How did Hawaii become part of the United States? It didn’t! Remembering the truth of our history.

August 20, 2010 Waikiki, Oahu, Hawaiian Islands

“Mahalo to the 20+ folks who showed up to support this action.  We had good fun.  Talked to a lot of tourists.  The Americans weren’t too happy, but everybody else was really supportive.  The live cam was up and running and the message was clear.  We must be hanging with a lot of comedians, because everybody was funny.  Mahalo, Mahalo!”

— Lynette Cruz

Most people in Hawaii and throughout the United States and the world believe Hawaii is the 50th state.  But all of us were taught a history that was revised for the benefit of thieves.

Today is the day the state of Hawaii celebrates itself.  In 1959 Hawaii was admitted into the union of the United States as the 50th state.  But what was the history behind that momentous occasion?  We invite you to join us on a journey of discovery and rediscovery by briefly examining Hawaii’s history and relationship to the United States.

In 1893, Hawaii, an independent country recognized by treaty by the U.S. and over 20 other countries, was taken by force by U.S. military troops acting in support of an elite, white oligarchy seeking to overthrow the constitutional government and sovereignty of the Hawaiian Kingdom.  Immediately this group sought annexation to the U.S.  A Treaty of Annexation was required for a legal merging with the U.S. because of Hawaii’s independent status.  A treaty was submitted by the newly formed Republic of Hawaii, but failed and, as a result, the U.S. Congress opted to take Hawaii in 1898 with a municipal law called the Newlands Resolution, internal to the U.S.  This resolution gave Americans a justification for taking Hawaii to use as a military outpost in their war against Spain in the Philippines, even though that action was illegal under both the U.S. Constitution and international law.

After 1898, American schools in and outside of Hawaii began to teach a revision of history relating to ‘annexation’ as both ‘legal’ and a ‘natural’ consequence of economics.  Annexation would be good for business.  Hawai, the military outpost, ensured military expansion from Pearl Harbor throughout Hawaii for future actions, including deflecting unfriendly activities away from the continental U.S.

Many settlers came to live in Hawaii between 1900 and 1950.  They began to promote a vision of ‘statehood’ as benefiting the average, primarily Asian, citizenry of the territory of Hawaii, offering them opportunities to become first-class citizens of the U.S.  It was a concept that appealed to those who had come here to work on plantations but who labored under a system of unequal rights and poverty in their home countries.

Immigrants wanted equal treatment under American law and, in Hawaii, statehood provided them that access.  In the meantime, the history of theft that left most of the native people of these islands landless went unnoticed by the majority of new immigrants.

In 1959, Congress granted ‘statehood’ to Hawaii the territory, and the State of Hawaii was born. Amid numerous noisy celebrations, Hawaii’s mixed heritage population prepared themselves for an era of economic prosperity, and those who remembered the illegality and injustice of the theft more than 60 years earlier, slowly died off.  The real history of Hawaii was forgotten.

Today, we remember. Due to academic excellence, commitment to truth, and broad-based research into Hawaii’s true history by scholars and researchers, more and more data are being recovered, written up, printed, and published; used as the bases of court challenges; introduced at the United Nations; and promoted in film, television and radio, both locally and abroad.  It is our time to remind others that we remember and that we are still here.  Hawaii is not the 50th state of the U.S.

Today, we call upon people of conscience to know and understand our history and to assist us with correcting the injuries of the past.

How you can help:
1) Google Hawaiian sovereignty and learn about Hawaii’s history and relationship with the United States
2) Share information with others
3) Join a Hawaiian sovereignty group or a Hawaiian Civic Club wherever you live and learn about Hawaiian history and culture
4) Join a discussion list on Hawaiian issues

About Ka Lei Maile Ali`i Hawaiian Civic Club and Hawaiian Independence Action Alliance, the sponsors of this project
Ka Lei Maile Ali`i (KLMA) Hawaiian Civic Club was formed in 2003.  The club’s mission is to honor the life and work of Queen Lili`uokalani, Hawaii’s last reigning monarch.  The club’s work relies heavily on educational and cultural programs, particularly the dissemination of information about the Queen and about the people who supported her efforts and her person during and after the overthrow, including in the present time.

The Hawaiian Independence Action Alliance (HIAA) was formed in December 2008 to call attention to Hawaii’s continued independence, to push for de-occupation of Hawai`i, and to oppose federal recognition by the United States.

For more information about this effort, email:  palolo@hawaii.rr.com

Source material at:
www.hawaiiankingdom.org