Samoa, American

SAMOA, AMERICAN

SAMOA, AMERICAN. An unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the South Pacific and consisting of seven islands, American Samoa makes up the eastern portion of the Samoan archipelago; the western portion, known as Western Samoa or the Republic of Samoa, is an independent nation.

The first Polynesian colonists seem to have reached Samoa from Fiji around 1000 b.c. By the eighteenth century, Samoa supported a complex society with fortified villages, intensively cultivated fields, and extensive trade among the islands. In 1722, the Dutch explorer Jacob Roggeveen was the first European to visit the islands. Several other expeditions visited over the next century; European influence was minimal, however, until the 1830s, when the first English missionaries arrived. Thereafter, whalers, traders, and missionaries came in steadily increasing numbers.

By the 1870s, Great Britain and Germany were competing with the United States for commercial and diplomatic advantage in Samoa. In 1872 the Grant administration sent Col. Albert Steinberger as a "special commissioner" to "assist" the islanders and generally further American interests. Steinberger helped the Samoans draft a constitution but then installed himself as premier with near-dictatorial powers; he was deposed and deported by the British in 1876.

Samoa continued to be unstable, with various local factions bidding for support from the colonial powers. In 1889, Britain, Germany, and the United States attempted to settle their differences in the islands with the Berlin Treaty, which created a neutral and independent Samoa subject to the "advice" of the powers. This arrangement failed, and Samoa went through two rounds of civil war in the 1890s. In 1899 the three powers replaced the Berlin Treaty with the Tripartite Pact, which divided Samoa between Germany and the United States, with Britain withdrawing all claims in return for acknowledgement of its rights in other Pacific territories. The 1899 line of division, running along the 171st degree of longitude, remains the international boundary today between American Samoa and the independent Republic of Samoa.

The new colony was placed under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Navy, and executive authority was vested in a series of naval governors. American claims to the islands were strengthened by various Articles of Cession obtained from Samoan chiefs between 1900 and 1904, although Congress did not ratify these until 1929.

With the growth of Japanese militarism in the mid-1930s, Samoa began to acquire new strategic importance. By 1940 the Samoan islands had become a training area for the U.S. Marine Corps. After Pearl Harbor, the military facilities were rapidly and massively expanded, and Samoa became a rear staging area for U.S. offensives in the South Pacific. The military withdrew after the war's end, but this massive influx of American servicemen and goods had a lasting impact on Samoan society.

In 1951 control of the islands was shifted from the Navy to the Department of the Interior. The Samoans gained a measure of self-government when American Samoa approved its first constitution in 1966. This constitution is still in effect; it provides a tripartite system of government similar to the standard American model, albeit with some unique concessions to local custom. The islands' chief executive continued to be a governor appointed by Washington until 1977, when the position was made elective. Since then, the islands have had considerable autonomy, particularly in local affairs, although certain powers remain reserved to the Secretary of the Interior.

Samoans are American nationals, although not American citizens. They owe allegiance to the United States, and have American diplomatic and military protection, but are not entitled to a representative in Congress. Samoa is an "unincorporated" territory, meaning that not all provisions and protections of the United States Constitution apply there.

Samoans can travel freely to, and reside in, the United States. The 2000 Census gave the population of American Samoa as 57,291, of which 88.2 percent were ethnic Samoans. Ninety-six thousand Samoans were listed as living in the United States, with the largest groups in California and Hawaii. Samoa's economy has remained partly dependent upon American aid and is underdeveloped compared to the U.S. mainland or Hawaii.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Gray, J. A. C. Amerika Samoa: A History of American Samoa and Its United States Naval Administration. Annapolis, Md.: United States Naval Institute, 1960.

Douglas M. Muir

See also Insular Cases ; Wilkes Expedition .