Hawaii History
Beginning history
The history of Hawaii begins with its discovery by the Polynesians. They were originally from the Solomon Islands, Nauru, Tonga and so on. They were a people who sailed the sea with experience. The Polynesians knew many other peoples and also traded a lot. One day they arrived in the Hawaiian Islands. The land here was fertile and there was plenty of food to be found. That’s why they settled here. These Polynesians left their own country and forgot about it for that matter. From then on, a new people developed here, namely the Hawaiians. Their culture also became beautiful. Each island in Hawaii (except Kahoolawe) was governed by a particular chieftain. He was considered a real king and everyone had to listen to him. He also wore the finest clothes on the island of which he was the chieftain. In the year 1778, Hawaii first encountered Europeans. Namely by the world famous British/English explorer James Cook. When he first saw the islands, he called them the “Sandwich Islands”. Hawaii had already developed considerably by then. The chieftains no longer existed and now there were real kings. Each island was now a constitutional monarchy. Many different books have been written about James Cook’s wonderful and amazing journey to Hawaii. Therefore, this interested many other people. Huge numbers of Europeans came to the island to trade, fish or explore. Because there were so many new people here, a new unknown disease was also brought to the islands. Namely smallpox and that caused a lot of despair. The Hawaiians wanted to chase the Europeans away, but they weren’t strong enough.
- Topschoolsoflaw: State overview and brief history of Hawaii, including its geography and popular cities.
Late history
The smallpox outbreak killed as much as one fifth of the native Hawaiian population. Many Europeans here were British and they created the Hawaiian flag. That flag includes the flag of the United Kingdom. Hawaii was ruled half by the native kings and half by the British. In the late 18th century, only one king ruled all Hawaiian islands. That was namely the world famous king Kamemahema the Great (also known as Kamemahema I). He founded a very important dynasty. His son was Kamemahema II who inherited the kingdom from him. Thus this dynasty existed for a long time and it also reigned for a long time. The most popular king to ever rule Hawaii was Lunalilo (he was also from this dynasty). It was because he was very liberal. He reigned, however, the shortest of all Hawaiian kings, for he died very early. In the year 1874, a new dynasty ruled Hawaii for a short time. That was the Kalakaua dynasty. The first king was David Kalakaua. When he was dead, his sister took over from him. His sister was the very last royal to rule Hawaii and was called Liliuokalani. The Americans wanted to annex Hawaii while Liliuokalani still ruled Hawaii. They arrested her and Hawaii was annexed to the United States. During World War II, Hawaii was attacked by the Nazi Japanese. They then attacked Honolulu and the rest of the island of Oahu. Until 1959, Hawaii still remained a US territory/non-independent area, but then it was renamed the 50th US state.
- thembaprograms: Geography information of Hawaii, including animals and plants. Also covers brief history and major cities of the state.
Honolulu
The skyline of Honolulu
Honolulu is the capital and largest city of the US state of Hawaii with 377,357 inhabitants in 2006. It is located on a particular island, which is Oahu. The city is the financial, industrial, political and cultural center of all of Hawaii. Honolulu has a very large harbor. Although on a remote island, Honolulu is one of the largest cities in the United States and has an abundance of skyscrapers. There are also beautiful beaches off the coast of Honolulu. In the past, sandalwood trade was the main source of Honolulu’s economy. Today, tourism and banking services are more important. There are many attractions to be found in this large, beautiful city. The climate here is tropical, just like the rest of Hawaii. There is also a lot of nature in the Honolulu area, such as botanical gardens.
Partner cities
- Baku (Azerbaijan)
- Caracas (Venezuela)
- Cebu (Philippines)
- Hainan (China)
- Hiroshima (Japan)
- Hue (Vietnam)
- Incheon (South Korea)
- Kaohsiung (Taiwan)
- Manila (Philippines)
- Mombasa (Kenya)
- Montreal (Canada)
- Bombay (India)
- Naha (Japan)
- Seoul (South Korea)
- Tokyo (Japan)
- Zhongshan (China)
- Rabat (Morocco)