“Practicing Economy”: Chamorro Agency And U.S. Colonial Agricultural Projects, 1898-1941

Abstract

This thesis is a historical analysis of economic development on Guam during the early U.S. naval administration (1898-1941). It focuses largely on the development of the agricultural industry which was perceived by colonial officials as the most accessible to Chamorros and therefore the industry with the greatest potential to transform Guam into a modern economy. By the early twentieth century, the United States was experiencing an economic depression, making it increasingly challenging to sustain its overseas empire. Consequently, the pro-imperial bureaucrats embarked on a campaign to make its colonies like Guam more “self-sustaining.” To lower the cost of administering the island and to combat food and funding shortages, the naval government imposed a series of development projects. Said to be implemented for the benefit of the people of Guam, these colonial projects worked to inscribe notions of American patriotism and loyalty onto Chamorro bodies and instill in them western economic values and practices. This thesis thus challenges the notion of American benevolent assimilation through an investigation of colonial agricultural project case studies. Beyond investigating the nature of colonial projects, I examine Chamorro resistance to them as well as the complexities of Chamorro agency within them. Ultimately, I am presenting an entangled history that attempts to challenge simplistic notions of a prosperous pre-war agrarian society to the credit of a benevolent American colonial administration.