If I never attended University of Hawaii Maui College, I never would have known about the United States’ illegal occupation of Hawaiʻi. I learned all about the illegal overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom and then the prolonged stay here by the US in Kumu Kaleikoa Kaʻeos Hwst 107 class. Here’s a little summary of the events which led to the predicament: In 1893, US personnel conspired with a small group of individuals to overthrow the constitutional government of the Hawaiian Kingdom and prepared to provide for annexation of the Hawaiian Islands to the United States of America, under a treaty of annexation submitted to the United States Senate, on February 15, 1893. Newly elected U.S. President Grover Cleveland, having received notice that the cause of the so-called revolution derived from illegal intervention by U.S. diplomatic and military personnel, withdrew the treaty of annexation and appointed James H. Blount, as Special Commissioner, to investigate the terms of the so-called revolution and to report his findings. The report concluded that the US legation assigned to the Hawaiian Kingdom, together with United States Marines and Naval personnel, were directly responsible for the illegal overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom government. The report details the responsibility of the US government in violating laws and the sovereignty of the Hawaiian Kingdom, but the United States Government fails to follow through in its commitment to assist in reinstating the constitutional government of the Hawaiian Kingdom. Instead, the US allows five years to lapse and a new United States President, William McKinley, enters into a second treaty of annexation with the same individuals who participated in the illegal overthrow with the U.S. legation in 1893 on June 16, 1897, but the treaty was unable to be ratified by the United States Senate due to protests that were submitted by Her Majesty Queen Lili‘uokalani and signature petitions against annexation by 21k+ native Hawaiians. As a result of the Spanish-American War, the United States opted to unilaterally annex the Hawaiian Islands by enacting a congressional joint resolution on July 7, 1898, in order to utilize the Hawaiian Islands as a military base to fight the Spanish in Guam and the Philippines. The United States has remained in the Hawaiian Islands and the Hawaiian Kingdom has since been under prolonged occupation to the present, but its continuity as an independent State remains intact under international law.
I was so shocked at how this treachery has been swept under the rug for so long, that most Hawaiians don’t even know about what happened and what IS happening now. Hardly anybody knows about this! Everyone has accepted the fact that Hawaiʻi is “the fiftieth state” without even looking at the facts in history. I feel that this is unacceptable and that the Hawaiian Kingdom was treated VERY unfairly... but what do we do now? It’s been so long since the illegal overthrow happened, what can we do now that will make any difference? Well, I’m not positive about what we can do, but if I do find out some way that would contribute to getting Hawaiʻi its independent distinction back again, I would help with all that I can. Cause what happened was not right, and I feel that there is a lot of making up to do for the United States. Ua mau ke ea o ka ʻāina I ka pono o Hawaiʻi!
"A lie told often enough becomes the truth."
- Vladimir Lenin
References:
http://www.hawaiiankingdom.org/us-occupation.shtml
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9nqDkCzwXeY&feature=related
http://freehawaii.info/
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