But the history of Hawaii goes back centuries earlier. More than1500 years ago, Polynesians from the Marquesas Islands first set footon Hawaii's Big Island. With only the stars to guide them, theymiraculously sailed over 2000 miles in canoes to migrate to the Islands. 500years later, settlers from Tahiti arrived, bringing their beliefs ingods and demi-gods and instituting a strict social hierarchy based on akapu (taboo) system. Hawaiian culture flourished over the centuries,but land division conflicts between ruling chieftains were common.
In 1778, Captain James Cook, landed on
Kauaiat Waimea Bay. Naming the archipelago the "Sandwich Islands" in honorof the Earl of Sandwich, Cook opened the doors to the west. Cook waskilled only a year later in
Kealakekua Bay on
Hawaii's Big island.
In 1791, Kohala born Kamehameha united the warring factions of the BigIsland and went on to unify all of the Hawaiian Islands into one royalkingdom in 1810. In 1819, less than a year after King Kamehameha'sdeath, his son, Liholiho, abolished the ancient kapu system.
In 1820, the first Protestant missionaries arrived on the Big Islandfilling the void left after the end of the kapu system. Hawaii became aport for seamen, traders, and whalers. Throughout these years ofgrowth, western disease took a heavy toll on the native Hawaiianpopulation.
Western influence continued to grow and in 1893,American Colonists who controlled much of Hawaii's economy overthrewthe Hawaiian Kingdom in a peaceful, yet still controversial coup. In1898, Hawaii became a territory of the United States.
In the20th century, sugar and pineapple plantations fueled Hawaii's economybringing an influx of Japanese, Chinese, Filipino, and Portugueseimmigrants. On December 7, 1941, the Japanese launched a surpriseattack on
Pearl Harbor on Oahu. Four years later, on September 2, 1945, Japan signed its unconditional surrender on the
USS Battleship Missouri, which still rests in Pearl Harbor today.
In 1959, Hawaii became the 50th State of the United States. Beyond thesun and surf of the islands, we urge you to discover the rich culturalhistory of the Islands of Aloha to add even more depth to your visit
