A Paradise Lost - KOPS - Universität Konstanz

Appendix I: Hawaiian History in Dates
4th-5th century A. D.: The earliest settlers, possibly from the Marquesas Islands, begin
arriving.
1778: Captain James Cook sights O‘ahu, Kaua‘i, and Ni‘ihau. Cook names his discovery
the Sandwich Islands in honor of his patron, the Earl of Sandwich. Pre-contact population
estimated at close to one million.
1779: Cook and his ships arrive at Kealakekua Bay on the Big Island. Cook and four of
his marines are killed on shore by the Hawaiians.
1782-1810: Kamehameha I, a Big Island chief, conquers Maui, Lana’i, Moloka’i, and
O’ahu. Lastly, Kaua’i is ceded by its chief. The Hawaiian Islands are unified under a
single leader. By 1802, indigenous population is estimated to have decreased by half.
1816: Otto von Kotzebue, Captain with the Russian navy, visits Hawai’i.
1819: Kamehameha I dies. His son Liholiho is proclaimed Kamehameha II.
Louis de Freycinet, French, visits Hawai’i. The first whaleships arrive in Hawaiian
waters. Kamehameha II and his advisors order the destruction of heiaus (temples) and
proclaim an end to the kapu system, thus overthrowing the traditional Hawaiian religion.
The king’s wives had urged him to break the taboo of gender-separated eating, thus
enhancing the status of women.
1820: The first protestant missionaries from Boston arrive at Kailua, Hawai’i. At the
urging of the missionaries, hula dancing, surfing, and kite flying are forbidden.
1823: Keopuolani, the queen mother, receives a Christian baptism (the first Hawaiian to
be so baptized) on her deathbed. Kamehameha II and Queen Kamamalu sail for England;
both contract measles and die in London.
1824: High Chiefess Queen Kapiolani visits the volcano Kilauea and defies its goddess
Pele by descending into the crater. Kauikea’ouli, Liholiho’s younger brother, is
proclaimed king as Kamehameha III, under the regency of queen dowager Ka’ahumanu.
1825: The first sugar and coffee plantations are started in Manoa Valley, Honolulu.
1826: The first American warship visits Honolulu.
1827: Catholic missionaries arrive in Hawai’i.
1830: Mexican and California cowboys arrive on the Big Island to teach Hawaiians the
cattle business.
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