In our latest podcast, (left to right) editors Henry
See, Scott Ogrin, and Joe Quinn begin their world
tour with a stop in Hawaii and a tableside chat with
Dave and Erica, two longtime residents of the islands.
Be sure to grab your surfboard and swim suit so you
can join us on the high seas of this passionate exchange
about Hawaiian history and culture, the current growth
in the US military presence on the islands, and how an
imperialist policy of monoculture has ruined the state's
agriculture.
If you have any questions for the Signs Team
or would like to suggest a topic for future Podcast discussion,
you can write us at:
Since prehistory, Polynesians
have been seafaring people whose origins cannot be
completely traced. In anonymity and out of Asia, the
ancestors of the Hawaiians began millennia ago to work
their way across the vast, trackless Pacific.
Generally believed to be the first inhabitants
of the Hawaiian Islands, the Polynesians migrated
throughout the Pacific in sailing canoes. The Polynesian
migrations most likely began from the islands of
Fiji, Tonga and Samoa, spreading east, south and
north, covering millions of square miles of ocean.
Archaeological evidence combined with the degree
of similarity in languages, cultural practices and
transported plants indicate that the order of migration
was first to the east to the Cook Islands, then on
to Tahiti Nui, the Society Islands, the Marquesas
islands, Easter Island, Hawaii, and finally south
to New Zealand.
Some historians claim that sometime around the fourth
or fifth century A.D., the first planned migrations
came from the Marquesas, in extreme eastern Polynesia.
For five centuries the Marquesans settled and lived
peacefully on the new land - Hawaii. Around 1,200 A.D.,
the Tahitians arrived and subjugated the settled islanders.
Tahitian customs, legends, and language became the
Hawaiian way of life.
Traditional Hawaiian society before contact with the
outside world was characterized by a complex religious,
governmental and cultural system that reflected the
harmonious relationship the early Hawaiians had with
the natural world. Like all societies, the Hawaiians
had a set of rules or laws (kapu) to help
guide their people. The Kapu System outlined
actions that were appropriate and inappropriate for
people of different ranks. For example, in the case
of conservation, an alii (chief) could forbid
people from eating or using certain plants, animals,
or other resources. These restrictions could be for
certain people and for certain times of the year. With
the aid of kapu, the scarce island resources
were protected from over-exploitation.
The Kapu System separated Hawaiian society
into four groups of people:
the alii, chiefs who ruled specific
territories and who held their positions on the
basis of family ties and leadership abilities -
the chiefs were thought to be descendants of the
gods and the highest chiefs, alii kapu,
were considered gods;
the kahuna, priests or skilled craftspersons
that performed important religious ceremonies and
served the alii as close advisers;
the makaainana, commoners (by far the
largest group) who raised, stored, and prepared food,
built houses and canoes, and performed other daily
tasks; and
the kauwa, outcasts forced to lead lives
segregated from the rest of Hawaiian society.
The kapu (laws) regulating conservation of
natural resources were usually farsighted and just.
However, prohibitions upon the commoners were sometimes
severe. There were different kapu for different
infractions. The most serious were laws of the gods, kapu
akua, and laws of the chief, kapu alii.
The chief had power over life and death. All he had
to do was utter the word and a person would be killed.
The chief could also utter a word to spare a life.
As formidable as some kapu were there was
also a kapu akua (a law of the gods) providing
for pardon, clemency, absolution, and mercy. This was
known as puuhonua or "refuge" from
capital punishment.
No one knows the origins of the kapu system.
Some say the Hawaiians remembered the One Supreme God
Io and worshipped him in relative peace until Paao,
a high priest and famous navigator, came from Tahiti
around A.D. 1300. Fornander writes that prior to the
arrival of Paao "... the kapus were few
and the ceremonials easy; human sacrifices were not
practiced; and government was more of a patriarchal
than of a regal nature."
Many believe the kapu were established as
a result of the Tahitian migrations, bringing to Hawaii
a system of laws and rituals protecting the mana (spiritual
power or energy) which existed in all living things.
In part, this was symbolized by the worship of many
gods (akua), the four principal ones being:
Kane, the God of Life; Ku, the God of War; Lono, the
God of Agriculture; and Kanaloa, the God of the Ocean.
These gods took many shapes and forms and presided
over families of deities. Hawaiians also had ancestral
spirits called aumakua. The aumakua were
both "guardian angels" and were spirits that
could be called upon in times of need.
In its brochure Yesterday and Beyond: Archaeology
and Hawaii's Past, the Society for Hawaiian Archaeology
(SHA) notes: "Traditional histories tell of illustrious
chiefs who led expeditions between 'Kahiki' (possibly
Tahiti or elsewhere in eastern Polynesia) and Hawaii
around 1200 A.D. - 1400 A.D. These chiefs founded the
later ruling dynasties and brought many major rituals
and practices to the islands. The archaeological evidence
for the Kahiki Connection is as yet inconclusive. However,
the fact that major heiau [temple] construction
did not begin until after A.D. 1200 lends support to
the idea that new rituals were being introduced."
Because the early Hawaiians depended on nature for
everything, the kapu system was intimately connected
with reverence and respect for the natural world. This
Aloha Aina (love of the land) made the kapu system
one of the earliest examples of environmental protectionism.
Hawaiian society was turned upside-down with the arrival
of the white man in the late 18th century.
The Hawaiian Kapu System
of law was seriously challenged when foreigners began
to arrive in Hawaii. Captain Cook's arrival in 1778
opened the islands to the rest of the world and signaled
the end of the ancient culture. Even though the white
persons who came to the islands did not abide by the
rules of the kapu system, they were not punished
by the gods.
In 1795, the young chief, Kamehameha I conquered the
islands (with the exception of Kauai) to create a unified
kingdom. He attempted to rule the kingdom using the ancient
system of kapu, but it became very difficult
with the influx of foreigners.
The Monarchy years generally span the period of
time between the unification of all the islands by
Kamehameha the Great in 1810 and the overthrow of
the Hawaiian government in 1893. During this relatively
short period of time, the people of Hawaii would
be transformed from a society based on the Kapu System
into an independent constitutional monarchy, recognized
by other nations around the world.
n 1819, King Kamehameha II declared an end to the kapu system.
In a dramatic and highly symbolic event, Kamehameha
II ate and drank with women, thereby breaking the important
eating kapu. Soon after, the sacred heiau (temples)
were destroyed and the images of gods were burned.
As word of these events spread throughout the Islands,
the kapu system rapidly unraveled. With the kapu system
abolished, the missionaries found the Hawaiians living
in a cultural void and receptive to the ideas embodied
in Protestant Christianity.
To aid in converting a society with an oral tradition
to Christianity, the missionaries developed an alphabet
for the Hawaiian language, began translating the Bible,
and started printing other important information in
large quantities for many Hawaiians to read. In less
than 20 years, the missionaries had established a school
system that reflected Western society and the Protestant
religion.
The concept of land ownership was foreign to ancient
Hawaiians. Under their holistic view of the world that
incorporated all things from the ocean to the sea,
no one owned the land. Instead the land was divided
into ahupuaa, land sections that usually extended
from the mountain summits down through fertile valleys
to the outer edge of the reef in the sea (for example
a large valley). The alii (chiefs) were stewards
of the land and granted the makaainana (general
populace) living in the ahupuaa use of the
land's bounty for their livelihood. Headmen (konohiki)
facilitated day to day operations with the assistance
of specialists (luna). The ahupuaa formed
a self-contained economic and social unit that effectively
integrated the uses of its resources from dispersed
ecological zones. Everyone living throughout the ahupuaa had
access to all types of products and everyone was entitled
to a share of what they produced from the soil or took
from the sea. The system benefited the land because
the ahupuaa was managed carefully, and thought
of and cared for as a whole. Today, this ancient system
is viewed by many as an excellent model of resource
management.
When Kamehameha the Great brought all the islands under
his control, he had kept the traditional land system
in existence. Now, with Cook's introduction of Hawaii
to the Western World, a market economy began to emerge.
Fur and sandalwood traders, merchants, whalers, and
missionaries accustomed to owning land pressured the
King, Kamehameha III, to change the ahupuaa system
of land tenure and permit private ownership of land.
The Great Mahele (land division) of 1848 instituted
a system of private property ownership that ended the
old land system. The new law divided Hawaii land among
the Crown, the government, the alii (chiefs)
and konohiki (headmen). Concern for the commoners'
rights resulted in the Kuleana Act of 1850 which permitted
land ownership by commoners who occupied and improved
any portion of the lands controlled by the alii and konohiki.
Additionally, Government Lands were made available
for purchase by commoners and foreigners who did not
have kuleana rights.
Within decades, title to thousands of acres had fallen
into the hands of non-Hawaiians. Even the Crown lands,
owned by the King and his successors, were often sold
or leased to foreigners in payment of debts or in exchange
for foreign goods and supplies. When, in 1893, the
Hawaiian Monarchy was overthrown and Queen Liliuokalani
was taken prisoner, the remaining Crown Lands were
confiscated by the new government and made part of
the public domain. Today, the overthrow of the queen
and the confiscation of the lands are the foundation
of the Hawaiian Sovereignty Movement.
There is archaeological evidence to indicate that the
first peoples arrived in the Hawaiian Islands around
A.D. 400 or before. Estimates of the maximum ancient
Hawaiian population vary from 200,000 to as high as
a million by the date of the European "discovery" by
Captain James Cook. The decline of traditional Hawaiian
culture went together with a dramatic decline in the
population of native Hawaiians. Thousands died from
the many new diseases brought by Westerners; other
thousands left to work aboard trading and whaling ships.
Unfortunately, Hawaiians, an isolated people, were
unusually vulnerable to introduced diseases: smallpox,
measles, Hansen's disease, whooping cough, influenza,
gonorrhea, took their toll. By 1920, pure Hawaiians
numbered only 23,723 and their life expectancy was
only 35 years! (Source: Census
Data)
The decline in the population of native Hawaiians
became a serious labor problem as foreign-introduced
sugar and pineapple plantations began to grow and flourish.
When the shortage became critical in the mid-1800's
the Hawaiian government supported the recruitment and
importation of laborers from abroad. This resulted
in a flood of more than 250,000 foreign laborers during
the three decades following Annexation (1898). The
majority were from Japan, China, and Portugal and,
after the turn of the century, from Korea and the Philippines.
By 1900, because of this immigration and their decline
in population, pure Hawaiians constituted only a small
part of a larger, multi-ethnic society. Today, some
think the number of pure Hawaiians could be as low
as 5,000. Pure Hawaiians have become strangers in their
own land. However the part Hawaiian population now
measures over 230,000 reflecting the diversity of today's
multi-ethnic society in Hawaii.
Sometimes its easier
to understand the weight of duplicity by seeing the
sequence of events unfold and in this way appreciate
the larger scheme of history. Here, we present a time-line
of the events which swept Hawai`i into annexation by
the United States during that crucial period immediately
following McKinley’s taking office as U.S. President.
March 1897: Grover Cleveland leaves
office having served two terms. William McKinley,
having won over William Jennings Bryan, becomes President.
A McKinley campaign plank: “The Hawaiian Islands
should be controlled by the United States and no foreign
power should be permitted to interfere with them.” Stolen
Kingdom, Budnick, at p. 170
June 16, 1897: Treaty of Annexation
of Hawai`i to the United States signed and forwarded
to U.S. Senate for ratification.
September 9, 1897: Hawaii Senate
Ratify treaty
September 14: U.S. Senator John
T. Morgan of Alabama, Chairman of the Committee on
Foreign Relations, appeared in Hawai`i, leading a contingent
of fellow annexationist of the U.S. Congress (Congressmen
Joseph G. Cannon of Illinois, James A. Tawney of Minnesota,
Henry C. Loudenslager of New Jersey, and Albert S.
Berry of Kentucky). Morgan was author of the Morgan
report of early 1894 - an attempt to refute the findings
of President Cleveland’s Special Commissioner
to Hawai`i, James Blount. Special Commissioner Blount
had uncovered a multitude of violations of international
law and of American foreign policy in the U.S. conduct
in Hawai`i during the events of the overthrow. Morgan
insisted that the U.S. conduct was appropriate. Now
for the first time in Hawai`i, Morgan was trying to
boost the annexation attempt on-going in the Congress.
Arriving on September 14, he engaged in public speeches
and newspaper interviews. He tried persuading native
Hawaiians that their status as American citizens would
be an improvement in their condition, assuring them
that the Americans wanted only to “secure you
from aggression from foreign powers.” He promised
protection from the Chinese and told the people that
a Hawaiian could become President of the United States!
(The U.S. Constitution requires, however, that a President
must be born an American.) He further promised that
Hawai`i would be annexed as a State, that the public
lands would go to the people, and that there was no
need to submit the question of annexation to a popular
vote.
Hawaiian loyalists were just as vocal and were unafraid
to go “brain to brain” against Morgan.
James Kaulia is a prime example. Kaulia, President
of the Hawaiian Patriotic League (Hui Aloha `_ina)
declared, “The destiny of Hawaii, situated in
the mid-Pacific as she is, should be that of an independent
nation and so she would be were it not for the policy
of greed which pervades the American Legislators and
the spirit of cowardice which is in the breasts of
those who first consummated the theft of Hawaiian prestige.”
In the style of Shakespear’s Mark Anthony,
Kaulia honors the Senator as an honorable representative
of that great Government of the U.S., “a good
and faithful servant” with the seeming love for
God in his heart, who should be the last man to aid,
ever so little, in the consummation of a wrong. He
than calls upon Morgan, “let us reason together.” Kaulia
points to dispatches from ex-American Minister Stevens
to his superiors confessing to conspiring with American
citizens to overthrow the Hawaiian Government and asking
for “wise and bold action” to accomplish
the overthrow.
Kaulia asks, “Can the United States in consistency
with past principles annex these islands until she
has made herself right before the world by undoing
everything that this Minister has done?” He
reminds Morgan that the protest of Her Majesty Lili`uokalani
to the U.S. had still remained unanswered.
“And why this greed for the Hawaiian Islands?” Kaulia
writes. “Is it a naval station that is needed?
For that it would seem that American home ports are
much in need of such protection. Is it a coaling station
that is desired? That is obtainable by treaty. Or is
it the islands’ wealth that America desires?
If so, then America will desire to annex the earth.”
Kaulia closes in saying, “Ask for the voice
of Hawaii on this subject - Mr. Senator, and you will
hear it with no uncertain tones ring out from Niihau
to Hawaii - ‘Independence now and forever.’”
October 8, 1897: Hawaiian loyalists
gathered by the thousands to protest the expected annexation
to the United States. The gathering was held at Palace
Square, today, the area fronting the U.S. Main Post
Office and the old Federal Building, directly opposite
the coronation stand on `Iolani Palace grounds. This
mass meeting was the largest organized protest by Hawaiians
against the activities of the Republic of Hawai`i and
the United States in taking Hawai`i.
The mass meeting adopted a Memorial addressed to
the President, the congress and the American People.
In it, Hawaiian citizens, both aboriginal and foreign
born, pointed out they were “held in subjection
by the armed forces of the Provisional Government of
the Hawaiian Islands, and of its successor, the Republic
of Hawaii; and have never yielded,” that neither
governments had the allegiance or support of the people.
Those governments’ very existence were challenged
- the Memorial stating, “the Government of the
Republic of Hawaii has no warrant for its existence
in the support of the people of these Islands; that
it was proclaimed and instituted and has hitherto existed
and now exists, without considering the rights and
wishes of a great majority of the residents, native
and foreign born, of the Hawaiian Islands; and especially
that said Government exists and maintains itself solely
by force of arms, against the rights and wishes of
almost the entire aboriginal population of these Islands.”
Cleveland, in his December 18, 1893 message to the
joint houses of Congress pointed out that the established
practice of the U.S. was to recognize revolutionary
government after it became apparent that they were
supported by the people, conceding to people of foreign
countries the same freedom and independence in the
management of their domestic affairs that the U.S.
had always claimed for themselves.
The Memorial continued to detail the contradictions
of the Republic of Hawai`i with basic principles of
governance. It said, for example, that the Republic
was not founded upon a basis of popular government,
that its constitution had never been submitted to a
vote of the people, and that it was that very government
with which the U.S. was engaged in agreeing to extinguish
the Hawaiian nation’s sovereignty.
The Memorial continued that Hawai`i’s people
had a history of democratic participation in government,
accustomed to participate in the Constitutional forms
of Government, in the election of Legislatures, in
the administration of justice through regularly constituted
magistrates, courts and juries, and in the representative
administration of public affairs, in which the principle
of government by majorities had been acknowledged and
firmly established.
Contained within this protest was an “appeal
to the President, the Congress and the People of the
United States, to refrain from further participating
in the wrong” and invoked the spirit of “the
Declaration of American Independence; and especially
the truth therein expressed, that Governments derive
their just powers from the consent of the governed.”
The Memorial declared that the consent of the people
of the Hawaiian Islands to the forms of Government
imposed by the so-called Republic of Hawaii, and to
said proposed Treaty of Annexation, has never been
asked by and is not accorded, either to said Government
or to said project of Annexation. Annexation would
be “subversive of the personal and political
rights of these memorialists, and of the Hawaiian people
and Nation, and would be a negation of the rights and
principles proclaimed in the Declaration of American
Independence, in the Constitution of the United States,
and in the schemes of government of all other civilized
and representative Governments.” 20 November
1897: Hawaiian loyalists send 4 emissaries to Washington,
Colonel John Richardson, representing especially the
people of Maui, confidant to Queen Lili`uokalani, former
Kuhina nui and member of the House of Nobles and House
of Representatives, William Auld, high priest of Hale
Naua, the secret society of Kal_kaua, who also officiated
at the King’s funeral and led the burial procession
to Mauna`ala, James Kaulia, President of Hui Aloha`aina
and David Kalauokalani, President of Hui Kalai`aina.
They gained entrance to the Senate floor through the
good offices of Senator R. F. Pettigrew.
U.S. Senate debated the treaty in secret. The Senate
was not open to the public or the press! U.S. House
of Representatives also debated the treaty although
they had no authority in the matter.
By early December, it was obvious that the treaty
was stalled in the Senate.
December 1897, the U.S. Battleship
Maine was sent to Havana Harbor to “protect U.S.
citizens and property.”
By February, 1898, a head count
showed that the Senate was not able to pass the Hawai`i
annexation treaty. Discussion now moves to a joint
resolution of Congress, which brought Texas into the
union as a State, [new tactic] might be a way to bring
Hawai`i in!
15 February 1898, the battleship
Maine explodes and sinks, killing 260 aboard. Sabotage
by the Spanish is suggested. The American public is
inflamed by the yellow journalism of the William Randolph
Hearst newspaper chain. (In 1969, the U.S. Navy determines
that the Maine was sunk by a defective boiler exploding.)
The U.S. demands immediate withdrawal of Spain from
Cuba. Congress affirms Cuba’s independence and
states that the U.S. was not acting to secure an empire.
March 1898: McKinley tells Spain
to get out of Cuba or else! Spain agrees to U.S. major
demands.
20 April 1898: U.S. goes to war
with Spain. Adopts joint resolution declaring the recognition
of independence of Cuba.
The resolution states in part:
- the Government of the United States does hereby demand,
that the Government of Spain at once relinquish its
authority and government in the Island of Cuba, and
withdraw its land and naval forces from Cuba and
Cuban waters.
- the President of the United States be, and he hereby
is, directed and empowered to use the entire land and
naval forces of the United States, and to call into
the actual service of the United States, the militia
of the several States, to such extent as may be necessary
to carry these resolutions into effect.
- the United States hereby disclaims any disposition
or intention to exercise sovereignty, jurisdiction,
or control over said Islands except for the pacification
thereof, and asserts its determination, when that is
accomplished, to leave the government and control of
the Island to its people.
1 May 1898: Captain George Dewey
sinks Spanish fleet in manila Harbor, Philippines.
4 May 1898: Representative Frances
Newlands introduces joint resolution of annexation
in House of Representatives. The resolution s ays in
part:
Whereas, the Government of the Republic of Hawaii having,
in due form, signified its consent, in the manner provided
by its constitution, to cede absolutely and without
reserve to the United States of America, all rights
of sovereignty of whatsoever kind in and over the Hawaiian
Islands and their dependencies, and also to cede and
transfer to the United States, the absolute fee and
ownership of all public, Government, or Crown lands,
public buildings or edifices, ports, harbors, military
equipment, and all other public property of every kind
and description belonging to the Government of the
Hawaiian Islands, together with every right and appurtenance
thereunto appertaining: Therefore, Resolved by the
Senate and House of Representatives of the United States
of America in Congress assembled, That said cession
is accepted, ratified, and confirmed, and that the
said Hawaiian Islands and their dependencies be, and
they are hereby, annexed as a part of the territory
of the United States and are subject to the sovereign
dominion thereof, and that all and singular the property
and rights hereinbefore mentioned are vested in the
United States of America.
1 June 1898 : U.S. troops to Philippines
lands in Hawai`i and provision government welcomes
them. It also sides with the U.S. in their war with
Spain.
15 June 1898: House passed joint
resolution 209-91. Sends to the Senate 6 July
1898: A filibuster is attempted by the opponents
to annexation but the country is caught in a fervor
of war. The Senate passes the joint resolution by mere
majority, 42 for, 21 against, 6 others present but
not voting. Even at these numbers, the U.S. Constitution
is violated for it calls for two/thirds of the Senators
present.
7 July 1898: McKinley signs the
joint resolution
12 August 1898: Ceremony to pretend
the transfer of Sovereignty of Hawai`i to the United
States of America. (Note, there may not have been a
reciprocal action on the part of the Republic of Hawai`i
for annexation via the joint resolution. Remember,
it was a treaty of annexation adopted by the Republic
of Hawai`i.)
December 1898: Treaty of Paris signed.
Peace between Spain and the United States. U.S. subsequently
takes Guam, Puerto Rico, Wake Island and Guantanamo
Bay in Cuba. They claim not to have taken all of Cuba,
but in reality, they shut out the Cuban rebel forces
which had brought the fight against the Spaniards there,
and brought in U.S. business interests, thus creating
a double occupation of military and commercial interests.
The required the new Cuban Constitution to permit the
U.S. special rights of intervention and a coaling and
naval stations in Cuban territory. (Howard Zinn’s
A people’s History of the United States (1990)
at p. 302-303
For a nation which declared it was not trying to
secure an empire before the Spanish American War, by
the end of that short 3 month war, the U.S. emerged
a major world power with additional territories making
up its empire. In the Pacific, it had Hawai`i, Wake
Island, Guam and the Philippines. In the Caribbean,
it had Puerto Rico and for all practical purposes,
Cuba.
Cleveland writes: Hawai`i is ours. As I look back
upon the first steps in this miserable business, and
as I contemplate the means used to complete the outrage,
I am ashamed of the whole affair.
Sources: Gavan Daw’s Shoal of Time;
Rich Budnick, Stolen Kingdom, William Russ,
Jr.: The Hawaiian Republic (1894-98), Congressional
Records, Howard Zinn’s A people’s History
of the United States (1990), Helena G. Allen, The
Betrayal of LILI`UOKALANI, 1982.
IT is necessary now to briefly review the events
which had taken place in our absence of about three
months abroad. We arrived in Honolulu on the twenty-sixth
day of July, 1887. A conspiracy against the peace
of the Hawaiian Kingdom had been taking shape since
early spring. By the 15th of June, prior to our return,
it had assumed a no less definite shape than the
overthrow of the monarchy.
For many years our sovereigns had welcomed the advice
of, and given full representations in their government
and councils to, American residents who had cast in
their lot with our people, and established industries
on the Islands. As they became wealthy, and acquired
titles to lands through the simplicity of our people
and their ignorance of values and of the new land laws,
their greed and their love of power proportionately
increased; and schemes for aggrandizing themselves
still further, or for avoiding the obligations which
they had incurred to us, began to occupy their minds.
So the mercantile element, as embodied in the Chamber
of Commerce, the sugar planters, and the proprietors
of the "missionary" stores, formed a distinct
political party, called the "down-town" party,
whose purpose was to minimize or entirely subvert other
interests, and especially the prerogatives of the crown,
which, based upon ancient custom and the authority
of the island chiefs, were the sole guaranty of our
nationality. Although settled among us, and drawing
their wealth from our resources, they were alien to
us in their customs and ideas respecting government,
and desired above all things the extension of their
power, and to carry out their own special plans of
advancement, and to secure their own personal benefit.
It may be true that they really believed us unfit to
be trusted to administer the growing wealth of the
Islands in a safe and proper way. But if we manifested
any incompetency, it was in not foreseeing that they would
be bound by no obligations, by honor, or by oath of
allegiance, should an opportunity arise for seizing
our country, and bringing it under the authority of
the United States. [...]
It is easy to find the courage
necessary to support a moral position if that position
benefits oneself. True moral courage, however, is proven
when one chooses to support that which is morally and
ethically right even when such a position is to one's
one detriment.
The people of the United States find themselves
in such a position right now, forced to choose between
a moral and ethical position that carries with it
the potential for "inconvenience", or supporting
the status quo and having to admit to themselves
that they are not the champions of justice they imagine
themselves to be. By the end of this article, you
will know for yourself which one you are.
Most folks have heard that Hawaii is a state, one
of the United States of America. Most people, including
those who live in Hawaii, accept that statement as
a fact.
But the reality is that in a world in which nations
are as bound by the rule of laws as are the citizens
of nations (if not more so), the truth is quite different!
The truth is that each and every step along Hawaii's
path from sovereign and independent nation, to annexed
territory, to state, was done in violation of laws
and treaties then in effect, without regard to the
wishes of the Hawaiian people. Many people, including
President Grover Cleveland, opposed the annexation
of Hawaii.
But in the end, simple greed and military interest
overrode any concerns or moral right and legality.
Hawaii's legitimate government was toppled using threat
of American military force. Hawaii was stolen from
her people for the benefit of wealthy American plantation
owners and military interests, and the justifications
for the crime were invented after-the-fact.
Hawaii's government was overthrown on Jan. 17, 1893,
by a relatively small group of men, most of them American
by birth or heritage, who seized control of the Islands
with the backing of American troops sent ashore from
a warship in Honolulu Harbor. To this "superior
force of the United States of America," Queen
Lili`uokalani yielded her throne, under protest, in
order to avoid bloodshed, trusting that the United
States government would right the wrong that had been
done to her and the Hawaiian people.
Who were this group of American men and why did they
overthrow the government? Sugar! [...]
Comment: There
are currently 90,000
military personnel on the Hawaiian Islands including
dependents. The state's total population is 1,211,537.
That means US military personnel account for approximately
7.4% of the population.
6.6% of the population identify themselves as native
Hawaiian.
On the fourth
anniversary of the September 11th attacks, Laura Knight-Jadczyk
announces the availability of her latest book:
In the years since the 9/11 attacks, dozens of books
have sought to explore the truth behind the official
version of events that day - yet to date, none of
these publications has provided a satisfactory answer
as to WHY the attacks occurred and who was ultimately
responsible for carrying them out.
Taking a broad, millennia-long perspective, Laura
Knight-Jadczyk's 9/11:
The Ultimate Truth uncovers the true nature of
the ruling elite on our planet and presents new and
ground-breaking insights into just how the 9/11 attacks
played out.
9/11: The Ultimate
Truth makes a strong case for the idea that September
11, 2001 marked the moment when our planet entered
the final phase of a diabolical plan that has been
many, many years in the making. It is a plan developed
and nurtured by successive generations of ruthless
individuals who relentlessly exploit the negative
aspects of basic human nature to entrap humanity as
a whole in endless wars and suffering in order to
keep us confused and distracted to the reality of
the man behind the curtain.
Drawing on historical and genealogical sources, Knight-Jadczyk
eloquently links the 9/11 event to the modern-day
Israeli-Palestinian conflict. She also cites the clear
evidence that our planet undergoes periodic natural
cataclysms, a cycle that has arguably brought humanity
to the brink of destruction in the present day.
For its no nonsense style in cutting to the core
of the issue and its sheer audacity in refusing to
be swayed or distracted by the morass of disinformation
that has been employed by the Powers that Be to cover
their tracks, 9/11:
The Ultimate Truth can rightly claim to be THE
definitive book on 9/11 - and what that fateful day's
true implications are for the future of mankind.
Published by Red Pill Press
Scheduled for release in October
2005, readers can pre-order the book today at our bookstore.
