Every territory had to fight for statehood, and anti-statehood arguments against Washington State may sound familiar. Washington Territory started its struggle for statehood in 1850, and didn’t succeed until 1889. What obstacles did the territory face? Initially, their problem was that they were part of Oregon Territory. They fought first to become a separate territory and then for admission as a state. First, they needed to build their population up and become sufficiently settled to be considered for statehood. In 1869 and 1871, they finally held plebiscites on statehood, and those revealed another serious obstacle to admission: statehood lost the 1871 vote.
Blank ballots and low turnout
Turnout for both votes was small. In 1871, there were just 1,000 votes. What’s more, only half of the voters answered the question on statehood. The majority of voters left the status question blank and voted only for the candidates for local offices.
The votes were not questioned and nobody claimed to be able to guess what the non-voting residents were thinking when they left that question blank. The people who voted on the question — the only people who make the decision in American voting — said they were not ready for statehood, so Washington Territory did not become a state.
The territory’s leaders had requested statehood before and after these votes, but Congress refused. One concern was that the intercontinental railroad hadn’t yet reached Washington, making it a distant territory unable to communicate easily with the existing states. Another issue was fear that Washington couldn’t afford a state government. The anti-statehood votes made it harder for Congress to support admission, even though it didn’t prevent them from admitting Washington under the Constitution.
In 1878, Washington Territory’s voters held a new vote and statehood won. At that point, Washington again asked for statehood, but Congress rejected the request.
Internal discord
Like many of the western states, Washington was considered a violent and lawless place. The Eastern and Western sections of Washington were often in conflict over policies, a problem which still exists today. Washington wanted to allow women the vote, but there were those who argued against it, fearing that woman suffrage would prevent statehood. There was in addition plenty of controversy, in Washington Territory and in Congress, over the borders of Washington and Idaho.
There was also mob violence against Chinese residents. Chinese workers came to Washington along with the railroad, but faced angry, violent rioters when they chose to settle in Washington Territory. Washington passed “anti-alien” land laws which said that non-citizens could not own land and sometimes that Asians could not own land. However the laws were phrased, it was understood that land ownership should only be available to black and white settlers, not to Chinese residents.
In the 19th century, Congress often expressed concern about admitting uncivilized territories as states. All these issues gave Washington a chaotic appearance that discouraged admission.
Lessons for Puerto Rico
Finally, President Benjamin Harrison signed legislation bringing Washington along with North Dakota, South Dakota, and Montana. These were the first new states to be admitted in thirteen years. Washington had been a territory for 36 years.
For Puerto Rico, the anti-statehood arguments against Washington may have a familiar ring, and the problems of internal strife — though the causes of the turmoil were different — may also sound familiar.
