WHAT A WEEK!! I spent all of my free time this week researching the history of Hawaii so that I could try to present it in a clear and concise fashion. Here are the main points that I chose to highlight today. I implore you to please click on all the links to find the sources from which I pulled the information. I want to thank all of the sources for doing their own research and making it available to the public. I also want to thank Professor Moore of the WCC UH of Manoa Campus for his edits and additional thoughts to the wording of the post. To all of you reading this, thank you for taking the time. Knowledge is power. - Emily
This “Statehood” day, put yourself in a Hawaiian’s slippahs as we take a walk through Hawaii’s history.
- In 1843 Hawaii became an internationally recognized, sovereign country by France, Britain, and then the US in 1844.
- On January 17, 1893, a group of 13 non-Hawaiian businessmen used US marines to overthrow Queen Liliuokalani.
- In 1898, The Queen along with her subjects, successfully stopped a treaty of annexation by the US by protest in Washington DC and the signing of The Petition Against Annexation in 1897.
- On July 7, 1898, the US decided they needed Hawaii during their Spanish-American war and started an illegal occupation of Hawaii by Joint Resolution.
- A Joint Resolution is not a treaty therefore it does not have the lawful power to annex another country as the US was using it to do.
- Between 1893 - 1899, Queen Liliuokalani was portrayed in foreign newspapers as primitive, the Hawaiian Language was banned, and we were told that we were no longer Hawaiian.
- On November 23, 1993 the US issued a formal apology stating, “The Congress apologizes… for the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii… and the deprivation of the rights of the Native Hawaiians to self-determination.”
- But they ended it with, “Nothing in this Joint Resolution is intended to serve as a settlement of any claims against the United States.”
128 years have passed since the illegal overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii and 123 years have passed since the Joint Resolution and illegal occupation. To this day there is still no treaty of annexation between Hawaii and the United States, which leads us to...a story for another time. Hawaiians make up the majority of the homeless population, we watch as our loved ones move somewhere cheaper, and we continue to fight for our identity and voice in the ever-chaotic world we live in.
“Aloha.” People get so caught up in thinking it means hello and goodbye, they forget that it means love, compassion and empathy. Now that you’ve put yourselves in our shoes, How can you not empathize with us? How can you not extend the aloha that we have extended many times to you?
So when you see a Hawaiian protesting or upset about illegal occupation and the result of that act, remember this post and show some aloha.
A list of additional resources that I studied this week in no particular order:
Why was Hawaii “annexed”
- Good location for war
- Money to be made from plantations
- Greedy foreign business men illegally overthrew the govenment
- The monarchy didn’t want there to be bloodshed amount the Hawaiian people
- https://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/hawaii-petition
- In 1897, the treaty effort was blocked when the newly-formed Hawaiian Patriotic League, composed of native Hawaiians, successfully petitioned the U.S. Congress in opposition of the treaty.
New York times edition of the incident:
Original article https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/learning/aol/onthisday/big/0117.html
Liliuokalani’s relinquishing of her powers:
https://www.ksbe.edu/article/the-truth-behind-the-illegal-overthrow-of-the-hawaiian-kingdom/
and
https://www.hawaiiankingdom.org/memorial_1898.shtml
Hawaiian kingdom website
https://www.hawaiiankingdom.org/index.shtml
Statement of apology by the US https://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/session2014/bills/SB233_.HTM
https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/STATUTE-107/pdf/STATUTE-107-Pg1510.pdf
About imperialism https://www.sutori.com/story/american-imperialism-hawaii--Ya7mKKtnipPSd4iWa9cD5pVV
Offensive cartoons made from the time https://sites.google.com/a/hawaii.edu/ndnp-hawaii/Home/historical-feature-articles/political-cartoons
Statehood day meaning: https://bigislandpulse.com/community/history/hawaii-statehood-day/
Wikipedia resources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Territory_of_Hawaii
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawaii_Admission_Act
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newlands_Resolution
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_of_Hawaii
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawaiian_Organic_Act
Committee of Safety members https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Committee_of_Safety_(Hawaii)
US recognized hawaii as a sovereign state - bill https://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/session2019/bills/SB1451_.HTM
All dates and facts: https://www.hawaiiankingdom.org/UN_Protest_Annexes.shtml
Queen Abdicates throne officially https://www.angelfire.com/planet/big60/LiliuAbdication.html
But it doesn’t really count https://hawaiiankingdom.org/blog/the-queen-did-not-terminate-the-hawaiian-kingdom-in-1895/
Petition: https://www.hawaiiankingdom.org/pdf/Annex%2019.pdf
Hawaiian banned from school https://www.hawaiipublicschools.org/TeachingAndLearning/StudentLearning/HawaiianEducation/Pages/History-of-the-Hawaiian-Education-program.aspx#:~:text=After%20the%20overthrow%20of%20the,for%20the%20next%20four%20generations.
Hawaiians make up majority of homeless population https://www.civilbeat.org/2021/01/its-time-to-acknowledge-native-hawaiians-special-right-to-housing/#:~:text=According%20to%20the%202020%20O,of%20the%20state's%20total%20population.
Haunani trask on tourism https://journals.lib.unb.ca/index.php/bl/article/view/24958/28913 \
People leaving Hawaii https://uhero.hawaii.edu/aloha-oe-population-migration-between-hawaii-and-the-u-s-mainland/
3 comments
History would suggest that America (the united states)is a nation of pirates and slavers.
And Hawaìi is Polonesia.
https://awaiaulu.org/kipapa/
is a great resource.
The interests of the Hawaiian people need be acknowledged and respected for the government of the people of the United States to shed its Imperial shame.