Sugar cane was one of the crops that shaped the destiny of these islands. The growing plantations of the nineteenth century needed labour, supplied first by indentured workers from China and later by people from Japan, the Philippines, Korea and Portugal. This history helps explain why Hawaiʻi now has the highest proportion of residents of Asian descent of any US state.
We visit the Bishop Museum to understand the culture more deeply. We learn that Hawaiʻi was a kingdom until the end of the nineteenth century, and that Queen Liliʻuokalani was overthrown in 1893 by a group backed by American military and political power. The United States annexed Hawaiʻi in 1898, and it became the fiftieth state in 1959.
Coming after Cuba, the story feels even more striking. During the same era, the United States intervened in different parts of the world while speaking the language of freedom and democracy, seeking control through local or sympathetic administrations. Cuba resisted in its own way; Hawaiʻi was gradually absorbed into the American system. The relative survival of the Hawaiian language, culture and identity adds another important layer to this history.