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Honolulu
KNOWLEDGE OF Honolulu
Prehistoric Hawai'i
Hawai'i began 60 million years ago as what geologists call a hot spot: a bulge of hot, molten rock about 250 miles wide running down 1900 miles to our planet's iron core. It rose to the Pacific Ocean plate, where it melted the rock and turned to magma, breaking out of the Earth's crust as lava, and eventually turning to land. Today on Honolulu's home island, O'ahu, there are the remnants of two huge volcanoes, Waianae and Ko'olau.
The World Discovers Hawai'i
The earliest inhabitants of these islands were likely royal navigators from the Marquesa Islands. They found their way to Hawai'i sometime around 900 A.D. Later came seafarers from New Zealand, Tahiti and other Pacific islands. When the navigators reached these islands, the Big Island's southern points were the first areas settled. British Captain James Cook started the "modern era" of Hawai'i on January 18, 1778. During the next 20 years, the Hawaiian Islands became a beacon for voyagers in an era of international imperialism. For the most part, Hawaiians welcomed the foreign crews, not knowing they brought diseases deadly to the native population. During the next 100 years, 80 percent of the native Hawaiian population succumbed to these illnesses. Tyrannic ruler Kamehameha the First died in May of 1819 just as the first of the American Christian missionaries proclaimed their goal of "raising up the people of Hawai’i to an elevated state of Christian civilization." The influx of missionaries over the next 40 years was to change the island chain forever.
Honolulu Becomes a Pacific Hub
Foreigners created the village of Honolulu beside the tiny harbor of Kou in the first half of the 19th century. By 1850, Honolulu Harbor was full of masts with more than 150 whaling and merchant ships. This meant that more than 3,000 seamen were ashore, looking for liquor and other entertainment. Honolulu's jails were always filled to capacity. The town, for better or worse, had become the hub of commerce for the entire northern and central Pacific. Sugar production took hold in the 1840s, and by 1884 production soared to 10 million pounds a year, transforming Hawai'i from a traditional, insular, agrarian and debt-ridden society into a city that was multicultural, cosmopolitan and prosperous. In the center of this world was Honolulu.
19th century super-powers England, France, and the United States were keenly aware of the Islands' and Honolulu's strategic importance. By the early 1840s, intrigues by British residents led Rear Admiral Richard Thomas, commander of the British Squadron in the Pacific, to send Lord George Paulet to Honolulu to protect British interests. He arrived in the winter of 1843 and issued a series of threatening ultimatums. King Kamehameha III had sent emissaries to Europe to resolve all disputes, but to no avail. The king was forced to yield to British guns on February 15, 1843. Protests mounted in the Islands. Since Great Britain had already recognized Hawaii's independence and France had promised to do likewise, the provisional cession to Paulet was received with concern in London, Paris and other foreign capitals. Admiral Thomas came to Honolulu on July 26 and declared Paulet's act to be unauthorized. On July 31, the Hawaiian flag was again raised.
Hawai'i began 60 million years ago as what geologists call a hot spot: a bulge of hot, molten rock about 250 miles wide running down 1900 miles to our planet's iron core. It rose to the Pacific Ocean plate, where it melted the rock and turned to magma, breaking out of the Earth's crust as lava, and eventually turning to land. Today on Honolulu's home island, O'ahu, there are the remnants of two huge volcanoes, Waianae and Ko'olau.
The World Discovers Hawai'i
The earliest inhabitants of these islands were likely royal navigators from the Marquesa Islands. They found their way to Hawai'i sometime around 900 A.D. Later came seafarers from New Zealand, Tahiti and other Pacific islands. When the navigators reached these islands, the Big Island's southern points were the first areas settled. British Captain James Cook started the "modern era" of Hawai'i on January 18, 1778. During the next 20 years, the Hawaiian Islands became a beacon for voyagers in an era of international imperialism. For the most part, Hawaiians welcomed the foreign crews, not knowing they brought diseases deadly to the native population. During the next 100 years, 80 percent of the native Hawaiian population succumbed to these illnesses. Tyrannic ruler Kamehameha the First died in May of 1819 just as the first of the American Christian missionaries proclaimed their goal of "raising up the people of Hawai’i to an elevated state of Christian civilization." The influx of missionaries over the next 40 years was to change the island chain forever.
Honolulu Becomes a Pacific Hub
Foreigners created the village of Honolulu beside the tiny harbor of Kou in the first half of the 19th century. By 1850, Honolulu Harbor was full of masts with more than 150 whaling and merchant ships. This meant that more than 3,000 seamen were ashore, looking for liquor and other entertainment. Honolulu's jails were always filled to capacity. The town, for better or worse, had become the hub of commerce for the entire northern and central Pacific. Sugar production took hold in the 1840s, and by 1884 production soared to 10 million pounds a year, transforming Hawai'i from a traditional, insular, agrarian and debt-ridden society into a city that was multicultural, cosmopolitan and prosperous. In the center of this world was Honolulu.
19th century super-powers England, France, and the United States were keenly aware of the Islands' and Honolulu's strategic importance. By the early 1840s, intrigues by British residents led Rear Admiral Richard Thomas, commander of the British Squadron in the Pacific, to send Lord George Paulet to Honolulu to protect British interests. He arrived in the winter of 1843 and issued a series of threatening ultimatums. King Kamehameha III had sent emissaries to Europe to resolve all disputes, but to no avail. The king was forced to yield to British guns on February 15, 1843. Protests mounted in the Islands. Since Great Britain had already recognized Hawaii's independence and France had promised to do likewise, the provisional cession to Paulet was received with concern in London, Paris and other foreign capitals. Admiral Thomas came to Honolulu on July 26 and declared Paulet's act to be unauthorized. On July 31, the Hawaiian flag was again raised.
Chapi