American History

The state of Hawaii is one of the most attractive states in the entire United States. Hawaii only gained its statehood after the Congress passed the Admission Act which was signed by the President Dwight D. Eisenhower in March 18th, 1959 to become the 50th state to be fuly integrated in the union on August 21st, 1959 (Buck, 1993). This expository essay will look at the facts behind the integration of the Hawaii state in the union.

The August 21st 1959 saw the integration of the state of Hawaii into the union of the fifty states of the United States. Hawaii is the sole state in the United States that is made up of eight main islands. Hawaii is the only state of the United States that does not have a straight line boundary, has a royal palace, and which is completely surrounded by water. Hawaii attained statehood when the congress passed the Hawaii Admission Act and the then U.S. president signed it into law (Lineberry, 1963). On June 27th of 1959, a referendum asked the citizens of Hawaii to vote on the statehood bill. Hawaii voted 17 to 1 to accept on the bill. However, there has been criticism of the statehood issue because the only choices were to accept the Act or to remain a territory without the option of independence or addressing the legality of the overthrow. It is very clear that even without the criticism the United Nations Special Committee on decolonization later removed Hawaii from the United Nations list of Non-Self governing Territories (Lineberry, 1963). There exist many documents that illustrate the role of the congress, through the Admission Act, in the statehood process of Hawaii. Hawaii became the 50th state and celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. To begin with, there is the letter from Liliuokalani, Queen of Hawaii to U.S. House of Representatives protesting the United States assertion of ownership of Hawaii. This happened in December 19th, 1898 (Kuykendall, 1961).
   
In May 4th, 1900, President William McKinley nominated Sanford B. Dole to be Governor of the territory of Hawaii. Another fact that exists is that on August 15th, 1903, J. Res. 1 of the legislature petitioned with the United State congress to admit Hawaii as a state. This made the House of Representatives to at least recognize Hawaii as a regional country, which needed to be accounted for a state of its own. Another leader that facilitated Hawaiis statehood is Joseph Farrington he obtained a certificate of Election in November 16th, 1942, as Hawaiis delegate to congress (Kuykendall, 1961). The University of Hawaii further still contributed to the statehood of Hawaii, through the compilation of Hawaii 49th state brochure. This was to further support the Hawaiian statehood. The influence of the youths, represented by those in the universities, made the United States recognize the need to give Hawaii its statehood. Precisely, the brochure was compiled to reinforce the Hawaiian fight for statehood (Buck, 1993). The influence of the youths was further seen when the 8th grade social studies class, of Honokaa High and Elementary School, Hawaii, wrote a letter to the chairman of the committee on Interior and Insular Affairs.

The process to statehood in Hawaii was more of a double fraud. It not only failed to provide the correct set of choices to be voted upon. The only qualified voters were U.S. citizens who had resided in Hawaii for at least a year. Since the American invasion and annexation and during its watch, thousands had migrated to Hawaii, coming from Europe, Asia and other Pacific islands. The resolution of the republican county committee of Hawaii in January 1959, sent to the congress urging statehood for Hawaii. In conclusion, it is clear that the Hawaii state attained its statehood when the Admission Act was passed by the Congress and signed by the then United States President. As explained above, there were a number of procedures and events that made the leaders of the United Nations see the need of giving statehood to Hawaii.