Richard Harding Davis's 1901 Play on the Annexation of Puerto Rico

"The Annexation of Puerto Rico" is a one-act play by famed war correspondent and novelist Richard Harding Davis, published in 1901 amid fierce U.S. debate over the island's fate after the Spanish–American War (1898).

Plot Summary

Congressman John Brent is sent to Puerto Rico to assess local sentiment on annexation. He encounters a spectrum of views:

• Pro-annexation: Business elites, some professionals — see U.S. rule as stability, market access, modernization.
• Anti-annexation: Nationalists, laborers, intellectuals — fear loss of sovereignty, cultural erasure, second-class citizenship.
• Undecided/Pragmatic: Many just want economic relief, regardless of flag.

Brent returns to Washington and delivers a speech endorsing annexation, arguing it serves both U.S. strategic interests and Puerto Rico's prosperity.

Historical Context

• 1898: Spain cedes Puerto Rico to U.S. (Treaty of Paris).
• 1900: Foraker Act establishes civilian government, but no citizenship or statehood path.
• 1901: Play premieres; Insular Cases (Supreme Court) rule Puerto Rico "belongs to but is not part of" the U.S.
• 1917: Jones Act grants U.S. citizenship.

Reception & Legacy

Controversial: praised by expansionists, condemned by anti-imperialists (Mark Twain, Andrew Carnegie). Today, it's studied as a primary source on American imperial ideology and Puerto Rican agency (or lack thereof) in the debate.