A History of Hawaii

1778 Captain James Cook and the crews of the HMS Resolution and HMS Discovery

sight O‘ahu, Kaua‘i, and Ni‘ihau on January 18. Cook names his discovery the Sandwich Islands in honor of his patron, the Earl of Sandwich. 

Captain Cook leaves behind Hawai‘i’s first goats, a ram and two ewes, during a visit to Ni‘ihau February 2. 

Captain Cook returns November 26 and begins to chart the coasts of the islands of Hawai‘i and Maui.

1779 Captain Cook and his ships arrive at Kealakekua Bay on the Big Island on

January 17.  On February 14, Cook and four of his marines are killed ashore by Hawaiians.

1782 Kamehameha I begins his campaign to unify the islands.

1793 Hawai‘i’s first cattle—five cows, two with calf—are brought ashore at

Kealakekua Bay from Captain George Vancouver’s ship on February 22. 1795

Kamehameha I conquers Maui, Lana‘i, Moloka‘i, and O‘ahu, in the battle of Nu‘uanu.

1796 Kamehameha I fails in his attempt to invade Kaua‘i.

1803 The Lelia Byrd, commanded by Captain William Shaler, arrives

June 21 bringing the first horses to Hawai‘i. 1809

King Kaumualii of Kaua‘i visits O‘ahu to meet Kamehameha I and arrange the cession of his island.

1810 King Kaumualii cedes his island to Kamehameha I and the

Hawaiian Islands are unified under a single leader. 1816

Otto von Kotzebue, commanding the Russian Navy brig Rurik, visits Hawai‘i on November 21.

1818 Opukahai‘a (Henry Obookiah) dies in Connecticut February 17,

inspiring Protestant missionaries to come to the Sandwich Islands.

 The Provincias Undias del Rio de lat Plata privateer La Argentina, Captain Hipólito Bouchard commanding, arrives August 18.

1819  Louis de Freycinet, commander of the the French corvette Uranie, and

leader of an exploration and scientific expedition, visits Hawai‘i on August 8.  

The first whale ships, the Balena from New Bedford and the Equator of Newburyport, arrive in Hawaiian waters on September 29. 

Kamehameha II and his advisors order the destruction of heiaus and an end to the kapu system, thus overthrowing the traditional Hawaiian religion.

1820 The brig Thaddeus arrives at Kailua, Hawai‘i, on April 4, bringing the

pioneer company of American missionaries from Boston. Among them are the first foreign women to settle in the Islands.

1821 Honolulu's first Christian house of worship is dedicated September 15 at

the location of the present Kawaiaha‘o Church. 1822

The first Hawaiian language lesson, The Alphabet, is printed on the Mission Press January 7.

1823 Keōpūolani, the queen mother, receives a Christian baptism (the first

Hawaiian to be so baptized) on her deathbed and dies September 16. She is the first Hawaiian in Hawai‘i to be baptized in the Protestant faith.

1825 The first sugar and coffee plantations are started in Mānoa Valley by

John Wilkinson.  Queen Ka‘ahumanu, wife of Kamehameha I and queen regent for

Kamehameha II and Kamehameha III, is baptized December 4, along with her cousin Kalanimōkū, his infant son Leleiōhoku (a grandson of Kamehameha I), her sister Pi‘ia, Deborah Kapule, and Gideon La‘anui.

1826 He left Hawai‘i as a youth and returned with the pioneer company of

American missionaries in 1820.   1832

Queen Ka‘ahumanu dies at home in Mānoa Valley on June 5. She was instrumental in the fall of the kapu system and the adoption of the Christian religion.

1837 The first public streets are laid out in Honolulu.

1842  The United States recognizes the Kingdom of Hawai‘i on December

19.

1843 Lord George Paulet, commanding the British frigate Carysfort, arrives on February 10 and demands provisional cession of Hawai‘i to Great

Britain.  Lord Paulet on February 15 orders the Hawaiian flag lowered and the British flag raised over Hawai‘i. 

Admiral Richard Thomas, commanding H.M.S. flagship Dublin, arrives on July 26. He rescinds the cession under Paulet and restores sovereignty to the Islands. 

Kamehameha II, in his restoration day speech, recites a phrase that becomes Hawaii's national motto: Ua mau ke ea o ka aina i ka pono ("The Life of the Land is Perpetuated in Righteousness"). 

England and France recognize the independence of the Sandwich Islands on November 28

1848 The land division known as the Great Mahele begins January 27 and

continues through March 7, dividing Hawai‘i's lands among the king and chiefs.

 An epidemic of measles, whooping cough, and influenza takes the lives of about 10,000 people. Most of the victims are native Hawaiians. 

The twelfth (and last) company of American Congregationalist missionaries arrives aboard the Samoser on February 26.

1850 The legislature authorizes a contract labor system to

recruit foreign workers for Hawai‘i's plantations June 21. 1852

The first Chinese contract laborers arrive from Amoy, Fukien, China, aboard the Thetis on January 3.

1853 A smallpox epidemic lasts eight months and takes 5,000–

6,000 lives. 1868 

The first Japanese contract laborers arrive on June 24. 1875

A reciprocity treaty is signed on January 30, allowing sugar and other products to enter the United States without customs duties.

1878  Portuguese contract laborers arrive from the Medeira Islands

on September 30. 1887

King Kalākaua is forced by the Hawaiian League, a group favoring a more liberalized constitution, to sign the "bayonet constitution" on July 6.

1900  President McKinley signs the Organic Act on April 30, making

Hawai‘i a territory of the United States. The U.S. Senate confirms the appointment of Sanford B. Dole as governor of Hawai‘i May 9. Sanford B. Dole is inaugurated as the first governor of the Territory of Hawai‘i on June 14.

1903 The Gaelic arrives at midnight January 12 with the first group

of Koreans to arrive to work on the sugar plantations. 1908  

The U.S. Congress approves $3.1 million for a naval station at Pearl Harbor on May 13.

The expansion of Tourism/Travel to Hawaii

1928 The first chain grocery store in Hawai‘i, Oakland-based Piggly Wiggly, opens

in Honolulu February 4. 1941 

Japanese planes attack the U.S. Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor on December 7. The U.S.S. Arizona and other ships are sunk. More than 2,500 lives are lost. Army Lt. Gen.

Walter C. Short assumes control from Governor Joseph B. Poindexter and becomes military governor of Hawai‘i. He declares martial law.

1953 Samuel Wilder King is named governor of the Territory of Hawai'i February

16; he is the first part-Hawaiian governor of the Islands. 1957  

Statehood for Alaska is approved by the U.S. Congress, but action on Hawai‘i's request is delayed

1959 Alaska is officially proclaimed the Forty-ninth State on January 3. Statehood

for Hawai‘i is approved by the U.S. Senate on March 11 and by the House on March 12.

An act signed by President Dwight D. Eisenhower designating Hawai‘i the fiftieth state becomes law on March 18.

1960  The fiftieth star is added to the U.S. flag on July

4. 1982

Eileen R. Anderson becomes the state's first woman mayor, defeating Frank F. Fasi in November for the office of mayor of the City and County of Honolulu.

1986  John Waihee is elected governor, the first

elected state governor of Hawaiian ancestry.

1993 The 100th anniversary of the overthrow of the

Hawaiian kingdom.  The Rev. Paul Sherry, president of the United Church

of Christ of the United States, formally apologizes to Native Hawaiians for the church’s role in the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy.

 The U.S. Senate apologizes to Hawaiians for the illegal overthrow of the Hawaiian kingdom in 1893. 

President Bill Clinton signs a Congressional Resolution acknowledging the illegality of the overthrow of the Hawaiian kingdom in 1893. 

The remains of Henry Opukaha‘ia, the first Hawaiian to convert to Christianity, are returned to Hawai‘i from Connecticut and reburied in Kahikolu Cemetery in Napoopoo.

Condensed Timeline

1627Traditional home of the Polynesians. The Spanish first visit Hawaii 1778The islands were originally called the Sandwich islands by English Captain James Cook

in 1778. They were named after his friend John Montague, the 4th Earl of Sandwich and first lord of the Admiralty.

 1779Captain James Cook was killed in dispute with Hawaiians at Kealakekua, Island of Hawaii.

1791Polynesian ruler Kamehameha controls the entire islands of Hawaii. 1794Hawaii is placed under the protectorate of Great Britain by Vancouver 1813The Spanish introduce coffee and pineapple to Hawaii 1820The first Protestant missionaries arrive from New England 1826U.S. enters into treaty with Hawaii. 1840Hawaii adopts its first constitution 1843Lord George Paulet claims Hawaii for England for 5 months but then enters a treaty 1849French admiral Legoarant de Tromelin fails in attempted invasion of the islands 1893Hawaiian Monarchy overthrown 1894July 4th, Republic of Hawaii established 1898Congress passes the Newlands Resolution which annexing Hawaii as a territory 1941Japanese attacked the United States at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii 1959Congress passes the Hawaii Admission Act to admit Hawaii as an American State.

Statehood - The Date that Hawaii was admitted to the Union - August 21, 1959. Constitution - Hawaii was the 50th State to be admitted to the Union. State Motto - " Ua mau ke ea o ka aina I ka pono " the State Motto is translated as " The life of the land is perpetuated in righteousness " 

Current Issues in Hawaii

Living on an Island

High cost of living, food, housing, electricity, and taxes

Methamphetamine Use

“…meth use in the workforce in Hawaii is at 410 percent greater than that average.”

Theories: Financial pressures cause people to

work longer and harder hours. Meth increases a person’s energy.

Harmful Effects of Meth Use

chronic use can actually “significantly change how the brain functions”. 

reduced motor skills, emotional and cognitive problems, hallucinations, delusions, irregular heartbeat, anxiety, insomnia, and violent behavior. 

Meth is also highly addictive and the effects may persist even after use has stopped.

What’s being done?

Programs like the Hawaii Meth Project are using public service messaging, public policy, and outreach efforts to educate residents on the dangers of the drug, prevent first time meth use, and reduce the number of users in and out of the workforce.

Homelessness in Hawaii

Hawaii has the third-highest ratio of homeless people to residents of any state, better only than Nevada and Oregon

Combination of; highest housing costs with below-average wages

Tent colonies on beaches “Better to be homeless where the weather is nice”

13 percent of those receiving homeless outreach services in Honolulu had been in Hawaii for less than a year

Others, particularly those from Pacific island nations, travel to Hawaii to receive critical medical care that's not available at home

Solutions?

increase mental health care services, repair shelters, and move the chronically homeless into permanent housing.

the issue ultimately can only be addressed person by person since everyone's situation is different. Solutions range from job training to providing psychiatric care to, in the long-term, making more affordable housing available.

Racism in Hawaii

Demographics

1.3 million residents 25% white/Caucasian 20% Native Hawaiian/mixed race

Anti-white sentiments have been more than 200 years in the making.

The pivotal event occurred when American and European businessmen, backed by U.S. military forces, overthrew Hawaii's monarch in 1893 and placed her under house arrest two years later. The United States annexed the islands as a territory in 1898, and they became a state in 1959.

Homeland invaded Exposed to diseases for which they

had no immunity Alien culture forced upon them

It’s an issue The tourism-dependent state barely

acknowledges hate crimes. “arrogant mainlanders are the most

likely to incur natives' wrath”

The last day of school has long been unofficially designated "Kill Haole Day," with white students singled out for harassment and violence. (Haole — pronounced how-lee — is slang for a foreigner, usually white, and sometimes is used as a racial slur.)

A non-Native Hawaiian student who challenged the Hawaiian-preference admission policy at a wealthy private school received a $7 million settlement this year.

A 12-year-old white girl new to Hawaii from New York City needed 10 surgical staples to close a gash in her head incurred when she was beaten in 2007 by a Native Hawaiian girl who called her a "f***ing haole."

A vocal segment of Native Hawaiians is pushing for independence to end the "prolonged occupation" by the United States and governance by natives.

Demonstrators shouting racial epithets at whites disrupted a statehood celebration in 2006.

Tips

Be respectful Of the people, of the land, and of the

culture You have to earn ‘aloha’