Timelines

Puerto Rico first came under U.S. colonial control in 1898 as a result of the Spanish-American War and remained without an internationally recognized status until 1917. Critics of the act argued it was a play to gain more soldiers for the war effort; following its passage, more than 20,000 Puerto Rican men were promptly drafted. As European immigration waned during this period, thousands of Puerto Ricans also migrated to Northern and Midwestern cities where industrial work abounded in the wartime economy.