Limited Rights in US territories 1

Limited Rights in US territories

Carlos Joel Reyes

Tallwood High school

Author Note
First section: History of the territories

Second section: which are still territories

Third section:the effects of being a Territory

Fourth section: how to solve or find a solution

TABLE OF CONTEXT

Abstract .. 3

Intro.4
Limited Rights in US territories 2

Lit review.5

Limits...6

Discussion...7

Conclusion...`13

References....14

Annotated Bibliography... 18
Limited Rights in US territories 3

Abstract

The history of the US during its expansion led it to acquired much of the continental US

and many islands in the caribbean and the Pacific. A few of these territories have gain

independence but many are still US territories with little representation in the federal

government. Like Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Virgin islands, District of Columbia, Guam and

many others still a lack to vote both in congress or for president. And many could go for

statehood but are denied do to Supreme cases that took place 116 years ago. And this is still a

lasting imperialism that america has over these territories affects much of their aspects on life.

With little voice or influence in the federal government many of these citizens (nationals for

American Samoa) are treated as if there are second class. The simplest solution would be to have

a election where the citizens vote whether they want to continue to have their territorial status or

to have a chance to go into statehood.

Limited Rights in US territories 4

Introduction

The territories of the US grew largely after the US was granted its independence

and this let the US to expanded its territories. Much of these territories were were

expanded from the 13 colonies and stayed in the mainland of the US. it wasnt until the

spanish American war were the US started to expand its borders beyond the mainland

and went over seas. The took puerto Rico, the Philippines(gained its independence

shortly after), the Virgin Islands, and later the took Hawaii, Alaska, and American Samoa

from either WWII or a land purchases. Much of the territories either joined the Union as

a new state or gained its independence, yet there are still a few that remain territories to

this day.

And much of these territories remained a territory for hundreds of years with little

change in converting them to statehood or grant them independence. And the biggest

problem is the denial of rights as most are US citizens. Yet they can not vote for the

president and are rarely represented in the US federal government. Even some are

denied the right to travel freely as they are US national citizen and are denied more

rights. And the representation in government can range from little to none, leading them

to be forgotten.

Lit review
Limited Rights in US territories 5

In this body i use the source (PR) of Puerto Rico a lot as it is the most researched

Territory and much of what happens to Puerto Rico or items that affect Puerto Rico are the same

for many of the other territories. But for territories such as American Samoa the research had to

use different Sources as it was the most different out of the others. As People born in Samoa are

US nationals and share less rights then many of the territories.with this the research needed to

also find the history of the territories and how it brought the problems we see today.

Such territories are were also brought up from the UN, where they say these territories

are US colonies. And that these territories as such already decided what they would like to be and

have voted on what they would like to be. But as of now, having no voice in congress, they

cannot ask to be considered for statehood or any other option. Even DC has wanted to be given

statehood to have control over its own laws and regulations. Yet cannot until congress approves

to pass it.

Limitations
Limited Rights in US territories 6

The biggest limit on the paper is the lack or redundant information on the limits of rights

to the people living in the US territories. As much of the research is how it happen and how it is

still a current event now, much does not go into how it affects or effects these people. As much of

it is either not researched or it cant be connected clearly. As much of the impact can be seen but

gets a cause from another source and to connect it to human rights is difficult or impossible.

Also there is little data that can be used and people that can help the researcher find the

information needed or can retrieve in the amount of time that was given. As much of the data

would either need a poll that can be public for all citizens ( in US territories) to do and to get

opinions of topics like this are rarely talked about in most circles. To get a accurate information

that is current is hard to get or have access to get information that could be amazing to add to the

paper.

And the get People that talk about this or that get information about the citizen rights are

hard to obtain as many people are politicians who the researcher can not get a hold of or lawyers

who cant due to having too many cases of there own to do. And he has to rely on citizens of

these island or data bases where much of the data like said before would be the same as before. If

the researcher given an opportunity to talk to the people that are working to get the rights the

people want the paper would have been in a better footing that it is in.

And last the researcher has a bias to the paper that of which is being written. As the

researcher is Puerto Rican and wants the citizens of the island to gain the rights they do not have,

and so the paper is being written in a positive light to convince others about this subject.
Limited Rights in US territories 7

Discussion

When the 13 colonies first left the imperial empire of the British King back in 1776, gave

way to for them to expand to the lands they were once restricted by the proclamation of 1763.

And as soon as the war was over and the the Government of the United States Of America was

established, they would expand from the east coast to the west coast of the continent, to islands

to acquiring lands above canada from russia and would not stop until near the end of the cold

war(2013, Spring). This was the time the US became imperialistic like the country they once left.

Much of the lands turned into states, yet a few still remain as US territories(Petersen 2012). And

these territories are Puerto Rico, Guam, american Samoa, the US virgin islands, D.C., and the

Northern Marianas. But only in 5 they are considered american citizens and in American Samoa

they are US nationals.

These territories were acquired either by purchasing them from other countries or through

conquest. As Puerto Rico was taken from the Spanish empire After the Spanish american war

peace treaty along with Guam, American samoa after sighed the first two Deeds of Cession, the

virgin islands purchased from the danish, and the northern Marianas back in the 70s to join the

US, and D.C. was established as the capital of the US in 1790.(PR) Yet unlike the territories like

alaska and hawaii, they became states by the late 1950s and are as of right now the only states

outside of the mainland of U.S. This brings into question why the other territories are still not not

states or given the rights of being a US citizens that is given by the U.S. constitution(2013,

Spring).

And the transformation from territories to states should have happened to some as in the

US constitution article VI say they can become states through a popular vote or having enough
Limited Rights in US territories 8

population to convince the US congress to take notice and vote into weather they would let them

join the US as a state. But this could be found in supreme court cases which would give no path

into statehood for many of the territories and limit the rights of the people living within the

lands.

These cases were called the insular cases, which applied to the philippines (before they were

granted independence) and Puerto Rico(Insular) . The insular cases back in 1901 was to give

the legal and the status of people living in the territories. It said belonging to the United States,

but not a part of the United States and the reason was that they were not settled by US citizens

but by alien races and made the court say that these alien races could not follow anglo-Saxon

principles. but it did say these exceptions should only stay for a certain amount of time, but it

that was a 115 years ago(PR) .

It also said until the US congress gave US citizenship to the people in the islands, they were

not protected by the US constitution.(Petersen 2012) This made that they were not part of US

until congress gave way to incorporate the islands into states. Yet it wasn't until the 1922 ruling

were the status of Puerto Rico was left on a confusing note as weather it could become a

state(Insular) .

Puerto Rico would become a territory under the federal government and have to obey

the laws of the government but congress did not have to govern Puerto Rico with the

constitution, the could work outside of it even though they were given citizenship back in 1917

by congress(PR) . They did point out that some rights were so important that they would apply

to everyone but the court did not mention which rights applied to the people instead left it for

congress.

As of now puerto Rico has many rights guaranteed by the US constitution but they can

not vote for president and have no senators or representatives in congress. Only one speaker
Limited Rights in US territories 9
who speaks for puerto Rico but no voting. It has a population of 3.5 million more than 21 states

but are still treated as second class citizens(Insular) .

Yet Puerto Rico would not have to worry about these cases until the recent years of the

2000s and now. Puerto Rico had a rich agricultural sector back in the 50 that was selling large

amounts of sugar cane. But then the government wanted to transform the island into a

manufacturing center as it was cheaper in mexico to produce such goods(Petersen 2012). And

the government saw this as a problem, that companies would go overseas and not to puerto

rico. So congress pass a tax law called Sec. 936 that gave huge tax breaks for companies that

would go to Puerto Rico.

And in the late 70s Puerto Rico became a huge manufacture of pharmaceutical

companies. At its peak it had 89 major companies in the island, This increased Puerto Ricos

economy and growth to the island. Yet when congress changed the tax law that would take out

Sec. 936 by 2006, many of the companies left the island(PR).

It was more than half of the companies had left which left Puerto Rico in a decline and in

need of money. And so Pueto Rico turned to municipal bonds which was a good way for Puerto

Rico to borrow money without making budget cuts.(Petersen 2012) Yet by 2008 and now Puerto

stacked up debt it could not pay from these bonds. And now the island is in 70 to 100 billion

dollars in debt. But the worse part is that Puerto Rico can not file for bankruptcy chapter 9 like

many other states due to a law passed in 1984 with a amendment that exempts Puerto Rico to

file for it (Oliver 2016).

This was in part due to Puerto Rico not being a state or having a vote in congress to

change the causing these chain reactions to happen to the island. Such problems like these are

related to Puerto Rico due part of it being a Territory(PR).

And the insular cases also apply to the territory of Guam as well as it does in puerto rico. It has

the same restrictions as puerto rico but is more limited in other ways due to the insular
Limited Rights in US territories 10
cases(Insular). As much as 27% of the island is for the navy and airforce bases on the island.

These bases provide a faster response to threats in asia such as north korea making guam a

strategic importance for the us military (Guam).

But the citizens of guam do not have a say about the bases on their island. As the

bases do not have to follow any laws made by the government of guam and can just follow the

regulations of the federal government.(Petersen 2012) And since they do not have a right to

vote for president they don't have a say for the commander-in-chief to see how he could use

the bases in the island the way the citizens of guam would prefer.

It is worse once you find out that one in eight are veterans of the US military, which is

one of the most among all of the US for given it citizens for military service. With guam giving a

8th of its people to the military, the us federal government is the largest employer for the island

of guam. Which brings into question why are still not given the rights that they fight for the rest

of the US to keep(Insular) .

This is such a problem that guam was ranked last for medical care spending per

veteran. As guam can not vote on how it could receive more benefits and no say in congress

just pushes a tough argument for why guam has a limiting factor in a say in the federal

government.(State) But only get worse for American Samoa as more rights are limited to them.

For American Samoa much of the rights as for Puerto Rico and Guam are applied along with a

few others. As now they are not automatically get american citizenship by being born in

American Samoa.(State) They are born US nationals which give them no voting rights and also

need to have a passport that tells them they are US national citizen if they want to travel to the

US.(Oliver 2016) And what this also means is they can't be president, run for office, be on a jury,

or even be a public school teacher. Their is a supreme court case where they are suing the

government for not giving them the rights which they want, but the obama administration used

the insular cases as a way to overturn the case.

Limited Rights in US territories 11
For the other islands they are us citizens but do not have any voice in congress or can

vote for president. And D.C. has almost no say in voting and much of D.C. can be controlled by

congress without much representation (DC). They do have a right to vote, but they are mostly

affected by congress. And they could be tax without representation or not be able to control their

budget on how to spend their money.

With this many of the US territories suffer from the lack of voice they have in congress,

and for the president which in turn affects their lives as a whole.(Insular)As to see how to

improve the lives of the citizens to not being able to let go of imperial roots still holding them

down from court cases calling them alien races.

And the organization of how these territories are part of the government get stranger of

how it is. As the territories of Puerto Rico, Guam, American Sa, US Virgin islands, and the

Northern Mariana islands are organized as in self governing but not Incorporated into the US.

DC is different as it is organized and Incorporated just not a state(UN) .

When this was brought up in the United Nations of decolonization, special committee of

24 said these territories like US Virgin islands, and Guam are colonies. As they are self

governing yet are with a government that gives them little power in law making. They called for

the US to give people the power living in these territories to choose whether they join the US or

become independent states(PR) .

And this has happen with one territory already Puerto Rico. Certified Official Results of

the 2012 plebiscite held to questions which the citizens voted on:do you agree that Puerto Rico

Should continue to have its present form of territorial status? yes 46% to no 54%. And when

they asked which three options the voter would want (statehood, independence, and Sovereign

Associated Free State) statehood got 61%, independence got less than 5%, and SAFS got 33%

during the cast of votes(PR) .

Limited Rights in US territories 12
Because of this the UN has called the United States to solve this issue and delacar

Puerto Rico either a state or a SAFS. But as of now the USA has not done anything of the sort,

and yet instead ignored this and keep making the rules for the island (UN).

Yet for the other territories they have a different opinion as of how they want to be seen

in the world and by the US. Like D.C. wants statehood so they can have control over laws and

regulations in the city that are not set by congress.(State) Guam does not care for statehood or

independence, it wants to stay how it is but does want more control over certain issues such as

healthcare. For American Samoa it is heavily divided on the issue(UN) . For many of the vets

and new generation they want to be a state and have full citizenship rights. But others such as

the old generation want to be SAFS (Sovereign associated free state) as many other islands

around the pacific are.For the rest of the islands, many do not care for change and are fine with

what they have.

As the reason for many to change into statehood or a SAFS is to have a voice or to have control

over their own laws in their lands. But many don't want to change into a state, as many fear that

it could change the culture of the territory, destroying the identity of the people. Also many of the

people have teams in the olympics, as they can use this to show the power of the people to the

world.

But for many they want change, something many have been waiting for more than 116

years. Many are hoping to finally get some change.

Conclusion
Limited Rights in US territories 13

Many territories of the US suffer at a high cost with little benefits of not being

able to have a say in the way it matters for the federal government. They have to relay on

congress to choose how they get to make there laws or how to use their lands. They also

have no voting rights for president, or anytype of federal placement other than a speaker

for the territory. But this speaker has little voice and does not have any power in

congress, the speaker just talks about the problems in their territory.

With each territory having different problems of their own that cant be

solved. And such problems have brought the attention of the UN saying these territories

are colonies. But the US has done little with this even if the territory has voted to become

a state (such as Puerto Rico).Yet we might see some changes in the coming years.

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p=GPS&sw=w&u=vbcps&v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE

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Annotated Bibliography

U.S. policy toward the occupied territories. (1988). Department of State Bulletin,
88(2132), 71+. Retrieved from http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=GPS&sw=w&u=vbcps&v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE
%7CA6536527&asid=7cad5be823deb3edcc73d3cc992c4b2a

In this report it tells of the time of the writing of the policies for the many small US
territories in caribbean and the pacific ocean. It tells of how congress at the time tried passing
laws that would add it the US but limited due to the fact they were not American. And many
documents of how congress and the supreme court passed laws that allowed for limited rights for
territories. And much of the policies remain the same and unchanged as congress does not know
what to do about it.

The helps me with the facts that affect the the territories how they are now and how they
were before. This report tells the reader about every policy that could affect the territories and
how these policies were instituted by law. The only bias that is in this report is that it does not tell
why such policies would be instituted and enforced and why for so long.

Schlimgen, V. (2013, Spring). U.S. overseas territories and the legacy of empire. World History
Bulletin, 29(1), 39+. Retrieved from http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=GPS&sw=w&u=vbcps&v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE
%7CA391855429&asid=9551e0deed50b32b534d9593de5d625c
 Limited Rights in US territories 18

This article talks about the history of expaning the area of its control and how it came to
take all of the current territories. From the start of expanding the 13 colonies to the west coast
and the spanish war of taking starticgic islands such as guam and the phipplines and WWII. And
then it goes to talk about the imperalistic ideals set up for the islands.

There is no bias but it does talk about the imperalistic expanison of the US in a different
point of view. It say that the US is a empire and the the expanison is its legacy that represents the
untold story of the US that we are not really told.

U.S. territories and the District of Columbia. (1997, January 10). Scholastic Update,
129(8), 13. Retrieved from http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=GPS&sw=w&u=vbcps&v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE
%7CA19069943&asid=f0e741acd8974a6855f13c884d03a1d1
It is a document explianing the territories and what they are and how are they repersented
in the government. It is a just filled with facts that helps set any data that can be used to prove a
point.

Kauffman, Bill. "Alaska + Hawaii = Puerto Rico." The American Enterprise 9.5 (1998): 75. General
OneFile. Web. 28 Oct. 2016.
URL
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=GPS&sw=w&u=vbcps&v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE
%7CA21154919&asid=d940d75eec60a689a8c1578254238ce9