More than a century after the enactment of the Jones Act of 1917, an organic act that collectively naturalized the residents of Puerto Rico, it is striking to note the prevalence of widespread misunderstandings about the history of the extension of United States citizenship to Puerto Rico. For example, a poll conducted by the Morning Consult in September 2017 suggests that only 54% of mainland residents of the United States (U.S.) know that persons born in Puerto Rico are U.S. citizens. In contrast, a similar poll conducted a year earlier by the Economist/YouGov suggests that in 2016 only 43% of mainland citizens knew that island-born Puerto Ricans were U.S. citizens. I suspect that if polled, a large percent of Puerto Ricans would claim that the Jones Act of 1917 is the current source of U.S. citizenship for persons born in Puerto Rico. Who knows how many more would argue that in 1917 Congress granted U.S. citizenship to the residents of Puerto Rico in order to conscript them to fight in World War I. Academics and politicians continue to argue that persons born in Puerto Rico acquire a statutory citizenship that confers on its bearer a second-class, colonial, and/or territorial status. More than a century after the United States annexed Puerto Rico, a majority of U.S. citizens are still confused about citizenship status of persons born in the island and the constitutional sources of their citizenship.

The Jones Act of 1917 was not the first or last law conferring citizenship on Puerto Ricans. Since the United States annexed Puerto Rico in the aftermath of the Spanish-American War of 1898, the Senate has ratified one treaty with a citizenship provision for the island. Congress debated upwards of 100 bills with citizenship provisions for the island, applied the doctrine of Coverture, and enacted at least ten laws conferring three different types of U.S. nationality and/or citizenship on persons born in Puerto Rico. Specifically, since 1898, the federal government has enacted laws conferring on Puerto Ricans: 1) a non-citizen nationality or Puerto Rican citizenship (1898/1900-1934); 2) the ability to acquire a naturalized (individual and collective) citizenship (1899/1917-1940); and 3) jus soli or birthright citizenship (1940 – present).

Unfortunately, the prevailing historical narrative of the extension of U.S. citizenship to Puerto Rico also contends that persons born in Puerto Rico acquire a statutory citizenship anchored or emanating from an organic or territorial act. This narrative or myth ignores the fact that the citizenship statutes extended to Puerto Rico have been anchored on various types of constitutional sources. For example, the non-citizen nationality ascribed by the Treaty of Paris of 1898 was anchored on the Treaty Making Clause. The Puerto Rican Citizenship enacted by the Foraker Act of 1900 as well as the 1934 Jones Act amendment were clearly anchored on the Territories Clause. The Naturalization Clause was clearly the source of most of the naturalization statutes enacted for Puerto Rican-born subjects between 1899 and 1940. In one instance, the source of citizenship for Puerto Rican women who acquired U.S. citizenship via Coverture (1899-1934) was a federal statute. More importantly, since 1940, Congress anchored its jus soli or birthright citizenship legislation on the Citizenship Clause of the 14^th Amendment. The Puerto Rico Citizenship Archives Project tries to open new reflections about the historical relationship between the U.S. Empire and Puerto Rico, one of its perennial unincorporated territories.

The Puerto Rico Citizenship Archives Project (PRCAP) is a public digital repository of primary materials documenting the history of the extension of United States citizenship to Puerto Rico. The main goal is to tell a story about the history of the extension of U.S. citizenship to Puerto Rico anchored on primary sources and to make this evidence available to a public that is interested in gaining a better understanding of this history. The website contains a series of pages that explain Puerto Rico’s territorial status and provide a chronological narrative of the extension of U.S. citizenship to Puerto Rico between 1898 and 1952. In addition, the PRCAP contains a searchable repository related documents. Finally, the PRCAP provides readers with additional research bibliographies and documents designed to aid students and others interested in exploring these debates in a bit more debt.

The initial PRCAP was publish in 2015 as part of a collaboration between the UConn Libraries’ Scholars Collaborative, El Instituto, and several additional institutions. I am grateful for the incredible support and guidance that several librarians at the James Madison Law Library of Congress provided me. I am forever indebted to the support of Steve Batt, UConn Libraries. The current version of the PRCAP, revised during the month of April 2022, incorporates feedback, critiques, and further reflections. I try to correct past mistakes, incorporate new insights, and address some shortcomings in my research. As always, I welcome critiques, insights, suggestions and feedback in the spirit of intellectual engagement. Please send me your thoughts via email at: charles.venator@uconn.edu