Could we right one of our foreign policy wrongs and give Hawaii back to the natives?
From Sea Power: The History and Geopolitics of the World’s Oceans:
The advent of coal-powered ships in the 1860s changed how the United States interacted with its Pacific domain. Coal ships were faster and more reliable than their sail-powered counterparts, but coal is heavy and exhaustible. Ships could not carry an unlimited amount of coal without sinking into the briny deep. They needed dedicated coaling stations at regular intervals in order to maintain their impressive speed. Fortunately, the Pacific for all of its vastness was dotted with islands perfectly situated to serve as coaling stations. It was this impulse that drove the U.S. annexation of Hawaii in 1898, with the beautiful port of Pearl Harbor serving as the fulcrum for its Pacific presence.
If we grabbed it because it was needed for refueling, why not give it back now? A Chinese container ship doesn’t need to refuel when crossing the Pacific, does it? Certainly the big Airbus and Boeing planes that cross the Pacific need not stop in Hawaii.
Plainly our annexation of Hawaii was expedient at the time, but it is no longer necessary. Is there any way to claim that this annexation was somehow legitimate and should be continued?
Related:
- Hawaii and immigration (they’d have been better off without white people?)
> why not give it back now?
Give it back to whom, exactly?
To https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Native_Hawaiians !
As soon as we start the discussion of giving Hawaii back to the natives, I’m sure the Hawaiians will look for other nations to support them and some other nation will take over Hawaii just like we did. My reasoning for that? Hawaii cannot survive on its own and could end up like Puerto Rico.
George: Given that Hawaiians governed themselves for at least 1,000 years before the U.S. grabbed the territory, what is your evidence that they would “look for other nations to support them”?
Hawaiians are part of the larger Polynesian culture and
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polynesia
shows at least some Polynesian island groups that are independent nations (and U.N. members).
(See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Hawaii for some history, admittedly likely not the complete history you’d heard from a Hawaiian per se.)