Tweet
Re: Kamehameha: An Amazing American?
Waioli Kai's got a point there. Amazing is the fact that Kamehameha the Great did in fact kill off the leaders of the neighboring islands either thru war or by misleading them into fanciful feasts. His conquering of the island of Oahu was thru the help of the white man himself with their mighty cannons that put the Oahu warriors on the run up to the Pali with Kamehameha's warriors in quick pursuit.
His sandlewood trade put the monarchy in debt to the white man all the while enslaving the common Hawaiian to a life of hard labor to bring in this high commodity from the mountains to the shores. The lifestyle of the common Kanaka Maoli wasn't the pristine values that most seem to embrace, it was a life of misery under a dictator with the help of the white man.
Kamehameha the Great really should be likened to the Huns where they pillaged villages and overpowered their adversaries thru brute force and merciless killings of any who stood in his path.
His ability to unite the islands came with a lot of bloodshed and brutal death to those who resisted. When it was all said and done, the white man with their military might and shrewd business tactics allowed the entire island kingdom to fall first thru economic failure then thru military power. The Kingdom of Hawaii didn't have a chance.
Right up to FDR when the Japanese sent the President of the United States of America before the bombing of Pearl Harbor a letter demanding their removal of U.S. presence in the Pacific to include Subic Bay and Pearl Harbor. FDR refused and for good cause. For if he did, Hawaii would be an extension of the Japan Empire and the fate of the world would have been much different today.
Hawaii's strategic location would have made Hawaii a battlezone for many countries to capture as their pawn.
This is where Kamehameha's vision to unite the islands under one rule probably saved these islands from various ownership by many nations thru bloodshed, and that's the only reason why I believe his ultimate vision was a good one for the sake of the islands as either way one nation or another would have assumed their might over the islands.
As much as I detest the way our government overthrew the Hawaiian Monarchy, I feel it was the most humane way as felt by Queen Liliokalani. If it were Japan, many would have been tortured as in the likes of the Phillipines. The Kanaka Maoli are survivors of these overthrows by virtue of the Queen's dictate to her people. As in the song Silent Running...Teach the children so that one day they may rise up. The keiki of the Monarchy of Hawaii have grown and have spoken and they will make their ancestors proud again.
To sum it up, it took a mighty man that sacrificed many lives for the sake of a united kingdom...it took a mighty woman that sacrificed her kingdom for the sake of preserving the lives of her people. One merciless...the other merciful. So who in fact is the greater person? Long live the Queen!
Waioli Kai's got a point there. Amazing is the fact that Kamehameha the Great did in fact kill off the leaders of the neighboring islands either thru war or by misleading them into fanciful feasts. His conquering of the island of Oahu was thru the help of the white man himself with their mighty cannons that put the Oahu warriors on the run up to the Pali with Kamehameha's warriors in quick pursuit.
His sandlewood trade put the monarchy in debt to the white man all the while enslaving the common Hawaiian to a life of hard labor to bring in this high commodity from the mountains to the shores. The lifestyle of the common Kanaka Maoli wasn't the pristine values that most seem to embrace, it was a life of misery under a dictator with the help of the white man.
Kamehameha the Great really should be likened to the Huns where they pillaged villages and overpowered their adversaries thru brute force and merciless killings of any who stood in his path.
His ability to unite the islands came with a lot of bloodshed and brutal death to those who resisted. When it was all said and done, the white man with their military might and shrewd business tactics allowed the entire island kingdom to fall first thru economic failure then thru military power. The Kingdom of Hawaii didn't have a chance.
Right up to FDR when the Japanese sent the President of the United States of America before the bombing of Pearl Harbor a letter demanding their removal of U.S. presence in the Pacific to include Subic Bay and Pearl Harbor. FDR refused and for good cause. For if he did, Hawaii would be an extension of the Japan Empire and the fate of the world would have been much different today.
Hawaii's strategic location would have made Hawaii a battlezone for many countries to capture as their pawn.
This is where Kamehameha's vision to unite the islands under one rule probably saved these islands from various ownership by many nations thru bloodshed, and that's the only reason why I believe his ultimate vision was a good one for the sake of the islands as either way one nation or another would have assumed their might over the islands.
As much as I detest the way our government overthrew the Hawaiian Monarchy, I feel it was the most humane way as felt by Queen Liliokalani. If it were Japan, many would have been tortured as in the likes of the Phillipines. The Kanaka Maoli are survivors of these overthrows by virtue of the Queen's dictate to her people. As in the song Silent Running...Teach the children so that one day they may rise up. The keiki of the Monarchy of Hawaii have grown and have spoken and they will make their ancestors proud again.
To sum it up, it took a mighty man that sacrificed many lives for the sake of a united kingdom...it took a mighty woman that sacrificed her kingdom for the sake of preserving the lives of her people. One merciless...the other merciful. So who in fact is the greater person? Long live the Queen!
Comment