American Samoa

Under the Tripartite Convention of 1899, Germany and the United States divided the Samoan islands, with Britain withdrawing its claims. Samoan chiefs ceded Tutuila and Aunu'u to the United States in 1900 and the Manu'a islands in 1904. The Navy administered the territory, home to the deep-water harbor of Pago Pago, until 1951, when responsibility passed to the Department of the Interior. American Samoa is about 2,600 miles southwest of Hawaii, and its population was about 50,000 in 2020.

American Samoa is an unorganized, unincorporated territory: Congress has never passed an organic act, and the territory operates under its own constitution, adopted in 1967 and approved by the Secretary of the Interior. Residents have elected their governor since 1977 and a nonvoting delegate to the House since 1981. The territorial legislature, the Fono, includes a senate whose members are chosen by county councils under Samoan custom. The constitution protects fa'a Samoa, the Samoan way of life, including the matai system of chiefly families and communal ownership of most land, which is restricted to people of Samoan ancestry.

People born in American Samoa are U.S. nationals, not citizens. They owe allegiance to the United States, can live and work in the states, and serve in the military in high numbers, but they cannot vote in federal elections or hold some jobs without naturalizing. In Fitisemanu v. United States in 2021, a federal appeals court rejected a claim that the Citizenship Clause applies to the territory, and the Supreme Court declined review in 2022. American Samoa's elected leaders have opposed imposing citizenship by court order, arguing it could threaten traditional land and cultural protections, while some residents seek citizenship to secure full rights.