Decolonization in the Hawaiian Islands Essay

According to the information present in the speech given by a man named, Sanford J Dole, the Americans imperializing Hawai’i was a constructive motion. This is due to the fact that throughout the speech, Dole informs his audience on the benefits both the Hawaiians and Hawai’i would gain through Hawai’i being a territory of the United States(US). The speech was given on June 10th, 1900, at Iolani Palace, after Dole was elected to be the governor of the Territory of Hawai’i. As the speech is an original document, it is a primary source. Based on the information provided in the speech, the message Dole is trying to convey is that the day Hawai’i became a territory of the US, is one of the most important days in Hawaiian history. This is because

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

The first missionaries arrived to the Hawaiian Islands in 1820 and made a lot of changes to Hawaii when they arrived, both good and bad. When the missionaries arrived to the islands they thought of the natives as savages. They all needed to become converts to followers of Christ, drop their own beliefs and pick up new ones. They also sought out to “civilize” the natives, by teaching them how to read and write, sing and Christianize them. Hiram Bingham and Asa Thurston were the first of many missionaries to arrive in Hawaii. The Queen at the time, Kaahumanu accepted the arrival of the missionaries from New England to teach their religion. Although there were many positive affects of missionary that came to the Hawaiian Islands, there

In “From a Native Daughter,” writer, activist, and Native Hawaiian academic, Haunani-Kay Trask recounts her personal feelings along with her people’s feelings with how the ‘haole’ (white) people overwhelmed and distorted the historical context of the native Hawaiian inhabitants. Trask’s purpose is to convey the message that the native Hawaiians’ ancient culture is described as oppressive and tyrannical by white historians, rather that it was a society that functioned efficiently before the Europeans seized the land. She adopts an affectionate yet blunt tone throughout the course of the selection in order to contend

The annexation of Hawaii was an important event in the history of the world. It is still not easy for the Hawaiians to accept the fact that America had taken over a land 2500 miles away from the West Coast. In 1917 Hawaii was considered the 50th state supported by the islanders after a plebiscite. Queen Lydia Kamakaeha Liliuokalani was overthrown because of the support of the United States army as well as naval forces to a group of businessmen belonging to the sugar and pineapple industry. The Armed forces of the United States were ordered to provide this support on the directives of the minister of the United States to Hawaii. In reality they were missionaries who had been welcomed for several years by the

Fighting a war against the oppression and persecution of a people, how hypocritical of the American government to harass and punish those based on their heritage. Magnifying the already existing dilemma of discrimination, the bombing of Pearl Harbor introduced Japanese-Americans to the harsh and unjust treatment they were forced to confront for a lifetime to come. Wakatsuki Ko, after thirty-five years of residence in the United States, was still prevented by law from becoming an American citizen.

Hawaii’s annexation, was it legal and fair to the natives of the island? The proposal that Hawaii reached Statehood by a ‘just’ manner has been inaccurate and presents a false interpretation of the facts. Though seized through the era of imperialism, Hawaii remained as one of the few territories unclaimed and consequently was seized swiftly. The eventual statehood of Hawaii was produced with wrongful acts because of imperial greed. The annexation of Hawaii is an unjust act because of the circumstances surrounding the illegal annexation, clear wishes of the natives, and unlawful gain of territory.

When the missionaries came to their land, people hated them, but when they started getting people to go their way, the Ibo started to fall apart.

The Marshall Islands has always been that of a peaceful paradise for the Marshallese; that is to say before it was irradiated by nuclear bomb testing by its very own trust partners the United States. The Marshallese thought that giving up their island would help bring peace to the world and since most of the population was converted into Christianity, they were led to believe that they were doing a favor as “Judas’s children”. What they didn’t know was that for the next 12 years, their precious islands were to become the test site of hazardous atomic bomb testing that would change their life and history forever. What was first contentment turned into concealed resentment towards their only source of support.

Now he has won our brothers, and our clan can no longer act like one.-we have fallen apart” (176). The white man used his owns customs and religion to turn the clan of Umuofia against each other as they began to doubt what they truly believe in. As the colonizers continued to defy and tell the clan members that their customs were wrong, slowly but surely people started to listen to them, leaving their own ways behind them. A similar scenario occurs in Dakotah 38 as the Natives presumptuously cling to the colonizers’ ideas. “They tell us we are the Dakotah and we say ok, we are the Dakotah. They tell us we are the Sioux and we say ok, we are the Sioux. They don’t understand or care who we really are.” The Natives of the Dakotah take what is given to them by the colonizers because of the authority that they won over them. With this, over time many parts of a culture is lost and forgotten because of the brainwashing and cultural wipe of the white men. While these Natives are suppressed by the overwhelming oppression of the whites, others are still sticking to their beliefs. “What did I tell you? Enough with that talk of yours, we speak English here” (Rabbit-Proof Fence). One of the

Paradise Remade: The Politics of Culture and History in Hawaii. Philidelphia: Temple Universtiry Press 1993. Print.

John L. Stevens came to the island of Oahu in September 1889, acting as the U.S. Minister to Hawaii. While his mission in Hawaii was not clearly stated, his political actions on the islands clearly showed that Stevens thought that the annexation of Hawaii was proper and inevitable.

In 1848, a great land revolution called the Great Mahele came to Hawaii. Foreigners thought that if commoners owned their own land that the commoners would give up their lazy ways. Foreigners saw land division to bring tough works 151 years ago (Borreca). Foreigners wanted land to make sugar since they wanted to make money so, King Kamehameha III wanted to divide the land equally to everyone. The Mahele of 1848 was unjustified since Hawaiians had no money, children were eating raw food, and their land was sold to foreigners before they could even buy it.

In the 1820’s Missionaries have been starting to visit Hawaii inspired by Henry Obookiah who the first Hawaiian Missionary. Henry Obookiah was a Hawaiian missionary that told the English about the Hawaiian religion and how it works, and it convinced the English to go and spread their religion. But not everything ended well according to the plan for the Hawaiians. People only notice the negative effects that the missionaries cause the Hawaiians to go through, but they miss the benefits that the missionaries gave the Hawaiians. Although the missionaries have brought negative effects to the Hawaiians, they also have given the Hawaiians some benefits with the new religion, new language, and new technology.

“the first contact with Westerners would have a devastating impact” (Conquest of Hawaii 15:10). Cook knew that the Natives could not combat the diseases they brought with them such as gonorrhea and syphilis, but once Cook got news of the sexual contact with the Natives he knew they were “doomed” (Conquest of Hawaii 15:52). Although the Europeans did do tremendous harm they also did some good even though it was not planned. An unintended effect from the Missionaries teaching the native how to write was the kids talking to their elders and documenting historical factors. “They wrote down rituals. They wrote down social class systems. They recorded the history of the ruling chiefs and of the common people. And that legacy, I think is just invaluable” (Conquest of Hawaii 51:14) The culture would no longer be the same from when Cooked arrived to when Horwitz arrived, Horwitz wrote, “the captain described islanders as not only exceptionally hospitable but also as “a people of a good deal of levity”” but in Horwitz case it was the complete opposite where the Tongan’s would ignore them and cars would not care it they were crossing the streets (Horwitz