HIUS 103 Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Corporal Punishment, Consumerism, Chamorro Language
HIUS 103 – Lecture 6 – Militarization and Decolonization
Review
• What were the legal, cultural, economic, and political mechanisms by which the United States
exercised colonialism in the Pacific during the 19th and early 20th centuries?
o Legal
• Disenfranchisement
• Sedition laws
• ‘Treaties’ and ‘agreements’
• Unincorporated territories
▪ Did not have full rights of American citizenship
▪ Insular Cases
▪ ‘US National’ status
• Annexation
o Cultural
• Christianity
▪ Missionaries playing an important role in assimilating into western norms
• Schools
▪ Taught in English
▪ Teaching western history and values
▪ Run by missionaries
• Taking what is useful from indigenous culture and outlawing the rest
▪ Getting rid of canoe culture
o Economic
• Capitalism
▪ Plantations
• Wage laborers
• Controlled by white settlers
• Bringing in foreign labor
• Sandalwood, salt, whaling, sugar
▪ US goods brought to market
• Making them indebted to traders
▪ Exploitation of resources and labor
o Political
• New forms of government/overthrow of governments
• Militarization and military force
▪ Military bases
Questions
• How did US colonialism in the Pacific transform during and after the WWII period?
• Did decolonization happen in the Pacific?
o What did ‘decolonization’ look like in Hawaii and the Mariana Islands?
The ‘American Century’
• United States as global power during and after WWII
• US holding power military and economically throughout the world
• Coincided with age of global decolonization (1945-1960s)
Philippine Independence (7/4/1946)
• Ironic that they chose the former colonizer’s date of independence as their own
• Moment widely celebrated in US and Philippines
Vietnamese Independence (9/2/1945)
• Ho Chi Minh declares independence
• Using language of US Declaration in order to declare own independence
o Trying to appeal for US support
• At end of WWII, France trying to retake control over Vietnam
o Trying to get US support against French decolonization
• US does not support, because Minh seen as communist
Why Did the US Support Decolonization?
• US had to live up to image as champion of democracy
• Countries would prevent expansion of Soviet communism
Cold War Containment
• Cold War: ideological conflict between US and USSR after WWII, until 1991
o Wasn’t simply ideological, there was actual fighting going on
• The myths of the Cold War
o Geography
• Not only a fight between US and USSR, also involved many other countries
▪ Vietnam
▪ Korea
o Consequences
• Lots of violence waged in the name of fighting for/against communism
o Time period
• Still ongoing
▪ Korea still in the midst of the Cold War
• US funneling aid into newly independent countries in order to prevent them from falling to
communism
• Containment/Domino Theory: if communism spread to China, it would trickle down to other
countries
Cold War Racial Liberalism
Document Summary
Hius 103 lecture 6 militarization and decolonization. Review: what were the legal, cultural, economic, and political mechanisms by which the united states exercised colonialism in the pacific during the 19th and early 20th centuries, legal, disenfranchisement. Sedition laws (cid:858)t(cid:396)eaties(cid:859) a(cid:374)d (cid:858)ag(cid:396)ee(cid:373)e(cid:374)ts(cid:859: unincorporated territories, did not have full rights of american citizenship. Insular cases (cid:858)u natio(cid:374)al(cid:859) status: annexation, cultural, christianity, missionaries playing an important role in assimilating into western norms. Sandalwood, salt, whaling, sugar: us goods brought to market, making them indebted to traders, exploitation of resources and labor, political, new forms of government/overthrow of governments, militarization and military force, military bases. The (cid:858)american century(cid:859: united states as global power during and after wwii, us holding power military and economically throughout the world, coincided with age of global decolonization (1945-1960s) Ironic that they chose the fo(cid:396)(cid:373)e(cid:396) (cid:272)olo(cid:374)ize(cid:396)(cid:859)s date of i(cid:374)depe(cid:374)de(cid:374)(cid:272)e as thei(cid:396) o(cid:449)(cid:374: moment widely celebrated in us and philippines.
