Changes

The Kingdom of Hawaii came about after the conquest of the Hawaiian islands by Kamehameha, who was king in the main island of Hawaii. In 1810, the islands of Kauaʻi and Niʻihau joined kingdom after they volunteered to join the larger state. Prior to this unification of he islands, each of the Hawaiian islands was ruled by local chiefs who were believed to descend from the Polynesian Earth mother goddess. Native Hawaiians do descend from Polynesians who migrated to the islands sometime between 124 and 1120. James Cook, in 1778, became the first Westerner to encounter the native population. During the approximate 100 83 years of Hawaiian ruleKingdom in the 19th century, many social and political changes occurred on the islands, including increasing trade relations with China and the United States. The first major trade agreements were established with China, with sandalwood traded from Hawaii. Queen Kaʻahumanu (1819-1832), one of the rulers, also attempted to modernize Hawaiian society by helping to introduce literacy and improving women rights (Figure 1). The Hawaiian military also modernized with the introduction of canons and muskets. This was also a period when a constitution was established for rulethat outlined how the state ruled its subjects. In 1848, the Great Māhele was an event that saw major land redistribution on the islands, with 98 percent of lands going to chiefs and nobles. Land The new order also made it so that land could also not be sold but transferred to others with the same lineage. However, what also changed Hawaii in this time was smallpox and other diseases that became common as Hawaiians increasingly came into contact with outsiders. The population went from about 120,000 Hawaiians in 1778 to 24,000 by 1920. These demographic changes proved consequential as the islands needed outside labor.<ref>For more on how the Hawaiian kingdom became established, see: Potter, N.W., Kasdon, L.M., Rayson, A., Potter, N.W., 2003. <i>History of the Hawaiian kingdom</i>. Bess Press, Honolulu. </ref>

In 1849, there was an invasion by French troops over the issue of Catholics gaining religious rights. By this time, Protestant denominations were most active on the islands. The invading force caused damage but eventually withdrew. After 1850, Americans increasingly came to Hawaiiand became the most influential on the islands. Initially, initially missionaries who largely converted the native population to Protestant Christianitywere the most active in commerce and civil affairs. The missionaries became powerful in influence to the royal family and in setting helping to set up commerce on trade ties with the islandsUS. Eventually, most of the islands' indigenous religions faded. Sugar became the primary industry in Hawaii as that was seen as the most profitable, with more Americans migrating to the islands and setting up plantations. This also changed Hawaii's demographic makeup by bringing over 200,000 laborers from east Asia, including from China, Japan, and the Philippines. Many of these laborers stayed after their contract periods, although most did go home. Overtime, Hawaiians became more ethically diverse and interracial marriages became common. In 1872, the first ruling Hawaiian dynasty, the Kamehameha dynasty, died out. With the death of the dynasty, monarchs became elected with the first elected monarch being William C. Lunalil. In 1887, the so-called Bayonet Constitution, due to the fact it was threatened by force on the king, was passed, which effectively made the Hawaiian kingdom a constitutional monarchy similar to the United Kingdom. This gave the legislature and cabinet government power over the king. In 1891, Liliʻuokalani became the queen in Hawaii and she soon threatened to change the constitution to put more power back in the monarch's hands (Figure 2). The queen came in a time of economic troubles for Hawaii, as President William McKinley , chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, had enacted supported legislation that created what became known as the McKinley tariffs that removed helped to remove advantages Hawaiian exporters enjoyed previously in the US. The tariffs became a catalyst to the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy. In 1893, a group of non-natives (5 Americans, 1 British, and 1 German) overthrew the queen as they saw the tariffs as a threat to their businesses. The local US government minister, John L. Stevens, then ordered US sailors to land on the island and take up positions on key areas of US interest. The Committee of Safety, which was a group of mainly US individuals with business and missionary interests that planned for and supported the overthrow, proclaimed an 'imminent threat to American lives and property' to justify the overthrow and occupation of the Hawaiian islands by US forces. This effectively ended the Hawaiian Kingdom.<ref>For more on the last decades of an independent Hawaii and how the last monarch was overthrown, see: Siler, J.F., OverDrive, I., 2012. <i>Lost Kingdom</i>. Grove/Atlantic, Inc.</ref>