Hawai`i was changed forever after Queen Ka`ahumanu lived from 1768-1832. As a woman in a place where gentlemen took precedence, Ka`ahumanu strived for justice all her life. Her indignant beliefs of the Hawaiian religion that limited her gave her fuel to make change. Jane Silverman, a present-day historian, noted, "There was a hunger in her much deeper; the hunger to control." When she saw the opportunity to be at the top of the kingdom, she seized it without delay. She used her power to influence the Hawaiian people into believing her judgments of the Hawaiian religion. Her first move was to break the system that placed those limits on her. When people from the outside world arrived, she sought their faith to replace those ancient rules. Toward the end of her life, she established formal laws to engrave her ideas into the Hawaiian people and prevent them from reverting back to the Hawaiian ways. Queen Ka`ahumanu contributed to the downfall of Hawaiian society because she dismantled the kapu system, supported the American Christian missionaries, and made a new set of laws that banned many Hawaiian customs.
Throughout her life, Ka`ahumanu was always around power. She was born in 1768 in Hana, Maui to Ke`eaumoku, who was a chief of Kona, and Namahana, whose family reigned on Maui. Her father was a close supporter of King Kamehameha, and gave his daughter to him for marriage at the age of 13. As his favorite wife, Ka`ahumanu helped Kamehameha conquer and govern the islands. Kamehameha described her by saying, "Strong in times of crisis, she can also ride the waves like a bird." When he died in 1819, she was designated kahina nui and given the same authority as the new king, Liholiho. Using her newly assumed power, she advocated for ...
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...might not have been taken over and made one of the fifty states of America. Hawaiian culture might have been conserved better and more present in everyone's lives today. Although it will never be known what would have happened if Queen Ka`ahumanu had not walked on this earth, it is now known that she helped Hawai`i to fulfill its destiny for change.
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...e" (Trask xix). This incident beautifully illustrates and signifies tourism's impact in American society. Like most Americans, this woman uses a discourse that has been shaped by tourist advertisements and souvenirs. The woman's statement implies that Trask resembles what the tourist industry projects, as if this image created Hawaiian culture. As Trask asserts, Hawaiian culture existed long before tourism and has been exploited by tourism in the form of advertisements and items such as postcards. Along with the violence, endangered environment, and poverty, this exploitation is what the tourist industry does not want to show. However, this is the Hawai'i Haunani-Kay Trask lives in everyday. "This is Hawai'i, once the most fragile and precious of sacred places, now transformed by the American behemoth into a dying land. Only a whispering spirit remains" (Trask 19).
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20 (1994): 252-271. Kualapai, Lydia. "The Queen Writes Back: Lili'uokalani's Hawaii's Story by Hawaii's Queen. " Studies in American Indian Literature. 17.2 (2005): 32-62.
Jovik, Sonia P. and James O. Jovik. (1997). “History.” Atlas of Hawaii. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, p.408.
...ature consisted of a council of chiefs and an elected house of representatives. In 1842, the Hawaiian islands were seen as an independent government. Sugar production was Hawaii’s largest buissiness. Tons of sugar was grown in Hawaii. Many of the Hawaiians worked on the sugar farms. Sugar was sold to the United States and large amounts of money flowed into Hawaii. Hawaii’s economy grew and banks were built. Annexation America’s main goal was to overthrow monarchy and Annex Hawaii as the 50th state. In 1887, the Americans forced king Kalakaua to sign a new constitutions that lessened the king’s powers and limited the rights of native Hawaiians to hold office. After Kalakaua’s death, Queen Liliuokalani ruled Hawaii. She was stubborn and wanted Hawaiian independence. But the Americans took over the government and ended monarchy and set up their own government. They put up the American flag where the Hawaiian flag originally flew. So, in other words, Hawaii was stolen from its original owners. Defenseless, Hawaii couldn’t do anything about United States’ control. Hawaii was then Annexed to the United states in 1898.