#Guam History 1898-1941

Source: Wikipedia

On June 21, 1898, the United States captured Guam in a bloodless landing during the Spanish–American War. By the Treaty of Paris, Spain officially ceded the island to the United States.^{[4]:110–112} Guam became part of an American telegraph line to the Philippines, also ceded by the treaty;^[10] a way station for American ships traveling to and from there; and an important part of the United States’ War Plan Orange against Japan. Although Alfred Thayer Mahan, Robert Coontz, and others envisioned the island as “a kind of Gibraltar” in the Pacific, Congress repeatedly failed to fulfill the military’s requests to fortify Guam; when a German warship was interned in 1914 before America’s entry into World War I, its crew of 543 outnumbered their American custodians.^{[4]:131,133,135–136}

The 1910 Catholic Encyclopedia said of Guam, “of its total population of 11,490 (11,159 natives), Hagåtña, the capital, contains about 8,000. Possessing a good harbor, 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.” Military officers governed the island as “USS Guam“, and the United States Navy opposed proposals for civilian government until 1950.^{[4]:125–126}

Source: Guampedia

1898 – 1941: US Naval Era

The US Navy ruled Guam from the end of the Spanish-American War up until the Japanese invasion of Guam on 8 December 1941. The Chamorros petitioned for US citizenship for the first time in 1901.

Guam is still under US administration as an unincorporated Territory. More about that later. In my next post I will attempt to cover the Japanese Occupation without being too lengthy or too graphic.

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