The Hawaiian Kingdom was established in 1795 by King Kamehameha I and proudly prevailed throughout the world for nearly a century. Due to the location and agriculture of the Hawaiian Kingdom, the United States government was keen to gain Hawai’i as a state to control due to their economic and militaristic advantage. They accomplished this by breaking international law and punishing native Hawaiian people for continuing to practice their own culture.
Before being discovered by colonizers, the Hawaiian Islands were settled as early as 400 C.E by skilled fishermen and farmers, where the Hawaiian culture was developed into ‘olelo (language), hula (a form of dance), akua (gods), mele (songs), kapu (laws or rules), and eventually into a monarchy which was internationally recognized. When the Civil War ended in 1865, the United States was reeling from social, economic, and political friction.1 Given the location of the Hawaiian Kingdom in the Pacific Ocean, and its ideal climate for the sugar cane industry and other miscellaneous agricultural products, American business interests influenced much of the economics of Hawai’i. These interests and the militaristic advantages of Pearl Harbor (a naval …show more content…
As early as the 1830s, wealthy White Americans attempted to establish an imperial presence through economic and missionary endeavors. General John McAllister Schofield, who is the namesake of the Schofield Barracks in Wahiawa today, proposed in 1870 that the United States obtain access rights to Pearl Harbor.3 Through the Reciprocity Treaty with the Kingdom of Hawaii, the United States was granted exclusive access to the harbor in 1875 for coaling and maintenance. The treaty was renewed in 1887, which gave the United States exclusive rights to set up a naval base for the U.S.