Hawaii

From Conservapedia

**Hawaii**
Capital	Honolulu
Nickname	The Aloha State
Official Language	English
Governor	Linda Lingle, R
Senators	Daniel Inouye, D; Daniel Akaka, D
Population	1,211,537
Admission to Union	August 21, 1959 (50th)
	Motto: "Ua mau ke ea o ka aina I ka pono" (The life of the land is perpetuated in righteousness)

Hawaii (Hawaiian: Hawai'i) is a part of the United States of America. It became a state on August 21st, 1959, and was the fiftieth (and last) state to enter into the union. In 2005 it had a population of 1,275,194 on 6,423 square miles of land. ^[1] It is located in the Pacific Ocean west and south of the mainland of the United States. The main Hawaiian islands are (east to west) Hawai'i (or 'the Big Island'), Maui, Kaho'olawe, Moloka'i, Lana'i, O'ahu, Kaua'i and Ni'ihau. The state capital, Honolulu, and Pearl Harbor are both on the island of Oahu. The origin of the name Hawai'i is obscure. It could be derived from the Polynesian Owhyii, 'Place of the Gods', or from Hawaiki (the former name of Raiatea in the Society Islands), or may have the meaning 'Homeland'.^[2]

1 History
2 Politics
3 Religion
4 Tourism
5 Trivia
6 Sources
7 See also
8 References

History

European discovery of the Hawaiian Islands was by Captain James Cook in 1778. The native Hawaiians were Polynesians and worshiped tiki gods. In the decades after Cook's visit the islands were united under one chief and eventually became a Christian kingdom through the help of missionaries.

Hawaii became united under King Kamehameha I who forced all independent kingdoms in the Hawaiian Islands to join a Hawaiian Kingdom under his rule. He did not do this via diplomacy or by elections. He did it by conquest.

The Hawaiian Kingdom flourished throughout the 19th century with several monarchs. It became increasingly westernized. This modernization of Hawaiian society eventually lead to the Hawaiian Revolution of 1893 when Hawaiian citizens (many of western descent) overthrew Queen Liliuokalani in response to her attempt to unilaterally impose a new constitution increasing her power. The revolution was successful with the loss of no life. The new Hawaiian government was set up as the Republic of Hawaii and it was recognized by every nation which had recognized the Hawaiian Kingdom.

During the Hawaiian Revolution, American troops landed to protect American life and property. They did not engage in fighting and did not occupy any government buildings. However, this action has lead many historical revisionists to falsely claim that the United States invaded Hawaii and deposed the Queen. American President Grover Cleveland was opposed to the Hawaiian Revolution and he sent James Henderson Blount to Hawaii to discredit it. Blount failed to swear in witnesses, refused to speak to many involved in the revolution, and then issued a report blaming the whole matter on an elaborate American plot to invade Hawaii. His Blount Report is cited as evidence of an illegal takeover of Hawaii by Hawaiian separatists to this day.

An investigation of the Hawaiian Revolution was conducted by Congress in 1894. It was bipartisan, swore in witnesses, and interviewed many that James Blount refused to talk with. Congress issued the Morgan Report which refuted the Blount Report and cleared the United States of any wrong doing during the Hawaiian Revolution.

The Hawaiian Republic agreed to join the United States as a territory in 1898. Congress annexed Hawaii via a Joint Resolution of Congress which was the same way Texas was annexed by the USA. Some Hawaiian separatists claim that a joint resolution of Congress is not valid to annex another nation. If this were true, Texas then is not legally American. As it clearly is, the argument is easily refuted.

Hawaii was attacked by Japan on December 7, 1941 at Pearl Harbor. This resulted in the death of many Americans and brought the United States into World War Two. The people of Hawaii were very helpful in the eventual American victory.

Hawaiian citizens voted overwhelmingly (93%) to join the USA. It was accordingly added as the 50th American state in 1959. The United Nations recognized this as legal under international law by removing Hawaii from the list of non self-governing territories.

Politics

Since statehood, Hawaii has been dominated by the Democratic Party. John Kerry carried the state electoral vote in 2004 and the entire Congressional delegation is made up of Democrats. The Republican Party has made some recent progress with the current governor being a Republican. There is also a small separatist movement on the islands which wishes to have Hawaii secede from the USA and form an independent Hawaiian nation. Proponents of this course argue that Hawaii was illegally annexed and should be "restored" to nationhood. The overwhelmingly majority of Hawaiians do not support this view and the separatists remain a small but vocal minority.

Hawaii offers a limited number of benifits to same sex couples, but has stopped short of offering domestic partnerships.

Religion

Church Membership (as of 1999)^[3]

Roman Catholic: 17.7%
Buddhist: 8.3%
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon): 4.6%
United Church of Christ: 1.6%
Southern Baptist: 1.4%
Assembly of God: 0.9%
Judaism: 0.8%
Episcopal: 0.8%
United Methodist: 0.6%
Lutheran: 0.5%

Tourism

Hawaii is the United States' only state in the tropics (i.e., south of the Tropic of Cancer) and a popular tourist attraction known for its beaches, surf, volcanoes, and Polynesian history.