On this day in 1952, Puerto Rico adopts the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.

Governor Luis Muñoz Marín chose this day so that “Constitution Day” and the celebration of self-government could replace Occupation Day. Previously, Occupation Day had observed the ‘arrival’ of the United States military on July 25, 1898 during the Spanish-American War.

Our trust, our union

Not to engage in the long-standing sovereignty/autonomy debate, I’ll simply share the Preamble:

“We, the people of Puerto Rico, in order to organize ourselves politically on a fully democratic basis, to promote the general welfare, and to secure for ourselves and our posterity the complete enjoyment of human rights, placing our trust in Almighty God, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the commonwealth which, in the exercise of our natural rights, we now create within our union with the United States of America.”

The Capitol of Puerto Rico is in San Juan, just outside the walls of Old San Juan. The Constitution is displayed in the rotunda, as pictured here: