Foreigners Turned Their Back to Their Birthright to Become Americans

Foreigners Turned Their Back to Their Birthright to Become Americans: The Same Cannot be Said of Puerto Ricans It is apparent that the people from Puerto Rico have evolved politically quite differently than other Americans in the mainland. And, it would be reasonable to state that the islanders were not as a whole enthusiastic in becoming a colony of the United States. And, that eventually Congress provided full American citizenship to the residents of Puerto Rico in 1917, did not mitigate the yearning for a padre patria (father’s land) among a significant number of Puerto Ricans. Thus, it would be correct to say that the islanders did not voluntarily seek United States citizenship. And, there is much historical background behind the granting of citizenship, but its is fair to say that back in 1917 most of the residents of Puerto Rico were coerced into accepting it. Considering this last statement, it would be sensible to state that one of the main reasons which might shed some light as to why a considerable number of Puerto Ricans are not uniformly like other continental Americans is the fact that most of them did not voluntarily applied for American citizenship as it was something bestowed upon them. However, people of European stock, and from other countries, were able to merge quite nicely into the mainstream of American society. These people, whole heartily and with desperation, wanted to become Americans. They gave up their citizenships, their old customs and traditions, their way of life, and then easily embraced warmly the American lifestyle. And, quite the opposite, an ample portion of the residents of Puerto Rico was not easily able to accommodate themselves fully to the American society’s standards. These islanders never had a citizenship, or old ways and customs, to give up; therefore, it was baffling to many of them as to why they had to fully integrate and accept the continental American culture without an equal trade-off.