Chapter 16 – Hawai‘i Becomes an American Territory

The story of Hawai‘i’s changes to become part of the United States is a long one. In 1851, over a hundred years before statehood was granted, Kamehameha III drew up a treaty to annex Hawai‘i to the United States. But it did not happen then. Each government from Kamehameha’s time brought up the same question. Hawai‘i as a Republic was only an “in-between” government. It took care of the present and left the door open for the future until the United States was ready to move further.