Figure 1.--The United States seizure of Guam from Spainsh in the Spanish American War (1898). The Navy was put in charge which in many ways continued the colonial relatiinship. But in other ways the Guamanian experience was different. The Americans protected property rights and for the most part honored basic civil liberties along with creating public school system. But what created a strong bond between the Chamorros and the Aeruicans was the World War II Japanese invasiion (December 1942). The Japanese rerribly bused the Chasmooos during the occuption. The Americans librated Guam (July 1944). The Americans protected the Chamorros and provided needed emercy care and aid. Here a MP helps an injured Chamorro boy who was not quite sure what to expect.

As a result of European diseases and Spanish mistreatment, the population was only about 20,000 at the time of World War II. The United States seized Guam from Spain during the Spanish-American War (1898-99). It was a useful coaling station before the United States Navy switched to oil. The U.S. Navy with an appointed governor administered the island for 40 years. About 90 percent of the islanders were Chamorros. Half of population lived in the capital city of Agana. 【Polomo, Island, p. 134.】 The northern islands (Saipan, Rota, and Tinian were acquired by Germany and then transferred to Japan as a result of World War I. Guam was administered by the U.S. Navy which resisted giving the Chamorros U.S. citizenship or the development of representative government. This is a fair criticism. Modern American scholars are critical of this. 【Herman】 All two often scholars like Herman with woke orientations, present only one side of issues involving the United States. What Herman says in his article is correct, but he notably avoids the whole story leaving out many important factors. First it was not common at the time for colonial powers to foster representative government. Actually the United States was doing that in the more important Philippine Islands. Second, the Americans made no effort to suppress Chamorro culture. The population enjoyed religious and cultural freedom. Third, the American administration protected Chamorro property rights, Four, the Chamoros enjoyed freedom of expression and the press which was unusual for the colonial possessions of other countries. Fifth, the Americans made important improvement in infrastructure. Sixth, the economy improved under American rule, much to the benefit of the Chmorro people. Seventh, the Americans founded a free public school system which included Chamorro teachers. The Chamoros were some of the very few people in Asia and the Pacific that had access to a free public school system. Now what Herman does in his article is all to standard for what we see from modern woke scholars--condemning the United states by comparing it to utopia and 21st century standards--an impossible standard for any country to meet. And ignoring the many positive features of American administration. It was certainly not perfect, but was far superior to what we see elsewhere in Asia and Oceania at the time. Notice that Herman and other critics do not compare the American administration of Guam with the Spanish, German and Japanese colonial administration, only with the utopian ideal.

Sources

Herman, Doug. "A brief, 500-year history of Guam," Smithsonian (August 15, 2017).

Palomo, Tony. An Island in Agony (Guam: self-published, 1984). Polomo was a child during the Japanese occupation and provides a graphic account of how the Chamorros suffered at the hands of the Japanese.

Created: 9:29 PM 1/18/2024
Last updated: 10:15 PM 1/18/2024