The Great History of Hawaii From Colonization To Pearl Harbor

Every one knows about Pearl Harbor. Everyone knows that Hawaii was the last to become a state (happening in August 21, 1959). But what about before that? I'm not talking about virgins being sacrificed to a volcano (but I will be briefly touching that) I'm talking about things you haven't heard about like the Kingdom of Hawaii the Hawaiian revolutions and the republic of Hawaii.

It is unknown exactly when Hawaii was settled. But we do know who settled there it was an ancient people who were highly skilled astronomers and ocean navigators. They were called the Polynesians. The Polynesians were a people spread out over a 1000 islands all over the pacific ocean. Using nothing but rafts there people were spread out further than nearly any other. The Polynesians brought with them certain plants not native to Hawaii including sweet potatoes.

In 1778 Hawaii was discovered by a sailor looking for a way to Asia his name was James Cook and he named the islands the sandwich islands in honor of the people who were supporting his expeditions. He was first European to ever see surfing.

With the help of European weapons resources and advice a man called Kamehameha conquered all of Hawaii creating the kingdom of Hawaii. The kingdom was ruled by a constitution and a Monarchy. The government was largely based off of European governments. In 1839 an event called the french incident happened. Kamehameha III under pressure commanded that Catholicism be illegal in Hawaii. France quickly threatened to make war on Hawaii without compensation money and the lifting of the laws that made it illegal to be a catholic.

Also in 1843 Britain conquered Hawaii without a shot being fired. Lord George Paulet forced Kamehameha III to step down under the threat of war. However within Europe the french minister became aware of this and protested this to lord George Paulets superiors. Which in turn forced Britain to give up its power over Hawaii.

A series of revolutions followed which mostly broke Hawaii's power. USA had declared several trade agreements with Hawaii and sent troops to aid Hawaii and restore its government. However Hawaiians did not approve of the Provisional Government. They quickly formed the Republic of Hawaii which still suffered by rebellions and lasted only 4 years before becoming the Territory of Hawaii (which was controlled by the American government) on July 4th.

Then after that it was attacked by the Japanese in the Pearl Harbor bombing after that Hawaii has never been threatened by other countries or rebellions. In 1959 president Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the Hawaii Admission Act. Officially making Hawaii the 50'th state of the USA.

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