In 1975, after three centuries of colonial rule, the people of the Northern Marianas exercised their right of self-determination to become US citizens in a self-governing commonwealth under U.S. sovereignty. This title is an account of their tenacious efforts to shape a political future separate from other Micronesian peoples, of the negotiations that produced the Covenant defining the commonwealth relationship, and its eventual approval by the Northern Marianas people and the US Congress.