Initial European Discovery
Early Western contact included a battle in the 18th century between French explorers and islanders in Tutuila, for which the Samoans were blamed in the West, giving them a reputation for ferocity. Early 19th century Rarotongan missionaries to the Samoa islands were followed by a group of Western missionaries led by John Williams (missionary) of the (Congregationalist) London Missionary Society in the 1830s, officially bringing Christianity to Samoa. Less than a hundred years later, the Samoan Congregationalist Church became the first independent indigenous church of the South Pacific.
Read more about this topic: History Of American Samoa
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