 |
Hawaii: A Victim of American Imperialism |
||||
|
Americans stole the Hawaiian land from the Kanaka Maoli (Native Hawaiians). The effects of American Imperialism have been seen in history ever since the English settled in Jamestown and their encounter with the Native Americans. From this, America expanded by constantly conquering other natives. Consider the conflict with the Spanish-American war, the seizure of the Philippines, the acquisition of the Alaskan lands, and last but not at the least, the annexation of Hawaii. The "discovery"[1] of Hawaii by Captain James Cook in 1779 was the event that sparked the one-hundred year struggle under the clutches of the American Imperialism process. Once Cook arrived, and the Europeans knew of the Hawaiian utopia, there was no turning back. Hawaii soon became the main prize of the Pacific with its plentiful natural resources and its fertile land for sugar plantations.
Once the Americans decided that they were going in invade the islands, they took simple steps to slowly weaken both the Hawaiian culture and government. First, the Americans sent missionaries to the Hawaiian lands to "civilize" the already flourishing land. Next, the Americans subverted the Hawaiian culture with American language, American government, and American culture. This is only a part of the colonization process brought about by American Imperialism. When natives lose their culture, they lose what defines them; causing them to be weaker in resistance than if they had been able to hold on to their culture. The struggle continued when the government started to sell sugar plantations to the haole (foreigners). Although this created a good source of wealth for the Hawaiian economy, it only gave the haole more power. In the book From a Native Daughter: Colonialism and Sovereignty in Hawai`i, Haunani-Kay Trask states that "by 1888, three-quarters of all arable land was controlled by haole."[1] The power of the Kanaka Maoli government was slowly diminishing.
"The cause of Hawaii and
independence is larger and dearer than the life of any man
connected with it. Love of country is deep-seated in the breast of
every Hawaiian, whatever his station." [1] Calling the arrival of Cook a "discovery" is only another way the Americans have diminished the Kanaka Maoli. "Discovery" implies the thought that the Kanaka Maoli did not matter until Europeans arrived.
|
|||||
|
Footnotes: [1] Trask, Haunani-Kay, From a Native Daughter: Colonialism and Sovereignty in Hawaii, (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1993), 7
|
|||||
