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Vacation 2 USA   >   Hawaii   >   History
Vacation 2 USA   >   History   >   Hawaii History

Travel Accessories

Hawaii History


Hawaii was first settled by Polynesian people. The process by which this took place is still a matter of debate among archaelogists, with some favoring in a theory of a single continuous migration, and others favoring a theory involving two separate waves of migration.

It is not certain when the Europeans first visited the islands, but it is possible that Spanish explorers may have reached the islands during the 16th century. When British navigator, Captain James Cook encountered the islands in 1778, he was surprised to find them, and named them the Sandwich Islands after the First Lord of the Admiralty, the 4th Earl of Sandwich, John Montagu.

Hawaii was united under a single ruler, Kamehameha I, for the first time in 1810. Until 1816, the chiefs considered the islands under British protection and flew the Union Jack. Hawaii then adopted a similar flag to the present Hawaiistate flag with a Union Jack in the canton (the top corner nearest the flagpole) and eight horizontal stripes representing the eight islands. In 1820, missionaries from a New England Congregationalist group arrived. Gradually they converted first the leading chiefs, and later the commoners to Protestant Christianity.

In the 1870s, Hawaii gradually drew closer to the United States. An 1874 treaty granted Americans exclusive grading rights. The 1876 Reciprocity Treaty allowed duty free importation of Hawaiian grown sugar and rice into the United States. Following these treaties, the Hawaiian landscape was greatly altered by the irrigation requirements of new sugar cane plantations. Additionally, an influx of immigrants from Asia (initially Chinese and later Japanese) was encouraged, in order to work the plantations.

During the 19th century, there were several periods of instability. This culiminated in the Hawaiian Revolution of 1893 when the Queen was overthrown, with the wrongful involvement of (according to the then US President, Grover Cleveland), of US diplomatic and military representatives. Grover Cleveland was however unsuccessful in his attempts to get the Queen reinstated, and eventually accepted the legitimacy of her overthrow and the new government of the Republic of Hawaii. In 1896, William McKinley became President, and two years later he signed the Newlands Resolution which annexed Hawaii to the United States.

After annexation, Pearl Harbor became (and still is) an important US Navy base. The Empire of Japan's attack on this base on December 7th 1941 was the trigger for the entry of the US into World War II. The Japanese attack resulted in severe damage to the US fleet, including the sinking of nine ships, four of which were battleships.

In 1935 and 1937, US Congress deliberated on whether Hawaii should be admitted as a US state. However, southern states opposed the admission of non-white majority territory, and the question was put on hold. In 1950, Hawaii began a new campaign for statehood by putting the question on its ballots. In 1959 the goal of statehood was finally achieved, and Hawaii was admitted as the 50th state of the Union on August 21st.

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Pearl Harbor: A Novel of December 8th

By Newt Gingrich

Thomas Dunne Books
Released: 2007-05-15
Hardcover (384 pages)

Pearl Harbor: A Novel of December 8th
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"A Thrilling Tale of the Attack That Marked America’s Darkest Day"
---W.E.B. Griffin
President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s speech on December 8, 1941, lasted a mere six and half minutes. But his words and tone—in a monologue that would later be named the Infamy Speech—sent ripples into a nation and a world that continue even today. The historical implications that emerged from the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor were unprecedented, launching America not only into the depths of a dangerous war, but forever altering the safety and comfort of everyday living. December 8th became a day of speaking out publicly and declaring war; of action, battle, plotting, and victories. This date’s significance is resonant and profound as an indelible moment in American history.

Fresh from their series on the American Civil War, bestselling authors Newt Gingrich and William R. Forstchen now launch a new epic adventure by applying their imaginations and knowledge to the “Date of Infamy”—the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Pearl Harbor covers the full spectrum of characters and events from that historic moment, from national leaders and admirals to the views of ordinary citizens caught in the chaos of war. From the chambers of the Emperor of Japan to the American White House, from the decks of aircraft carriers to the playing fields of the Japanese Naval Academy, this powerful story stretches from the nightmare slaughter of China in the 1930s to the lonely office of Commander James Watson, an American cryptographer, who suspects the impending catastrophic attack. It is a story of intrigue, double-dealing, the horrific brutality of war, and the desperate efforts of men of reason on both sides to prevent a titanic struggle that becomes inevitable.

Gingrich and Forstchen’s now critically acclaimed approach, which they term “active history,” examines how a change in but one decision might have profoundly altered American history. In Pearl Harbor, they pose the question of how the presence of but one more man within the Japanese attacking force could have transfigured the war. More than a retelling, the book also serves as a potent warning, valid still today as an example of what happens when communications and understanding breaks down, and a nation is ill-prepared for the onslaught that might ensue.

A compelling, meticulously researched saga, Pearl Harbor is also a novel of valor about those who took part in this cataclysmic moment in world history. It inaugurates a dramatic new Pacific War series that begins with the terrifying account of the day that started it all.
Praise for Pearl Harbor:

“A politician and a novelist, each an accomplished historian in his own right, are emerging as master authors of alternative history. In this ‘what if’ treatment of the attack on Pearl Harbor, Newt Gingrich and William Forstchen combine their talents to make the diplomacy as suspenseful as the combat, even for readers who know what happens next---or think they know. The authors’ mastery of both the broad sweep of events and the details of naval war and military technology give their counterfactual scenarios an unusual degree of plausibility, concluding with a version of the Japanese attack that guarantees a fictional Pacific war even more terrible than the one that began on December 7, 1941.”
-- Dennis Showalter, former president of the Society of Military Historians

“The book is not only a great read, it is a fascinating historical story that applies today in Iraq as it did in the Western Pacific in the late ’30s and ’40s.”
---Captain Alex Fraser (Ret.)

“Gingrich and Forstchen have done it again. Building on their successful collaboration on their Civil War trilogy that so skillfully combined real history with fiction, they have with Pearl Harbor happily inaugurated another new series. You will not want to put it down, but when you finish you will look, as I do, with great anticipation to the next book.”
---Chief of Police William J. Bratton, Los Angeles Police Department
"Masterful storytelling that not only captures the heroic highs and hellish lows of that horrific day which lives on in infamy---it resonates with today’s conflicts and challenges."
---William E. Butterworth IV, New York Times Best-selling Author of The Saboteurs

Overthrow: America's Century of Regime Change from Hawaii to Iraq

By Stephen Kinzer

Times Books
Released: 2007-02-06
Paperback (416 pages)

Overthrow: America s Century of Regime Change from Hawaii to Iraq
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“Detailed, passionate and convincing . . . [with] the pace and grip of a good thriller.”—Anatol Lieven, The New York Times Book Review

"Regime change” did not begin with the administration of George W. Bush, but has been an integral part of U.S. foreign policy for more than one hundred years. Starting with the toppling of the Hawaiian monarchy in 1893, the United States has not hesitated to overthrow governments that stood in the way of its political and economic goals. The invasion of Iraq in 2003 is but the latest example of the dangers inherent in these operations.

In Overthrow, Stephen Kinzer tells the stories of the audacious politicians, spies, military commanders, and business executives who took it upon themselves to depose foreign regimes. He details the three eras of America’s regime-change century—the imperial era, which brought Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Philippines, Nicaragua, and Honduras under America’s sway; the cold war era, which employed covert action against Iran, Guatemala, South Vietnam, and Chile; and the invasion era, which saw American troops toppling governments in Grenada, Panama, Afghanistan, and Iraq.

Kinzer explains why the U.S. government has pursued these operations and why so many of them have had disastrous long-term consequences, making Overthrow a cautionary tale that serves as an urgent warning as the United States seeks to define its role in the modern world.

The Curse of Lono

By Hunter S. Thompson

Taschen
Hardcover (205 pages)

The Curse of Lono
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A wild ride to the dark side of Americana The Curse of Lono is to Hawaii what Fear and Loathing was to Las Vegas: the crazy tales of a journalist's "coverage" of a news event that ends up being a wild ride to the dark side of Americana. Originally published in 1983, Curse features all of the zany, hallucinogenic wordplay and feral artwork for which the Hunter S. Thompson/Ralph Steadman duo became known and loved. This curious book, considered an oddity among Hunter's oeuvre, was long out of print, prompting collectors to search high and low for an original copy. TASCHEN's signed, limited edition sold out before the book even hit the stores, but this unlimited version, in a different, smaller format, makes The Curse of Lono accessible to everyone.

A Concise History of the Hawaiian Islands

By Dr. Phil Barnes

Petroglyph Press, Ltd.
Paperback (86 pages)

A Concise History of the Hawaiian Islands
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A Concise History of the Hawaiian Islands covers the major events and personalities in Hawaiian history from the first human landfall through the sovereignty movement of the late 1990s The history comes to life through illustrations and interesting anecdotes. By investing a couple of hours the casual reader can greatly increase the depth of their understanding of the events that have shaped and continue to shape these magical islands.

Day Of Deceit: The Truth About FDR and Pearl Harbor

By Robert Stinnett

Free Press
Paperback (416 pages)

Day Of Deceit: The Truth About FDR and Pearl Harbor
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Amazon.com:
It was not long after the first Japanese bombs fell on the American naval ships at Pearl Harbor that conspiracy theories began to circulate, charging that Franklin Roosevelt and his chief military advisors knew of the impending attack well in advance. Robert Stinnett, who served in the U.S. Navy with distinction during World War II, examines recently declassified American documents and concludes that, far more than merely knowing of the Japanese plan to bomb Pearl Harbor, Roosevelt deliberately steered Japan into war with America.

Stinnett's argument draws on both circumstantial evidence--the fact, for example, that in September 1940 Roosevelt signed into law a measure providing for a two-ocean navy that would number 100 aircraft carriers--and, more importantly, on American governmental documents that offer apparently incontrovertible proof that Roosevelt knowingly sacrificed American lives in order to enter the war on the side of England. Although obviously troubled by his discovery of a systematic plan of deception on the part of the American government, Stinnett does not take deep issue with its outcome. Roosevelt, he writes, faced powerful opposition from isolationist forces, and, against them, the Pearl Harbor attack was "something that had to be endured in order to stop a greater evil--the Nazi invaders in Europe who had begun the Holocaust and were poised to invade England." Sure to excite discussion, Stinnett's book offers what may be the final word on the terrible matter of Pearl Harbor. --Gregory McNamee

Download Description:
Twenty years ago Robert Stinnett set out to answer the question that the Congressional investigations of 1945 and 1995 could not: Did President Roosevelt know that the attack on Pearl Harbor was coming? Using evidence that has never been released before now, Stinnett describes Japanese activities documented by the American government that prove that FDR knew in advance about the attack, and deliberately did nothing to stop it. For decades it has been believed that the Japanese fleet maintained strict radio silence as it approached Hawaii. But Stinnett reveals that it did not -- in fact, no coordinated fleet could have done so -- and more explosively, he proves that allied listening stations intercepted and decoded dozens of the fleet's military messages, as they had been doing long before December 1941. Stinnett produces several devastating cables, tracing their path from the cryptographers who deciphered them directly to the White House. Here at last is the archival evidence that has been denied for half a century.

At Dawn We Slept

By Gordon W. Prange

Penguin (Non-Classics)
Paperback (912 pages)

At Dawn We Slept
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At 7:53 a.m., December 7, 1941, America's national consciousness and confidence were rocked as the first wave of Japanese warplanes took aim at the U.S. Naval fleet stationed at Pearl Harbor. As intense and absorbing as a suspense novel, At Dawn We Slept is the unparalleled and exhaustive account of the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor. It is widely regarded as the definitive assessment of the events surrounding one of the most daring and brilliant naval operations of all time. Through extensive research and interviews with American and Japanese leaders, Gordon W. Prange has written a remarkable historical account of the assault that-sixty years later-America cannot forget.

The Colony: The Harrowing True Story of the Exiles of Molokai

By John Tayman

Scribner
Paperback (432 pages)

The Colony: The Harrowing True Story of the Exiles of Molokai
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Beginning in 1866 and continuing for over a century, more than eight thousand people suspected of having leprosy were forcibly exiled to the Hawaiian island of Molokai -- the longest and deadliest instance of medical segregation in American history. Torn from their homes and families, these men, women, and children were loaded into shipboard cattle stalls and abandoned in a lawless place where brutality held sway. Many did not have leprosy, and many who did were not contagious, yet all were ensnared in a shared nightmare.

Here, for the first time, John Tayman reveals the complete history of the Molokai settlement and its unforgettable inhabitants. It's an epic of ruthless manhunts, thrilling escapes, bizarre medical experiments, and tragic, irreversible error. Carefully researched and masterfully told, The Colony is a searing tale of individual bravery and extraordinary survival, and stands as a testament to the power of faith, compassion, and the human spirit.

A Field Guide to the Birds of Hawaii and the Tropical Pacific

By H. Douglas Pratt & Delwyn G. Berrett

Princeton University Press
Paperback (520 pages)

A Field Guide to the Birds of Hawaii and the Tropical Pacific
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A is for Aloha: A Hawai'i Alphabet Edition 1. (Discover America State By State. Alphabet Series)

By U'ilani Goldsberry

Sleeping Bear Press
Hardcover (40 pages; 1)

A is for Aloha: A Hawai i Alphabet Edition 1. (Discover America State By State. Alphabet Series)
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Illustrated by Tammy Yee

Completing our acclaimed Discover America State by State series is A is for Aloha: AHawaii Alphabet. The landscape of Hawaii is as exotic as its history and people. Written and illustrated by native Hawaiians, U'ilani Goldsberry and Tammy Yee, Ais for Aloha is a lovingly created introduction to one of the most-visited places on Earth.

From the meaning of the word aloha to the plight of the state bird author U'ilani Goldsberry answers questions that most Malihinis have about this lush multi-island paradise.

Author U'ilani Goldsberry was born on the island of Maui, in the small town of Pu'unene. She now lives in La'ie on the northeastern coast of O'ahu. She has written a variety of books including three Auntie U'i books.

Illustrator Tammy Yee grew up in Honolulu, Hawaii. She currently lives in Windward O'ahu.

Tattoo Traditions of Hawaii

By Tricia Allen

Mutual Publishing
Paperback (218 pages)

Tattoo Traditions of Hawaii
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Anthropologist and tattooist Tricia Allen has harnessed centuries of knowledge about Hawaiian tattoos and has created this fascinating, comprehensive reference book that can be enjoyed by both tattoo enthusiasts and cultural scholars. Tattoo Traditions of Hawaii describes the evolution of Hawaiian tattooing as an art and science tracing it from its early roots in ancient Polynesia; presents motif, meaning, placement, tools and techniques along with personal observations and commentary in meticulous and graphic detail; discusses contemporary Hawaiian tattooing within the context of contact with the Western world; and includes drawings of designs and patterns for ideas and consideration.

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