Editing Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands

{{Short description|U.S. administered U.N. trust territory (1947–1994)}}
{{distinguish|South Seas Mandate}}
{{EngvarA|date=March 2024}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{Infobox country
| conventional_long_name = Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands<ref name="UIA">{{Cite web |url=https://uia.org/s/or/en/1100057610 |url-access= |title=Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands |author1=Staff writer |year=2024 |department=UIA Global Civil Society Database |website=uia.org |publisher=[[Union of International Associations]] |agency=Yearbook of International Organizations Online |location=Brussels, Belgium |format= |arxiv= |asin= |bibcode= |doi= |doi-broken-date= |isbn= |issn= |jfm= |jstor= |lccn= |mr= |oclc= |ol= |osti= |pmc= |pmid= |rfc= |ssrn= |zbl= |id= |access-date=24 December 2024 |url-status= |archive-url= |archive-date= |via= |quote= |trans-quote= |ref= |postscript=}}</ref>
| common_name            = Pacific Islands
| empire                 = United States
| status                 = [[United Nations Trust Territory]] under the administration of the [[United States]]
| p1                     = South Seas Mandate
| flag_p1                = Flag of Japan (1870–1999).svg
| s1                     = Marshall Islands
| flag_s1                = Flag of the Marshall Islands.svg
| s2                     = Federated States of Micronesia
| flag_s2                = Flag of the Federated States of Micronesia.svg
| s3                     = Northern Mariana Islands
| flag_s3                = Flag of the Northern Mariana Islands.svg
| s4                     = Palau
| flag_s4                = Flag of Palau.svg
| image_flag             = Flag of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands.svg
| flag                   = Flag of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands
| flag_type              = Flag<br />(1965–1980)
| image_coat             = Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands seal.svg
| symbol                 = Seal of the Federated States of Micronesia
| symbol_type            = Emblem<br />(1965–1980)
| national_anthem        = "[[The Star-Spangled Banner]]"<ref>{{cite act|date=March 3, 1931|article=14|article-type=H.R.|legislature=[[71st United States Congress]]|title=An Act To make The Star-Spangled Banner the national anthem of the United States of America|url=https://uscode.house.gov/statviewer.htm?volume=46&page=1508}}</ref><div style="display:inline-block;margin-top:0.4em;">[[File:Star Spangled Banner instrumental.ogg]]</div>
| image_map              = TTPI-locatormap.png
| image_map_caption      = Location of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands in the Pacific
| capital                = [[Saipan]]
| common_languages       = [[English language|English]] {{small|(official)}}<br />[[Micronesian languages]]
| title_leader           = [[President of the United States|Chief of State]]
| leader1                = [[Harry S. Truman]]
| year_leader1           = 1947–1953 {{small|(first)}}
| leader2                = [[Bill Clinton]]
| year_leader2           = 1993–1994 {{small|(last)}}
| title_deputy           = [[High Commissioner of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands|High Commissioner]]
| deputy1                = [[Louis E. Denfeld]]
| year_deputy1           = 1947–1948 {{small|(first)}}
| deputy2                = [[Janet J. McCoy]]
| year_deputy2           = 1981–1987 {{small|(last)}}
| legislature            = [[Congress of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands|Congress]]
| era                    = Cold War
| event_start            = Trusteeship
| date_start             = July 18,
| year_start             = 1947
| event1                 = Termination of administration (Marshall Islands)
| date_event1            = October 21, 1986
| event2                 = Termination of administration (Micronesia)
| date_event2            = November 3, 1986
| event_end              = [[Compact of Free Association|Free Association]] and [[De jure]] independence of [[Palau]]
| date_end               = October 1,
| year_end               = 1994
| currency               = [[United States dollar]]
| footnote_a             = Clinton was President when Palau's Compact of Free Association took effect. [[Ronald Reagan]] was President when the final status of the RMI, FSM, and CNMI took effect.
| footnote_b             = McCoy retired as High Commissioner in 1987. As Palau was still a part of the TTPI, it was administered by officials in the [[Office of Insular Affairs|Office of Territorial and International Affairs]] until 1994.
| iso3166code            = PC
}}
[[File:MapofTTPI.gif|thumb|Map of the TTPI from 1961]]
The '''Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands''' ('''TTPI''') was a [[United Nations trust territories|United Nations trust territory]] in [[Micronesia]] administered by the [[United States]] from 1947 to 1994. The [[Empire of Japan|Imperial Japanese]] [[South Seas Mandate]] had been seized by the U.S. during the [[Pacific War]], as Japan had administered the territory since the [[League of Nations]] gave Japan a mandate over the area from [[German Empire|Imperial Germany]] after [[World 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 disputed, 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: the [[Federated States of Micronesia]], the [[Republic of the Marshall Islands]] and [[Palau]] are independent states in a [[Compact of Free Association]] with the U.S., while the [[Northern Mariana Islands]] remain under U.S. jurisdiction, as an [[Territories of the United States|unincorporated territory]] and [[Commonwealth (U.S. insular area)|commonwealth]].

==History==
[[File:TTPI UN Mission 1978.jpg|thumb|Arrival of [[United Nations|UN]] Visiting Mission, [[Majuro]], 1978. The sign reads, "Please release us from the bondage of your trusteeship agreement."]]
[[Spanish Empire|Spain]] initially claimed the islands that later composed the [[Territory (country subdivision)|territory]] of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands (TTPI).<ref name="Encyclopædia Britannica TTPI">''[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]'': [http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/437672/Trust-Territory-of-the-Pacific-Islands Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands]</ref> Subsequently, [[German Empire|Germany]] established [[Carolines Question|competing claims]] over the islands.<ref name="Encyclopædia Britannica TTPI" /> The competing claims were eventually resolved in favor of Germany when Spain, following its loss of several possessions to the [[United States]] during the [[Spanish–American War]], ceded its claims over the islands to Germany pursuant to the [[German–Spanish Treaty (1899)]].<ref name="Encyclopædia Britannica TTPI" /> Germany, in turn, continued to retain possession until the islands were captured by [[Empire of Japan|Japan]] during [[World War I]].<ref name="Encyclopædia Britannica TTPI" /> The [[League of Nations]] formally placed the islands in the former [[South Seas Mandate]], a [[League of Nations mandate|mandate]] that authorized Japanese administration of the islands.<ref name="Encyclopædia Britannica TTPI" /> The islands then remained under Japanese control until captured by the United States in 1944 during [[World War II]].<ref name="Encyclopædia Britannica TTPI" />

The TTPI entered UN trusteeship pursuant to [[United Nations Security Council Resolution 21|Security Council Resolution 21]] on July 18, 1947, and was designated a "strategic area" in its 1947 trusteeship agreement. Article 83 of the [[United Nations Charter|UN Charter]] provided that, as such, its formal status as a UN trust territory could be terminated only by the [[United Nations Security Council|Security Council]] and not by the [[United Nations General Assembly|General Assembly]] as with other trust territories. The [[United States Navy]] controlled the TTPI from a headquarters in [[Guam]] until 1951, when the [[United States Department of the Interior]] took over control, administering the territory from a base in [[Saipan]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://libweb.hawaii.edu/digicoll/ttp/ttpi.html|title=Trust Territory of the Pacific Archives Photos|publisher=University of Hawaii at Manoa Hamilton Library}}</ref>

The Territory contained 100,000 people scattered over a water area the size of the continental United States. It was subdivided into [[Districts of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands|six districts]] and represented a variety of cultures, with nine spoken languages. The [[Pohnpeians]] and [[Kosraeans]], [[Marshallese people|Marshallese]] and [[Palauans]], [[Chuukese people|Chuukese]], [[Yapese people|Yapese]] and [[Chamorro people|Chamorros]] had little in common, except they were in the same general area of the Pacific Ocean.<ref name=rd>{{Cite news|first=P. F.|last=Kluge|title=Micronesia: America's Troubled Island Ward|via=Reader's Digest |magazine=The Beacon |location=Hawaii|pages= 161|date=December 1971}}</ref>

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.<ref name=rd/>

In the late 1960s, the U.S. 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.<ref name="Lal2006">{{cite book |author1=Brij V Lal |title=British Documents on the End of Empire Project Series B Volume 10: Fiji |date=22 September 2006 |publisher=University of London: Institute of Commonwealth Studies |pages=301, 304, 310 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Z2R3Nk3jUlsC |chapter='Pacific Island talks': Commonwealth Office notes on four-power talks in Washington |isbn=9780112905899 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Z2R3Nk3jUlsC&pg=PA297}}</ref>

<!---need more on "self-government" during this time frame. -->
A [[Congress of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands|Congress of Micronesia]] first levied an income tax in 1971. It affected mainly foreigners working at military bases in the region.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iS7-61GyjeQC|work=American Bar Association Journal |date=September 1976|title=Micronesia's Simplified Income Tax System|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=iS7-61GyjeQC&pg=PA1176 1176–1178]|author=Glenn B. Martineau}}</ref>

On October 21, 1986, the U.S. ended its administration of the [[Marshall Islands District]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://2009-2017.state.gov/outofdate/bgn/marshallislands/14446.htm|title=Marshall Islands (07/00)|website=U.S. Department of State|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190427205535/https://2009-2017.state.gov/outofdate/bgn/marshallislands/14446.htm|archive-date=April 27, 2019|access-date=2019-04-27}}</ref> The termination of U.S. administration of the [[Chuuk District|Chuuk]], [[Yap District|Yap]], [[Kosrae District|Kosrae]], [[Pohnpei District|Pohnpei]], and the [[Mariana Islands District|Mariana Islands]] districts of the TTPI soon followed on November 3, 1986.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://1997-2001.state.gov/background_notes/micronesia_0696_bgn.html|title=Background Notes: Micronesia 6/96|website=United States Department of State|access-date=2019-04-27}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/STATUTE-101/pdf/STATUTE-101-Pg2027.pdf|title=Proclamation 5564 of November 3,1986|last=Reagan|first=Ronald|website=Government Publishing Office}}</ref> The Security Council formally ended the trusteeship for the Chuuk, Yap, Kosrae, Pohnpei, Mariana Islands, and Marshall Islands districts on December 22, 1990, pursuant to [[United Nations Security Council Resolution 683|Security Council Resolution 683]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://documents-dds-ny.un.org/doc/RESOLUTION/GEN/NR0/575/33/IMG/NR057533.pdf?OpenElement|title=Resolution 683 (1990)|date=December 22, 1990|website=United Nations Security Council}}</ref> On May 25, 1994, the Council ended the trusteeship for the Palau District pursuant to [[United Nations Security Council Resolution 956|Security Council Resolution 956]], after which the U.S. and [[Palau]] agreed to establish the latter's independence on October 1.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=(title:48%20section:1931%20edition:prelim)|title=[USC04] 48 USC 1931: Approval of Compact of Free Association: Article VII|website=United States House|access-date=2019-04-27}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1309/is_n1_v32/ai_16869871/|title=Trusteeship Council formally suspends operation: Palau admitted to UN|date=March 1995|work=[[UN Chronicle]]}}</ref>

==Geography==
In 1969, the 100 occupied islands comprised {{convert|700|sqmi}} over an area of {{convert|3000000|sqmi}} of sea. The latter area was comparable in size to the continental United States.<ref name=time/> The water area is about 5% of the [[Pacific Ocean]].

==Demographics==
The islands' population was 200,000 in the latter part of the 19th century.{{citation needed|date=March 2024}} 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.<ref name=time>{{Cite news | title=Remembering an adopted cousin | newspaper=Time | location=New York City| pages= 28 | date=May 23, 1969}}</ref>

* 1958: 70,724 <ref>{{cite web | url=https://ghdx.healthdata.org/record/trust-territory-pacific-islands-population-and-housing-census-1957-1958 | title=Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands Population and Housing Census 1957-1958 |website= GHDX }}</ref>
* 1970: 90,940 <ref>{{cite web | url=https://ghdx.healthdata.org/record/trust-territory-pacific-islands-population-and-housing-census-1970 | title=Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands Population and Housing Census 1970 |website=GHDX }}</ref>

==Education==
In 1947, the Mariana Islands' Teacher Training School (MITTS), a [[normal school]] serving all areas of the Trust Territory, opened in Guam.<ref name=WuerchBallendorfp91>Wuerch, William L. and Dirk Anthony Ballendorf. ''Historical Dictionary of Guam and Micronesia'', 1994. {{ISBN|0810828588}}, 9780810828582. p.[https://books.google.com/books?id=h5EE-AVNT98C&pg=PA91 91].</ref> It moved to Chuuk in 1948,<ref name=GoetzfridtPeacockp190>Goetzfridt, Nicholas J. and Karen M. Peacock. ''Micronesian Histories: An Analytical Bibliography and Guide to Interpretations'. p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=oqqdbU0tBvAC&pg=PA190 190].</ref> to be more central in the Trust Territory,<ref name=WuerchBallendorfp91/> and was renamed Pacific Islands' Teacher Training School (PITTS).<ref name=GoetzfridtPeacockp190/> It transitioned from being a [[normal school]] to a comprehensive secondary school, so it was renamed the Pacific Islands Central School (PICS). The school moved to Pohnpei in 1959.<ref name=WuerchBallendorfp91/> It was a three-year institution housing students who graduated from intermediate schools.<ref name=UN1961p137>Bureau of International Organization Affairs, Office of United Nations Political Affairs, 1961. p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=HSJl-F2gb9sC&q=%22Pacific+Islands+Central+School%22 137]. "The Pacific Islands Central School is the only public senior secondary school of the Territory. Students selected for further training after graduation from the district intermediate schools may attend the Pacific Islands Central School for three additional years of education."</ref> The school, later known as Pohnpei Island Central School (PICS),<ref>"[http://library.comfsm.fm/webopac/titleinfo?k1=1590728&k2=151186 TITLE:  Pohnpei Island Central School : (papers, articles, etc.).] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180223165132/http://library.comfsm.fm/webopac/titleinfo?k1=1590728&k2=151186 |date=2018-02-23 }}"</ref> is now [[Bailey Olter High School]].<ref name=FSMschools>"[http://www.fsmembassydc.org/schools.html Higher Education in the Federated States of Micronesia] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171014070540/http://www.fsmembassydc.org/schools.html |date=2017-10-14 }}." Embassy of the Federated States of Micronesia Washington DC. Retrieved on February 23, 2018. "Bailey Olter High School (former PICS) P.O. Box 250 Kolonia, Pohnpei FM 96941"</ref>

Palau Intermediate School, established in 1946, became [[Palau High School]] in 1962 as it added senior high grades.<ref name=about>"[http://www.palaumoe.net/phs/about.php About] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180303134015/http://www.palaumoe.net/phs/about.php |date=2018-03-03 }}." [[Palau High School]]. Retrieved on February 22, 2018.</ref> From the late 1960s to the middle of the 1970s, several public high schools were built or received additions in the Trust Territory. They included [[Jaluit High School]], [[Kosrae High School]], [[Marshall Islands High School]] in Majuro, Palau High, PICS<!--Stated as "Ponape High"-->, and Truk High School (now [[Chuuk High School]]). The Micronesian Occupational College in Koror, Palau, was also built.<ref>''Compact of Free Association in the Micronesian States of Palau, the Federated States of Micronesia and the Marshall Islands: Environmental Impact Statement''. [[United States Department of State]], 1984. p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=_6g4AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA36 36]. "From the late 1960s to mid-1970s, the major high school complexes throughout the Trust Territory were constructed: notably,[...]additions to the Ponape High School[...]"</ref> It later merged with the Kolonia-based Community College of Micronesia, which began operations in 1969, into the [[College of Micronesia-FSM]] in 1976.<ref name=Thomasp91>Thomas, R. Murray. "The U.S. Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands (Micronesia)" (Chapter 3). In: Thomas, R. Murray and T. Neville Postlethwaite (editors). ''Schooling in the Pacific Islands: Colonies in Transition'' . [[Elsevier]], January 26, 2016. {{ISBN|1483148556}}, 9781483148557. Start: [https://books.google.com/books?id=7U1tBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA67 67]. CITED: p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=7U1tBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA91 91].</ref>

==Current status==
Following the termination of the trusteeship, the territory of the former TTPI became four separate jurisdictions:

===Sovereign states in free association with the United States===
The following [[sovereign states]] have become [[associated states|freely associated]] with the United States under the [[Compact of Free Association]] (COFA).
* {{flag|Marshall Islands|name=Republic of the Marshall Islands}} – established 1979, COFA effective October 21, 1986
* {{flag|Federated States of Micronesia}} – established 1979, COFA effective November 3, 1986
* {{flag|Palau|name=Republic of Palau}} – established 1981, COFA effective October 1, 1994

===Commonwealth in political union with the United States===
* {{flag|Northern Mariana Islands|name=Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands}} – new constitution partially effective January 1, 1978, and fully effective November 4, 1986.<ref>{{cite web |url =https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/northern-mariana-islands/ |title =Northern Mariana Islands |publisher =Central Intelligence Agency | work=CIA World Factbook |date =March 27, 2014 |access-date=April 5, 2014 }}</ref>

==See also==
* [[High Commissioner of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands]]
* [[Congress of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Bibliography==
* {{cite journal |last1=Howard|first1=Paul|title=Pioneering in the Trusts: Postwar Airline Pioneering in US Trust Territory |journal=Air Enthusiast |date=November–December 1999|issue=84|pages=35–40 |issn=0143-5450}}

==External links==
{{Commons category-inline}}
* [http://libweb.hawaii.edu/digicoll/ttp/ttpi.html Photos from the records of the Trust Territory Government]
* [http://www.pacificweb.org/DOCS/Trust%20TerritoriesPI/1967%20Trust%20Territory%20Census%20Geography.pdf 1967 Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands Census Geography] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170103231522/http://www.pacificweb.org/DOCS/Trust%20TerritoriesPI/1967%20Trust%20Territory%20Census%20Geography.pdf |date=2017-01-03 }}
* [[United States Code]]: [https://web.archive.org/web/20100710032952/http://uscode.house.gov/download/pls/48C14.txt CHAPTER 14 – TRUST TERRITORY OF THE PACIFIC ISLANDS]
* [http://pidp.eastwestcenter.org/pireport/special/cofa_special.htm PACIFIC ISLANDS REPORT] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160422170636/http://pidp.eastwestcenter.org/pireport/special/cofa_special.htm |date=2016-04-22 }}, Pacific Islands Development Program/East-West Center
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20031005043720/http://166.122.164.43/archive/special/fsmcompact.pdf Compact of Free Association between the United States and the Federated States of Micronesia As Amended (2003)] (pdf, archived from [http://166.122.164.43/archive/special/fsmcompact.pdf the original] on 2003-10-05)

{{Federated States of Micronesia topics}}
{{Marshall Islands topics}}
{{Northern Mariana Islands}}
{{Palau topics}}
{{United States topics}}
{{Territories of the United States}}
{{Authority control}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Trust Territory Of The Pacific Islands}}
[[Category:Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands]]
[[Category:History of Micronesia]]
[[Category:United Nations trust territories]]
[[Category:Former colonies in Oceania]]
[[Category:Former regions and territories of the United States]]
[[Category:States and territories established in 1947]]
[[Category:States and territories disestablished in 1994]]
[[Category:1947 establishments in Oceania]]
[[Category:1994 disestablishments in Oceania]]
[[Category:Aftermath of World War II]]
[[Category:20th century in the Marshall Islands]]
[[Category:History of the Northern Mariana Islands]]
[[Category:20th century in Palau]]
[[Category:History of Oceania]]
[[Category:Federated States of Micronesia–United States relations]]
[[Category:Marshall Islands–United States relations]]
[[Category:Palau–United States relations]]
[[Category:Treaties of the Federated States of Micronesia]]
[[Category:Treaties of the Marshall Islands]]
[[Category:Treaties of Palau]]
[[Category:Treaties of the United States]]
[[Category:Presidency of Harry S. Truman]]