Hawaii State History

The first people to inhabit the Hawaiian Islands were Polynesians.  They sailed from other islands in large canoes.  Later, people from Tahiti came and gained control over the Hawaii Islands.

The British navy discovered Hawaii in 1778.  Other European and U.S. trading ships began to arrive on their way to China during the 1780s.  Disease brought from other parts of the world killed many of the Hawaiians.  

Local chiefs ruled individual islands until 1782.  One of these chiefs, Kamehameha, conquered most of Hawaii in 1795.  By 1810, all of Hawaii was under his control.  After his death in 1819, his son Liholiho became Kamehameha II.  He promptly abolished the local religion. 

Protestant missionaries arrived the following year and converted many Hawaiians to Christianity.  Catholic missionaries that arrived during the late 1820s were forced to leave or be imprisoned in 1831.  Catholics were released and received religious freedom in 1839 as France threatened to destroy Honolulu.

Hawaii adopted its first constitution in 1840.  Until 1848, the king owned all the land of the islands.  A law passed that year that divided the land between the king and his chiefs.  Most of these men gave their land to the government, which in turn sold land to the Hawaiian people.

In 1835, an American company established the first permanent sugarcane plantation in Kauai.  By the 1890s, several U.S. and European settlers had begun planting pineapples.  Sugarcane planting also became an important industry.  Thousands of workers were needed for these plantations; many came from China, Japan and the Philippines.

During the rule of King Kalakaua, many Hawaiian customs that had been discouraged by earlier rulers became popular again.  He became known as the Merry Monarch.  To enhance trade with the United States, Kalakaua allowed them exclusive use of Pearl Harbor as a naval base in 1887.

Hawaii’s only ruling queen came to power in 1891.  Liliuokalani tried to gain power by changing the laws of the constitution.  In 1893, a revolution brought forth the Republic of Hawaii.  The United States annexed Hawaii in 1898 and two years later made it an official U.S. territory.  All Hawaiians became citizens of the United States.

During the early 1900s, several military bases were established on the island of Oahu.  In 1908, a great naval base was built at Pearl Harbor.  In 1934, President Franklin D. Roosevelt became the first U.S. President to visit Hawaii.

When World War II began in 1939, the United States chose to stay out of the war.  After the historic Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor and Oahu on Dec. 7, 1941, the United States declared war on Japan and entered World War II.  Many of the damaged ships and submarines were repaired by armed forces and used in the war.  The National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific was dedicated in 1949 in Honolulu; thousands are buried there.

Bills for statehood were introduced to Congress as early as 1919, but many feared there would be no support from the islands during wartime.  This fear came to an end as thousands fought from Hawaii in World War II (1939-1945) and the Korean War (1950-1953).  Hawaii became the 50^th state on Aug. 21, 1959.

Since statehood, Hawaii’s population has doubled.  Sugar refining and pineapple production remain important but have declined.  Tourism now leads Hawaii’s industries, estimated now around $4 billion annually.  A new jet-aircraft terminal, completed in Honolulu in 1962, cut flying time from the United States in half.  Huge resorts and new hotels were built throughout the islands of Hawaii, Kauai, Maui, and Molokai.