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The history of Guam involves phases including the early arrival of people known today as the ancient Chamorros, the development of "pre-contact" society, Spanish colonization, and the present American rule of the island. Guam's history of colonialism is the longest among the Pacific islands.

Guam prior to European contact

Migrations

It is believed that Guam was first discovered by sea-faring people who migrated from southeastern Indonesia around 2000 BC. Another theory points to the Philippines as a possible origin. Most of what is known about Pre-Contact ("Ancient") Chamorros comes from legends and myths, archaeological evidence, Jesuit missionary accounts, and observations from visiting scientists like Otto von Kotzebue and Louis de Freycinet.

Chamorro society

When Europeans first arrived on Guam Chamorro society roughly fell into three classes: matua (upper class), achaot (middle class), and mana'chang (lower class). The matua were located in the coastal villages, which meant they had the best access to fishing grounds, while the mana'chang were located in the interior of the island. Matua and mana'chang rarely communicated with each other, and matua often used achaot as a go-between. There were also "makana" (shamans), skilled in healing and medicine. The only remnant of pre-European belief systems is a lingering folk belief in Taotao Mona. Early European explores noted the Chamorros' fast sailing vessels used for trading with other islands of Micronesia.

Latte

The "latte stones" familiar to Guam residents and visitors alike were in fact a recent development in Pre-Contact Chamorro society. The latte stone consists of a head and a base shaped out of limestone. Like the Easter Island statues, there is plenty of speculation over how this was done by a society without machines or metal, but the generally accepted view is that the head and base were etched out of the ground by sharp adzes and picks (possibly with the use of fire), and carried to the assembly area by an elaborate system of ropes and logs. The latte stone was used as a part of the raised foundation for a magalahi (matua chief) house, although they may have also been used for canoe sheds.

Archaeologists using carbon-dating have broken Pre-Contact Guam (i.e. Chamorro) history into three periods: "Pre-Latte" (BC 2000? to AD 1) "Transitional Pre-Latte" (AD 1 to AD 1000), and "Latte" (AD 1000 to AD 1521). Archaeological evidence also suggests that Chamorro society was on the verge of another transition phase by 1521, as latte stones became bigger. Assuming the stones were used for chiefly houses, it can be argued that Chamorro society was becoming more stratified, either from population growth or the arrival of new people. The theory remains tenuous, however, due to lack of evidence, but if proven correct, will further support the idea that Pre-Contact Chamorros lived in a vibrant and dynamic environment.

The Spanish Era

"Discovery"

On March 6, 1521 Ferdinand Magellan came across Guam on his expedition to circumnavigate around the globe. He and his crewmen were greeted by the Chamorros, in small fast vessels called "flying proas". They welcomed the Europeans with food and drink. According to Chamorro folk history, the Chamorros expected to be paid in return while the Europeans saw the supplies given to them as gifts. When — having not been recompensed for the food and hospitality — the Chamorros stole upon Magellan's ships taking iron from the decks. In response, the Spaniards killed several islanders and burned their homes. Magellan and his men left Guam and continued their journey to the spice islands. Angry at the 'larcenous' natives, he first dubbed Guam and the rest of the Mariana Islands "Las Islas de los Ladrones", (The Islands of the Thieves), but in 1668 the first missionary to Guam, Padre San Vitores, changed the name to "Las Marianas" after Mariana of Austria, widow of Spain's Philip IV.

Colonization

Within decades, Guam was colonized by Spain. It was an important stop along the Spanish route between the Philippines and Mexico for trade galleons and whaling ships. The original inhabitant population dwindled significantly as a result of disease and rebellion against the Spaniards. Much of the adult male population was killed. Still, a population of those who identified themselves as Chamorros remained, though the culture and bloodlines began to incorporate Spanish and other European religion, customs, and language.

The American Era

Capture of Guam

Piti 1900.jpg|left|thumb|350px|The village of Piti shortly after Guam's capture by the Americans. ]]On June 21, 1898, Guam was captured by the United States in the bloodless Battle of Guam during the Spanish-American War. By the Treaty of Paris, Spain officially ceded Guam to the United States. Since then, Guam served as a way station for American ships traveling to and from the Philippines.

The 1910 Catholic Encyclopedia wrote, "Guam is 32 miles long, from 3 to 10 miles broad, and about 200 sq. miles in area. Of its total population of 11,490 (11,159 natives), Agana, the capital, contains about 7,000. Possessing a good harbour, the island serves as a United States naval station, the naval commandant acting also as governor. The products of the island are maize, copra, rice, sugar, and valuable timber."

World War II

During World War II, Guam was attacked and invaded by the Japanese armed forces shortly after December 7, 1941. Most U.S. military personnel evacuated prior to the invasion. The Japanese military occupation lasted from 1941 to 1944 and was a brutal experience for the Chamorro people, whose loyalty to the United States became a point of contention with the Japanese. Some American servicemen were still on the island and were hidden by the Chamorro people. The Battle of Guam started on July 21, 1944 with American troops landing on the island and Guam was recaptured from Japanese military rule on August 10 in an Allied victory.

Self-Determination

The immediate years after World War II saw the U.S. Navy attempting to resume its predominance in Guam affairs. This eventually led to resentment, and thus increased political pressure for greater autonomy from Chamorro leaders. The result was the Guam Organic Act of 1950 (signed by President Harry S. Truman), which established Guam as an unincorporated organized territory of the United States and, for the first time in Guam History, provided for a civilian government. The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952, section 307, granted U.S. citizenship to "all persons born in the island of Guam on or after April 11, 1899 (whether before or after August 1, 1950)". In the 1960s, under President John F. Kennedy, the island's required security clearance for visitors was lifted.

On September 11, 1968, eighteen years after passage of the Organic Act, Congress passed the "Elective Governor Act" (Public Law 90-497), which allowed the people of Guam to elect their own governor and lieutenant governor. Nearly four years later, Congress passed the "Guam-Virgin Islands Delegate" Act that allowed for one non-voting Guam delegate in the House of Representatives. Although Public Law 94-584 established the formation of a "locally drafted" constitution (later known as the "Guam Constitution"), the proposed document was rejected by Guam residents in an August 4, 1979 referendum.

In the meantime, Guam's local government had formed several political status commissions to address possible options for self-determination. The following year after passage of the Guam Delegate Act saw the creation of the "Status Commission" by the Twelth Guam Legislature. This was followed by the establishment of the "Second Political Status Commission" in 1975 and the Guam "Commission on Self-Determination" (CSD) in 1980. The Twenty-Fourth Guam Legislature established the "Commission on Decolonization" in 1996 to enhance CSD's ongoing studies of various political status options and public education campaigns.

These efforts enabled the CSD, barely two years after its creation, to organize Guam's first political status referendum on January 12, 1982. Forty-nine percent, or almost half, of all Guam residents who voted, chose a closer relationship with the United States via Commonwealth. Twenty-six percent voted Statehood, while ten percent voted for the Status Quo (Unincorporated territory). Smaller groups voted for Incorporated territory status (5%), Free Association (4%), Independence (4%), and "other" political status options (2%). A subsequent run-off election held between Commonwealth and Statehood saw seventy-three percent, or nearly three-fourth's, of Guam voters choosing Commonwealth over Statehood (27%).

Not until 1988, six years after Guam residents overwhelmingly approved Commonwealth status, was the first Guam Commonwealth Act introduced into Congress. Delegates have subsequently reintroduced the bill with little success.

A 2005 monograph by Guam historian Dirk A. Ballendorf and Washington D.C. legal expert Howard P. Willens ("Secret Guam Study") examines a recently declassified U.S. Federal study of Guam's political status. The report was commissioned by President Gerald Ford at the behest of Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, but conducted by the Department of the Interior. Delays, however, meant that the study was not completed until the end of the Ford administration. The documents were then shelved and classified, with few officials in the Carter administration, let alone Capitol Hill, even aware of their existence. Antonio Won Pat Borja, Guam's Washington delegate, and other GovGuam officials involved in political status negotiations at that time were also not informed about the study.

Contemporary Guam

Guam's U.S. military installations remain among the most strategically vital in the Pacific Ocean. When the United States closed its Navy and Air Force bases in the Philippines after the expiration of their leases in the early 1990's, many of the forces stationed there were relocated to Guam.

The removal of Guam's security clearance by president Kennedy allowed for the development of a tourism industry. The island's rapid economic development was fueled both by rapid growth in this industry as well as increased U.S. Federal Government spending during the 1980s and 1990s. The Asian economic crisis of the late 1990's, which particularly hit Japan hard, severely affected Guam tourism. Military cutbacks in the 1990s also disrupted the island's economy. The island's economic recovery was further hampered by devastation from Supertyphoons Paka in 1997 and Ponsonga in 2002, as well as the effects of the September 11 terrorist attacks on tourism.

There are signs that Guam is recovering from these setbacks. The increased arrivals of Japanese tourists reflect that country's economic recovery, as well as Guam's enduring appeal as a weekend tropical retreat. U.S. military spending has dramatically increased as part of President George W. Bush's War on Terrorism. Recent proposals to strengthen U.S. military facilities, including negotiations to transfer 8,000 U.S. Marines from Okinawa, also indicate renewed interest in Guam by the U.S. military.

"Cosmopolitan" Guam poses particular challenges for Chamorros struggling to preserve their culture and identity in the face of acculturation. The increasing numbers of Chamorros, especially Chamorro youth, relocating to the U.S. Mainland has further complicated both definition and preservation of Chamorro identity.

Further reading

Robert F. Rogers, Destiny’s Landfall: A History of Guam (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1995)

Paul Carano and Pedro C. Sanchez, A Complete History of Guam (Rutland, VT: C. E. Tuttle, 1964)

Howard P Willens and Dirk A Ballendorf, The Secret Guam Study: How President Ford's 1975 Approval of Commonwealth Was Blocked by Federal Officials (Mangilao, Guam: Micronesian Area Research Center; Saipan: Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands Division of Historical Preservation, 2004)

External links

See also

Guam | Histories of non-state political divisions of the United States

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "History of Guam".

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