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I know Puerto Rico actually sends representatives as observers to Congress (to the House of Representatives) but they have no vote. However they probably have some impact on legislation pertaining to the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico (though not much given what is occurring now). However, I don't know if the Guaranians, Virgin Islanders, or the American Samoans have similar representatives.
I remember the excitement in 1959 and 1960 as the two territories of Alaska and Hawaii entered the Union as the 49th and 50th states. For some reason, in the half century since, no movement for the other territories ever has really begun. A few years back Puerto Rico had a moratorium (only one of several) on whether to opt for statehood, commonwealth, or independence. Usually commonwealth status led, but this time (in the last four years?) it was statehood that led. I don't know if that is going to remain the case now, given the horrible rejection of any attempt to give the Puerto Ricans financial assistance in their current mess. Neither of the two parties shows the slightest interest there.
The Virgin islands (as far as I know) probably don't have a sufficiently large population to merit statehood consideration. And American Samoa is a very special case, as it has connections to the other Samoa next door - I suspect they probably hope to rejoin one day.
But Guam is the curious one. The Guaranians don't make any waves about independence as the sizeable Puerto Rican independence party has done over the years (including the attempted assassination of President Truman at Blair House in 1950 and the attack on the floor of the House of Representatives in 1954, and a bombing campaign in New York City in the middle 1970s). This appears to be due to a residue of fear by the Guaranians about the U.S. leaving the island if they became independent. Guam was seized in World War II by Japan, and the island remained under Japanese control until 1945. From reports it was a horrendous experience for the natives, with stories about atrocities emerging. While it is unlikely that could happen again, they sure as hell don't want it to happen again. About twenty five years ago the Japanese government had noticed how tourism for Americans to Hawaii had really grown from the 19th Century to the year of statehood to the 1990s. It occurred to the Japanese they might have a similar situation for themselves (their own vacation paradise) if they could own Guam! From what I recall they actually sought out the U.S. government's reaction to possibly buying Guam from us as their "Hawaii". Apparently (if this story was true - I sometimes wonder about that) we rejected the offer...most likely to the happiness of the Guaranians.
Jeff
I remember the excitement in 1959 and 1960 as the two territories of Alaska and Hawaii entered the Union as the 49th and 50th states. For some reason, in the half century since, no movement for the other territories ever has really begun. A few years back Puerto Rico had a moratorium (only one of several) on whether to opt for statehood, commonwealth, or independence. Usually commonwealth status led, but this time (in the last four years?) it was statehood that led. I don't know if that is going to remain the case now, given the horrible rejection of any attempt to give the Puerto Ricans financial assistance in their current mess. Neither of the two parties shows the slightest interest there.
The Virgin islands (as far as I know) probably don't have a sufficiently large population to merit statehood consideration. And American Samoa is a very special case, as it has connections to the other Samoa next door - I suspect they probably hope to rejoin one day.
But Guam is the curious one. The Guaranians don't make any waves about independence as the sizeable Puerto Rican independence party has done over the years (including the attempted assassination of President Truman at Blair House in 1950 and the attack on the floor of the House of Representatives in 1954, and a bombing campaign in New York City in the middle 1970s). This appears to be due to a residue of fear by the Guaranians about the U.S. leaving the island if they became independent. Guam was seized in World War II by Japan, and the island remained under Japanese control until 1945. From reports it was a horrendous experience for the natives, with stories about atrocities emerging. While it is unlikely that could happen again, they sure as hell don't want it to happen again. About twenty five years ago the Japanese government had noticed how tourism for Americans to Hawaii had really grown from the 19th Century to the year of statehood to the 1990s. It occurred to the Japanese they might have a similar situation for themselves (their own vacation paradise) if they could own Guam! From what I recall they actually sought out the U.S. government's reaction to possibly buying Guam from us as their "Hawaii". Apparently (if this story was true - I sometimes wonder about that) we rejected the offer...most likely to the happiness of the Guaranians.
Jeff
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