On Feb. 6, 1899, Congress approved the Treaty of Paris, which also ceded the Philippines, Puerto Rico and Guam to the U.S.

In 1898, Puerto Rico and Hawaii were colonized and declared US territories. While Hawaii became the 50th state, Puerto Rico remains an unincorporated territory. The anthem’s lyrics deliver a ...

granted in 1917 by an act of Congress, following the U.S. takeover of the island from Spain in the 1898 Spanish-American War. In a non-binding plebiscite in November, nearly 70 percent of ...