Hawaii To The Hawaiian People In 1893 example essay topic

370 words
The initial contact with the Western world was on January 18, 1778, when Captain James Cook, a British sea captain, arrived at the Hawaiian Islands with his crew. At first the Hawaiians thought he was a God of Agriculture. But within in a year the Hawaiian people could tell his intentions were not good. He and his crew were using up all of the resources on the islands without replenishing them. His crew was having relations with the Hawaiian women that were not very good. The presence of these foreigners' began to cause many conflicts on the islands.

One of these conflicts led to the death of Captain Cook on Valentine's Day 1779. Hawaii was its own nation and under its own rule until the reign of King Kamehameha II (1824-1854). During his reign Western customs took over. King Kamehameha gave into the haole advisors and formed the Great Ma hele, which would divide the lands.

Due to this act the land was no longer distributed by Alo a aina but by private land ownership and title. The land was divided in three ways: one to the king or the crown, another to the chiefs, and the third part to the commoners. By 1850, non Hawaiians were able to buy land. Queen Lili " uokalani who was the last queen of Hawaii attempted to return Hawaii to the Hawaiian people in 1893, by writing a new Constitution. In 1893, American businessmen and government officials overthrew Queen Lili " uokalani and the Hawaiian monarchy.

Hawaii became a territory of the United States under President McKinley on July 7, 1898. Hawaii became the fiftieth in 1959. In 1978 the state Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA) was created, run by and for Hawaiians. OHA manages Hawaiian assets, including the 1.8 million acres of the nation's crown and government lands that were taken illegally from the monarchy in 1898. Congress passed a resolution apologizing for the overthrow of the monarchy with President Clinton's signature in 1993.

On September 11, 1996 the Hawaiian people voted on their sovereignty it passed by 22,294 Hawaiians voting yes.