September 30, 2024 Pre-trip post

  Just under a week until we board the Holland America Koningsdam for a 17 day cruise to and from Hawai’i. We will spend a few days before and after the cruise in Vancouver.

   Temperatures should hover around highs of 24-27°C and lows of 18-20°C.

  The voyage across the Pacific Ocean to Hawai’i takes five and a half days each way. We will be two days moored in Honolulu on the island of O’ahu (The Gathering Place). Two days moored on the island of Kaua’i, (The Garden Isle) at Nawilliwilli. One and a half days moored at the island of Hawai’i (Big Island) with one day at Kailua-Kona and the next morning moored at Hilo, departing in the afternoon for the return voyage to Vancouver.    

   We will spend October 11 to 16 visiting three of the seven inhabited Hawaiian islands.

  Some interesting facts about Hawai’i:

   - the Statehood Act in 1959 used the spelling “Hawaii”, the anglicized 

spelling. An Act of Congress is required to "correct" the name of the state to Hawai’i.

   - The little mark, in Hawai’i, is called the ‘okina, and it’s actually an official consonant in the Hawaiian language.

  - when Captain James Cook visited the Hawaiian islands in 1788, he was 

able to use words from both Tahitian and Maori to communicate with the Hawaiians. 

 -  In February 1794 Captain George Vancouver signed an agreement with the Hawaiian king, Kamehameha, and the principal chiefs of the island of Hawai'i 

assuring them of Britain's protection. 

  - the Hawaiian language was not a written language until Christian Congregational Church missionaries arrived in 1820.

  - In 1824 during the Hawaiian king Kamehameha II’s visit to London, Richard Charlton had been in London and managed to secure an introduction to the 

king and his entourage.  By the time Charlton arrived in Hawai‘i in April 1825, 

to take up his position as British consul in Honolulu, instructions had already arrived from Kamehameha II that Charlton was to be allowed to build a house, 

or houses, any place he wished and should be made comfortable. Charlton’s 

role was to protect the interests of Britons residing in the Hawaiian and 

Society Islands.

  -  In 1843, British Lord George Paulet demanded the cession of the 

Hawaiian Islands to Great Britain. The matter was settled five months later 

when Rear Admiral Richard Thomas arrived and repudiated Paulet’s actions.

In facing Paulet’s outrageous demands and threat of gun-boat diplomacy, Kauikeaouli ceded Hawai‘i under protest and appealed to the Queen of Britain 

on February 25, 1843. On July 31, 1843, Admiral Richard Thomas, 

commander of British naval forces in the Pacific, officially restored the 

Hawaiian Kingdom government to King Kamehameha III. 

  - In 1875, the American and Hawaiian governments signed a reciprocity agreement that gave Hawaii duty-free access to export certain products, 

like sugar, to the United States.

  - In 1888, the plantation owner elite, which controlled the Hawaiian legislature, 

pressured the Hawaiian government, then headed by King David Kalākaua, 

to pass a new constitution, known as the Bayonette Constitution, that limited monarchical authority and established property qualifications for voting. 

   - in 1893, the last monarch of Hawai’i was King Kalākaua’s sister, Queen Lili’uokalani who surrendered to the resident American and European businessmen (mainly sugar planation owners), to prevent bloodshed. They 

did not like her new Hawaiian constitution. Sanford B. Dole set up a 

provisional government and the presidency of the new Republic of Hawaii. 

They made an immediate request to U.S. President Benjamin Harrison for annexation, but an annexation treaty was not voted on by the American 

Senate. Queen Lili’uokalani appealed to American President Grover Cleveland. He withdrew the annexation treaty bill and  ordered that the queen be 

restored and rejected the treaty of annexation sent to Congress by his predecessor, President Benjamin Harrison.

  -  On January 24, 1895, under threat of execution of her imprisoned supporters, Queen Liliʻuokalani was forced to abdicate the Hawaiian throne, officially resigning as head of the deposed monarchy. Then Sanford Dole had Queen Lili’uokalani arrested for having knowledge of treasonous activity 

against his regime, and placed under house arrest.

  - In 1896, President William McKinley took office and officially endorsed Hawaiian annexation in his presidential platform. As a result of the Spanish-American War of 1898, President McKinley lobbied Congress to pass the annexation bill stating that it was a necessary war measure also claiming 

the American military would greatly benefit from using Hawaii as a coaling station and naval base in its fight against the Spanish Navy in the Pacific.

  - On October 13, 1896, the Republic of Hawaii gave her a full pardon and restored her civil rights.

  -  June 15, 1898, annexation of Hawai’i had finally succeeded, passed by 

a joint resolution of the House and Senate rather than by treaty. President McKinley did not ask for the consent of the Hawaiian people, nor did he compensate Queen Lili’uokalani in any way. Annexation was a critical part 

of his larger vision to expand U.S. influence overseas. Along with Hawaii, 

upon victory in the Spanish-American War, the U.S. acquired from Spain the nation’s first colonial acquisitions: Cuba, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines.

  - On April 30, 1900, the U.S. Congress passed the Hawaii Organic Act establishing a government for the Territory of Hawaii.

  - there are 137 islands included in the Hawaiian archipelago, four of them are part of the Midway Atoll, which has been designated as a National Memorial to the Battle of Midway. The Midway Atoll is not part of the state of Hawaii. The Guani Islands Act of 1856 authorized the United States to take possession of the Midway Atoll. The U.S. navy defeated the Japanese navy in the Battle of Midway in June 1942