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Saipan, as with the other Mariana Islands, was first inhabited some 3,500 years
ago. The people evolved, developing a unique language
and culture, and reached a population of more than
40,000 by the time Magellan arrived in 1521. By 1700, Saipan and all the other
Mariana islands except Guam and Rota had been completely depopulated and the
total Chamorro population was reduced to just 3,700.
The
island was not repopulated until the arrival of group of Carolinian migrants
arrived in the early 1800s. They established the village of Arabwal, now known
as Garapan. In the 1820’s, the Spanish Governor of the Marianas appointed
the first official mayor of Saipan.
Guam-born Chamorros or their descendants began moving to Saipan. By the end of
the 19th Century, the center of population on Saipan remained the
town of Garapan. Tinian Carolinians re-settled the village of Tanapag after
Tinian was depopulated again by the Spanish administration.
Other Carolinians returning from the Northern Islands established other villages
on Saipan.
The
Americans capture of Guam in 1898 partitioned the Marianas. This allowed Germany
to purchase the islands, immediately creating a problem for the American War
Planning Department.
The
outbreak of World War I cut short the German administration, leaving little
behind to mark their fleeting presence. Japan quickly occupied all of German
Micronesia.
Saipan in the Marianas was a great catch for the Japanese. It had a functional
sea port only 100 miles north of Guam and connected the trading route from Japan
south to Australia.
The
Japanese naval administration was replaced with a civilian administration in
1922, the Nanyo-cho. In the mid-1920’s Japan established sugar as the economic
base of the Marianas. Large numbers of Okinawans and Koreans migrated to the
islands to grow the cane for the factories.The population of Saipan grew from
2,500 in 1912 to 23,572 by 1935. Again, international events were to change the
course of Saipan’s history.
In
1937, Tojo lead his armies into China, and the Japanese Navy began fortifying
its bases in the Marianas. Preparations were underway for a contest between
Japan and the United States for control of the Pacific.
When
Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, the United States declared war on Japan. It would
have resulted only in a Pacific war, had not Hitler decided to declare war on
the United States just two days later, creating a two-ocean war for the United
States.
Despite the loss of their Pacific battle fleet at Pearl Harbor, the United
States was able to recover, rebuild their fleet and assume the offensive by
1943. The United States Army controlled the initiative of war at that time, and
began plans for the invasion of Japan, considered the necessary and ultimate end
of any war.
The
Navy supported the Army Air Forces command in the concept that the war could be
won from the air if the Navy could capture the Marianas and build the bases
necessary to supply and launch a fleet of B-29 Superfortresses. The capture of
Saipan and the rest of the Marianas was the strategic victory of the Pacific
war.
The
Navy delivered two divisions of Marines and one Army National Guard division to
Saipan.
Then the Navy delivered several battalions of Seabees to build the bases. They
were not even finished when the first squadron of Superforts arrived at the
newly named Isley Field on Saipan.
Joined by other members of the XXth Air Force based on Tinian and Guam, the
B-29’s knocked the Japanese to their knees.
The
atom bombs launched from neighboring Tinian were the knock out blow.
They forced Emperor Hirohito to surrender unconditionally. The war was won from
the air and millions of lives were saved from what would have been a bloodbath
on the shores of Japan.
After
the war, U.S. Naval Civil Affairs managed the islands until 1947 when the
Marianas became part of the U.S. Trust Territory of the Pacific, administered by
the Department of the Interior.
They remained in this questionable political status until 1971 when they
received permission from the United Nations to seek a political status with the
United States, separate from the rest of Micronesia.
In
January 1978, the first government of the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas,
in political union with the United States, was inaugurated. Saipan grew quickly
as a result of the opening of foreign investment under the permanent protection
of the American flag. Saipan continues to be the capitol of the Commonwealth of
the Northern Mariana islands.
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