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History Of The Marshall Islands

History of the Marshall Islands


The Marshall Islands is a republic of 29 atolls and 5 coral islands.
The islands are one of the four main groups that make up Micronesia. The
nearest neighbor to the Marshalls are the Federated States of Micronesia.
They're only 26 populated islands in the Marshalls because a lot of the islands
are too small to support many people. There are two roughly parallel chains of
islands that make up the western Ralik group and the eastern Ratak group. Now
that you know what and where the Marshall Islands are I'll explain the history.
The very early people of the Marshalls had no written language so it is
very hard to predict what went on. The only early history has been handed down
from generation to generation in the form of songs, and we can also get some
facts from the folklore and legends. One thing that they do know is that
powerful chiefs ruled these large civilizations able to move such large stones
to build temples and cities. They must have been somewhat advanced because they
were able to build huge walls that were probably there to enclose a city. These
walls weighed many tons and were 20 ft. long, and even some walls they have
found to be 40 ft. high. Archaeologists are still puzzled of what kind of
machinery they had to move such large stones.
The real knowledge we know about the Marshall Islands history began in
the early sixteenth century. The sea going Europeans were trying to find
sources of the Spice Islands that were in very large demand in Europe. English,
Dutch, Spanish and Portuguese sea captains were all sailing around on their hunt
for riches. One of the first people we know of to definitely land on the
Marshall Islands during this time is Ferdinand Magellan. He landed in
Micronesia on his journey to circumnavigate the world. Forty years later in the
1560's after Magellan's voyage Spain claimed most all of the islands in
Micronesia. Spain wasn't really concerned about Micronesia because they were...