Chapter 3 Historical Settlement of Guam

Guam was a peaceful island that was inhabited by their native people also known as Chamorros. In 1521, Ferdinand Magellan made his entrance on Guam and explored the land in search of anything worth to claim in the name of Spain. He encountered the Chamorro people and thought of them as peaceful people. From the Chamorros’ point of view they saw Magellan and his crew as unfamiliar beings that was sent from a greater power and saw them as gods. Since they had a peaceful encounter, Spain claimed all of the Marianas Islands in 1565 but did not make any permanent colonial settlement until 1668. When four years passed, a conflict occurred between the two parties. Apparently, a leader of the Jesuit mission of Spain was killed by the Chamorros which lead the island to experience thirty years of warfare. After their conflict, Spain decided to maintain their settlement on Guam until 1898.

In 1898 the Spanish-American War reared its ugly head onto the island of Guam as the United States tried to replace the Spanish. The next fifty years the island experienced a transition from Spanish rule to the United States as the U.S. Navy started to rule in a nondemocratic and authoritarian way. The whole island was forced to become the designated naval base in the Pacific Ocean. The Chamorros were also forced to abide by the naval standards of the U.S. and learn about hygiene and decorum on the island. Other political and civil rights were not conducted until after the occurrence of World War II.

In 1944, the Japanese military invaded Guam and settled there for two and a half years. The Chamorros were then forced by the Japanese military to provide food and labor. During the time the Japanese occupied the island, the U.S. was planning to take back Guam which resulted in conflict with the Japanese. With the U.S.’s hard work to reoccupy Guam, the Chamorros showed joy and appreciation to have their lives restored. Although when the U.S. reoccupied Guam they took over 42 percent of the land in 1948 for their military bases and recreational areas. Up to this day, the military still occupies more than one-third of the land. The Chamorros were so comfortable with the United States’ presence on their island that they never made their own political status and followed the United States’ political system, which I will talk more about later. Presently Guam is an unincorporated territory of the U.S.