This article presents a legal history of US citizenship in Guam. I argue that members of Guam’s Congress mobilizing for US citizenship in the 1930s and in the immediate aftermath of World War II offer a powerful and instructive example of popular constitutionalism, or the interactive, extrajudicial process that generates constitutional meaning. Guamanians made constitutional claims to US naval leaders and lawmakers, arguing that colonized people living in the US empire should be US citizens despite ambiguous Supreme Court precedents in the Insular Cases, congressional inaction, and naval obstruction. Guamanians interpreted the Constitution in a way that pressured and influenced naval leaders to support and US lawmakers to ultimately enact legislation that extended citizenship to Guam. This legal history demonstrates the complexity of popular constitutionalism within the context of US empire. By claiming that they should be considered US citizens after the United States formally annexed Guam after the Spanish-American War, Guamanians drew on the Constitution to demand equality, dignity, and full inclusion in the US polity for colonized people. US naval leaders and lawmakers turned this egalitarian reading of the Constitution to their own strategic advantage, however, deploying it as a valuable piece of Cold War propaganda. This article thus provides a useful example of the ideological indeterminacy of popular constitutionalism. The Constitution can be interpreted by marginalized populations to demand equality and inclusion. But the Constitution can also be interpreted by the military and congressional leaders of a global empire to maintain systems of power, oppression, and subordination.

中文翻译：

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美帝国的大众宪政：关岛美国公民的法律史

本文介绍了关岛美国公民身份的法律历史。我认为，关岛国会议员在 1930 年代和第二次世界大战刚结束时动员美国公民身份，为大众宪政或产生宪法意义的互动、法外程序提供了一个强有力的和有启发性的例子。关岛人向美国海军领导人和立法者提出宪法要求，认为生活在美国帝国的殖民地人民应该是美国公民，尽管最高法院在岛屿案件中的先例模棱两可、国会不作为和海军阻挠。关岛人对宪法的解释向海军领导人施加压力并影响其支持，美国立法者最终颁布立法，将公民身份扩展到关岛。这段法律史展示了美帝国背景下大众宪政的复杂性。在美西战争后美国正式吞并关岛后，关岛人声称他们应该被视为美国公民，他们利用宪法要求殖民地人民的平等、尊严和完全融入美国政体。然而，美国海军领导人和立法者将这种对宪法的平等主义解读转化为他们自己的战略优势，将其作为冷战宣传的宝贵内容加以部署。因此，这篇文章提供了一个有用的例子，说明大众宪政的意识形态不确定性。边缘化人群可以将宪法解释为要求平等和包容。