- History of Samoa
European contact
Contact with
Europe ans began in the early1700s but did not intensify until the arrival of the English. In1722 , DutchmanJacob Roggeveen was the first European to sight the islands. Missionaries and traders arrived in the1830s . Halfway through the19th century , theUnited Kingdom ,Germany and theUnited States all claimed parts of the kingdom ofSamoa , and establishedtrade post s.High Chief
Malietoa Leaupepe died in1898 and was succeeded by Malietoa Tooa Mataafa. The US and British consuls supportedMalietoa Tanu , Leaupepe's son.US and British warships, including the USS "Philadelphia" shelled
Apia onMarch 15 ,1899 .Division of islands
The Samoa Tripartite Convention, a joint commission of three members composed of Bartlett Tripp for the United States, C. N. E. Eliot, C.B. for Great Britain, and Freiherr Speck von Sternburg for Germany, agreed to divide the islands. Germany received the western part, (later known as
Western Samoa ), containingUpolu andSavaii (the currentSamoa ) and other adjoining islands. These islands became known asGerman Samoa . The US acceptedTutuila andManu'a , which currently comprises the U.S. territory,American Samoa . In exchange for Britain ceding claims in Samoa, Germany transferred their protectorates in theNorth Solomon Islands . The monarchy was disestablished.Independence
From
1908 , with the establishment of theMau movement ("opinion movement"), Western Samoans began to assert their claim to independence.Shortly after the outbreak of
World War I , in August1914 ,New Zealand sent an expeditionary force to seize and occupy German Samoa. Although Germany refused to officially surrender the islands, no resistance was offered and the occupation took place without any fighting. New Zealand continued the occupation of Western Samoa throughout World War I. In1919 , under theTreaty of Versailles , Germany dropped its claims to the islands.New Zealand administered Western Samoa first as a
League of Nations Mandate and then as aUnited Nations trusteeship until the country received its independence onJanuary 1 ,1962 asWestern Samoa . Samoa was the firstPolynesia n nation to re-establish independence in the20th century .In July
1997 theconstitution was amended to change the country's name from "Western Samoa" to "Samoa." Samoa had been known simply as "Samoa" in the United Nations since joining the organization in1976 . The neighboring U.S. territory ofAmerican Samoa protested the move, feeling that the change diminished its own Samoan identity. American Samoans still use the terms "Western Samoa" and "Western Samoans."In
2002 , New Zealand'sprime minister Helen Clark formally apologized for two incidents during the period of New Zealand's administration: a failure toquarantine aninfluenza -carrying ship in 1919, leading to anepidemic which devastated the Samoan population, and the shooting of leaders of the non-violent Mau movement during a ceremonial procession in 1929.References
*Eustis, Nelson. 1979. "Aggie Grey of Samoa". Hobby Investments, Adelaide, South Australia. 2nd printing, 1980. ISBN 0-9595609-0-4.
External links
* [http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/14224 Samoa, A Hundred Years Ago And Long Before] by George Turner, an eText available from
Project Gutenberg
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