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KING
KAMEHAMEHA THE GREAT
Kamehameha I, also known as, King Kamehameha
The Great, became the ruler of the Big Island of Hawai`i
in 1782. In 1792 Kamehameha I conquered Maui, Lanai, Molokai,
and Oahu in 1795 in the battle of Nuuanu. In 1810 he unified
the Hawaiian Islands under a single rule after negotiating
the cession of Kauai from King Kaumuali’i. He believed
he was destined by prophecy to unify the Islands and used
western weapons to seize power. He promoted trade with Europe
and the United States. King Kamehameha I, died in Kamakahonu,
Kailua-Kona, on May 8, 1819.
On May 20, his son Liholiho is proclaimed
Kamehameha II. Kamehameha II and his advisors bring down
Hawaiian religion by ordering the end to the kapu system
and the destruction of heiaus. The first foreign women arrive
in Kailua on the Big Island, on April 4, 1820, aboard the
brig Thaddeous with American missionaries from Boston. The
first Christian church is established in September on Oahu
where the Kawaiaha‘o Church is presently located in
downtown Honolulu.
THE
GREAT MAHELE
Between 1830 and 1840 the Hawaiian government,
influenced by foreign complaints and demands implemented
land reforms, doing away with traditional divisions and
usages of land. In 1839, King Kamehameha, III, with the
influence of European and American advisors, issued a Hawaiian
Bill of Rights and later a constitution. Under the guise
of allowing commoners to claim and own land rights, many
lands were titled to the elite and foreigners.
KAMEHAMEHA
III
Under the reign of Kamehameha III, many Euro-American
reforms were instituted to the governing of Hawaii. Many
treaties and agreements with the French, British and American
governments were made under the threat of violence and the
influence of war ships, as the “Great Nations”
all vied to protect there commercial interests and push
for land ownership reforms and concessions. Negotiation
for the annexation of Hawai’i to the United States
began in 1854 but ended with Kamehameha III’s death
in December 1854. . He is succeeded by Alexander Liholiho,
Kamebameha IV. Reigning for only 9 years he is most famous
for he and his Queen, Queen Emma, establishing the Queens
Hospital to provide better medical care for Hawaiians and
furthering the establishment of Christianity in Hawaii.
IMMIGRANT
ARRIVALS
Russians, Portuguese, Spaniards, Germans and
Norwegians were among Caucasians who came to Hawai`i in
small groups as agricultural workers. The first Chinese
contract laborers arrive aboard the Thetis from Amoy, Fukien,
China, on January 3, 1852. From 1885 through 1894, over
28,000 Japanese workers migrated to Hawaii. Between 1878
and 1887, most of the 17,500 Portuguese contract workers
for Hawai’i’s plantations arrived. The first
Korean immigrants arrived in 1903. From 1907 to 1931, nearly
120,000 Filipinos, mostly males, arrived in the islands.
Filipinos were the last major immigrant group recruited
to Hawai`i as plantation laborers. Puerto Ricans arrived
in Hawai`i aboard the ship Rio de Janeiro on December 23.
1900. Many of these groups intermarried with Hawaiians and
other racial groups creating the Hawai`i we know as the
“melting pot.”
Sugar cane, pineapple, cattle ranching, and
the strategic location of Hawai’i in regards to world
politics and military domination, all played rolls is the
history of Hawai’i’s annexation. Hawai’i
was annexed by the United States in 1898 amid fears that
Hawai’i would come under the control of a European
Power.
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