American Samoa (/əˈmɛrɨkən səˈmoʊ.ə/; Samoan: Amerika Sāmoa, [aˈmɛɾika ˈsaːmʊa]; also Amelika Sāmoa or Sāmoa Amelika) is an unincorporated territory of the United States located in the South Pacific Ocean, southeast of the Independent State of Samoa (formerly known as Western Samoa). The main (largest and most populous) island is Tutuila, with the Manuʻa Islands, Rose Atoll, and Swains Island also included in the territory.

American Samoa is part of the Samoan Islands chain, located west of the Cook Islands, north of Tonga, and some 300 miles (500 km) south of Tokelau. To the west are the islands of the Wallis and Futuna group.

The 2010 census showed a total population of 55,519 people. The total land area is 76.1 square miles (197.1 km), slightly more than Washington, D.C. American Samoa is the southernmost territory of the United States.

18th century: First Western contact

Contact with Europeans began in the early 18th century. Jacob Roggeveen (1659–1729), a Dutchman, was the first known European to sight the Samoan islands in 1722. This visit was followed by the French explorer Louis-Antoine de Bougainville (1729–1811), who named them the Navigator Islands in 1768. Contact was limited before the 1830s which is when English missionaries and traders began arriving.

Early Western contact included a battle in the eighteenth century between French explorers and islanders in Tutuila, for which the Samoans were blamed in the West, giving them a reputation for ferocity. The site of this battle is called Massacre Bay.

19th century

Mission work in the Samoas had begun in late 1830 when John Williams of the London Missionary Society arrived from the Cook Islands and Tahiti. By that time, the Samoans had gained a reputation for being savage and warlike, as violent altercations had occurred between natives and European visitors. Nevertheless, by the late nineteenth century, French, British, German, and American vessels routinely stopped at Samoa, as they valued Pago Pago Harbor as a refueling station for coal-fired shipping and whaling.

In March 1889, a German naval force invaded a village in Samoa, and by doing so destroyed some American property. Three American warships then entered the Apia harbor and prepared to engage three German warships found there. Before guns were fired, a typhoon wrecked both the American and German ships. A compulsory armistice was called because of the lack of warships.

Early 20th century

At the turn of the twentieth century, international rivalries in the latter half of the century were settled by the 1899 Tripartite Convention in which Germany and the United States partitioned the Samoan Islands into two parts: the eastern island group became a territory of the United States (the Tutuila Islands in 1900 and officially Manu'a in 1904) and is today known as American Samoa; the western islands, by far the greater landmass, became known as German Samoa after Britain vacated all claims to Samoa and accepted termination of German rights in Tonga and certain areas in the Solomon Islands and West Africa. Forerunners to the Tripartite Convention of 1899 were the Washington Conference of 1887, the Treaty of Berlin of 1889 and the Anglo-German Agreement on Samoa of 1899.

U.S. Protectorate

The following year, the U.S. formally occupied its portion: a smaller group of eastern islands, one of which surrounds the noted harbor of Pago Pago. After the United States Navy took possession of eastern Samoa on behalf of the United States, the existing coaling station at Pago Pago Bay was expanded into a full naval station, known as United States Naval Station Tutuila under the command of a commandant. The Navy secured a Deed of Cession of Tutuila in 1900 and a Deed of Cession of Manuʻa in 1904 on behalf of the U.S. government. The last sovereign of Manuʻa, the Tui Manuʻa Elisala, signed a Deed of Cession of Manuʻa following a series of U.S. Naval trials, known as the "Trial of the Ipu," in Pago Pago, Taʻu, and aboard a Pacific Squadron gunboat. The territory became known as the U.S. Naval Station Tutuila.

On July 17, 1911, the U.S. Naval Station Tutuila, which was composed of Tutuila, Aunu'u and Manu'a, was officially renamed American Samoa.

World War I and the 1918 flu pandemic

In 1918 during the final stages of World War I, the flu pandemic had taken its toll, spreading rapidly from country to country. American Samoa became one of three places in the world (others being New Caledonia and Marajó Island in Brazil) to have prevented any deaths during the pandemic through the quick response from Governor John Martin Poyer after hearing news reports of the outbreak on the radio and requesting quarantine ships from the U.S. mainland. The result of Poyer's quick actions earned him the Navy Cross from the US Navy. With this distinction, American Samoans regarded Poyer as their hero for what he had done to prevent the deadly disease. The neighboring New Zealand territory at the time Western Samoa suffered the most of all Pacific islands with 90% of the population infected, 62% died. Poyer offered assistance to help his New Zealand counterparts, but was refused by the administrator of Western Samoa Robert Logan who became outraged after witnessing the amount of quarantine ships surrounding American Samoa. Angered by this, Logan had cut off communications with his American counterparts.

Interwar period

American Samoa Mau movement

After World War I, during the time of the Mau movement in Western Samoa (then a League of Nations mandate governed by New Zealand), there was a corresponding American Samoa Mau movement led by Samuelu Ripley, a World War I veteran who was from Leone village, Tutuila. After meetings in the United States mainland, he was prevented from disembarking from the ship that brought him home to American Samoa and was not allowed to return because the American Samoa Mau movement was suppressed by the U.S. Navy. In 1930 the U.S. Congress sent a committee to investigate the status of American Samoa, led by Americans who had a part in the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii.

Annexation of Swains Island

Swains Island, which had been included in the list of guano islands appertaining to the US and bonded under the Guano Islands Act, was annexed in 1925 by Pub. Res. 68-75.

Pan American and first trans-South Pacific flight

In 1938, the noted aviator Ed Musick and his crew died on the Pan American World Airways S-42 Samoan Clipper over Pago Pago, while on a survey flight to Auckland, New Zealand. Sometime after take-off, the aircraft experienced trouble, and Musick turned it back toward Pago Pago. While the crew dumped fuel in preparation for an emergency landing, an explosion occurred that tore the aircraft apart.

World War II and aftermath

During World War II, U.S. Marines in Samoa outnumbered the local population, having a huge cultural influence. Young Samoan men from the age of 14 and above were combat trained by U.S. military personnel. Samoans served in various capacities during World War II, including as combatants, medical personnel, code personnel, and ship repairmen.

In 1949, Organic Act 4500, a U.S. Department of Interior-sponsored attempt to incorporate American Samoa, was introduced in Congress. It was ultimately defeated, primarily through the efforts of Samoan chiefs, led by Tuiasosopo Mariota. These chiefs' efforts led to the creation of a territorial legislature, the American Samoa Fono, which meets in the village of Fagatogo.

From 1951 to 1999

By 1956, the navy-appointed governor was replaced by a locally elected one (Peter Tali Coleman). Although technically considered "unorganized" since the U.S. Congress has not passed an Organic Act for the territory, American Samoa is self-governing under a constitution that became effective on July 1, 1967. The U.S. Territory of American Samoa is on the United Nations list of Non-Self-Governing Territories, a listing which is disputed by the territorial government officials, who do consider themselves to be self-governing.

American Samoa and Pago Pago International Airport had historic significance with the Apollo Program. The astronaut crews of Apollo 10, 12, 13, 14, and 17 were retrieved a few hundred miles from Pago Pago and transported by helicopter to the airport prior to being flown to Honolulu on C-141 Starlifter military aircraft.

While the two Samoas share language and ethnicity, their cultures have recently followed different paths, with American Samoans often emigrating to Hawaiʻi and the U.S. mainland, and adopting many U.S. customs, such as the playing of American football and baseball. Western Samoans have tended to emigrate instead to New Zealand, whose influence has made the sports of rugby and cricket more popular in the western islands. Travel writer Paul Theroux noted that there were marked differences between the societies in Samoa and American Samoa.

21st century

Due to economic hardship, military service has been seen as an opportunity in American Samoa and other U.S. Overseas territories, this has meant that there have been a disproportionate number of casualties per population compared to other parts of the United States. As of March 23, 2009, there have been 10 American Samoans who have died in Iraq, and 2 who have died in Afghanistan.

Notable events

On December 10, 1787, French navigator Jean-François de Galaup, comte de Lapérouse landed two exploration parties on Tutuila's north shore: one from the ship La Boussole ("The Compass") at Fagasa, and the other from L' Astrolabe ("The Quadrant") at A'asu. One of the cooks, David, died of "scorbutic dropsy". On December 11, 1787, twelve members of Jean-François de La Pérouse's crew (including First Officer Paul-Antoine Fleuriot de Langle and 39 Samoans) were killed by angry Samoans at A'asu Bay, Tutuila, thereafter known as "Massacre Bay," which La Pérouse described as "this den, more fearful from its treacherous situation and the cruelty of its inhabitants than the lair of a lion or a tiger." This incident gave Samoa a reputation for savagery, and kept Europeans away until the arrival of the first Christian missionaries four decades later. On December 12, 1787, at A'asu Bay, Tutuila, French explorer Jean-François de La Pérouse ordered his gunners to fire one cannonball in the midst of the attackers who had killed twelve of his men the day before, and were now returning to launch another attack. He later wrote in his journal "I could have destroyed or sunk a hundred canoes, with more than 500 people in them: but I was afraid of striking the wrong victims; the call of my conscience saved their lives."

On March 25, 1891, Robert Louis Stevenson paid a rare visit to Pago Pago.

On December 15, 1916, English writer William Somerset Maugham arrived in Pago Pago, allegedly accompanied by a missionary and Miss Sadie Thompson. His visit inspired his short story "Rain", which later became plays and three major Motion Pictures. The building Maugham stayed during his visit still stands and has been for decades renamed Sadie Thompson Building today it is a prominent restaurant and Inn.

On November 3, 1920, American Samoa's 12th naval governor Commander Warren Jay Terhune, committed suicide with a pistol in the bathroom of the Government mansion, overlooking the entrance to Pago Pago Harbor. His body was discovered by Government House's cook, SDI First Class Felisiano Debid Ahchica, USN. (His ghost is rumored to walk about the grounds at night).

On August 11, 1925, Margaret Mead arrived in American Samoa aboard SS Sonoma to begin fieldwork for her doctoral dissertation in anthropology at Columbia University, where she was a student of Professor Franz Boas. Her work Coming of Age in Samoa was published in 1928 at the time becoming the most widely read book in the field of anthropology. The book however has sparked years of ongoing and intense debate and controversy. The traditionalist conservative Intercollegiate Studies Institute listed Coming of Age in Samoa as #1 as the "50 Worst Books of the Twentieth Century". Mead returned to American Samoa one last time in 1971 for the dedication of the Jean P. Haydon Museum.

On November 24, 1939, American Samoa's last execution was carried out. Imoa, who was convicted of stabbing Sema to death, was hanged in the Customs House. The popular Samoan song "Fa'afofoga Samoa" said to be the final words of Imoa are based on these events.

On January 11, 1942, at 2:26 a.m., "a Japanese submarine surfaced about 10,000 yards off the north coast of Tutuila between Southworth Point and Fagasa Bay," and fired about fifteen projectiles from its 5.5-inch deck gun at the U.S. Naval Station Tutuila over a period of approximately ten minutes. The first shell struck the rear of the store of Frank Shimasaki, one of Tutuila's few Japanese residents. The store was closed at the time, as Mr. Shimasaki was interned because of his "foreign background." The next one inflicted slight damage on the naval dispensary, the third landed on the lawn behind the naval quarters known as "Centipede Row," while the fourth hit the stone seawall outside the customs house. The others fell harmlessly into the harbor. "The fire was not returned, notwithstanding the eagerness of the Samoan Marines to test their skill against the enemy....No American or Samoan Marines were wounded." Commander Edwin B. Robinson, who was bicycling behind Centipede Row, was wounded in the knee by a piece of shrapnel and "a member of the colorful native Fita Fita Guard" received minor injuries; they were the only casualties. This was the only time that the Japanese attacked Tutuila during World War II, but "Japanese submarines did patrol the waters around Samoa prior to the attack on Pearl Harbor, and were active in the area throughout the war."

On August 24, 1943, First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt visited American Samoa and inspected the Fita Fita Guard and Band and the First Samoan Battalion, U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, at the U.S. Naval Station American Samoa.

On October 18, 1966, President Lyndon Baines Johnson and First Lady Lady Bird Johnson visited American Samoa. Mrs. Johnson dedicated the "Manulele Tausala" ("Lady Bird") Elementary School in Nu'uuli, which was named after her. Lyndon Johnson was the only U.S. President to visit American Samoa. Mrs. Johnson was the second First Lady to visit the Territory. The first was Eleanor Roosevelt in 1943. The territory's only hospital was renamed in honor of President Johnson.

In the late 1960s and early 1970s American Samoa played a pivotal role in five of the Apollo Program missions. Astronauts returned to Earth just a few hundred miles from Pago and were transported to the islands en route home to the mainland. Three moon rocks gifted to the American Samoan Government by President Nixon are on display in the Jean P. Haydon museum along with a flag carried to the moon by one of the astronauts.

On November 1970 Pope Paul VI visited American Samoa in a brief but lavish greeting.

On January 30, 1974, Pan Am Flight 806, arriving on Wednesday night from Auckland, New Zealand with 91 passengers aboard, crashed at Pago Pago International Airport at 10:41 p.m. 86 people were killed, including Captain Leroy A. Petersen and the entire flight crew. Five passengers were injured: four seriously, and one minor. The plane was demolished by impact and fire. The crash was variously attributed to poor visibility, pilot error or wind shear. A violent storm was raging when the plane crashed. In January 2014 filmmaker Paul Crompton visited the territory to interview local residents for a documentary film about the 1974 crash.

On April 17, 1980, during Flag Day celebrations in American Samoa, a U.S. Navy patrol plane, carrying six skydivers from the U.S. Army's Hawaii-based Tropic Lightning Parachute Club, had its vertical stabilizer shorn off by the Solo Ridge—Mount Alava aerial tramway cable, which stretches across Pago Pago Harbor. The plane crashed, demolishing a wing of the Rainmaker Hotel and killing seven people (all six crew members and one civilian). All six skydivers were reported in good condition. A memorial monument is erected on Mt. Mauga O Ali'i to honor their memory.

On July 22, 2010, Det. Lt. Lusila Brown was fatally shot outside the temporary High Court building in Fagatogo. The murder sent shock and panic waves throughout an island normally unscathed by gun violence. It was the first time in more than 15 years that a police officer was killed in the line of duty. The last was Sa Fuimaono, who drowned after saving a teenager from rough seas.

On November 7, 2010, Secretary of state and former First Lady Hillary Clinton made a refueling stopover at the Pago Pago International Airport. She was greeted by government dignitaries and presented with gifts and a traditional ava ceremony.

September 2009 earthquake and tsunami

On September 29, 2009 at 17:48:11 UTC, an 8.1 magnitude earthquake struck 120 miles (190 km) off the coast of American Samoa, followed by smaller aftershocks. It was the largest earthquake of 2009. The quake occurred on the outer rise of the Kermadec-Tonga Subduction Zone. This is part of the Pacific Ring of Fire, where tectonic plates in the Earth's lithosphere meet and earthquakes and volcanic activity are common. The quake struck 11.2 miles (18.0 km) below the ocean floor and generated an onsetting tsunami that killed more than 170 people in the Samoa Islands and Tonga. Four waves with heights from 15 feet (4.6 m) to 20 feet (6.1 m) high were reported to have reached up to one mile (1.6 km) inland on the island of Tutuila.

The Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) worked with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to provide 16' × 16' humanitarian tents to the devastated areas of American Samoa.

The ethnic culture of American Samoa is almost the same as the ethnic culture of Western Samoa (Upolu and Savaii). The U.S. sovereignty distinguishes the civilization of American Samoa from the sovereign Samoa.^{[clarification needed]}

Sports

The main sports played in American Samoa are Samoan cricket, baseball, basketball, soccer, and American football. In Samoan villages, volleyball is also popular.

American football

About 30 ethnic Samoans, all from American Samoa, currently play in the National Football League, and more than 200 play NCAA Division I college football. In recent years, it has been estimated that a Samoan male (either an American Samoan, or a Samoan living in the 50 United States) is anywhere from 40 to 56 times more likely to play in the NFL than a non-Samoan American. Six-time All-Pro Junior Seau was one of the most famous Americans of Samoan heritage ever to play in the NFL, having been elected to the NFL 1990s All-Decade Team and Pro Football Hall of Fame. Pittsburgh Steelers safety Troy Polamalu, though born and raised in the mainland U.S., is perhaps the most famous Samoan currently in the NFL, not having his hair cut since 2000 (and only because a USC coach told him he had to) and wearing it down during games in honor of his heritage. The football culture was featured on 60 Minutes January 17, 2010.

Rugby league

The American Samoa national rugby league team represents the country in international rugby league. The team competed in the 1988, 1992, 1998 and 2004 Pacific Cup competitions. The team has also competed in the 2003 and 2004 world sevens qualifiers in the 2005 World sevens. America Samoa's first match in international Rugby League was in 1988 pacific cup against Tonga, Tonga won the match 38-14 which is still the biggest loss by an American Samoan side. American Samoa's biggest win was in 2004 against New Caledonia with the score ending at 62-6.

American Samoa get broadcast of the National Rugby League in Australia on free-to-air television.

There is also a new movement which aims to set up a four team domestic competition in American Samoa.

Professional wrestling

A number of American Samoan athletes have been very visible in boxing, kickboxing, and professional wrestling (see especially Anoa'i family). World Wrestling Entertainment has employed many members from the Anoa'i family.

Sumo wrestling

Some Samoan Sumo wrestlers, most famously Musashimaru and Konishiki have reached the highest ranks of ōzeki and yokozuna. Despite the relatively small population of the islands many Samoans and people of Samoan descent have reached high ranks in many professional sports leagues.

Association football

American Samoa national association football team is one of the newest teams in the world, and is also noted for being the world's weakest. They lost to Australia 31–0 in a FIFA World Cup qualifying match on April 11, 2001, but on November 22, 2011 they finally won their first ever game, beating Tonga 2-1 in a FIFA World Cup qualifier. The appearance of American Samoa's Jaiyah Saelua in the contest "apparently became the first transgender player to compete on a World Cup stage."

Rugby union

Rugby union is a growing sport in American Samoa. The first rugby game recorded in American Samoa was in 1924, since then the development of the game had been heavily overshadowed by the influence of American Football during the 1970s. The highest governing body of rugby in American Samoa is the American Samoa Rugby Union which was founded in 1990 and was not affiliated into the IRB until 2012. Internationally, two American Samoans have played for the New Zealand national rugby union team, known as the All Blacks. Frank Solomon (born in Pago Pago) became the first American national of Samoan descent to play for a New Zealand team. Considered a pacific pioneer in New Zealand rugby, Solomon scored a try against Australia in the inaugural Bledisloe Cup match in 1932, which New Zealand won 21-13. The second American Samoan to play for the All Blacks is Jerome Kaino (born in Faga'alu). A native of Leone, Kaino moved to New Zealand when he was 4 years old. In 2004 at age 21, he played his first match for New Zealand against the Barbarians where he scored his first try, contributing to New Zealand's 47-19 victory that resulted him man of the match. He also played a crucial role in the Rugby World Cup 2011 playing every match presented. He managed to score four tries in the event which lead to New Zealand winning the final against France 8-7.

Track and field

Track and field is not a popular sport in American Samoa, but it hit the limelight when 130 kg sprinter, (Sogelau Tuvalu) competed in the men's 100m of the IAAF World Championships at Daegu, South Korea, in August 2011. The 17-year-old finished last in his preliminary rounds but clocked a personal best 15.66 seconds despite running into a headwind of -0.9, surprisingly not the slowest time in the world championships history as the time is faster than 21.73 seconds set in 1997 by an injured Kim Collins who became the world champion six years later. Tuvalu was a shot putter but did not qualify for the shotput event so instead competed in the 100m. He was said to have trained for 4 months for the 100m, though did not wear spikes, and instead wore shot putters smooth bottom shoes.

American Samoa, located within the geographical region of Oceania, is one of only two possessions of the United States in the Southern Hemisphere, the other being Jarvis Island. Its total land area is 76.1 square miles (197.1 km²) – slightly larger than Washington, D.C. – consisting of five rugged, volcanic islands and two coral atolls. The five volcanic islands are: Tutuila, Aunu'u, Ofu, Olosega, Tau. The coral atolls are: Swains, and Rose Atoll. Of the seven islands, Rose Atoll is the only uninhabited one; it is a Marine National Monument.

Due to its positioning in the South Pacific Ocean, it is frequently hit by tropical cyclones between November and April. Rose Atoll is the easternmost point of the territory. American Samoa is the southernmost part of the United States. American Samoa is home to the National Park of American Samoa.

Vailulu'u Seamount

The Vailulu'u Seamount, an active submerged volcano, lies 28 miles (45 km) east of Ta'u in American Samoa. It was discovered in 1975 and has since been studied by an international team of scientists, contributing towards understanding of the Earth's fundamental processes. Growing inside the summit crater of Va'ilulu'u is an active underwater volcanic cone, named after Samoa's goddess of war, Nafanua.

American Samoa has a tropical climate all year round with two distinct seasons, the wet and dry season. The wet season is usually between December and March and the dry season from April through to September with the average daily temperature around 81˚- 83˚ Fahrenheit (around 28° Celsius) all year round.