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ROAD TO STATEHOOD [ r e v i s e d 12-1 -08]

Fifty y e a r s ago, on Augus t 21 , 1959, H a w a i i became th e50 h

S t a t e of th e Uni ted S t a t e s of America (U.S. o r U nited States).

H a w ai i s ro ad to S t a t e h o o d wa s a long one.

In 1778, British e x p l o r e r Capta in James Cook sailed to

Kaua i an d commenced a long relationship be tween Britain an d

Hawai i . This relationship expanded in th e 1790s when British

Capta in George Vancouver made m u l t i p l e visits to H a w a i i .

U n t i l 1810, on e C h i e f r u l e d th e island of H a w a i i , another

r u l e d Maui , Lana i a nd K a ho o la w e, a n o t h e r r u l e d Oahu an d

Moloka i , an d a n o t h e r r u l e d Kaua i an d N i i h a u . Th e K in gd om of

Hawai i began in 1810 when Kamehameha I used f o r c e an d th e threat

of f o r c e to obta in dominion an d s o v e r e i g n t y over all of th e

i s l a n d s of Hawai i an d became th e Kingdoms first monarch .

In 1816, th e Hawai i an f l a g , w i t h its Union Jack an d e i g h t

r e d , w h i t e an d blue stripes, became H a w a i i s f l a g . Th e first

British m i s s i o n a r i e s came to Hawai i prior to 1821. Th e first

Uni ted S t a t e s of America (USA) m i s s i o n a r i e s came to Hawai i from

New England in 1821.

In 1826, Hawai i an d th e USA e n t e r e d in to a treaty fo r th e

p u r p o s e of p romot ing th e commercial i n t e r c o u r s e an d f r i e n d s h i p

subsisting be tween them.

Th e r e d u c t i o n of th e Kings power an d authority began in

1840 when King Kamehameha III promulga ted a C o n s t i t u t i o n changing

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th e gove rnmen t of Hawai i from an A b s o l u t e Monarchy to a

C o n s t i t u t i o n a l Monarchy allocating mos t of th e powers of

gove rnn ien t in th e Kings e x e c u t i v e branch w h i l e allocating some

of th e powers o f gove rnmen t to a legislative branch an d to a

judicial branch . Th e King a pp o in te d th e Premie r. N e i t h e r th e

King n or th e Premie r co uld ta ke official a c t i o n w i t h o u t th e

c o n s e n t of th e o t h e r. No la w cou ld become effective w ith ou t th e

c o n s e n t of th e King, th e Premie r, th e Nobles , an d th e

R e p r e s e n t a t i v e s . Th e Nobles were named in th e C o n s t i t u t i o n .

Other Nobles cou ld be named by l aw. Th e R e p r e s e n t a t i v e s were

e l e c t e d b y th e p e o p l e [ . ] Th e form of choos ing them an d th e

nuniber to be chosen were to be de te rmined by law. Th e King wa s

th e Chie f Judge o f th e Supreme Cour t an d th e Premie r wa s a

member. Th e f o u r o t h e r members were a p p o i n t e d by th e

R e p r e s e n t a t i v e s . Amendments to th e C o n s ti tu t io n r eq u ir ed th e

f a v o r a b l e v o t e of th e Nobles an d th e R e p r e s e n t a t i v e s in tw o

s u c c e s s i v e y e a r s .

In 1842, th e USA, by P r e s i d e n t Ty l e r, r e co g n iz e d H a w a i i s

i ndependence .

In 1843, British L ord G eo rg e P a u l e t wa s d i s p a t c h e d to

Hawai i to investigate Hawai i s t r e a t m e n t of British interests

an d used th e threat o f f o r c e to m o t i v a t e King Kamehameha III to

cede Hawai i to th e British. Five months later, British Rear

Admi ra l Richard Thomas r e v e r s e d Lord P a u l e t s u n a u t h o r i z e d act.

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N ot long thereafter, th e British an d th e French recognized

H a w a i i s i ndependence an d agreed that neither would t ake

p o s s e s s i o n of it. In 1846, th e British an d th e French e n t e r e d

in to treaties of f r i e n d s h i p , commerce an d n a v i g a t i o n w i t h

Hawai i.

H a w a i i s 1840 C o n s t i t u t i o n stated in part that

[ t ] h e origin of th e p r e s e n t governmen t , an d system ofpolity, is as f o l l o w s : Kamehameha I , wa s th e founderof th e kingdom, an d to him be longed all th e l and fromon e en d of th e I s l a n d s to th e o t h e r, t hough it wa s n o t

h is own private p r o p e r t y. It be longed to th e c h i e f san d p e o p l e in common, of whom Kamehameha I wa s th ehead , an d had th e management of th e l anded p r o p e r t y.W here fo re , t h e r e wa s n o t f o r m e r l y, an d is n o t now an yp e r s o n who cou ld or can con vey away th e s m a l l e s tp o r t i o n of l a n d w i t h o u t th e consen t of th e on e who had,o r has th e direction of th e kingdom.

Th e p r e r o g a t i v e s of th e King a re as f o l l o w s : He is th es o v e r e i g n of all th e p e o p l e an d all th e chiefs. Th ekingdom is his. He shall have th e direction of th earmy an d all th e im plem en ts o f w ar of th e kingdom. Hea lso shall have th e direction of th e governmentproperty--the poll tax--the l and tax--the t h r e e daysmonth ly l a b o r, though in c o n f o r m i t y to th e l aws . Hea lso shall retain h is own private l a n d s , an d l andsforfeited fo r th e non-payment of t a x e s shall revert tohim.

In 1845, th e L e g i s l a t u r e commenced th e division (Mahele) of

l a n d p r o c e s s by c r e a t i n g a f ive -member Board of Commissioners to

Q u i e t Land Titles (Land Commiss ion) to a d d r e s s an d r e s o l v e all

l a n d c la ims . In th e latter l 840s an d e a r l y l 8 5 0 s , H a w a i i s l and

wa s d i v i d e d in to th e fo llo w in g f o u r parts: (1) the Kings

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Lands[ , ] o r th e Crown Lands{ ; ] (2 ) th e government s l ands ; (3)

th e Chiefs l a n d s ; an d (4) th e commoners l a n d s . First, th e King

s e l e c t e d l a n d s , some of which he r e t a i n e d , an d some of which

conveyed to th e Government . Second, th e Chiefs made their

selections from th e remain ing l a n d s . Th e Chiefs were r e q u i r e d to

file their c la im s w ith th e L an d C o m m is sio n an d pay to th e

Government , in cash o r l a n d , a commutat ion fe e of o n e - t h i r d of

th e unimproved va lue of th e l a n d at th e da te o f th e award .

T h i r d , p u r s u a n t to th e Kuleana A ct of 1850, th e commoners were

a u t h o r i z e d to t imely file a claim to th e a c r e a g e t h e y were then

cultivating, p l u s an a d d i t i o n a l q u a r t e r of an acre fo r a house

lot. Each c la im wa s r e q u i r e d to be s u p p o r t e d by a survey an d tw o

w i t n e s s e s attesting to th e validity of th e c l a i m . Th e Land

Commission d e c i d e d th e validity of each c la im. ny la n d n o t

validly c la imed wa s added to th e governments l a n d .

Th e R e s i d e n t A l i e n A ct of 1850 p e r m i t t e d p e r s o n s who r e s i d e d

in , b u t were n o t citizens o f, Hawai i to a c q u i r e an d own Hawai i

l and in f e e .

The 1849 Trea ty of F r i e n d s h i p an d Commerce b et w ee n H a w ai i

an d th e USA r e p l a c e d their 1826 treaty.

Hawai i s commercial p r o d u c t i o n of s u g a r began in 1835.

Sec t ion 22 of H a w a i i s 1850 A ct fo r th e Government of Maste r s

an d S e r v a n t s stated that TT ajny p e r s o n who has attained th e ag e

of twen ty y e a r s , may b i n d h i m s e l f or herself, by written c o n t r a c t

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