Nationalism in the Spanish-American colonies: The Philippines and Puerto Rico, 1509--1952

Although separated by thousands of miles, the Philippines and Puerto Rico shared similar histories for half a millennium due to imperialism, but during the 1940s, their histories diverged---the Philippines became independent in 1945 while Puerto Rico retains its colonial status as a Commonwealth of the United States. This thesis investigates why and how this occurred, approaching the analysis from the perspective of nationalism and its relationship to imperialism. To do this, a historical analysis of the two distinct colonial periods, Spanish and American, was conducted for each colony. This qualitative analysis was based on theories of nationalism. A comparative process evaluating the colonies' nationalist responses during the Spanish and American periods was employed to determine why the Philippines achieved independence and Puerto Rico did not. This comparison demonstrated that the two colonies' histories diverged because nationalism's catalysts (e.g., socio-politico and economic issues, nationalist leaders, and colonial government policies) differed greatly between the Philippines and Puerto Rico.