History: The Great Mahele Of 1848

The Great Mahele was an act proposed in 1848 allowing Hawaiian land to be privately owned, and the rest redistributed. The occurrence of this event not only affected Hawaiians back then, but still to this day impacts them. The King continued to divide land for the government and maka’ainana could get land for active labor. The king also shared his land between himself and 245 more ali’i; his land- “Crown Lands” and ali’i- “Konohiki Lands” (Mahele Notes). The Mahele of 1848 was a land division separated into 4 different categories: land belonged to the king, land belonged to the ali’i or chiefs, land that could be purchased by the foreigners who lived in Hawaii, and land worked by the commoners or maka’ainana. The Mahele was unjustified because

A driving force in the economy was the new potential immigrants looking for jobs on the sugarcane farms. The sugar export industry didn’t surge until the 1860s, when access to Southern sugar was cut off during the Civil War. In order for this industry to be commercially profitable, it was necessary to import foreign laborers due to all the external, Western diseases that had wiped out the native population, and the remaining natives were not enough to keep the workforce profitable. The sandalwood trade had already established a relationship between Hawai‘i and China. Furthermore, civil unrest and natural disasters in China made the country difficult to earn a living. Thus, Hawai‘i became an attractive destination for Chinese immigrants — mostly married males who set out to earn money for their families back in China.

In the article by Jared Diamond, many interesting theories are discussed about Easter Island’s history and decline. Diamond makes connections to the environmental challenges we face today and he compares the catastrophe of Easter Island to our current over consumption of natural resources. While this article makes for an interesting read, much of it is offered from a single perspective and little counter evidence is offered. The author writes in a way that could engage a non-academic audience who may not be interested in counter evidence, or proper referencing. The article lacks credibility due to its narrow scope and conversational diction. At the root of this discussion however, is the notion that the Rapa Nui people were

King Kamehameha the III I in january 27, 1848 enacted land distribution acts in 1848. was the leader of the Proposition of the Great Mahele. The proposition was to allow private ownership to land for the first time ever for Hawaii to foreigners. These foreigners were thought to be missionaries or American businessmen, which could make a huge positive impact to the King and his people. Thanks to this ordinance Hawaii was able to assimilate to the Americas in a very profitable way. The land commission The land should be divided into equal thirds. 1/3 for King, ali`i, 1/3 government and 1/3 for the people. The opposing side would argue that the Great Mahele caused Hawaiians to be stripped of land and it may have been correct in certain aspects,

The Great Māhele was a land division put in place that happened during the reign of Kamehameha III. Māhele translates to “portion or divide. The intent was to secure land for Hawaiians by establishing a free enterprise system, but landowners had to claim their land. Hawaiians were not accustomed to the concept of owning land, so very few claimed their own land. This resulted in the Hawaiian population eventually losing most of their land to foreigners.

The Great Mahele started in 1848 because Kamehameha the III knew that the foreigners wanted to gain land, so they would possibly use force to get land. However, he also knew that the Hawaiians needed land and he didn't want the Hawaiians to lose everything because the French had already taken Tahiti by force. So Kamehameha III created the Mahele also known as the land divisions. He divided the land into four categories: land belonging to the king, land belonging to the ali’i, foreigners, and maka’ainana (Borreca). The Mahale was unjustified because laws were broken, Hawaiians had a lack of resources, and they had terrible communication.

In the beginning, Hawaii was unknown to any humans. Polynesians eventually came across its islands, and decided to make it their home. In the early days, each island was ruled by a chief, and many times the islands were in conflict with each other. Centuries like this passed, but then "in 1782, [Queen Lili'uokalani's] cousin Kamehameha set out to conquer and unite the islands". Thirteen years later, in 1795, Kamehameha

A political impact was that the Hawaiians lost many resources. This was because of the land divider did not equally and fairly divide the land. Hawaiians that lived in the ocean and the midland were unable to go into the mountains and cut down trees for their needs. Therefore Hawaiian childrens were eating raw potato because of no firewood and their mouths were swollen from eaten raw taro (Hio). Before the foreigners came to Hawaii, they were peacefully trading crops with other people and shared what others who didn’t have.

The Ancient Hawaiian life was based around the ahupua‘a land management system which is used to maintain human life and protecting the upland resources that extends to the coral reef. Overtime, much of this has changed due to major development and modern technology that were introduced to the Hawaiian Island after the arrival of Captain Cook. The Hawaiians lost their connection to the land by no longer perpetuating the Hawaiian values and the idea of being independent. Furthermore, everyone who lives in Hawai‘i lives in an ahupua‘a. Many of the ahupua‘a original names are being used today, but not many people knows its history about the land they are resided in.

The Hawaiians were further depicted as "thieves" like the rest of the "people in Polynesia," and plagued with the barbaric accusation of committing infanticide. These so called "facts" were enough for the Euro-American forces to send out missionaries to regulate the Hawaiian people and take over their land and all their practices. (Stannard, 381- 417)

The Revolutions of 1848 have been described as the “greatest revolution of the century”1. From its mild beginnings in Palermo, Sicily in January 1848, it did not take long to spread across the rest of Europe (Britain and Russia were the only countries not to experience such revolutions). “In 1848 more states on the European continent were overcome by revolution than ever before and ever since”2. The Revolutions became more radical but after June 1848 these revolutionary events began to overlap with those of counterrevolutionary actions, thus enabling the old regimes to return to power. 1848 was described as “a sunny spring of the peoples abruptly interrupted by the winter of the princes”3.

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

In 1908, a French Basque business-owner and an immigrant named Jose Duhalde and his partner Juan de Dios Lobos entered the community of Ailío without any right to do so. Hence, both men were reported to the sub-delegate of Bajo Imperial, however, they both denied any wrongdoing. Consequently, the community of Ailío and after two years of receiving their legal title to their land, the members of the community discovered that Duhalde’s usurpation dramatically reduced their land holdings from an average of 4.3 hectares per person to 2.8 hectares per capita ( Mallon 45). Thus, Duhalde and Juan de Dios Lobos took the land they felt best suited their interests. They used violence to forcefully remove the Mapuche off “their” new acquired land. According

The Revolutions of 1848 During the year of 1848, a revolutionary tide broke out in Europe.

     The people of Easter Island came over to their new land, and recognized that it was ideal for them to settle. The land was lush; the sea was providing a bounty of fresh fish, and other seafood. The earth was dark brown, and very rich. Everything was just the way it needed to be to support a growing community of people.