<P> 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 gave up all claims to Samoa and in return accepted the 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 . </P>
<P> 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 gave up all claims to Samoa and in return accepted the 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 . </P>
when did american samoa become a us territory
when did american samoa become a us territory
1899
1899