Spanish–Chamorro Wars
Era of civil unrest / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Spanish–Chamorro Wars, also known as the Chamorro Wars and the Spanish–Chamorro War, refer to the late seventeenth century unrest among the Chamorros of the Mariana Islands in the western Pacific Ocean against the colonial effort of Habsburg Spain. Anger at proselytizing by the first permanent mission to Guam, which was led by Diego Luis de San Vitores, and a series of cultural misunderstandings led to increasing unrest on Guam and a Chamorro siege of the Hagåtña presidio incited by maga'låhi (Chief) Hurao in 1670. Maga'låhi Matå'pang killed San Vitores in 1672, resulting in a campaign of Spanish reprisal burnings of villages through 1676. Local anger at the attacks against villages resulted in another open rebellion led by Agualin and a second siege of Hagåtña. Governor Juan Antonio de Salas conducted a counter-insurgency campaign that successfully created a system of collaboration in which Guamanians turned in rebels and murderers and transferred most of the people from about 180 villages to seven towns, a policy known as reducción. By the early 1680s, Guam was largely "reduced," or pacified.
Spanish–Chamorro Wars | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Habsburg Spain Pro-Spanish Chamorros | Anti-colonist Chamorros | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Diego Luis de San Vitores (1670-1672) † Damián de Esplana (1674-1676) Antonio de Ayhi Francisco de Irrisari (1676-1679) José de Quiroga y Losada (1679-1697) |
Hurao (1670-1672) ![]() Matå'pang (1670-1680) (DOW) Agualin (1676-1679) † Yura (1684) |
With Guam in hand, the Spaniards looked to extend control to the Northern Mariana Islands. First was Rota, where the Spanish forces led by José de Quiroga y Losada conducted a quick military campaign in 1680, followed by the villagization of the Rota population into two towns in 1682. The Spaniards were welcomed on Tinian but were forced to conduct a campaign on Saipan against armed resistance. After successfully crushing rebellious villages on Saipan, the force under Quiroga began constructing a fort to solidify control of the area. However, with most of the Spanish soldiers in the north, Guam had erupted into rebellion. Yula led a sneak attack upon the Hagåtña presido on July 13, 1683, killing the Jesuit mission superior, severely wounding Governor Damián de Esplana, and killing four soldiers before they were repelled. A larger force of hostile Chamorros then returned to begin the third siege of Hagåtña. Meanwhile, the warriors from Tinian and Saipan had combined forces to attack the force commanded by Quiroga on Saipan, who was forced to shelter in his partially constructed fort. Quiroga was sieged until November when he was able to escape and sail to Guam, where he lifted the siege of Hagåtña. The Spanish then conducted a series of campaigns against resisting villages on Guam and executing insurrectionists until a new peace was secured.
The Spaniards did not attempt to control the northern islands again until 1694, when Quiroga captured Saipan but faced an entrenched defense by the population of Tinian, who had taken shelter on Aguiguan. Upon winning the battle, Quiroga ordered that the population of Tinian be relocated to Guam. While some disobeyed and fled to the islands of the far north, Tinian was soon emptied. The final stage was a 1698 military expedition against the eight small islands at northern end of the Marianas. The population there was resettled on Guam in 1699, completing the villagization of rebellious populations and Spanish consolidation of the Marianas.