• Striking pictures show workers harvesting pineapples and sugar cane which helped shape Hawaii's economy
  • Other eye-opening snaps show a woman - Lawrence Lewis - holding a flag with Hawaiian star stitched on
  • Hawaii became the 50th and final state of America in 1959, which meant the flag had to change shape slightly 
Incredible images showcasing Hawaii in the early twentieth century have been released to mark the 240th anniversary of Captain James Cook becoming the first recorded European to discover the islands.
Striking pictures show four hula dancers in the crater of Punch Bowl Mountain in 1901, workers harvesting pineapples in 1910 and natives with outrigger canoes at the shoreline in Honolulu.
Other eye-opening snaps show Mrs Lawrence Lewis holding a flag with the Hawaiian star stitched on before it was officially a state and portraits of Hawaiian royalty including Liliuokalani, Queen of Hawaii.
The archipelago of eight islands was formerly known to Europeans and Americans as the 'Sandwich Islands', a name chosen by Cook in honour of the then First Lord of the Admiralty John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich, the name stayed in use until the 1840s when the local name 'Hawaii' gradually began to take precedence.
A group of men in thick clothing and hats harvest pineapple in a vast plantation in Hawaii. The picture was taken around 1910
A group of men in thick clothing and hats harvest pineapple in a vast plantation in Hawaii. The picture was taken around 1910
Four hula dancers pose for a photograph in the crater of Punch Bowl Mountain in a picture taken more than a century ago in around 1901
Four hula dancers pose for a photograph in the crater of Punch Bowl Mountain in a picture taken more than a century ago in around 1901
Lawrence Lewis stands in her home next to a banister and in front of a clock holding flag with Hawaiian star
Princess J Kalanianole in a portrait taken in 1920
Lawrence Lewis stands in her home next to a banister and in front of a clock holding flag with Hawaiian star (left) Princess J Kalanianole in a portrait taken in 1920 (right)
The overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii refers to an event of January 17, 1893, in which anti-monarchial elements within the Kingdom of Hawaii, composed largely of American citizens, engineered the overthrow of its native monarch, Queen Lili'uokalani. Hawaii was initially reconstituted as an independent republic, but the ultimate goal of the revolutionaries was the annexation of the islands to the United States, which was finally accomplished in 1898.
By the time the United States got serious about looking beyond its own borders to conquer new lands, much of the world had already been claimed. Only a few distant territories in Africa and Asia and remote islands in the Pacific remained free from imperial grasp. Hawaii was one such plum. Led by a hereditary monarch, the inhabitants of the kingdom prevailed as an independent state. American expansionists looked with greed on the strategically located islands and waited patiently to plan their move.
Foothold in Hawaii
Interest in HAWAII began in America as early as the 1820s, when New England missionaries tried in earnest to spread their faith. Since the 1840s, keeping European powers out of Hawaii became a principal foreign policy goal. Americans acquired a true foothold in Hawaii as a result of the SUGAR TRADE. The United States government provided generous terms to Hawaiian sugar growers, and after the Civil War, profits began to swell. A turning point in U.S.-Hawaiian relations occurred in 1890, when Congress approved the MCKINLEY TARIFF, which raised import rates on foreign sugar. Hawaiian sugar planters were now being undersold in the American market, and as a result, a depression swept the islands. The sugar growers, mostly white Americans, knew that if Hawaii were to be ANNEXED by the United States, the tariff problem would naturally disappear. At the same time, the Hawaiian throne was passed to QUEEN LILIUOKALANI, who determined that the root of Hawaii's problems was foreign interference. A great showdown was about to unfold.
Annexing Hawaii
In January 1893, the planters staged an uprising to overthrow the Queen. At the same time, they appealed to the United States armed forces for protection. Without Presidential approval, marines stormed the islands, and the American minister to the islands raised the stars and stripes inHONOLULU. The Queen was forced to abdicate, and the matter was left for Washington politicians to settle. By this time, Grover Cleveland had been inaugurated President. Cleveland was an outspoken anti-imperialist and thought Americans had acted shamefully in Hawaii. He withdrew the annexation treaty from the Senate and ordered an investigation into potential wrongdoings. Cleveland aimed to restore Liliuokalani to her throne, but American public sentiment strongly favored annexation.
The matter was prolonged until after Cleveland left office. When war broke out with Spain in 1898, the military significance of Hawaiian naval bases as a way station to the SPANISH PHILIPPINES outweighed all other considerations. President William McKinley signed a joint resolution annexing the islands, much like the manner in which Texas joined the Union in 1845. Hawaii remained a territory until granted statehood as the fiftieth state in 1959.

Summary of the event

Until the 1890s, the Kingdom of Hawaii was an independent sovereign state, recognized by the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Japan, and Germany. Though there were threats to Hawaii's sovereignty throughout the Kingdom's history, it was not until the signing, under duress, of the Bayonet Constitution in 1887, that this threat began to be realized. On January 17, 1893, the last monarch of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi, Queen Lili'uokalani, was deposed in a coup d'état led largely by American citizens who were opposed to her attempt to establish a new Constitution.
The success of the coup efforts was supported by the landing of U.S. Marines, who came ashore at the request of the conspirators. The coup left the queen imprisoned at Iolani Palace under house arrest. The sovereignty of the Kingdom of Hawaii was lost to a Provisional Government led by the conspirators. It briefly became the Republic of Hawaii, before eventual annexation to the United States in 1898.
The coup d'état was led by Lorrin A. Thurston, a grandson of American missionaries, who derived his support primarily from the American and European business class residing in Hawaii and other supporters of the Reform Party of the Hawaiian Kingdom. Most of the leaders of the Committee of Safety that deposed the queen were American and European citizens who were also Kingdom subjects. They included legislators, government officers, and a Supreme Court Justice of the Hawaiian Kingdom.[4]
According to the Queen's Book, her friend and minister J.S. Walker "came and told me 'that he had come on a painful duty, that the opposition party had requested that I should abdicate.'" After consulting with her ministers, including Walker, the Queen concluded that "since the troops of the United States had been landed to support the revolutionists, by the order of the American minister, it would be impossible for us to make any resistance." Due to the Queen's desire "to avoid any collision of armed forces, and perhaps the loss of life" for her subjects and after some deliberation, at the urging of advisers and friends, the Queen ordered her forces to surrender. Despite repeated claims that the overthrow was "bloodless", the Queen's Book notes that Lilu'okalani received "friends [who] expressed their sympathy in person; amongst these Mrs. J. S. Walker, who had lost her husband by the treatment he received from the hands of the revolutionists. He was one of many who from persecution had succumbed to death."
Immediate annexation was prevented by the eloquent speech given by President Grover Cleveland to Congress at this time, in which he stated that:
"the military demonstration upon the soil of Honolulu was of itself an act of war; unless made either with the consent of the government of Hawaii or for the bona fide purpose of protecting the imperiled lives and property of citizens of the United States. But there is no pretense of any such consent on the part of the government of the queen ... the existing government, instead of requesting the presence of an armed force, protested against it. There is as little basis for the pretense that forces were landed for the security of American life and property. If so, they would have been stationed in the vicinity of such property and so as to protect it, instead of at a distance and so as to command the Hawaiian Government Building and palace. ... When these armed men were landed, the city of Honolulu was in its customary orderly and peaceful condition. ... "[5]
The Republic of Hawaii was nonetheless declared in 1894 by the same parties which had established the Provisional Government. Among them were Lorrin A. Thurston, a drafter of the Bayonet Constitution, and Sanford Dole who appointed himself President of the forcibly instated Republic on July 4, 1894.
The Bayonet Constitution allowed the monarch to appoint cabinet ministers, but had stripped him of the power to dismiss them without approval from the Legislature. Eligibility to vote was also altered, stipulating property value, defined in non-traditional terms, as a condition of voting eligibility. One result of this was the disenfranchisement of poor native Hawaiians and other ethnic groupswho had previously had the right to vote. This guaranteed a voting monopoly by the landed aristocracy. Asians, who comprised a large proportion of the population, were stripped of their voting rights as many Japanese and Chinese members of the population who had previously become naturalized as subjects of the Kingdom, subsequently lost all voting rights. Many Americans and wealthy Europeans, in contrast, acquired full voting rights at this time, without the need for Hawaiian citizenship.

Hawaii natives return from competing in water sports during the 1913 Honolulu Festival. Many can be seen carrying spears
Hawaii natives return from competing in water sports during the 1913 Honolulu Festival. Many can be seen carrying spears
Two men push their outrigger canoes to shore in Honolulu, Hawaii, as the waves lap the sandy beach in a picture taken around 1922
Two men push their outrigger canoes to shore in Honolulu, Hawaii, as the waves lap the sandy beach in a picture taken around 1922
Cook first visited the islands on January 18, 1778, when he docked at Waimea harbour, Kauai. The visit formed part of Cook's final voyage and ultimately led to his untimely death.
Upon returning to the islands the following year for repairs to his ship, tensions began to rise with a number of arguments breaking out between the Europeans and natives at Kealakekua Bay.
One evening, a group of Hawaiians took one of Cook's small boats which was followed by a number of threats to the Captain.
In his anger, the following morning Cook marched through the village in an attempt to kidnap and ransom the King of Hawaii, Kalani**pu*u, taking him by the hand and leading him away.
One of the King's wives and two chiefs stopped them in their tracks as they were headed towards the boat, pleading with Kalani**pu*u not to go with Cook and his crew.
Men work tirelessly to load sugar cane onto carts in Hawaii in a picture taken in 1917. One man can be seen with a stack on his shoulder making his way up a ramp to an already packed cart where a colleague is about to dump his load
Men work tirelessly to load sugar cane onto carts in Hawaii in a picture taken in 1917. One man can be seen with a stack on his shoulder making his way up a ramp to an already packed cart where a colleague is about to dump his load
A man in a vest and shorts uses a stick as a paddle in his outrigger canoe back in 1919 in Hawaii as he makes his way through a fish trap
A man in a vest and shorts uses a stick as a paddle in his outrigger canoe back in 1919 in Hawaii as he makes his way through a fish trap
A striking portrait of Liliuokalani, Queen of Hawaii, seated outdoors with her dog in a picture taken around 1917
A striking portrait of Liliuokalani, Queen of Hawaii, seated outdoors with her dog in a picture taken around 1917
A bustling Hawaiian hotel with two grand verandas in a picture taken in 1902. Workers in white can be seen walking around the sprawling grounds and a horse and cart waits out at the front
A bustling Hawaiian hotel with two grand verandas in a picture taken in 1902. Workers in white can be seen walking around the sprawling grounds and a horse and cart waits out at the front
A Hawaiian quintet - all suited and holding guitars and ukuleles - pose for a photograph in Aloha in a picture taken in 1905 
A Hawaiian quintet - all suited and holding guitars and ukuleles - pose for a photograph in Aloha in a picture taken in 1905 
A group of delegates from Hawaii including Lincoln L McCandless, Manuel C Pacheo, TB Stuart, and John Henry Wilson at the 1916 Democratic National Convention held in St Louis, Missouri from June 14 to 16
A group of delegates from Hawaii including Lincoln L McCandless, Manuel C Pacheo, TB Stuart, and John Henry Wilson at the 1916 Democratic National Convention held in St Louis, Missouri from June 14 to 16
Sporting a moustache, polished shoes, a thick coat over a suit and a cane, Prince J Kalanianole of Hawaii poses for a picture in 1920
Captain James Cook
Sporting a moustache, polished shoes, a thick coat over a suit and a cane, Prince J Kalanianole of Hawaii poses for a picture in 1920. Captain James Cook is depicted right
Alice Roosevelt Longworth and other members of William Howard Taft party pose wearing traditional clothing in Hawaii circa 1905
Alice Roosevelt Longworth and other members of William Howard Taft party pose wearing traditional clothing in Hawaii circa 1905
A large crowd began to form as the King started to understand that Cook was his enemy. As Cook turned his back to help launch the boats, he was struck on the head with a club by a villager and then stabbed to death on the shore along with four other members of his crew.
Despite this, the esteem in which the islanders held Cook meant they retained his body, preparing his body with traditional rituals usually reserved for the chiefs and highest elders in society.
The captains body was disembowelled and then baked to facilitate the removal of flesh, with his bones carefully cleaned for preservation as religious icons.
Some of Cook's remains were eventually returned to the remaining members of his crew who gave him a formal burial at sea.

The history of Hawaii:  America's 50th and final state and the island that forced Eisenhower to change the shape of the US flag 

Hawaii became America's 50th state when President Dwight D Eisenhower signed a proclamation in 1959. 
The introduction of the extra star on the flag re-shaped the US landscape with the President issuing an order to be arranged in staggered rows - five six-star rows and four five-star rows.   
America' most iconic symbol - the stars and stripes - became official on July 4, 1960. 
Back in the eighth century, Polynesian voyagers landed on the Hawaiian Islands who called it home for centuries.    
By the early 18th century, American traders crossed to Hawaii to exploit the islands’ sandalwood, which was much valued in China at the time.
In the 1830s, the sugar industry took off in Hawaii and was a well established trade by the mid 19th-century. 
Hawaii was evolving and American missionaries introduced huge changes across the Hawaiian political, cultural, economic and religious scene. 
A constitutional monarchy was established in 1840, stripping the Hawaiian establishment that had ruled previously. 
By 1894, the Republic of Hawaii was established as a US protectorate with Hawaiian-born Sanford B Dole as president.  
Many in Congress opposed the formal annexation of Hawaii, and it was not until 1898, following the use of the naval base at Pearl Harbor during the Spanish-American War, that Hawaii’s strategic importance became evident and formal annexation was approved. 
Two years later, Hawaii was organized into a formal US territory. 
During the Second World War, Hawaii became firmly ensconced in the American national identity following the surprise Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941.
In March 1959, the US government approved statehood for Hawaii, and in June the Hawaiian people voted by a wide majority to accept admittance into the United States. 
Two months later, Hawaii officially became the 50th state.
Source: History.com