Against a historical backdrop whose origins go back to the US's acquisition of Puerto Rico in the Spanish-American War, the author examines in close detail the evolution of the statehood movement in that territory. . . . This volume will interest mostly professional scholars, graduate students, and general readers attuned to the Puerto Rican statehood issue and to such matters as ethnicity and constitutional development in societies still governed from a distant metropole- in this case, from Washington DC. The book is generally well written and readable. It contains a useful bibliography on the Puerto Rican statehood movement and a servicable index. Choice Melendez presents the first comprehensive treatment of the statehood movement in Puerto Rico from the nineteenth century to the present day. Broad in scope, the discussion encompasses every major aspect of annexationism--programs, ideology, politics, changing support for statehood within the United States, and the influential role of the New Progressive Party--and offers a groundbreaking comparative analysis of statehood activities, parties, and conceptions throughout the history of the movement. Throughout, Melendez places particular emphasis on major changes and transformations in the movement, enabling the student of Puerto Rican politics to construct a more comprehensive picture of the evolution of Puerto Rican annexationism than has yet been available.

Against a historical backdrop whose origins go back to the US's acquisition of Puerto Rico in the Spanish-American War, the author examines in close detail the evolution of the statehood movement in that territory. . . . This volume will interest mostly professional scholars, graduate students, and general readers attuned to the Puerto Rican statehood issue and to such matters as ethnicity and constitutional development in societies still governed from a distant metropole- in this case, from Washington DC. The book is generally well written and readable. It contains a useful bibliography on the Puerto Rican statehood movement and a servicable index. Choice Melendez presents the first comprehensive treatment of the statehood movement in Puerto Rico from the nineteenth century to the present day. Broad in scope, the discussion encompasses every major aspect of annexationism--programs, ideology, politics, changing support for statehood within the United States, and the influential role of the New Progressive Party--and offers a groundbreaking comparative analysis of statehood activities, parties, and conceptions throughout the history of the movement. Throughout, Melendez places particular emphasis on major changes and transformations in the movement, enabling the student of Puerto Rican politics to construct a more comprehensive picture of the evolution of Puerto Rican annexationism than has yet been available.

Rethinking the Struggle for Puerto Rican Rights offers a reexamination of the history of Puerto Ricans’ political and social activism in the United States in the twentieth century. Authors Lorrin Thomas and Aldo A. Lauria Santiago survey the ways in which Puerto Ricans worked within the United States to create communities for themselves and their compatriots in times and places where dark-skinned or ‘foreign’ Americans were often unwelcome. The authors argue that the energetic Puerto Rican rights movement which rose to prominence in the late 1960s was built on a foundation of civil rights activism beginning much earlier in the century. The text contextualizes Puerto Rican activism within the broader context of twentieth-century civil rights movements, while emphasizing the characteristics and goals unique to the Puerto Rican experience. Lucid and insightful, Rethinking the Struggle for Puerto Rican Rights provides a much-needed introduction to a lesser-known but critically important social and political movement.

"Patria : Puerto Rican Revolutionary Exiles in Late Nineteenth Century New York examines the activities and ideals of Puerto Rican revolutionary exiles in New York City at the end of the nineteenth century. The study centers on the writings, news reports, and announcements by and about Puerto Ricans in Patria, the official newspaper of the Cuban Revolutionary Party. Both were founded and led by the Cuban patriot José Martí. The book looks at the political, organizational, and ideological ties between Cuban and Puerto Rican revolutionaries in exile, as well as the events surrounding the war of 1898. It argues that the major underpinnings of twentieth-century Puerto Rico's nationalist thought were already present in the Patria writings of Puerto Ricans. The newspaper also offers a glimpse into the daily life and community of Puerto Rican exiles in late nineteenth-century New York City. All the writings in Patria about Puerto Rico are presented in their full English translation. Finally, the book presents a historical overview of how the Puerto Rican exile community living in the city developed"--