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Guam's Spanish Culture

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The Spanish era in Guam began in the 16th century. The first contact that Guam had with the Spanish and really the Western culture at large was in 1521 when Magellan reached the island in his tour of the world. However only 44 years later, Guam was claimed for Spain by General Miguel Lopez de Legazpi, and the colonization began soon after. Jesuit missionaries from Spain came to Guam to Christianize and westernize the island, causing the Catholic Church to become a key part of Guamanian culture. Guam was also a common stopping point between Mexico and the Philippines for Spanish traders, which bought even more Spanish traffic into daily Guamanian life. Because of this, Guam’s culture has been influenced greatly by the Spanish way of life.

The Spanish taught the people of Guam to raise cattle, grow corn, and adopt certain Western elements of life. Even some of the architecture, such as the first Catholic Church in Guam – the Dulce Nombre de Maria Cathedral Basilica – is representative of Spain’s effects on Guam.

By 1672 the peaceful submission of Guam to Spain was coming to an end. As the Spanish military began to press the Guamanians ruthlessly, some of the people of Guam fought back, even murdering a Spanish priest. Soon a war resulted, killing 50,000 Chamorros and forcing the rest of them to settle in five monitored villages. The people were forced to learn the Spanish language and customs, and Filipinos and other Spaniards were brought into the culture to “restock.” This era saw the end of the pure Chamorro line as well as the even further formation of Spanish culture into Guamanian life. Forts, churches, bridges, and other structures in Guam, even those built after the United States took over Guam after the Spanish-American war, still bear the mark of this Spanish influence.

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