Brief History: The Destruction Of The Hawaiian Kingdom

Before, the land belonged to the gods and not to the Hawaiians. After the Mahele, working class people like the maka’ainana could own land. The laws were changing because when the Mahele came about, new rules were made. Laws were changing to help Hawaii be more wealthy. Another example of a political impact is how lands were being distributed (Hio). Lands are being distributed unfairly because when Kamehameha III distributed the land, the Hawaiians have to work for the people who own the land. The Kuleana Act of 1850 allowed the Hawaiians to own land, but there were certain requirements to own land. Those requirements were that they would have to survey the land, present the claim with the Land Commission and file claim by 1854. People could claim someone’s land if they didn’t live on it for 10 years. This was called the Alien Act of 1850. The Hawaiians that owned land, lost it because they couldn’t pay the taxes, they did not occupy, or care for their land. Hawaiians didn’t have enough money, they lacked knowledge/experience with the law, and missed the 1854

Accordingly as planned, the Mahele began with the king, chiefs, and maka’ainana owning one third of all lands, but as time went on the maka’ainana land began to reduce rapidly (Cachola). Unfortunately, not knowing how to buy land or earn money, the land set aside for buying soon became foreign owned land. Seeming like enough land owned by the foreigners, apparently it wasn’t, more and more Hawaiians could not pay taxes, leaving foreigners with an abundance of land to purchase with little competition. Nonetheless, while land was being taken from the Hawaiians, foreigners prospered, almost taking over all of the land in Hawaii. There was an abundance of land owned by the foreigners and Hawaiians owned almost nothing after removed from their beloved homes.

One of the reasons why the Mahele was unjustified, was because the government treated Hawaiians unfairly. Hawaiians wanted

The social effects the Great Mahele had on The Hawaiian people was that the commoners had very little land and foreigners had a lot because they

From the Hawaiian perspective, the Mahele brought along many impacts that severely crippled the Hawaiian population. The Mahele was put into place due to King Kamehameha III fearing his islands being taken over and foreigners pestering him for land to use for companies and promote their way of thinking. Kamehameha had known that the British took over Tahiti, and did not want Hawaii taken over like that. According to Cachola of Land Ownership, foreigners bugged him all the time for land and he was afraid they would revolt. He tried to create leases and stop land from being sold, but he was under a lot of pressure. Kamehameha eventually gave in and created the Mahele which gave foreigners the land they wanted and took land from Hawaiians. The Mahele was not beneficial to the Hawaiians because less that 1% of Hawaiians had land and many Hawaiians couldn’t interact with each other.

In many ways America was justifiable in making Hawaii apart of their territory due to the fact that they were not large enough to self govern themselves and could benefit from trading resources. Albert Beveridge who was an American historian stated that "the rule of liberty that all just government derives its authority from the consent of the governed, applies only to those who are capable of self government" (Text 3). This meant that if a country did not have the power to rule themselves, that they have no say in whether or not someone can take them over. He argued that Hawaii was to small to self govern and protect itself from outside countries. By America making Hawaii its territory, it allowed the island to be protected and governed by

According to the information present in the speech given by a man named, Sanford J Dole, the Americans imperializing Hawai’i was a constructive motion. This is due to the fact that throughout the speech, Dole informs his audience on the benefits both the Hawaiians and Hawai’i would gain through Hawai’i being a territory of the United States(US). The speech was given on June 10th, 1900, at Iolani Palace, after Dole was elected to be the governor of the Territory of Hawai’i. As the speech is an original document, it is a primary source. Based on the information provided in the speech, the message Dole is trying to convey is that the day Hawai’i became a territory of the US, is one of the most important days in Hawaiian history. This is because

     Kamehameha III made all men free and equal. There were no more slaves and no Hawaiian was born into a life of slavery. There were no more marks on the forehead to distinguish between free eaters or despised

Another source I used is called, “Hawaii Needs You. (Cover Story),” from the database EBSCOhost. This article explains how terrible the United States has treated Hawaii and misused the state. It describes how it diminished the Hawaiian culture, and how America brought toxins and diseases that killed many innocent lives.

The people of Hawaii and other Pacific Island Nation groups have experienced great injustice from their colonial powers and the acts of imperialism. Lands were seized, cultural practices banned, language lost, and people were even forced to move away from their homes for the purpose of bomb testing. The United States and other countries abroad sent out representatives to do their work for them; in return their future actions would be justified in describing the Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders as savages that need to have wider powers enforced upon them; thus resulting in a tangled web of political mythologies.

It was also to acknowledge the 100th anniversary of that overthrow . “... apologizes to Native Hawaiians on behalf of the people of the United States for the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii on January 17, 1893… and the deprivation of the rights of Native Hawaiians to self-determination”. It had apologized both for any government role in the overthrow. Letting them determine what should be done now meaning if they accept it or not. It says that Native Hawaiians “never directly relinquished their claims” to sovereignty of their lands, which were taken without consent. But they wanted to give it back by helping them reorganize a government. The Akaka Bill would reestablish native government and they would receive federal recognition and it would begin immediately to regain the relationship between the United States and Native Hawaiians.

The circumstances surrounding the annexation of Hawaii are often left unsaid and remain unknown by citizens of the United States. Hawaii was first annexed into the United States of America in 1898 after white settlers refused to give up control of the Hawaiian government. However, previously President Cleveland opposed annexation and retracted the annexation treated proposed to the Senate. Cleveland supported a restoration of the Hawaiian monarchy and used his administration to oppose annexation. He used James Blount to discover the views of the Hawaiian natives on annexation,

either before or after his departure for Hawaii regarding attempts at achieving annexation in the Hawaiian Nation.” (3) Stevens had many reasons of his own to support annexation. When he arrived in the islands, he saw many great economic and military advantages to having Hawaii annexed as a state. He realized that Hawaii in itself was a growing industry, soon to be had as a major sugar producer in the world at the time. Plus, Hawaii offered a huge strategic position, lying in the middle of the vast Pacific Ocean, which could serve as a docking point for many U.S. warships. Stevens himself felt that he was doing good in helping an expanding America grow to even greater proportions by backing annexation in the islands.

The annexation of Hawaii was an important event in the history of the world. It is still not easy for the Hawaiians to accept the fact that America had taken over a land 2500 miles away from the West Coast. In 1917 Hawaii was considered the 50th state supported by the islanders after a plebiscite. Queen Lydia Kamakaeha Liliuokalani was overthrown because of the support of the United States army as well as naval forces to a group of businessmen belonging to the sugar and pineapple industry. The Armed forces of the United States were ordered to provide this support on the directives of the minister of the United States to Hawaii. In reality they were missionaries who had been welcomed for several years by the

To understand the native Hawaiian’s perspective of the Mahele, one must first learn the Hawaiian mentality. In Hawaiian culture it is believed that Wakea (sky-father) and Papahanaumoku (earth-mother) are the parents of the Hawaiian islands. If anything the Hawaiian islands belonged to Wakea and Papa. The islands, being born from an akua (God) was therefore an akua itself. Land in