Hawaiian Independence - Definition

The Hawaiian Independence Movement is a grass roots political movement with the ultimate goal of granting sovereignty to the U.S. state of Hawaii. The roots of this movement can be found in the history of Hawaii. After the islands were unified by King Kamehameha I a constitutional monarchy was established, creating a Hawaiian parliament. Not long afterward, missionaries arrived from the United States and Europe with the express purpose of spreading Christianity. Many of the missions became permeant fixtures in Hawaii and some of their descendants began establishing fruit plantations. These planters became extremely wealthy and influential throughout the island. Part of their agenda was to make Hawaii a colony of the United States. A group of planters and their descendants, who were white Americans overthrew Queen Lili‘uokalani in 1893 and promptly signed an annexation treaty with the United States. Hawaii was granted statehood on August 21, 1959, the fiftieth state to enter the union. This was approved by a referendum by an overwhelming majority. However, many of the voters were U.S. Military personnel, many of whom still maintained residence in the continental United States, and were otherwise ineligible to vote in Hawaiian elections. Had their votes been excluded Hawaii would still have become a state, but the vote would have been much closer.

Even today, many native Hawaiians believe that their nation was stolen from them. In 2000 researchers discovered a petition with the names of thousands of native Hawaiians who were opposed to the annexation treaty, these were displayed in Honolulu. Actually granting sovereignty to the islands is, for all intents and purposes, a moot point. The Constitution of the United States specifically prohibits the Federal government from expelling states, and secession is clearly not an available option.