Why has Puerto Rico never become either independent or an incorporated state of the United States of America?

Seminar paper from the year 2020 in the subject Politics - Region: USA, grade: 1,7, University of Marburg (Politikwissenschaft), course: American Military Interventions Abroad, language: English, abstract: The research question of this work is "Why has Puerto Rico never become either independent or an incorporated state of the United States of America?" and focuses on making visible the reasons for the absence of a decision for a clear status of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.The first part of the paper will briefly outline the history of the Caribbean island before the main part will examine historical speeches, documents, status referenda, special events and monographs concerning Puerto Rico and the reasons for the lack of incorporation or independence from both the Puerto Rican and the United States point of view. One of the main points of interest will be to uncover possible racism as a motive for the USA to keep the colony in possession, since it has always been prevalent in the pejorative treatment of non-white minorities. In addition, it will be clarified why the inhabitants of Puerto Rico have long supported or endured the unclear status of the Commonwealth.