Changes

The results of the initial vote for independence from the US led to friction and hostility between government officials who were elected and those appointed to govern the island by the US President and government. In 1917, the Jones–Shafroth Act was enacted, which granted citizenship to Puerto Rico's citizens born after April 25, 1898. This led to further friction because it was seen as plot by the elected officials as an attempt to draft Puerto Rico's residents into World War I. However, the Act did also expand some of the rights Puerto Ricans by enabling an elected Senate and bill of rights to govern the island's citizens. With the onset of the Great Depression, and disasters including hurricanes, Puerto Ricos economy decline by 1930. This, once again, led to increased interest in an independence movement in Puerto Rico. The populist leader Pedro Albizu Campos, leader of the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party, arose to prominence. The 1930s became a period of political conflict in Puerto Rico. The US-appointed governor attempted to repress the party, but the party responded by assassinating two politicians. In the 1930s, as independence for the Philippines was gaining popularity in the US Senate, the US Senate sponsored a bill giving Puerto Rico independence. Luis Muñoz Marín, of the Liberal Party, however, opposed the bill, leading to its defeat in Puerto Rico, despite the majority of other parties and legislators agreeing to the bill. Puerto Rico had become divided into two main political camps, with those supporting and opposing the presence of the US. Two massacres during peaceful protests, including the well publicized Ponce massacre (Figure 2) that led to 19 civilian deaths, in the late 1930s led to more anti-US sentiment, leading once again the US congress to introduce a bill for independence in 1943. Once again, it was defeated, however, by pro-US opposition in Puerto Rico. The late 1930s and early 1940s became a tense period as the local police and national guard, seen as favoring the US administrator, became a focus of protest and fear for Puerto Rican nationalists. The Elective Governor Act, passed in 1948, finally allowed local election for Puerto Rico's governor, with Luis Muñoz Marín becoming the first elected governor. However, the Partido Popular Democrático, controlled by Marín, effectively attempted to outlaw any Puerto Rican independence movement by making their advertising and organization largely illegal. In 1950, Puerto Rico gained its right to form its own constitution. |The period of tension with the US perhaps culminated with attempted assassination of President Truman by Puerto Rican nationalists Oscar Collazo and Griselio Torresola, with Collazo later being commuted in his sentence after the failed assassination attempt<ref>For more on Puerto Rican nationalists movements after the US takeover of the island, see: Denis, N.A., 2015. <i>War against all Puerto Ricans: revolution and terror in America’s colony</i>. Nation Books, A Member of the Perseus Books Group, New York, NY.</ref>

==Recent History==