History of Hawaii
The land has it all…the vast expanse of aquamarine sea, dazzling beaches, exciting marine life and….beautiful gals in bikini, a lot of them!
It is the place where you feel the sensualities under your skin; it is a place where adrenalin keeps rushing about under your veins all the time!
Welcome to the lands of Hawaii, which is much more than the favorite honeymoon destination of the love birds; it is a place where you come to realize the meaning of romance for the first time in your life.
Traveling to an exotic land does not end with guided sight seeing. You will come to better understand any place or its people under the backdrop of its history. So before you land on this picturesque island and instantly bowled over by the colorful, exotic way of life there, equip yourself with the island’s history; it will help you to enjoy your holiday in true Hawaiian style.
The history of Hawaii evolves over many phases since it first discovery by the Polynesians to its inclusion as one of the states of USA. Let’s describe the history over various phases.
The Early Settlers
It was the Polynesians who discovered and named this alluring island as Hawaii. In 1778, the island was rediscovered by British explorer James Cook, who renamed it as Sandwich Island. In between, a number of Spanish voyages landed on the island, but the Spanish never claimed their share on the land. It was with James Cook’s exploration that the rest of the world came to know about the existence of this lovely island country far in the pacific.
The unification of Kingdom of Hawaii
A few decades passed by and it was during the first decade of 19th century, that the campaigning was started by Kamehameha for the unification of the lands of Hawaii. Finally in 1810, Hawaii was united for the first time under the monarchy of the King Kamehameha I.
During the reign of Kamehameha II, first American Christian missionary voyage arrived on the island and it took just one year to draw the important islanders in the ranks of chiefs and high officials including the King’s step mother to the appeals of Christianity. The Common people soon followed the footsteps of their chiefs and within a short span, majority population were converted to Protestant Christianity.
During the reign of Kamehameha III, two important laws were made that held long term significance; the first related to the land reforms and the second granted the Americans the exclusive trading rights.
However it was the 1876 Reciprocity Treaty between the Kingdom of Hawai?i and the United States that helped Hawaii to attain its place in world sugar production and whaling industry map and it also influenced its demographic distribution due to huge influx of Chinese and Japanese immigrants as agricultural labors.
The Annexation
The latter years of 19th century witnessed much political turbulences, overthrowing of regimes and changes of constitutions. Ultimately, conflicts ended with the establishment of The Republic of Hawaii in July 4, 1894 under the presidency of Sanford Dole. It was in 1898 that President McKinley concluded the official annexation of Hawaii on July 7, and Hawaii officially became a part of United States territory, on February 22, 1900.
An attack on the Pearl Harbor by the Japanese Empire changed the word history by marking the entry of the USA in the Great War. The post second world war period was that of rapid changes and cultural amalgamations. Keeping with the trend, Hawaii sought the status of full US statehood which was recognized by President Eisenhower on March 18, 1959; Hawaii emerged as the 50th state of the USA on August 21, 1959.
The journey of Hawaii as the world’s hottest holiday destination began thereafter….