The story of the fifth sovereign of the kingdom of Hawaii from 1863 to 1872.

In 1897-98, the Hui Hawai'i Aloha '?ina mounted a massive political drive, collecting more than 21,000 signatures for the Palapala Hoopii Kue Hoohuiaina, a petition against the annexation of the Kingdom of Hawai'i by the United States. Submitted to the U.S. Congress, the K?'? Petitions (as they are now commonly known) were successful in defeating the treaty of annexation. They fell into obscurity before re-entering the consciousness of the l?hui in 1998, when scholar Noenoe K. Silva found them at the National Archives in Washington, D.C.Today, the K?'? Petitions are as important to the l?hui as when they were originally signed. K?'? Petitions: A Mau Loa Aku N? features all of the petitions in brilliant full-color; compelling essays by Kanaka Maoli authors Jonathan Kay Kamakawiwo'ole Osorio, Jamaica Heolimeleikalani Osorio, N?lani Minton, and Noenoe K. Silva; and a location-based index to help readers look up their ancestors.

This book provides comprehensive information on the geography, history, wildlife, governmental structure, economy, cultural diversity, peoples, religions, and landmarks of Hawaii.

The colorful history of the Hawaiian Islands, since their discovery in 1778 by the great British navigator Captain James Cook, falls naturally into three periods. During the first, Hawaii was a monarchy ruled by native kings and queens. Then came the perilous transition period when new leaders, after failing to secure annexation to the United States, set up a miniature republic. The third period began in 1898 when Hawaii by annexation became American territory. The Hawaiian Kingdom, by Ralph S. Kuykendall, is the detailed story of the island monarchy. In the first volume, "Foundation and Transformation," the author gives a brief sketch of old Hawaii before the coming of the Europeans, based on the known and accepted accounts of this early period. He then shows how the arrival of sea rovers, traders, soldiers of forture, whalers, scoundrels, missionaries, and statesmen transformed the native kingdom, and how the foundations of modern Hawaii were laid. In the second volume, "Twenty Critical Years," the author deals with the middle period of the kingdom's history, when Hawaii was trying to insure her independence while world powers maneuvered for dominance in the Pacific. It was an important period with distinct and well-marked characteristics, but the noteworthy changes and advances which occurred have received less attention from students of history than they deserve. Much of the material is taken from manuscript sources and appears in print for the first time in the second volume. The third and final volume of this distinguished trilogy, "The Kalakaua Dynasty," covers the colorful reign of King Kalakaua, the Merry Monarch, and the brief and tragic rule of his successor, Queen Liliuokalani. This volume is enlivened by such controversial personages as Claus Spreckels, Walter Murray Gibson, and Celso Caesar Moreno. Through it runs the thread of the reciprocity treaty with the United States, its stimulating effect upon the island economy, and the far-reaching consequences of immigration from the Orient to supply plantation labor. The trilogy closes with the events leading to the downfall of the Hawaiian monarchy and the establishment of the Provisional Government in 1893.

An introduction to Hawaii's history with theories on its origin, and to its geography, culture, and industries.