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Puerto Rico became a territory of the United States when Spain ceded the island to the United States in 1898. The Jones Act of 1917 granted all residents born in Puerto Rico citizenship to the US. Spanish Citizens (those born on Puerto Rico before 1898) were given the choice to accept US citizenship or retain their Spanish Citizenship.

The reason for the Jones act had to do with the US acquisition of the Dutch Virgin Islands (now the US Virgin Islands) during World War I. One of the conditions of the sale of the islands to the US was that all residents of the islands, including Puerto Rico be granted full US citizenship.

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