Starting the 1890s, the US began to conquer Pacific Island nations for colonial reasons. The Hawaiian Kingdom was seized illegally. Guam was conquered in the Spanish-American War. Samoa was seized when the US stepped into the Samoan Civil War. Micronesia became a US territory and Pacific Islanders were exposed to atomic bomb testing. Three of these island nations remain US colonies today, two of them with limited rights to vote.

1. Repression in America’s Pacific Colonies:
Guam, Hawaii, Micronesia, and Samoa
It likely comes to a surprise to many Americans to hear the US has colonies, has had
them for over a century, and that much of these colonial populations would like independence, or
in some cases to be independent again as they were before US conquest. All these peoples were
conquered or annexed without their consent. Three of these peoples have no say in the
national political system and varying amounts of local control. Another, Micronesia, was a US
colony for up to four decades. In all of these peoples' homelands, resources and workers flow out
to the US mainland and in all cases except Samoa, local peoples have a more limited say in the
economy than elites in the mainland US.
The body count from US colonialism in these Pacific islands was high:
167 Bikini Islanders forcibly removed, starved for six months, and exposed to an extra
one in seven higher risk of death from cancer from atomic bomb testing.
Hundreds of Marshall Islanders on Rongelap, Rongerik, Ailinginae, and Utrik
Atolls, 23 Japanese fishermen, and 28 US weathermen exposed to radiation from atomic
bomb tests.
Over 4,000 US servicemen exposed to radiation during the cleanup of Enewetak Atoll.
Six died during the cleanup, an unknown number died early deaths.
200,000 Hawaiian deaths from disease introduced by American and British traders and
missionaries. Americans and Europeans had even less excuse than they did in early colonial
times. By the time of these epidemics, from 1804 to 1853, whites knew full well that they

2. brought disease with them that would kill large numbers of indigenous people. They had seen so
for over three centuries of experience with not just American Indians, but with other Pacific
Island peoples.
Seven deaths, an unknown number wounded in the Samoan Civil War, with factions
allied with the US or Germany.
15 Samoan chiefs falsely imprisoned for 5-7 years during the Samoan Mau
independence movement of the 1930s. Samoan chief Samuelu Ripley was permanently barred
from Samoa.
Starting about 1890, the US tried to become a colonial empire not very different
from the British, French, German, and Spanish empires. All these empires were built because
of a mix of national pride, pseudo scientific racism that insisted whites knew best how to run the
world, and just plain old fashioned greed, taking local resources to make money off the local
people. The US's first major attempt at empire was the Spanish-American War. The failing
Spanish empire was defeated and Cuba, Guam, the Philippines, and Puerto Rico were conquered.
In the Philippines, an independence revolt had to be crushed with great brutality, killing as many
as a million Filipinos. It remained a US colony until 1946.
Two other island nations and one colony also were taken into the US empire. Samoa was
carved up between Germany and the US. The Kingdom of Hawaii first was conquered by the US
on behalf of American-born plantation owners, and then later taken over by the US in the
aftermath of war fever from the Spanish-American War.
Guam, was seized from Spain in 1898 and wanted by the US as a naval base. A US Naval
Governor ruled the island until 1950. The Chamorro language was banned. In a series of

3. decisions from 1901 to 1922, the Supreme Court ruled the US Constitution does not apply to
territories like Guam. During World War II, many Chamorros died during a brutal Japanese
occupation. At war's end, many Chamorros protested they should be rewarded for their suffering
with at least local self-rule. In 1950, Chamorros finally got US citizenship. But there were no
elections until 1968, and no local constitution until 1979. Today the island's economy is utterly
dependent on the US military. US bases make up most of the island, and US servicemen
and Filipino migrant workers almost outnumber Chamorros. Thus there is no substantial
movement for Guam's independence.
Samoa's suffering was different from Guam. Their civil wars in the 1880s and 90s saw
both the US and Germany stepping in to aid the two rival factions. German ships bombarded
Samoan villages and the US sent its own warships. A typhoon at the start of the Second Samoan
Civil War kept the three sides (Britain decided it wanted Samoa too) from fighting. German
Samoa was handed over to New Zealand after World War I. There was an independence
movement in both Samoas called the Mau (Firm Strength or Unwavering). The leader of
the movement, Samuelu Ripley, was permanently exiled and Samoan chiefs imprisoned.
The last Samoan king was only allowed his title after promising US authorities he would be the
last. An attempt to revive the kingship in 1924 was blocked by the US governor.
But by comparison to either Guam or Hawaii, the first US Naval Governor interfered
less. He decided to somewhat leave Samoan culture and people largely alone. Traditional land
ownership continues to this day, as do traditional Samoan titles. As the saying goes, the hard
part is not knowing who is chief in Samoa, but who is not. Titles are widespread, but authority is
limited to being a counselor, and the titles are awarded based on consensus. Unlike Hawaii,
almost all Samoan land is still owned by Samoans, and communally.

4. Today, Samoans are legally US Nationals, but not citizens. They think of themselves as
Samoans, not Americans, but can move freely to the US without passports. There is a large
Samoan community on the west coast, especially Los Angeles. There is no organized Samoan
independence movement, but not because the islands depend on the US as Guam and Puerto
Rico do. Instead, they consider themselves to have gotten the best of the bargain, being part of
the US, but not giving up being Samoan to be American. That does not change the original
wrongdoing of their being seized by the US, nor deaths in their civil wars, nor false
imprisonment and exile for their leaders.
Hawaii has suffered the most from colonialism of any American island colonies. There is
a tendency to forget, or more often to never teach in US schools, that for almost 70 years,
Hawaii was an independent kingdom with diplomatic recognition, relations, and treaties
with major nations including the US. British and American merchants and missionaries
brought disease with them, and still came knowing this could kill many locals. The missionaries
and their children turned into plantation owners, coveting Hawaii's rich soil, ideal for sugarcane.
Plantation owners recruited labor from China, Japan, Puerto Rico, the Philippines, and Blacks
from the US. By 1900, Native Hawaiians made up only 20% of the nation's population.
Anglo-American plantation owners determined they would rule Hawaii. They set up their
own private paramilitary, the Honolulu Rifles. In 1887, the Rifles forced the appropriately
named Bayonet Constitution upon Hawaii. The Rifles arrested the King's minister and
stripped the King of all power. Whites were virtually the only ones who could vote. Asians
were specifically barred from the vote, and most Hawaiians were barred by literacy tests and
property requirements.
In 1893, Liliuokalani became Queen. She called for a new constitution, one where

5. Hawaiians would rule their own islands again. The so called Committee of Safety, plantation
owners, told the US Ambassador their plan to overthrow the Queen. The US Ambassador
offered a company of US Marines, from a US warship in port, who overthrew the Queen.
The committee declared the Republic of Hawaii and called for the US to take over. President
Cleveland refused and condemned the overthrow.
A Native Hawaiian counterrevolution failed, and their petition to the US Congress failed
to get US troops to restore the Queen. The US took over in 1898, during the war fever of the
Spanish-American War. The Hawaiian language was banned until 1986. The Hawaiian
religion was also banned. A white exploiter, Max Freedom Long, later invented a false
impersonation of Hawaiian religion he called Huna, which some whites today naively believe is
Hawaiian.
Hawaii continued to have a turbulent history, with some one of the most radical labor
conflicts in the US, seeing major strikes in 1900, 1904, 1905, 1906, 1909, 1912, 1920, 1924,
1934, 1938,and 1940. The plantation owners kept a racial hierarchy in place, whites at the top,
followed by Japanese, other Asians, other nonwhites, and Native Hawaiians at the bottom
socially and economically in their own homeland.
After World War II, the UN pressured empires to set free their colonies. The US finally
held an illegal statehood vote. Many non-Hawaiians voted, mostly US servicemen, while many
Asians were barred. Most scholarly specialists agree with the Native Hawaiian sovereignty
movement, that Hawaii remains an occupied nation under illegal US rule. It is also a colony,
since tourism as the main industry mostly sends its economic benefits to the mainland. Native
Hawaiians continue to work for a return to independence, and can point to some victories, the
end of the language ban, restoration of voting rights, Hawaiian language schools, and a cultural

6. renaissance.
Micronesia, the broad group of northern Pacific islands, was made a US Trust Territory in
1947. The UN granted the islands to the US with the intent of guiding them towards self rule.
Their lack of a legal voice made the islanders very easy targets for atomic bomb testing. Bikini
Atoll became permanently contaminated by radiation after H-bomb tests. The island
remained dangerous to live on. The islanders were take off their homeland and dumped for six
months on Rongerik Atoll, nearly starving to death. Many Marshall Islanders, Japanese
fishermen, and US servicemen were also killed by radiation from H-bomb tests or, for
servicemen, from the cleanup after.
What role did presidents play in the takeovers or repression of independence movements
of these island nations or colonies?
McKinley ordered the conquest of Guam and Puerto Rico as part of the Spanish-
American War, and the US takeover of Hawaii, where previous President Cleveland refused.
Truman and Eisenhower both ordered H bomb tests on Pacific islands. When Ike's
election opponent, Adlai Stevenson, called for an end to nuclear weapons testing, Ike called that
“a moratorium on common sense.” There is little sign that either president gave much thought to
Pacific Islanders. Yet neither man could claim to be ignorant of the bomb's effects. Eisenhower
also signed the illegal statehood bill for Hawaii, over the objections of most Native Hawaiians.
Ike had supported statehood from the start of his time as president.
Some presidents do have a better record on these islands. Cleveland as an anti-imperialist
refused to annex Hawaii. Both major parties included Guam, Puerto Rico, Samoa, and the Virgin
Islands in their presidential primaries starting in 1976, and most major candidates have
campaigned for their votes. Obama has publicly vowed to sign the Akaka Bill if Congress passes

7. it, which would grant Native Hawaiians status similar to an American Indian tribe, a reservation
and government to government relations with the US.
Self determination for Hawaiians remains strongly opposed by white racists in Hawaii.
These are the descendants of the same racists who overthrew the Hawaiian national government,
suppressed an attempted uprising, persecuted Hawaiians, stole land, suppressed Hawaiian
culture, banned the Hawaiian language, and pushed for Hawaiian statehood over the objections
of Native Hawaiians. There are a few vocal anti Hawaiian racist authors, especially Ken
Conklin, Thurston Twigg-Smith, and the best and known and most bizarre racist, the white
supremacist Filipina, Michelle Malkin.
Pacific Islanders are often little known or understood by many Americans. For example,
without professional sports it is doubtful if many American would even realize there are Samoan
people. In my own teaching, it is rare to find students who know about the US takeover of
Hawaii. It is this lack of knowledge that is the biggest barrier to giving these islanders rule over
their own lives. With the exception of some anti-Hawaiian bigotry, US control of these islands is
largely a legacy of the old colonialism rather than any current evil intent. Were more Americans
to know and understand this past, self rule for these peoples would come sooner.