Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands[1] | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1947–1994 | |||||||||||||||
 Location of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands in the Pacific | |||||||||||||||
| Status | United Nations Trust Territory under the administration of theUnited States | ||||||||||||||
| Capital | Saipan | ||||||||||||||
| Common languages | English(official) Micronesian languages | ||||||||||||||
| Chief of State | |||||||||||||||
• 1947–1953(first) | Harry S. Truman | ||||||||||||||
• 1993–1994(last) | Bill Clinton | ||||||||||||||
| High Commissioner | |||||||||||||||
• 1947–1948(first) | Louis E. Denfeld | ||||||||||||||
• 1981–1987(last) | Janet J. McCoy | ||||||||||||||
| Legislature | Congress | ||||||||||||||
| Historical era | Cold War | ||||||||||||||
• Trusteeship | July 18, 1947 | ||||||||||||||
• Termination of administration (Marshall Islands) | October 21, 1986 | ||||||||||||||
• Termination of administration (Micronesia) | November 3, 1986 | ||||||||||||||
| October 1, 1994 | |||||||||||||||
| Currency | United States dollar | ||||||||||||||
| ISO 3166 code | PC | ||||||||||||||
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TheTrust Territory of the Pacific Islands (TTPI) was aUnited Nations trust territory inMicronesia administered by theUnited States from 1947 to 1994. TheImperial JapaneseSouth Seas Mandate had been seized by the US during thePacific War, as Japan had administered the territory since theLeague of Nations gave Japan a mandate over the area fromImperial Germany afterWorld War I. However, in the 1930s, Japan left the League of Nations and invaded additional lands. During World War II, military control of the islands was contested, but by the war's end, the islands had come under the Allies' control. The Trust Territory of the Pacific was created to administer the islands as part of the United States while still under the auspices of the United Nations. Most of the island groups in the territory became independent states, with some degree of association kept with the United States: theFederated States of Micronesia, theRepublic of the Marshall Islands andPalau are independent states in aCompact of Free Association with the US, while theNorthern Mariana Islands remain under US jurisdiction, as anunincorporated territory andcommonwealth.
Spain initially claimed the islands that later composed theterritory of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands (TTPI).[2] Subsequently,Germany establishedcompeting claims over the islands.[2] The competing claims were eventually resolved in favor of Germany when Spain, following its loss of several possessions to theUnited States during theSpanish–American War, ceded its claims over the islands to Germany pursuant to theGerman–Spanish Treaty (1899).[2] Germany, in turn, continued to retain possession until the islands were captured byJapan duringWorld War I.[2] TheLeague of Nations formally placed the islands in the formerSouth Seas Mandate, amandate that authorized Japanese administration of the islands.[2] The islands then remained under Japanese control until captured by the United States in 1944 duringWorld War II.[2]
The TTPI entered UN trusteeship pursuant toSecurity Council Resolution 21 on July 18, 1947, and was designated a "strategic area" in its 1947 trusteeship agreement. Article 83 of theUN Charter provided that, as such, its formal status as a UN trust territory could be terminated only by theSecurity Council and not by theGeneral Assembly as with other trust territories. TheUnited States Navy controlled the TTPI from a headquarters inGuam until 1951, when theUnited States Department of the Interior took over control, administering the territory from a base inSaipan.[3]
The Territory contained 100,000 people scattered over a water area the size of the continental United States. It was subdivided intosix districts and represented a variety of cultures, with nine spoken languages. ThePohnpeians andKosraeans,Marshallese andPalauans,Chuukese,Yapese andChamorros had little in common, except they were in the same general area of the Pacific Ocean.[4]
The large distances between people, the lack of an economy, and language and cultural barriers all worked against the union. The six district centers became upscale slums, containing deteriorated Japanese-built roads, electricity, modern music, and distractions, which alienated youth and elders. The remainder of the islands maintained their traditional way of life and infrastructure.[4]
In the late 1960s, the US opposed the idea of eventual independence. Instead, they aimed for some form of association, perhaps with Hawaii. They estimated that perhaps 10-25% of the population favored independence.[5]
ACongress of Micronesia first levied an income tax in 1971. It affected mainly foreigners working at military bases in the region.[6]
On October 21, 1986, the US ended its administration of theMarshall Islands District.[7] The termination of US administration of theChuuk,Yap,Kosrae,Pohnpei, and theMariana Islands districts of the TTPI soon followed on November 3, 1986.[8][9] The Security Council formally ended the trusteeship for the Chuuk, Yap, Kosrae, Pohnpei, Mariana Islands, and Marshall Islands districts on December 22, 1990, pursuant toSecurity Council Resolution 683.[10] On May 25, 1994, the Council ended the trusteeship for the Palau District pursuant toSecurity Council Resolution 956, after which the US andPalau agreed to establish the latter's independence on October 1.[11][12]
In 1969, the 100 occupied islands comprised 700 square miles (1,800 km2) over an area of 3,000,000 square miles (7,800,000 km2) of sea. The latter area was comparable in size to the continental United States.[13] The water area is about 5% of thePacific Ocean.
The islands' population was 200,000 in the latter part of the 19th century.[citation needed] The population decreased to 100,000 by 1969 due to emigration, war, and disease. At that time, the population inhabited less than 100 out of 2,141 of the Marshall, Mariana, and Caroline Islands.[13]
In 1947, the Mariana Islands' Teacher Training School (MITTS), anormal school serving all areas of the Trust Territory, opened in Guam.[16] It moved to Chuuk in 1948,[17] to be more central in the Trust Territory,[16] and was renamed Pacific Islands' Teacher Training School (PITTS).[17] It transitioned from being anormal school to a comprehensive secondary school, so it was renamed the Pacific Islands Central School (PICS). The school moved to Pohnpei in 1959.[16] It was a three-year institution housing students who graduated from intermediate schools.[18] The school, later known as Pohnpei Island Central School (PICS),[19] is nowBailey Olter High School.[20]
Palau Intermediate School, established in 1946, becamePalau High School in 1962 as it added senior high grades.[21] From the late 1960s to the middle of the 1970s, several public high schools were built or received additions in the Trust Territory. They includedJaluit High School,Kosrae High School,Marshall Islands High School in Majuro, Palau High, PICS, and Truk High School (nowChuuk High School). The Micronesian Occupational College in Koror, Palau, was also built.[22] It later merged with the Kolonia-based Community College of Micronesia, which began operations in 1969, into theCollege of Micronesia-FSM in 1976.[23]
Following the termination of the trusteeship, the territory of the former TTPI became four separate jurisdictions:
The followingsovereign states have becomefreely associated with the United States under theCompact of Free Association (COFA).
Republic of the Marshall Islands – established 1979, COFA effective October 21, 1986
Federated States of Micronesia – established 1979, COFA effective November 3, 1986
Republic of Palau – established 1981, COFA effective October 1, 1994
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands – new constitution partially effective January 1, 1978, and fully effective November 4, 1986.[24]
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