Hawaiian History

The earliest settlements in the HawaiianIslands are usually believed to have been made by
Polynesians who traveled to Hawaii using large double-hulled canoes. They brought with them
pigs, dogs, chickens, taro, sweetpotatoes, coconut, banana, sugarcane, and other Pacific plants
and animals. Taro is a common name for the corms and tubers of several plants in the Araceae
family.There are several theories regarding migration to Hawaii. The "one-migration" theory
suggests a single settlement. A variation on the one-migration theory instead suggests a single,
continuous settlement period. Several "multiple migration" theories exist. One variation suggests
that settlers could have followed the original migration from the Marquesas Islands, and then later
settlement by Tahitians. There are numerous possible accounts of landings by Europeans,
Chinese and others long before the arrival of CaptainCook; however, none of these have been
documented with certainty. On January 18, 1778 Captain JamesCook and his crew, while
attempting to discover the NorthwestPassagebetween Alaska and Asia, were surprised to find the
Hawaiian Islands so far north in the Pacific. He named them the "Sandwich Islands", after the
fourth EarlofSandwich. After the discovery by Cook, other Europeans and Americans came to the
Sandwich Islands.

HowtheHawaiianKingdomStarted

The islands were united under a single ruler for the first time in 1810 with the help of foreign
weapons and advisors. The monarchy then adopted a flag similar to the one used as the flag of
the State of Hawaii, with the Union Flag in the canton (top quarter next to the flagpole) and eight
horizontal stripes representing the eight major islands of Hawaii.In May 1819, Prince Liholiho
became King Kamehameha 2. Under pressure from his co-regent and stepmother, he abolished
the kapu system that had ruled life in the islands. He signaled this revolutionary change by sitting
down to eat with Kaahumanu (stepmother) and other women of chiefly rank, an act forbidden
under the old religious system, a cousin who thought he was to share power with Liholiho,
organized supporters of the kapu system, but his forces were defeated by Kaahumanu and
Liholiho in December 1819 at the battle of Kuamoo.

Hawaiian Timeline
1778-1848- Captain James Cook arrived in the Islands in 1778, he and his crew were
the first Westerners to observe the rich Polynesian culture that had evolved over the
course of centuries.
1848-1893-Kamehameha's sons and grandsons continued to rule his unified kingdom
in the decades following his death. Kamehameha III did much to codify
1893-1941-Annexation secured the sugar industry's U.S. mainland markets and
plantations continued to boom. Sugar continued to drive the economy
1941-1959- World War II was a faraway affair until the Japanese bombed Pearl
Harbor December 7, 1941. After that, Hawaii became central to the United States
war effort in the Pacific.

1959-Present-The early 1960s brought the advent of jet travel and an astronomic leap in
island tourism. Hundreds of weekly visitor arrivals jumped to thousands .