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In 1887, a group of white plantation owners formed the Committee of Safety in Hawai'i. They hired an all-white militia (the Honolulu Rifles) and forced King David Kalākaua to sign the 1887 Constitution of the Hawaiian Kingdom while under house arrest or be deposed.
The 1887 Constitution came to be known as the Bayonet Constitution because it was signed at the point of a rifle.
The new Constitution limited eligibility to legislators to wealthy land-owners, the vote was restricted to those with moderate income, excluding 2/3 of citizens.
The new Constitution limited eligibility to legislators to wealthy land-owners, the vote was restricted to those with moderate income, excluding 2/3 of citizens.
The new government of the island was almost exclusively white and pro-American annexation.
When Kalākaua died in 1890, during a state trip to California, his sister Liliʻuokalani ascended to a throne, a puppet of American plantation owners like King and Dole.
When Kalākaua died in 1890, during a state trip to California, his sister Liliʻuokalani ascended to a throne, a puppet of American plantation owners like King and Dole.
Liliʻuokalani's efforts to 'draft a new constitution which would restore the power of the monarchy and the voting rights of the economically disenfranchised' resulted in the 1893 white led coup d'état and the end of the Kingdom of Hawai'i.
In 1895, attempts to restore her to the throne failed and she signed an abdication letter in exchange for sparing the life of the rebel leaders.
At the time of the Pearl Harbor bombing in 1941, Hawaii was a US territory, and was not admitted as a state until 1959.
Construction on the USS Arizona Memorial began in 1958.
Construction on the USS Arizona Memorial began in 1958.
The US has always seen Hawai'i as a useful strategic location from which to extend its sphere of influence into Asian theater of war.
It was interested in pineapple and sugar and coffee and profits. I don't see a history of interest in the well-being of the Hawaiian people.
It was interested in pineapple and sugar and coffee and profits. I don't see a history of interest in the well-being of the Hawaiian people.
The history lays bare the American avarice that led to statehood, and the marginalization and displacement of a native people under the most flimsy of pretexts.
What I learned in high school history class was a Disney-esque version of this story, and I think that's wrong.
What I learned in high school history class was a Disney-esque version of this story, and I think that's wrong.
The solemn history of Pearl Harbor Day is the tragic loss of American lives in a surprise attack... but there's a deeper history in Honolulu, a greater crime:
White American profiteers colonized, displaced, disenfranchised, and permanently occupied a foreign nation.
White American profiteers colonized, displaced, disenfranchised, and permanently occupied a foreign nation.
At one point, fewer than 10,000 people spoke Hawaiian, although that's on the decline due to the actions of those trying to preserve a culture that has been displaced by golf courses and luxury resorts.
American history, esp. colonization, is far darker than we like to admit.
American history, esp. colonization, is far darker than we like to admit.
Blurgh: the number of people speaking Hawaiian is not on the decline, it is *increasing* as schools now offer it as language course, and there's an increased interest in preserving cultural roots of the island.
