests. And afterwards, when you . . . give us our independence . . . you will stand before humanity as a great creator of new nationalities and a great liberator of oppressed people."

The act was signed into law by President Woodrow Wilson on March 2, 1917. Portions of the law were superseded in 1948, after which the Governor was popularly elected, and in 1952 Puerto Rico was allowed to draft its own Constitution, which allowed greater autonomy. --Scholarly Secondary Sources==

• Gatell, Frank Otto. "The Art of the Possible: Luis Muñoz Rivera and the Puerto Rico Jones Bill." Americas 1960 17(1): 1-20.

• Picó, Fernando. Historia general de Puerto Rico. Río Piedras: Ediciones Huracán, (1986).

• Jones Act -- Articles & Definitions
• Jones-Shafroth Act - The Library of Congress
• Spanish text