Origins: American Heritage
    There is a certain negative connotation to the word “colony”, created by the bitter memories of suppressed, raped, plundered and murdered people all over the world, from the mountainous west of South America over the hot and humid jungles of central Africa to the equally unpleasant landscapes of South-East Asia, and certainly this negative connotation was all the more obvious in the minds of American citizens at the beginning of this century. Their own history as a colony must have played a part in the position never to obtain colonies of its own.
For the U.S., the term “colony” indicated that a populated part of the earth would be forcibly occupied by a superior power and exploited at the will of the occupiers.

    Such a view enabled the U.S. to occupy several uninhabited Pacific islands during the mid-19th century. The first of these was the island of Midway, later to be famous for the tide-turning battle fought in 1942, which, at the end of the Hawaiian Islands chain, had been stumbled upon time and again by whalers and other high-seas vessels, and in 1856, was claimed by an enterprising Captain as U.S. territory. It was uninhabited besides a population of gooney birds.
No effort was made to secure this claim despite its suggested usefulness until after the Civil War, but in 1867, a naval expedition formally claimed the atoll.  Its original name got lost in the bureaucratic mess, and subsequently, the islands were known as the “Midways”.

    In the meantime, the inhabited island group of Hawaii had attracted many an American businessman, farmer and planter, and the Hawaiian Republic asked of the U.S. to be allowed to join the Union. This wish would be granted only long thereafter, but an initial step was made in 1898 when Hawaii was accepted as a territory, just as Alaska had been in 1867.

Emergence of the Colonies: 1898 to 1917
    1898 then also marked the big shift from anti-colonialism and anti-imperialism to mere anti-imperialism. That year, the tensions between the U.S. and Spain, coming from the apparent mistreatment of Spain’s Cuban subjects and the Spaniard’s forcible oppression of democratic movements in Cuba, came to eruption into war when the U.S. battleship Maine exploded in Havana harbor. Although the explosion probably was the result of spontaneous combustion of gasses in the coal bunkers, the U.S. public was of the opinion that Spanish saboteurs had blown her up, and demanded action. 

    The U.S. declaration of war found the U.S. Navy in a position to attack and take not only Cuba, but also the Philippines, a Spanish colony since the 16th century. Under Commodore George Dewey, the Asiatic Squadron of the Navy attacked and annihilated the weak and barely seaworthy Spanish squadron in Manila Bay. Not long thereafter, a German force entered the harbor, executed training landings, and was quite apparently intended on getting part of the cake that Dewey had captured from the Spanish. When the German commander protested Dewey’s seizure of one of his supply vessels, Dewey exploded and told the German that he would “stop each vessel whatever may be her colors. And if she does not  stop, I shall fire at her...if Germany wants a war, alright, we are ready.”
Not the least fear of Germany getting her hands at the valuable prizes that Spain had left compelled the U.S. to demand both the Philippines and Guam in the peace negotiations.

    In the Caribbean, the Flying Squadron under Commodore Sampson blockaded the harbor of Santiago de Cuba and the Spanish squadron that had slipped post his blockade into the harbor, until the Spanish accepted battle and were defeated in a running battle off the harbor. In turn, Cuba was captured and added to it was the island of Puerto Rico, still today a U.S. territory.

    The new possessions were actually smaller than they could have been, for propositions to occupy the Spanish islands group of the Carolines or even part of them were turned down. After the war, Germany bought them from the bankrupt Spanish and in WWI, they were occupied by Japan. One might speculate what would have happened should the U.S. have decided to occupy the defense-less islands during the war.

Colonial Policy and Defense
    The newly won colonies were all but undeveloped islands; they had little useful resources or offered strategic advantages over old enemies. On the contrary, they made new enemies. With the Empire of Japan now a mere 500 miles across the Strait of Luzon, the Philippines soon became the hypothetical war trigger in the Navy’s “Orange” war plans. Though furious discussion erupted every now and then about the proposition, it was generally assumed that a defense of the Philippines could not be combined with a prospect of victory. In 1941, however, General Douglas MacArthur wielded his considerable influence and the political appeal of a forward defense in America’s easternmost territory to successfully battle for the order of defending at all costs the Philippine main island of Luzon.

    As the eventual target of all Plan Orange offenses (before the actual strangulation of Japan), the Philippines remained a top-value target even though considerations to leap-frog across them to Formosa or Okinawa were made in 1944.

    The defense of the Philippines was greatly hampered by the Washington Treaty, which prohibited the U.S. from fortifying any of its possessions beyond the 180th Parallel. Initial plans for a powerful defense centered on forts and minefields around Manila harbor had to be cancelled – the “concrete battleship” of Fort Drum on Corregidor, a small islet in the mouth of the harbor, remained incomplete, as did mine depots, did fortifications on the planned defending area of Bataan, did many a artillery position along the long shoreline of Luzon.

    Politically, the Philippines were certainly less hazardous. Following the capture and integration, they were provided with a political system that closely resembled that of the U.S., including a separation of the parliament into two distinct houses, and in the final say in any judicial question rested with the U.S. Supreme Court. Elections were not held, but governors were installed by Washington. Only in 1935 did the U.S. grant the Philippines autonomy (though not independence), when the first free elections were held. In the following years, their remained a U.S. garrison, and all armed forces were under U.S. control. Promises for complete independence had been made before WWII, and it is a clear sign of U.S. anti-imperialism that these promises were fulfilled in 1946 without the quarreling accompanying such action in other European colonies.

    Hawaii was the only other U.S. possession in the Pacific to be viable for independence, but since the republic had asked to be taken into the Union – a step taken in 1959 --, she proved even less of a problem since preparations for a Hawaiian military (as made in the Philippines) needed not be taken.

    The Hawaiian islands were untouched by the Washington Treaty, alas, most of the fortifications that were deemed necessary, such as Fort Kamehameha had already been build when Pearl Harbor became a major fleet base. The islands were also supposed to be rather unassailable, and invasion was not one of the threats that figured highly in the navy’s war plans (Hawaii received a “D” in the danger rating, meaning major attack but little chance for invasion).
Guam, a small island at the southern end of the Marianas chain and geographically part of it, had little distinction except as the advance base of choice and highly fictional “Great Western Base”, stuffed with all sorts of high-powered defense weapons and protected anchorages, but never materialized as such after common sense had prevailed and the Washington Treaty cut short all plans for a build-up. As it turned out, Guam was untenable as a fleet base even in 1944 because of its modest size and lack of harbors. It shared the same governmental structures as Hawaii and the Philippines, and remains a U.S. territory to this day.

    The remaining U.S. island possessions in the Pacific – Howland, Baker, Johnston, Wake, part of Samoa – were not capable of self-governing to the extend of the larger islands. Wake played an important part in war plans with the development of reliable air units. It was to be defended at the outbreak of war, but eventually succumbed to bad timing and overwhelming enemy might. Of the others, Samoa had some importance as an anchorage on the route to Australia. It housed a heavy Army garrison to fend off any enemy attempt to seize it.