Puerto Ricans granted U.S. citizenship, March 2, 1917

On this day in 1917, President Woodrow Wilson signed the Jones-Shafroth Act, more commonly known as the Jones Act, which made residents of Puerto Rico, a Spanish-speaking U.S. possession, American citizens. It replaced the Foraker Act of 1900, which established a civilian government on the island and was named after its chief sponsor, Sen. Joseph Foraker (R-Ohio).

The new legislation was crafted by Rep. William Jones (D-Va.), chairman of the House Committee on Insular Affairs, and Sen. John Shafroth (D-Colo.), chairman of the Senate Committee on Pacific Islands and Puerto Rico.


It separated the executive, judicial and legislative branches of government and provided for individual civil rights. It called for a governor and an executive council appointed by the U.S. president, a revised judicial system with a Supreme Court and a U.S. District Court, and a popularly elected nonvoting resident commissioner in Washington with a four-year term.

The act created a bicameral legislature, consisting of a popularly elected 19-member Senate and a 39-member House. Members served four-year terms. Legislative acts could be vetoed by the governor. His veto could be overridden by a two-thirds vote, after which the U.S. president and Congress had final say. Washington also maintained control over most fiscal and economic matters, including postal services, immigration and defense.

Much of the impetus for the legislation came from Luis Muñoz Rivera, the resident commissioner in Washington, D.C., who told the House: “It is easy for us to set up a stable republican government. … 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.”

Two months later, when Congress passed the Selective Service Act, conscription was extended to the island. About 20,000 Puerto Ricans were drafted during World War I.

SOURCE: U.S. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS