Why Was The Mahele Unjustified

Before, the land belonged to the gods and not to the Hawaiians. After the Mahele, working class people like the maka’ainana could own land. The laws were changing because when the Mahele came about, new rules were made. Laws were changing to help Hawaii be more wealthy. Another example of a political impact is how lands were being distributed (Hio). Lands are being distributed unfairly because when Kamehameha III distributed the land, the Hawaiians have to work for the people who own the land. The Kuleana Act of 1850 allowed the Hawaiians to own land, but there were certain requirements to own land. Those requirements were that they would have to survey the land, present the claim with the Land Commission and file claim by 1854. People could claim someone’s land if they didn’t live on it for 10 years. This was called the Alien Act of 1850. The Hawaiians that owned land, lost it because they couldn’t pay the taxes, they did not occupy, or care for their land. Hawaiians didn’t have enough money, they lacked knowledge/experience with the law, and missed the 1854

On January 27, 1848, the Mahele was created. The word Mahele is Hawaiian and means “land division” because when the foreigners came, the Hawaiian Islands were divided into thirds. This was divided into the king’s section, chief’s section, and maka’ainana’s section. The Mahele was created because King Kamehameha III wanted to protect the land and its people. Kamehameha III was worried about the foreigners taking over, since France took over the Tahiti (Borreca). The Mahele was unjustified because the government betrayed some of the Hawaiians, the price of the land was too high, and lastly many children and adults suffered.

On January 27, 1848, King Kamehameha created The Mahele to protect Hawaiians from foreigners taking over land. During the Mahele, the ali’i, maka’ainana, and the king had 33% of land but over time, it has changed. The Mahele happened because the foreigners wanted to gain control of the land but King Kamehameha III wanted the Hawaiians to have land, too. Their solution was that they made the Mahele to prevent foreigners from gaining control of the land (Cachola). The Mahele was unjustified because it gave Hawaiians only 1% of land when they should’ve had 33%, the government made the land prices too high, and the maka’ainana barely had any resources ever since the foreigners started to arrive.

The Great Māhele was a land division put in place that happened during the reign of Kamehameha III. Māhele translates to “portion or divide. The intent was to secure land for Hawaiians by establishing a free enterprise system, but landowners had to claim their land. Hawaiians were not accustomed to the concept of owning land, so very few claimed their own land. This resulted in the Hawaiian population eventually losing most of their land to foreigners.

The Spanish-American war gave the push that the American government needed to make a final decision over Hawaii. The Hawaiin Islands were known as the

According to the information present in the speech given by a man named, Sanford J Dole, the Americans imperializing Hawai’i was a constructive motion. This is due to the fact that throughout the speech, Dole informs his audience on the benefits both the Hawaiians and Hawai’i would gain through Hawai’i being a territory of the United States(US). The speech was given on June 10th, 1900, at Iolani Palace, after Dole was elected to be the governor of the Territory of Hawai’i. As the speech is an original document, it is a primary source. Based on the information provided in the speech, the message Dole is trying to convey is that the day Hawai’i became a territory of the US, is one of the most important days in Hawaiian history. This is because

What would you do if you were offered millions of dollars for your land? Yes that right, the Indian tribes were moved out thanks to the Indian removal act of 1830. These Indian tribes were living in Louisiana. After the war of 1812 ended, the U.S. had purchased Louisiana from France. After exploring the land they chose to kick the Indian tribes forcefully because for the things they accomplished in the past. That’s what lead to the Indian removal act of 1830. The Indian removal act of 1830 was not justified because the Indians claimed their land first, the U.S. treated the Indians poorly, and it overall helped out the government.

At one point, people wanted to use the island to make hunting grounds as another tourist attraction. Then, “Next came the U.S. Government, seeking to place in Indian exhibit on the island, and then Professor Putnam, the fair’s chief of ethnology, who saw the island as an ideal site for exotic villages (Larson 168).” No matter how racist and humiliating this quote may seem in our time, it was a significant push towards racial equality as the U.S government wanted to diversify and present other cultures that are acceptable. This was only met with others wanting to make an exhibit for the Japanese. This inadvertently made prices of land gradually increase over time since supply and demand states that if there is less of an object or service and a high demand for it, the price would rise with the ratio of demand to compensate for not having enough.

In the beginning, Hawaii was unknown to any humans. Polynesians eventually came across its islands, and decided to make it their home. In the early days, each island was ruled by a chief, and many times the islands were in conflict with each other. Centuries like this passed, but then "in 1782, [Queen Lili'uokalani's] cousin Kamehameha set out to conquer and unite the islands". Thirteen years later, in 1795, Kamehameha

The Hawaiians were further depicted as "thieves" like the rest of the "people in Polynesia," and plagued with the barbaric accusation of committing infanticide. These so called "facts" were enough for the Euro-American forces to send out missionaries to regulate the Hawaiian people and take over their land and all their practices. (Stannard, 381- 417)

In the 1820’s Missionaries have been starting to visit Hawaii inspired by Henry Obookiah who the first Hawaiian Missionary. Henry Obookiah was a Hawaiian missionary that told the English about the Hawaiian religion and how it works, and it convinced the English to go and spread their religion. But not everything ended well according to the plan for the Hawaiians. People only notice the negative effects that the missionaries cause the Hawaiians to go through, but they miss the benefits that the missionaries gave the Hawaiians. Although the missionaries have brought negative effects to the Hawaiians, they also have given the Hawaiians some benefits with the new religion, new language, and new technology.

this piece of land for a very cheap price. For fifteen million dollars the United States

Despite the very controlled perspective of history shown to us, the Hawaiians did not want their land to be overtaken. In

had sold only the right to use the land, not the land itself. They did

To understand the native Hawaiian’s perspective of the Mahele, one must first learn the Hawaiian mentality. In Hawaiian culture it is believed that Wakea (sky-father) and Papahanaumoku (earth-mother) are the parents of the Hawaiian islands. If anything the Hawaiian islands belonged to Wakea and Papa. The islands, being born from an akua (God) was therefore an akua itself. Land in