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The '''Constitution of [[American Samoa]]''' is the [[constitution]] that defines the [[government of American Samoa]]. Unlike constitutions of a state, it is subject to unilateral change by the federal government. Constitutional documents of the territory include the treaties that created it and the 1960 constitution (as amended) approved by the federal government and popular referendum.

==History==
In 1956, Governor [[Richard Barrett Lowe]] initiated the development of an American Samoa Constitution by appointing a Constitutional Committee.<ref>Sunia, Fofō Iosefa Fiti (2001). ''Puputoa: Host of Heroes - A record of the history makers in the First Century of American Samoa, 1900-2000''. Suva, Fiji: Oceania Printers. Page 77. ISBN 9829036022.</ref>

The original Constitution was adopted by a constitutional convention and was signed by the 68 members of the convention and [[United States Secretary of the Interior]] [[Fred Andrew Seaton]] on 27 April 1960 and became effective 17 October 1960.{{sfn|Leibowitz|1980|p=254}}{{sfn|Leibowitz|1989|p=420}} A Constitutional Convention of American Samoa in [[Fagatogo]] begun on 26 September 1966 and approved several amendments,{{sfn|Leibowitz|1980|pp=254-255}} which were approved in a referendum in the general elections in 1966, promulgated by Interior Secretary [[Stewart Udall]] on 2 June 1967, and became effective 1 July 1967.

The Constitution was created during the first term of former Governor [[Peter Tali Coleman]]. Governor Coleman chaired the convention which drafted the original constitution. It included a bill of rights and provided protection for American Sāmoans against alienation of their lands and loss of culture.<ref>Lal, Brij V. and Kate Fortune (2000). ''The Pacific Islands: An Encyclopedia, Volume 1''. University of Hawaii Press. Page 560. {{ISBN|9780824822651}}.</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://radewagen.house.gov/about/our-district|title = Our District|date = 3 January 2021}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.congress.gov/congressional-record/1997/5/22/extensions-of-remarks-section/article/E1029-1|title = Congressional Record Extensions of Remarks Articles}}</ref> [[Savali Talavou Ale]] led the committee assignment of reviewing the constitution in the [[American Samoa House of Representatives]].<ref>Sunia, Fofō I. F. (1998). ''The Story of the Legislature of American Samoa: In Commemoration of the Golden Jubilee 1948-1998''. Pago Pago, AS: Legislature of American Samoa. Page 273. {{ISBN|9789829008015}}.</ref>

To prevent the Secretary of the Interior from appointing an Attorney General independent of the elected Governor,{{sfn|Leibowitz|1989|p=423}} the [[United States Congress]] passed a law in 1983 mandating that amendments to the Constitution be made by Congress alone.<ref>{{USStatute|98|213|97|1459|1983|12|08}}, § 12 at {{USStat|97|1462}}, codified at {{USC|48|1662a}}</ref> This law was repealed in 2025.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-bill/6062 |title=H.R.6062 – 118th Congress (2023-2024) |publisher=United States Congress}}</ref>

==Other constitutional documents==
The [[Ratification Act of 1929]] was [[joint resolution]] of the [[United States Congress]] that [[ratification|ratified]] the [[Treaty of Cession of Tutuila]] of 1900 and the [[Treaty of Cession of Manuʻa]] of 1904, which ceded the islands of [[Tutuila]] and [[Manuʻa]], respectively, to the United States and now form part of [[American Samoa]].<ref>{{Cite report |author=U.S. Government Accountability Office |author-link=Government Accountability Office |date=September 18, 2008 |title=American Samoa: Issues Associated with Some Federal Court Options |url=http://www.gao.gov/assets/130/121189.pdf |publisher=[[Government Accountability Office|U.S. Government Accountability Office]] }}</ref> These agreements came about because of the [[Second Samoan Civil War]] and the [[Tripartite Convention]] of 1899 between the United States, the United Kingdom, and the German Empire.

==See also==
* [[:s:Constitution of American Samoa (1960)|Constitution of American Samoa (1960)]]
* [[American Samoan constitutional referendum, 2010]]

==References==
{{reflist}}
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite journal | title= American Samoa: Decline of a Culture | last= Leibowitz | first= Arnold H | journal= [[California Western International Law Journal]] | volume= 10 | year= 1980 | pages= 220–271 }}
* {{cite book | title= Defining Status: A Comprehensive Analysis of United States Territorial Relations | last= Leibowitz | first= Arnold H | year= 1989 | isbn= 978-0-7923-0069-4 | url= https://books.google.com/books?id=s1NEdqvtd3IC&pg=PA420 }}
{{refend}}

==External links==
* [http://www.ilo.org/dyn/natlex/docs/ELECTRONIC/98671/117487/F-1956155712/USA98671.pdf Text of the Constitution of American Samoa] 
* {{cite web |title=Legal Resources |url=https://asbar.org/legal-resources/ |website=American Samoa Bar Association}}
{{American Samoa}}
{{Constitutions of the United States}}
{{Oceania in topic|Constitution of}}

[[Category:Government of American Samoa]]
[[Category:Law of American Samoa]]
[[Category:Constitutions of insular areas of the United States|American Samoa]]