Hawaiian Overthrow

Ok so I'm going to do something way out of the ordinary and actually write about a serious topic. I've been living in Hawaii for about 10 years and truth be told I do not know a whole lot of Hawaiian history. In high school history class we spent a whopping one week on Hawaiian history and none of it covered the events of how Hawaii became a state (I went to high school in a small mountain town in California, not much interest in the topic there). And I really didn't learn too much more while at the University of Hawaii.

As I understand it, The Kingdom of Hawaii was basically overthrown greatly due to the political influence of sugar plantation owners. There were great profits to be made and plantation owners wanted to ensure land use for their own gain (greed strikes again!). The Kingdom of Hawaii was overthrown, the royal lands ceeded to the United States, Hawaiian culture and language was discouraged, and it all resulted in a lot of resentment and anger among Hawaiian people to this very day. I feel I should also mention that the American president, Grover Cleveland, was sympathetic and felt America violated law along with a trustful relationship with Hawaii, but he didn't have much more time in office when Hawaii was annexed and the following president was so sympathetic.

Ok so there's the brief history as I know it, feel free to correct or add anything. But what spawned this blog was a short essay I recently read speculating what Hawaii would be like today if the overthrow never happened. In short the gist of the essay is: 1) If the royal lands were never ceeded the Hawaiian Kingdom would still have land 2) if the US military didn't occupy Hawaii there would be no US military in Hawaii, and 3) if the US didn't suppress Hawaiian language the people would be bilingual speaking both Hawaiian and English.

Yeah, so I figure these points are pretty much no-brainers. Now the author of the essay is no idiot, which leads me to believe the intent of her essay is to stir the emotions of a certain audience rather than to really explore alternative histories. So it got me wondering, what might have realistically happened??

First of all, let me say I have no idea. But before we go off completely vilifying the United States there are a few other things to consider. The United States wasn't the only major country that found it's way to Hawaii. I believe the French also had a sizable stake in the islands during the plantation era. Native Hawaiians were not the majority population during the plantation era and they weren't the only group being supressed. I believe the Chinese were the majority and they were the most militant in response to plantation owner suppression. Perhaps if given the opportunity the Chinese would have risen in power and eventually claimed the islands. Hawaii is without a doubt a profitable place and greed is universal. Finally, Hawaii is in a strategic military position in the Pacific Ocean.

With all these other factors it's hard to believe that Hawaii would have been left alone. Sure, the Kingdom was recognized and on good relations with other major countries making it seem as though the island nation would be left independent. But the Kingdom was recognized and on good relations with the United States too before the overthrow, which diminishes the notion that other countries would not have done what the US did.

I guess my whole thing is I'm disappointed at the essay. It's too easy to peg the US as the villain because hey, in regards to the overthrow the US was a villain. That much is clear and has even been acknowledged by the federal government. But to stay in that perspective and not even consider the reality of the situation and plausible alternate histories in a writing that claims to do so in its title is just...well it's just boring!

I was hoping for something more. Like, did the Hawaiian Kingdom realize it's position on a global scale and the interest many other countries may have had in it? If not what could have helped them to do so? And if so, were there any indications that the Kingdom could have guarded itself against those interests? Or what other countries, if any, were in a position to overthrow the Hawaiian Kingdom if the United States had not done so first? What else could have plausibly happened?  What might Hawaii plausibly look like today if the United States did not overthrow the Hawaiian Kingdom?