A few years after Captain Cook‘s death chief Kamehameha made himself the only ruler of the kingdom of Hawaii.
After
his death in 1819 Puritan missionaries from Massachusetts came and successfully
spread the Christian faith among the pagans. They converted them, which meant
they changed their moral value system completely. Polygamy was forbidden and
the indecent Hula dances as well. From then on people had to wear clothes.
Schools were built to the benefit of the natives. Here the indigenous people could learn how to read and write. They were thankful for that.
The pious men were less successful in changing the natives‘ work ethic. As the Americans needed workers for their sugar plantations they had to get people form Japan.
More and more Americans of the north of the USA settled on the islands. They made huge plantations growing sugar, rice and coffee. Gradually the Americans gained great influence also in the political field.
During King Kamehameha III‘s reign (he had 5 wives, one of them his half-sister in spite of the missionaries) the Americans saw to it that a constitution was made, in which they were entitled to have a say in the government.
They islands were swamped by foreigners from the east.The power of the monarchy became weaker and weaker until it came to an end in 1893 when Queen Liliuokalani, the first and last crowned queen, was removed from the throne with the assistance of the Americans. She had demanded less influence in the politics of Hawaii from abroad.
Hawaii became a republic which was annexed by the USA in 1900. It became American territory and served as the most important naval base in the Pacific region.
On 7 December 1941 the Japanese launched a surprise attack on Pearl Harbour (near Honolulu) and destroyed the biggest part of the American fleet in the Pacific which lay at anchor there. World War II became global.
Hawaii was under martial law until the end of the year 1944.
In 1959 Hawaii was made the 5oth state of the USA, one year after Alaska.
> Cook named them Sandwich Islands
> The 50th state of the USA - history
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