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The language of
Hawaii and archaeological discoveries indicate that Hawaii
was settled by two distinct waves of Polynesian migration.
Cook himself knew that the original Polynesian discoverers
had come from the South Pacific hundreds of years before his
time. First, from the Marquesas, came a settlement as early
as 600 or 700 AD, and then from the Society Islands, another
migration about 1100 AD. Lacking instruments of navigation
or charts or any kind, the Polynesians sailed into vast
oceans. They staked their knowledge of the sky and its
stars, the sea and its currents, the flight of birds and
many other natural signs. They were superior seamen of their
time.
Early Settlers and Explorers
During the 13th and 14th centuries, waves of immigrants from
Tahiti overwhelmed and absorbed the original people. Since
the earliest Hawaiians were possibly somewhat smaller than
the later immigrants, they may form the basis for the
legends of the menehunes, who were pictured by the later
Hawaiians as hardworking elves.
The first known settlers of the Hawaiian Islands were
Polynesian voyagers (the date of final migration is believed
to be c.750). The islands were first visited by Europeans in
1778 by the English explorer Captain James Cook, who named
them the Sandwich Islands for the English Earl of Sandwich.
At that time the islands were under the rule of warring
native kings.
It was a kingdom until 1775, when it was discovered by
Captain James Cook and renamed the "Sandwich Islands" after
the Earl of Sandwich; however as early as 1818, King
Kamehameha I is reported to have protested, saying that each
island should be called by its own name, and the entire
group referred to as the "Islands of the Kingdom of Hawaii".
But sometime after the beginning of the Christian era,
Polynesians first set foot on these islands. Linguistic and
cultural evidence suggest that the first inhabitants came
from the Marquesas Group, to the north of Tahiti.
The Rule of Kamehameha I
In 1810 Kamehameha I (see under Kamehameha became the sole
sovereign of all the islands, and, in the peace that
followed, agriculture and commerce were promoted. As a
result of Kamehameha's hospitality, American traders were
able to exploit the islands' sandalwood, which was much
valued in China at the time. Trade with China reached its
height during this period. However, the period of
Kamehameha's rule was also one of decline. Europeans and
Americans brought with them devastating infectious diseases,
and over the years the native population was greatly
reduced. The adoption of Western ways—trading for profit,
using firearms, and drinking liquor—contributed to the
decline of native cultural tradition. This period also
marked the breakdown of the traditional Hawaiian religion,
with its belief in idols and human sacrifice; years of
religious unrest followed.
Captain James Cook, the great Pacific explorer, happened
upon the islands during his third voyage in 1778. Hawaii's
long isolation ended at that moment. Soon, King Kamehameha
the Great embarked on his successful campaign to unite the
islands into one kingdom. At about the same time, Hawaii
assumed importance in the east-west fur trade and later as
the center for the Pacific whaling industry.
Influence of the Missionaries
When missionaries arrived in 1820 they found a less idyllic
Hawaii than the one Captain Cook had discovered. Kamehameha
III, who ruled from 1825 until his death in 1854, relied on
the missionaries for advice and allowed them to preach
Christianity. The missionaries established schools,
developed the Hawaiian alphabet, and used it for translating
the Bible into Hawaiian. In 1839, Kamehameha III issued a
guarantee of religious freedom, and the following year a
constitutional monarchy was established. From 1842 to 1854
an American, G. P. Judd, held the post of prime minister,
and under his influence many reforms were carried out. In
the following decades commercial ties between Hawaii and the
United States increased.
Development of the Sugar Industry
In 1848 the islands' feudal land system was abolished,
making private ownership possible and thereby encouraging
capital investment in the land. By this time the sugar
industry, which had been introduced in the 1830s, was well
established. Hawaiian sugar gained a favored position in
U.S. markets under a reciprocity treaty made with the United
States in 1875. The treaty was renewed in 1884 but not
ratified. Ratification came in 1887 when an amendment was
added giving the United States exclusive right to establish
a naval base at Pearl Harbor. The amount of sugar exported
to the United States increased greatly, and American
businessmen began to invest in the Hawaiian sugar industry.
Along with the Hawaiians in the industry, they came to exert
powerful influence over the islands' economy and government,
a dominance that was to last until World War II.
Change came at a rapid pace as both education and commerce
assumed growing importance. The old Hawaiian culture
disappeared rapidly under the onslaught of new ways, new
peoples, and new diseases, to which the previously isolated
Hawaiians were all too susceptible. Whaling and the
provisioning of the whaling fleet brought new money to the
island economy. At times, as many as 500 whaling ships
wintered in Hawaiian ports, principally Lahaina and
Honolulu.
In 1835, the first commercial production of sugar cane began
and this crop took on ever-increasing economic importance,
especially after the decline of the great whaling fleets.
Native Hawaiians did not take kindly to the tedious labor of
a plantation worker and, in any case, the native population
had been seriously depleted by disease. Thus, there began
the importation of labor from Asia and the Philippines and
other areas of the world. It is this varied population that
gave rise to the immense variety of Hawaii's present
inhabitants.
Threatened constantly by European nations eager to add
Hawaii to their empires, sugar planters and American
businessmen began to seek annexation by the United State.
This, too, would give them the advantages of a sugar market
free of tariff duties. Finally, a treaty of reciprocity was
negotiated in 1875 and this brought new prosperity to
Hawaii. American wealth poured into the islands seeking
investment.
The islands were officially granted their independence
(after a brief usurpation) from Great Britain in 1843, and
remained a sovereign kingdom until 1893, when the monarchy
was overthrown by a group of American businessmen. Hawaii's
last queen was Queen Liliuokalani, who wrote the now famous,
Aloha ‘Oe.
The Overthrow of Queen Liliuokalani and Annexation
In 1893, with Queen Liliuokalani on the throne, the
Americans formed a Committee of Safety and declared the
monarchy ended. In 1894, the Republic of Hawaii was
established. On August 12, 1898, the government of the
Republic transferred sovereignty to the United States.
Hawaii became a territory of the United States in 1900.
Toward the end of the 19th cent., agitation for
constitutional reform in Hawaii led to the overthrow (1893)
of Queen Liliuokalani, who had ruled since 1891. A
provisional government was established and John L. Stevens,
the U.S. minister to Hawaii, proclaimed the country a U.S.
protectorate. President Grover Cleveland, however, refused
to annex Hawaii since most Hawaiians did not support a
revolution; the Hawaiians and Americans in the sugar
industry had encouraged the overthrow of the monarchy to
serve their business needs.
The United States tried to bring about the restoration of
Queen Liliuokalani, but the provisional government on the
islands refused to give up power and instead established
(1894) a republic with Sanford B. Dole as president.
Cleveland's successor, President William McKinley, favored
annexation, which was finally accomplished in 1898.
Hawaii was a native kingdom throughout most of the 19th
century, when the expansion of the vital sugar industry
(pineapple came after 1898) meant increasing U.S. business
and political involvement. In 1893, Queen Liliuokalani was
deposed and a year later the Republic of Hawaii was
established with Sanford B. Dole as president. Then,
following its annexation in 1898, Hawaii became a U.S.
territory in 1900.
In 1900 the islands were made a territory, with Dole as
governor. In this period, Hawaii's pineapple industry
expanded as pineapples were first grown for canning
purposes. In 1937 statehood for Hawaii was proposed and
refused by the U.S. Congress—the territory's mixed
population and distance from the U.S. mainland were among
the obstacles.
World War II and Statehood
The pattern of growth then began to accelerate even more
rapidly. The U.S. Navy set up its giant Pacific headquarters
at Pearl Harbor and the Army built a huge garrison at
Schofield Barracks. Pineapple, other crops, cattle ranching,
and tourism slowly began to take on greater importance in
the island economy.
On Dec. 7, 1941, Japanese aircraft made a surprise attack on
Pearl Harbor, plunging the United States into World War II.
During the war the Hawaiian Islands were the chief Pacific
base for U.S. forces and were under martial law (Dec. 7,
1941–Mar., 1943).
The postwar years ushered in important economic and social
developments. There was a dramatic expansion of labor
unionism, marked by major strikes in 1946, 1949, and 1958.
The International Longshoremen's and Warehousemen's Union
organized the waterfront, sugar, and pineapple workers. The
tourist trade, which had grown to major proportions in the
1930s, expanded further with postwar advances in air travel
and with further investment and development. The building
boom brought about new construction of luxury hotels and
housing developments; Hawaii is home to one of the world's
most expensively built resort, the Hyatt Regency Waikola,
which cost $360 million to construct.
After having sought statehood for many decades, Hawaii was
finally admitted to the union on Aug. 21, 1959; although it
was thought at first to be solidly Republican, the state has
long been a Democratic stronghold. Movements for a return of
some sort of native sovereignty have been periodically
active.
In Sept., 1992, the island of Kauai was devastated by
Hurricane Iniki, the strongest hurricane to hit the islands
in the century. Hawaii, which had enjoyed sustained economic
and population growth since the end of World War II, saw
both slow in the 1990s, as tourism, the sugar industry, and
Japanese investment in the islands (particularly important
in the 1980s) declined.
Hawaii, 2,397 miles west-southwest of San Francisco, is a
1,523-mile chain of islets and eight main islands—Hawaii,
Kahoolawe, Maui, Lanai, Molokai, Oahu, Kauai, and Niihau.
The Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, other than Midway, are
administratively part of Hawaii.
The postwar period saw many rapid changes with the
descendants of plantation laborers rising to the highest
prominent in business, labor, and government.
Hawaii proved eager to take on the full responsibilities of
statehood. Under the leadership of Hawaii's last delegate to
Congress, John A. Burns, the 86th Congress approved
statehood and the bill was signed into law by President
Dwight D. Eisenhower on March 18, 1959. Hawaii was admitted
as the 50th state of the union on August 21, 1959.
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