How The U.S. Territory Of Guam Became An American Colony

The U.S. territory of Guam has a unique history as one of the longest-running colonies in history. How did it get this way?



Guam has been colonized by the Spanish, occupied by the Japanese and militarized by the Americans. But the history of its indigenous Chamorro people goes back even further. AJ+ went to Guam to speak with indigenous Chamorro people about the island's complicated past.



Archival photos courtesy of Getty, AP, Shutterstock, Library of Congress, Antonio Sablan, Juan C. Benavente and Edward C. Siguenza.



Archival videos courtesy of Getty, ABC News, AP, Reuters, Archive.org and the Richard Flores Taitano Micronesian Area Research Center:

1929-1931: Guam Proclamation, Governor Willis Winter Bradley Jr. Papers, MSS960, The Richard Flores Taitano Micronesian Area Research Center, University of Guam. Mangilao, Guam.

1929-1931: School Drills and Parades, Governor Willis Winter Bradley Jr. Papers, MSS960, The Richard Flores Taitano Micronesian Area Research Center, University of Guam. Mangilao, Guam.



Music tracks courtesy of APM and Audio Networks.



Special Thanks: Richard Flores Taitano Micronesian Area Research Center, Manenggon Memorial Foundation, Jon Letman, Guma' Råsan Åcho' Latte



Resources:

Robert F. Rogers – “Destiny's Landfall: A History of Guam” (1995)

Keith L. Camacho – “Cultures of Commemoration: The Politics of War, Memory and History in the Mariana Islands” (2011)

Catherine Lutz, Editor – “The Bases of Empire: The Global Struggle Against U.S. Military Posts” (2009)

Anne Perez Hattori – “Righting Civil Wrongs: The Guam Congress Walkout of 1949” (1995)

Doug Mack – “The Not-Quite States of America: Dispatches from the Territories and Other Far-Flung Outposts of the USA” (2017)