37 of 38 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A story of creeping annexation, December 27, 2005
A glance at the globe will immediately tell you the strategic importance of the Hawaiian Island chain. It is the only significant landmass for thousands of miles between the Western Hemisphere and the Polynesian islands of the Western Pacific. Therefore, to control the Pacific shipping routes, you must control Hawaii. Of all the island groups in the Pacific, the Hawaiian islanders would have been the most capable of resisting foreign invaders. With approximately 800,000 inhabitants and the advantage of distance from any other land, it would have been difficult to impossible for the islands to have been invaded and conquered before the twentieth century. Nevertheless, in 1893 Lili'uokalani, the reigning Queen of Hawaii, yielded her throne to a group of 162 American soldiers. From this point on, Hawaii was a territory of the United States. The story of how Hawaii became a U. S. possession is interesting, sad and a lesson in annexation and control coming about in small stages.
It started with the arrival of a group of American missionaries, whose goal was to Christianize the Hawaiians. They were welcomed, and at first they added to the Hawaiian culture. The missionaries helped establish a written Hawaiian language, and brought new techniques of science and medicine to the islands. However, they also brought Western diseases that wrecked havoc among the native Hawaiians. By the time the United States took control of the islands, there was less than 100,000 native Hawaiians left. The white missionaries also began to gain economic control of the economy of the islands and from this developed the conviction that they were personally destined to control the islands.
The primary event that led to white economic control was when the United States allowed Hawaiian sugar to enter duty free. This led to the creation of vast sugar plantations and this in combination with the decline in the number of native Hawaiians, caused the plantation owners to import large numbers of laborers from China and Japan. This further diluted the power of the monarch and expanded the economic power of the whites.
The whites formed secret societies that plotted to gain control of the islands. When the United States government decided to eliminate the duty free status of Hawaiian sugar, the plantation owners determined that annexation by the United States was the only way they could avoid financial ruin. They took over the government by force and imprisoned Lili'uokalani. It is one of the ironies of history that this was the overthrow of a government that was democratically elected and a mixed race society with little in the way of racial tensions. By this time, the number of native Hawaiians was relatively small and Lili'uokalani refused to allow resistance by force. Therefore, the conquest was easy and bloodless.
Lili'uokalani was a very talented individual, she composed several pieces of music, including "Aloha Oui." It is a sad tale to see the Hawaiian culture reduced and this tape is a lesson in history when the mighty do what they wish to the weak.
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29 of 33 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Wounded knee without the bloodshed, August 25, 2000
By A Customer
American Imperialism, christianity, and white dominance over darker skinned peoples--all are shown in their true colors in this film. This is a film for people of all ages, ethnicities, religions, and gender to see. But particularly Americans...to learn that America is not always the beautiful; the wealthy...to learn how our wealth was too often squandered on the backs of native peoples; and the christian...to learn that christianity is more often than not a perversion of what was intended 2,000 years ago.
Those more interested in entertainment than education will still enjoy the film. It tells a moving and interesting story of a woman who saved her people by sacrificing her government and her role as a monarch.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Learn the Truth, September 29, 2007
This review is from: American Experience: Hawaii's Last Queen (DVD)
If you love Hawai'i, Hawaiian people and culture or if you just get a special feeling while visiting our home and you care to know more, know what really happened here not so long ago and why some of us hold certain feelings strong and close to our hearts, then see this film.
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