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The History of Hawaii
Hawaii's ancient culture dates back over a thousand years, long before The United States of America came into existence.
The ancient polynesian culture did not write, and since there is no detailed documentation to provide exact dates, it would be virtually impossible to give an accurate prediction of the precise dates as to when the Polynesians first colonized the Hawaiian islands. What was known of much of Hawaii's early history mainly died with the Kahunas who were known for passing on their historical knowledge through ritualistic chants to the following generations.
It was over 200 years ago that Captain James Cook embarked on a historical journey, being the first known European to arrive at the Hawaiian Islands. Contrary to popular belief, he did not discover Hawaii, as it was already occupied by the Polynesians. Rather, he was simply the first European to "set foot" there.
There were some archaeological discoveries that indicated two separate waves of migration to the Hawaiian Islands. Captain Cook knew that the original Polynesians had come over from the South Pacific islands hundreds of years prior to when he first arrived there. The Marquesas, which have been made popular from the hit reality tv show "Survivor" are said to be where the first settlement came from, right around 600 AD. The next wave of immigrants came from the "Society Islands approximately 500 years later.
As far as Hawaii's recent history goes, on December 7th, 1941, Pearl Harbor, located on the Island of Oahu, suffered the worst attack ever on American soil, up to that point in time, even though Hawaii wasn't yet an American "state". The US Navy's battleship force was moved there eighteen months earlier by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The Japanese Empire saw this as a threat to their southward expansion and initiated a carefully planned and well executed attack. When all was said and done however, they would end up surrendering a few years later after the American's showed Hiroshima and Nagasaki what a bitch payback can be.
On August 21st, 1959, Hawaii offically
became the America's 50th state.
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