The dark history of the overthrow of Hawaii - Sydney Iaukea

Get to know the story of Queen Liliʻuokalani, the last queen of Hawaii, and how she fought the US annexation of the islands.

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On January 16th, 1895, two men arrived at Liliʻuokalani’s door, arrested her, and imprisoned her. The Missionary Party had recently seized power and now confiscated her diaries, ransacked her house, and claimed her lands. Liliʻuokalani was Hawaii’s queen and she ruled through one of the most turbulent periods of its history. Sydney Iaukea shares how the ruler fought the annexation of Hawaii.

Lesson by Sydney Iaukea, directed by Luísa M H Copetti, Hype CG.

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Thank you so much to our patrons for your support! Without you this video would not be possible! Jose Arcadio Valdes Franco, Sebastiaan Vleugels, JY Kang, Abhishek Goel, Heidi Stolt, Christina Salvatore, Karlee Finch, Michael Goldberg, Denise A Pitts, Doug Henry, Keven Webb, Mihai Sandu, Deepak Iyer, Javid Gozalov, Kyanta Yap, Rebecca Reineke, William Biersdorf, Patricia Alves Panagides, Yvette Mocete, Cyrus Garay, Brad Sullivan, Samuel Barbas, Brighteagle, LadyGeek , Curtis Light, Dianne Palomar, Marin Kovachev, Karen Ho, Fahad Nasser Chowdhury, Penelope Misquitta, Hans Peng, Gaurav Mathur, Erik Biemans, Tony, Michelle, Katie and Josh Pedretti, Sunny Patel, Hoai Nam Tran, Stina Boberg, Kack-Kyun Kim, Michael Braun-Boghos, zjweele13, Jurjen Geleijn, Anna-Pitschna Kunz, Edla Paniguel, Thomas Mungavan, Jaron Blackburn, Venkat Venkatakrishnan, ReuniteKorea, Aaron Henson, Rohan Gupta, Begum Tutuncu, Mikhail Shkirev and Brian Richards.

[ziabyapah]

I am SO glad to see my own lesser known history being represented and brought into the light. It's truly tragic how buried this is, and it brings a smile to my face knowing that more people are learning about it. Thank you

[MM-qytl]

I will never stop appreciating the manner in which this channel delivers information and subjects like this in an accessible way. It’s frustrating how stories such as this are hardly ever shared among the population at large, simply because it doesn’t matter to them. Yet people have suffered because of that same disregard. Thank you TED-Ed for helping to spread awareness about important topics like these.

[FWorthy]

This story never fails to break my heart and make me shake my head.

[Internet-Alias]

Native Hawaiian here: YALL I WAS TEARING UP. I hope that this spreads the knowledge of another TERRIBLE thing American colonizers did to poor Hawai'i. I would love for TED-Ed to do more videos on Hawai'i, there's so much more to say and spread.
Hawai'i has MANY problems, and it would do great good for it to be addressed:
- Hawai'i STILL being considered a "paradise" playground for the rich
- Hawai'i being one of the most expensive places to live, and thus pushing out native hawaiians from our aina (land, home), because we cannot afford to even afford a place for us and our families.
- HUGE native hawaiian homeless populations (+drug issues, prostitution)
- "Blood quantities" being used against natives petitioning for just a nibble of our ancestral lands.
I am not 50% hawaiian, and thus would not be eligible for land, my great-grandmother was eligible but she died on an endless waiting list. (She lived into her hundreds, and yet have a century of waiting never gave her the land she was due.)

[rollintweeds]

Essential and tragic history. Lays out the colonialist template: appropriating lands, extinguishing culture, usurping rights and dividing the indigenous population. Clear, concise, irrefutable. Thank you, TedEd

[inthecornerinablanketwitha]

It’s so scary how this is real, tragic, and rich history that was just erased like that. Not a lot of people or even students, like myself, have heard about how Hawaii became part of the U.S. What’s even scarier is that, I’m sure, there are countless more instances like this buried in history :(

What a noble queen, I hope her children/people get their land back.
Thank you, Ted-Ed, for making is aware with telling even the most heartbreaking stories with respect and beauty.

[jacobplaya]

Hawaii may have been the first country to be annexed under US rule, but it wasn't certainly be the last. And as a Filipino, I understand the pain Hawaiian people have gone through. When Hawaii became US territory in 1898, the United States continued its conquest of gaining more territory especially during the Spanish-American War. The US gained Guam, Puerto Rico, Mariana Islands, and the Philippines in the process. The Philippines at that time already gained independence from Spain and established our own republic. But like what Americans did to Hawaii, they never recognized our sovereignty and thus we had to go to war with them to defend our freedom from these new colonizers. Unfortunately, we lost to the Americans and we became US territory for almost 40 years until Japan occupied us during World War II.

Luckily for us though, we gained independence from the US in 1946 although we still have close ties to the US to this day. Hawaii, on the other hand, was completely annexed and became a US state in 1959. Nevertheless, I still wish freedom, prosperity, and justice for Hawaii and the Hawaiian people.

[August-zr]

I'm so glad these thorough and detailed stories are being brought to light in such a creative way. I've had discussions with people about how the US unlawfully stole Hawaii and many claims this 'never happened'. Thank you for continuing to share this heartbreaking history.

[Cedoodoo]

As someone from outside of the US, I have never heard this side of it's history, or rather Hawaii's history. It baffles me that the truth regarding general native struggles over land, sovereignty, and authority is not better known internationally, and in many cases, nationally.

Queen Lili'uokalani is truly inspiring. Her undying spirit and resilience is admirable, respectable, and so incredibly defining of a strong leader.

[tobes]

As a native Hawaiian I am so glad this history is being shared. Yes we can’t change the past, but that doesn’t mean we can’t acknowledge it and learn from it

[main.ignisha]

I've heard stories about this during high school during the dawn of 2010s through my history teacher, but it wasn't until the mid 2010s through my Hawaiian history professor did I actually learn what happened during my state's annexation during the 1890s. Man, the entire class was either disgusted or aghast.

[jserr]

Im half Hawaiian and half Portuguese. This still hurts today, a lot of my family have moved to the US mainland because of the lack of opporututnies . My great grandfather had no idea what private land ownership was and because of that our ancestral lands were mismanaged. We used to own a part of Waikiki. The class struggle is real, those in power have ties dating back to the overthrow. The rest of us that remain are being pushed out. That or we become homeless. Ku Kia'i Hawaii. He Hawaii Au.

[live_for_the_aesthetic]

I cannot believe that I was never taught this tragic history behind one of the U.S's most famous "tourist" spots. Native people all over the world have been stripped of their land, rights, culture, and dignity brutally, and their stories are always strategically hidden. This made me heartbroken but also made me smile at the courage and strength of the queen and her people. My heart goes out to all those whose ancestors were subjected to this cruel and unfair treatment and to those who still feel the long-lasting impacts of it today. I believe that these parts of history are the most important and should be shared with urgency, to right the wrongs of the past.

[eileencain]

Thank you for bringing this terrible history out in the open. Many people don't know about this. I didn't learn about the overthrow until I moved here in 1977 and toured 'Iolani Palace. Some people say, "Oh, that's just history; forget the past; it's over now, " or people in power make the excuse, "We can't do anything about it now" but that's all denial and rationalizing. The harm done by injustice like this doesn't just go away. It continues in the present until it has been put right. The ugliest case of cultural appropriation I have seen is the appropriation of King Kamehameha III's declaration of sovereignty "Ua mau ke ea o ka 'aina i ka pono, " turned into the so-called state motto used to try to justify the annexation and "statehood, " and mistranslated as referring to the "life" of the land when it really means the "sovereignty" of the Hawaiian nation. I once saw a sickening photo of King Kalakaua surrounded by soldiers with bayonets, forced to sign that document. And what a noble and courageous leader Queen Lili'uokalani was! Her diaries have been published and are available through the UH Press.

[jeddarcheese]

Not even a week ago my history class went over the annexation of Hawaii. Yet, this entire historical context was skimmed over in a day! I'm grateful to have heard of it, but it pains me that the rich details of such a drastic event in history could go untaught to the many.

[cinemanuggets]

Very heartbreaking story. Complemented by gorgeous animation

[FloppaDoesMusic]

I grew up in Hawaii and have heard this part of history so many times, and it never ceases to amaze and disgust me.

[lessonsins]

Very brilliant, easy, and interesting! Thanks. This channel never fails me.

[coopercecil]

I am extremely thankful you shared this story and appreciate the fact you brought Queen Liliʻuokalani story into the light. I hope we can continue to grow to make stories like this much more common as it is an important part of history that is often overlooked.

[Mr-iwwd]

I was born and raised on Oahu, and when I moved to the mainland I remember talking about Hawaii's annexation with my coworkers but was very surprised to hear that none of them knew about or even learned about the nature of Hawaii's statehood in school.