Profile America: The Treaty of Paris and U.S. Overseas Territories

UNITED STATES OVERSEAS TERRITORIES   

On this date in 1899, the Senate ratified the Treaty of Paris, concluding the Spanish-American War of 1898. The treaty, negotiated in Paris the previous December, was opposed by 27 senators — not opposed to peace but to the overseas territorial acquisitions. Spain ceded Puerto Rico, Guam, and — for a few years before independence — Cuba to the United States. Additionally, the Philippines were sold to the U.S. for $20 million.

The Philippines became independent after World War II, but Puerto Rico and Guam are still U.S. territories. Guam’s population in the 2010 Census was over 159,000. Puerto Rico was home to 3.7 million residents in 2010, though recent Census estimates now put the population at just over 3.5 million.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau