History of Guam

The history of Guam spans Indigenous Chamorro societies, Spanish colonization, American rule, Japanese occupation during World War II, and Guam’s present status as a U.S. territory.

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Chamorro people: The Indigenous people of the Mariana Islands, with a living culture and language rooted in the archipelago. Chamorro communities shaped Guam long before Spanish rule and remain central to its identity.
Spanish colonization of the Marianas: The establishment of Spanish colonial rule over the Mariana Islands, beginning in the seventeenth century. Spanish missions and administration transformed Chamorro life and Guam’s political order.
Diego Luis de San Vitores: A Spanish Jesuit missionary who arrived in Guam in 1668 and established the first Catholic mission there. His mission marked a turning point in Spanish colonization and helped trigger resistance.
Political status of Guam: Guam is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States whose residents are U.S. citizens but lack voting representation in Congress. Its territorial status is a central unresolved consequence of American rule.
Latte stone: A stone pillar-and-capital structure used as a foundation for houses in the Mariana Islands. Latte sites are enduring archaeological evidence of precolonial Chamorro settlements.
Spanish–Chamorro Wars: A series of conflicts between Spanish forces and Chamorro communities in the Mariana Islands from 1670 to 1699. The wars brought coercive resettlement and consolidated Spanish control over the islands.
Hurao: A Chamorro leader remembered for resisting Spanish rule during the early years of colonization. His resistance represents Chamorro opposition to missionization and colonial authority.
Guam Organic Act plebiscite: A 1982 vote in Guam that favored pursuing commonwealth status in negotiations with the United States. The vote expressed local efforts to renegotiate the political arrangement established in 1950.
Mariana Islands: An island chain in the western Pacific divided today between Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands. Guam’s early history is inseparable from the wider Mariana archipelago.
Treaty of Paris (1898): The treaty that ended the Spanish–American War and transferred Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines to the United States. Its terms ended Spanish rule in Guam and began American administration.