The tropical frontier
Subtitle: America's south sea colony
By: Joseph Kennedy
Publisher: Micronesian Area Research Center, University of Guam
Published: 2009
Place of publication: University Station, Mangilao, Guam
Language: eng
Number of pages: 245
ISBN-13: 9780980033151
Subjects: Politics and government; Imperialism; Civil-military relations; Relations; History
Other titles: America's south sea colony
Description: "For more than two thousand years the Samoan Islands were among the most forgotten places on earth, but by the late nineteenth century they suddenly attracted the attention of some of the most powerful nations on the globe. Germany and the United Kingdom became interested in the western islands, but it was the U.S. that eventually obtained suzerainty over Pago Pago harbor on the island of Tutuila in the east and began its one and only South Seas colonial experiment. In the Pacific and elsewhere, native populations have traditionally and actively sought independence from their invasive colonial co-partners or have, at the very least, passively but begrudgingly tolerated them. But the relationships between the Samoans of the eastern islands and their American administrators were remarkably different: The Samoans chose boycott over outright belligerence and elected to outlast (and sometimes outwit) their colonial partners while pressing for changes that would bring them into the American family. The story of how this all came about was not without its share of problems, but colonial neglect, native resistance, two world wars, and even administrative madness did not derail an association that somehow continues to this day."--Dust jacket flap.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 225-232) and index.