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{{short description|Statute which established the State of Hawaii}} |
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<!-- Deleted image removed: [[Image:hawaiistatehoodcake.jpg|thumb|360px|In April 1959, Hawaii Delegate John A. Burns prepared to slice the Hawaii Statehood Cake at Capitol Hill with Democratic Congressmen D. S. Saund of California, James Haley of Florida and Al Ullman of Oregon.]] --> |
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The '''Admission Act''', formally '''An Act to Provide for the Admission of the State of Hawaii into the Union''' ({{USPL|86|3}}, enacted [[1959-03-18]]) is a [[statute]] enacted by the [[United States Congress]] and signed into law by [[President of the United States|President]] [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]] which dissolved the [[Territory of Hawaii]] and established the [[Hawaii|State of Hawaii]] as the 50th [[U.S. state|state]] to be [[List of U.S. states by date of statehood|admitted into the Union]]. Hawaii remains the most recent state to join the United States. |
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{{Infobox U.S. legislation |
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| shorttitle = Hawaii Admission Act |
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| othershorttitles = |
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| longtitle = An Act to provide for the admission of the State of Hawaii into the Union. |
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| colloquialacronym = |
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| nickname = Hawaii Statehood |
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| enacted by = 86th |
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| effective date = March 18, 1959 |
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| public law url = http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/STATUTE-73/pdf/STATUTE-73-Pg4.pdf |
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| cite public law = 86-3 |
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| cite statutes at large = {{usstat|73|4}} |
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| acts amended = |
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| acts repealed = |
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| title amended = <!--US code titles changed--> |
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| sections created = <!--{{USC}} can be used--> |
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| sections amended = |
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| leghisturl = |
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| introducedin = Senate |
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| introducedbill = {{USBill|86|S.|50}} |
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| introducedby = <!--sponsor(s)--> |
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| introduceddate = |
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| committees = |
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| passedbody1 = Senate |
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| passeddate1 = March 11, 1959 |
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| passedvote1 = [http://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/86-1959/s21 76–15] |
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| passedbody2 = House |
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| passedas2 = <!-- used if the second body changes the name of the legislation --> |
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| passeddate2 = March 12, 1959 |
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| passedvote2 = [http://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/86-1959/h6 323–89], in lieu of {{USBill|86|H.R.|4221}} |
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| conferencedate = |
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| passedbody3 = |
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| passeddate3 = |
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| passedvote3 = |
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| agreedbody3 = <!-- used when the other body agrees without going into committee --> |
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| agreeddate3 = <!-- used when the other body agrees without going into committee --> |
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| agreedvote3 = <!-- used when the other body agrees without going into committee --> |
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| agreedbody4 = <!-- used if agreedbody3 further amends legislation --> |
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| agreeddate4 = <!-- used if agreedbody3 further amends legislation --> |
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| agreedvote4 = <!-- used if agreedbody3 further amends legislation --> |
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| passedbody4 = |
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| passeddate4 = |
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| passedvote4 = |
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| signedpresident = [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]] |
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| signeddate = March 18, 1959 |
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| unsignedpresident = <!-- used when passed without presidential signing --> |
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| unsigneddate = <!-- used when passed without presidential signing --> |
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| vetoedpresident = <!-- used when passed by overriding presidential veto --> |
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| vetoeddate = <!-- used when passed by overriding presidential veto --> |
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| overriddenbody1 = <!-- used when passed by overriding presidential veto --> |
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| overriddendate1 = <!-- used when passed by overriding presidential veto --> |
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| overriddenvote1 = <!-- used when passed by overriding presidential veto --> |
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| overriddenbody2 = <!-- used when passed by overriding presidential veto --> |
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| overriddendate2 = <!-- used when passed by overriding presidential veto --> |
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| overriddenvote2 = <!-- used when passed by overriding presidential veto --> |
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| amendments = |
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| SCOTUS cases = |
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}} |
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The '''Admission Act''', formally '''An Act to Provide for the Admission of the State of Hawaii into the Union''' ({{USStatute|86|3|73|4|1959|03|18}}) is a [[statute]] enacted by the [[United States Congress]] and signed into law by [[President of the United States|President]] [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]] which dissolved the [[Territory of Hawaii]] and established the [[Hawaii|State of Hawaii]] as the 50th [[U.S. state|state]] to be [[admission to the Union|admitted into the Union]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=11686 |title=Dwight D. Eisenhower: "Statement by the President Upon Signing the Hawaii Statehood Bill.," March 18, 1959 |author1=Peters, Gerhard |author2=Woolley, John T |publisher = University of California – Santa Barbara |work= The American Presidency Project |access-date= 3 April 2014}}</ref> Statehood became effective on August 21, 1959.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title48-chapter3-front&num=0&edition=prelim | title=48 USC 3 Hawaii}}</ref> Hawaii remains the most recent state to join the United States. |
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==Hawaii |
==Hawaii statehood and international law== |
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Prior to 1959, Hawaii was an [[Organized incorporated territories of the United States|organized incorporated territory of the United States]]. The territory was establishedin1900 by the [[Hawaiian Organic Act]]. In 1946, the [[United Nations]] [[United Nations list of non-self-governing territories|listed]] Hawaii as a non-self-governing territory under the administration of the United States (Resolution 55(I) of 1946-12-14). Also listed as non-self-governing territories under the jurisdiction of the United States were [[American Samoa]], [[Guam]], the [[Panama Canal Zone]], [[Puerto Rico]], the [[Territory of Alaska]], and the [[United States Virgin Islands]]. |
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==Statehood vote== |
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===UN Obligations United States had to Hawaii (1946-1959)=== |
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[[Image:Hawaiivotesinset.JPG|thumb|300px|left|Copy of an official ballot (inset) and referendum results approving the Admission Act]] |
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In 1946, Hawai‘i was placed on the United Nations list of Non-Self-Governing Territories. This meant that the United States as the colonial power occupying Hawai‘i had a "sacred trust obligation" to the Hawaiian people to discuss three possible options for the future of decolonizing Hawaii: 1) become fully incorporated into the United States as a state. 2) Compact of Free Association (something like Puerto Rico). 3) Independence. |
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Out of a total population of 600,000 in the islands and 155,000 registered voters, 140,000 votes were cast, the highest turnout ever in Hawaii. The vote showed approval rates of at least 93% by voters on all major islands. Of the approximately 140,000 votes cast, fewer than 8,000 rejected the Admission Act of 1959. |
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===Opposition to statehood=== |
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America transmitted annual reports on Hawaii to the [[United Nations Secretary General]] from 1946 until September 1959. By a letter of [[September 17]], [[1959]], the United States notified the U.N. Secretary General that Hawaii had become a State of the Union in August 1959 and that the United States would thereafter cease to transmit information to the United Nations. |
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The acceptance of statehood for Hawaii was not without its share of controversy. There were Native Hawaiians who protested against statehood. Prior to admission, various bills creating the state were stalled in congressional hearings since the early 1900s. There was a fear of establishing a state with an [[Asian Americans|Asian American]] plurality. Some lawmakers worried about the addition of Hawaii's residents to the United States, in light of protests and possibly split loyalties. |
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Upon the election of [[John A. Burns]] from the [[Hawaii Democratic Party]] as delegate of the Territory of Hawaii to Congress, southern leaders charged that Burns' election was evidence of Hawaii as a haven for [[communism]]. Burns, in 1959, would reflect on the obstacles against the statehood campaign and place more emphasis on the resistance to statehood in the islands, rather than in Washington itself. |
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===U.S. Violations of International Trust Obligations to the Nation of Hawaii=== |
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<blockquote> |
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The reasons why Hawaii did not achieve statehood, say, ten years ago—and one could without much exaggeration say sixty years ago—lie not in the Congress but in Hawaii. The most effective opposition to statehood has always originated in Hawaii itself. For the most part it has remained under cover and has marched under other banners. Such opposition could not afford to disclose itself, since it was so decidedly against the interests and desires of Hawaii's people generally.<ref>[[John A. Burns]], "Statehood and Hawaii's People," State Government 32 (Summer 1959): 132</ref> |
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</blockquote> |
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On [[November 27]], [[1953]], the Fourth Committee of the [[U.N. General Assembly]] passed Resolution 742. This resolution was entitled "Factors which should be taken into account in deciding whether a Territory is or is not a Territory whose people have not yet attained a full measure of self-government." Part I of the Resolution identified "Factors indicative of the attainment of Independence." Part II of the Resolution listed factors indicative of the attainment of "other separate systems of self-government." Part II of the Resolution addressed factors indicative of the Free Association of the territory as an integrate part of that country. |
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History verifies that the United States violated the provisions of Resolution 742. The federal ballot used in 1959 did not afford the people of Hawai‘i "several possibilities, including independence" nor were the Hawaiian people given the option to create their own "separate system of government." |
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In 1998 United Nations Special Rapporteur Miguel Alphonso Martinez of Cuba recommended that Hawaii be relisted on the United Nations list of non-self-governing territories and decolonized pursuant to the U.N. procedures. |
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==Debate and controversy== |
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The acceptance of statehood for Hawaii was not without its share of controversy. Besides the process of statehood being fraudulent by international legal standards, some Native Hawaiians in Hawaii also protested against statehood. Also, various bills of admission were stalled in Congressional hearings since the early 1900s because of the racial prejudices of many members of the [[United States House of Representatives]] and [[United States Senate]]. There was a fear of establishing a state that was governed by an ethnic minority, namely the large [[Asian American]] population. Lawmakers questioned the American patriotism of Hawaii residents. Upon the election of [[John A. Burns]] from the [[Hawaii Democratic Party]] as delegate of the Territory of Hawaii to Congress, southern leaders charged that Burns' election was evidence of Hawaii as a haven for [[communism]]. |
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<!-- Unsourced image removed: [[Image:hawaiistatehoodplebiscite.jpg|thumb|313px|[[Boy Scouts of America|Boyscout]] Milton Motooka holds a placard reminding Hawaii residents to vote in the statehood [[referendum]] of June 27, 1959 to accept the Admission Act.]] --> |
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===Southern lawmakers=== |
===Southern lawmakers=== |
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Burns was involved in vigorous lobbying of his colleagues persuading them that the race-based objections were unfair and charges that [[Communist Party]] sympathizers controlled Hawaii were |
Burns was involved in vigorous lobbying of his colleagues persuading them that the race-based objections were unfair and charges that [[Communist Party of Hawaii|Communist]] sympathizers controlled Hawaii were false.{{citation needed|date=May 2018}} Upon leaving her seat as delegate from Hawaii, [[Elizabeth P. Farrington]] said, "Of course, [Democratic Majority Leader] Lyndon Johnson was no friend of statehood." Farrington added, "There were 22 times when he voted against us. He did everything he could, because he was representing the Southern racial opposition."{{citation needed|date=May 2018}} Minutes from Johnson's tenure as head of the Senate Democratic Policy Committee indicate his repeated concessions on the issue to the segregationist Senator [[Richard Russell Jr.|Richard Russell]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Caro |first1=Robert |title=Master of the Senate |page=509}}</ref> |
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===Alice Kamokila Campbell=== |
===Alice Kamokila Campbell=== |
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On the 53rd anniversary of the overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom, |
On the 53rd anniversary of the overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom, January 17, 1946, Territorial Senator [[Alice Kamokilaikawai Campbell|Alice Kamokila Campbell]], one of the few voices that opposed statehood for Hawaii, offered her testimony to the joint congressional committee sent to investigate and report on statehood. Kamokila Campbell testified at Iolani Palace in front of a small crowd of 600 to frequent applause. There she stated. |
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|
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<blockquote> |
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I do not feel...we should forfeit the traditional rights and privileges of the natives of our islands for a mere thimbleful of votes in Congress, that we, the lovers of Hawaii from long association with it should sacrifice our birthright for the greed of alien desires to remain on our shores, that we should satisfy the thirst for power and control of some inflated industrialists and politicians who hide under the guise of friends of Hawaii, yet still keeping an eagle eye on the financial and political pressure button of subjugation over the people in general of these islands. |
I do not feel...we should forfeit the traditional rights and privileges of the natives of our islands for a mere thimbleful of votes in Congress, that we, the lovers of Hawaii from long association with it should sacrifice our birthright for the greed of alien desires to remain on our shores, that we should satisfy the thirst for power and control of some inflated industrialists and politicians who hide under the guise of friends of Hawaii, yet still keeping an eagle eye on the financial and political pressure button of subjugation over the people in general of these islands.<ref>John S. Whitehead, "The Anti-Statehood Movement and the Legacy of Alice Kamokila Campbell" in The Hawaiian Journal of History, vol. 27 (1993) – Article on one of the few voices opposing statehood for Hawaii in 1959, that of a prominent public and cultural figure, a descendant of Hawaiian royalty and an heir of the James Campbell Estate.</ref> |
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</blockquote> |
</blockquote> |
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In 1947 Kamokila Campbell opened the Anti-Statehood Clearing House, where she sent |
In 1947, Kamokila Campbell opened the Anti-Statehood Clearing House, where she sent "anti-statehood information, reports and arguments to congress."<ref>September 18, 1947, Honolulu Star-Bulletin</ref> |
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On |
OnMarch 29, 1949, Kamokila Campbell successfully sued the Hawaii Statehood Commission, to stop them from spending public money to lobby for statehood, invalidating a single section of the Act which created the Hawaii Statehood Commission.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.leagle.com/decision/194934838haw3101308 | title=Campbell v. Stainback, et al., 1948}}</ref> |
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==Formation of the state== |
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===Plantation owners=== |
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The State of Hawaii's territory was defined thus in the Act: |
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Statehood was initiated by members of the [[Hawaii Republican Party]], controlled by powerful sugarcane plantation owners like the [[Big Five (Hawaii)|Big Five]]. The 1934 [[Jones-Costigan Act]], which was a part of the [[New Deal]] agricultural policies, reduced the amount of sugar that could be exported to the U.S. continent tariff free. Thus, by 1935, the Republican-controlled Territorial legislature established the [[Hawaii Equal Rights Commission]] as a means to challenge any federal discrimination against Hawaii but to also initiate discussions about Hawaii statehood. The sugar industry as a whole, however, was still ambivalent about statehood as the growing Japanese community suggested the possibility that the Japanese might control elected offices, especially if the power of such offices were increased by statehood. |
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{{quotation| |
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===Voting=== |
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The State of Hawaii shall consist of all the islands, together with their appurtenant reefs and territorial waters, included in the [[Territory of Hawaii]] on the date of enactment of this Act, except the atoll known as [[Palmyra Island]], together with its appurtenant reefs and territorial waters, but said State shall not be deemed to include the [[Midway Islands]], [[Johnston Island]], Sand Island (off-shore from Johnston Island), or [[Kingman Reef]], together with their appurtenant reefs and territorial waters.<ref>Hawaii Admission Act, s. 2</ref> |
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[[Image:Hawaiivotesinset.JPG|thumb|250px|right|Copy of official ballot (inset) and referendum results approving Admission Act.]] |
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}} |
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A mixed vote in the population of anyone who resided in Hawaii over a year, showed approval rates of at least 93% by voters on all major islands (see adjacent figure for details). Of the approximately 140,000 votes cast, less than 8000 rejected the Admission Act of 1959. |
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==References== |
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===August 19, 2006=== |
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{{reflist|2}} |
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On the morning of [[August 19]], [[2006]], state Representative Barbara Marumoto, dressed as the [[Statue of Liberty]], and state Senator [[Sam Slom]], waving a large [[Flag of the United States|American flag]], led a group of around 50 people to celebrate the admission of Hawaii as the 50th state at [[ʻIolani Palace]]—the site where statehood was declared nearly 47 years earlier. This group's state-sponsored commemoration, however, was blocked by [[Hawaiian sovereignty movement]] activists, also estimated at around 50, who were angered at Marumoto and Slom's decision to hold the celebration on palace grounds, the site where the U.S.-supported overthrow of the [[Kingdom of Hawaii|Hawaiian Kingdom]] had also taken place 113 years earlier. Carrying Hawaiian nationalist flags and signs that read "Kanaka Maoli Independence" protesters argued that ʻIolani Palace "is a sacred spot, which is the seat of our government" and demanded that the statehood celebration take place next door at the [[Hawaii State Capitol|state capitol]]. The two groups clashed when the statehood celebrators continued with their program and began to sing "[[The Star-Spangled Banner]]" without accompaniment from the [[Kalani High School]] band, which decided to leave the event and not get involved. The Hawaiian group countered by using a public address system to interrupt the U.S. national anthem. Verbal arguments and near-physical confrontations followed and continued for over an hour until the statehood group decided to disperse.{{Fact|date=May 2008}} |
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==External links== |
==External links== |
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*[http://www.hawaii-nation.org/admission.html An Act to Provide for the Admission of the State of Hawaii into the Union] (Act of March 18, 1959, Pub L 86-3, § 1, 73 Stat 4) |
*[http://www.hawaii-nation.org/admission.html Hawaii-nation.org: "An Act to Provide for the Admission of the State of Hawaii into the Union"] — (Act of March 18, 1959, Pub L 86-3, § 1, 73 Stat 4) |
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*[http://uscode.house.gov/download/pls/48C3.txt USC 48 Ch 3, S. 3 HAWAII] |
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20121215152944/http://uscode.house.gov/download/pls/48C3.txt UScode.house.gov: USC 48 Ch 3, S. 3 HAWAII] |
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==See also== |
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{{Wikisource|Admission Act for Hawaii}} |
{{Wikisource|Admission Act for Hawaii}} |
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{{Dwight D. Eisenhower}} |
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* [[Enabling Act (United States)]] |
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* [[Alaska Statehood Act]] |
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[[Category: |
[[Category:Legal history of Hawaii]] |
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[[Category: |
[[Category:1959 in Hawaii]] |
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[[Category:History of Hawaii]] |
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[[Category:Legal history of the United States]] |
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[[Category:United States federal civil rights legislation]] |
[[Category:United States federal civil rights legislation]] |
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[[Category:United States federal territory and statehood legislation]] |
[[Category:United States federal territory and statehood legislation]] |
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[[Category:Pre-statehood history of Hawaii]] |
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[[Category:86th United States Congress]] |
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[[Category:1959 in the United States]] |
Long title | An Act to provide for the admission of the State of Hawaii into the Union. |
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Nicknames | Hawaii Statehood |
Enacted by | the 86th United States Congress |
Effective | March 18, 1959 |
Citations | |
Public law | 86-3 |
Statutes at Large | 73 Stat. 4 |
Legislative history | |
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The Admission Act, formally An Act to Provide for the Admission of the State of Hawaii into the Union (Pub. L.Tooltip Public Law (United States) 86–3, 73 Stat. 4, enacted March 18, 1959) is a statute enacted by the United States Congress and signed into law by President Dwight D. Eisenhower which dissolved the Territory of Hawaii and established the State of Hawaii as the 50th state to be admitted into the Union.[1] Statehood became effective on August 21, 1959.[2] Hawaii remains the most recent state to join the United States.
Prior to 1959, Hawaii was an organized incorporated territory of the United States. The territory was established in 1900 by the Hawaiian Organic Act. In 1946, the United Nations listed Hawaii as a non-self-governing territory under the administration of the United States (Resolution 55(I) of 1946-12-14). Also listed as non-self-governing territories under the jurisdiction of the United States were American Samoa, Guam, the Panama Canal Zone, Puerto Rico, the Territory of Alaska, and the United States Virgin Islands.
Out of a total population of 600,000 in the islands and 155,000 registered voters, 140,000 votes were cast, the highest turnout ever in Hawaii. The vote showed approval rates of at least 93% by voters on all major islands. Of the approximately 140,000 votes cast, fewer than 8,000 rejected the Admission Act of 1959.
The acceptance of statehood for Hawaii was not without its share of controversy. There were Native Hawaiians who protested against statehood. Prior to admission, various bills creating the state were stalled in congressional hearings since the early 1900s. There was a fear of establishing a state with an Asian American plurality. Some lawmakers worried about the addition of Hawaii's residents to the United States, in light of protests and possibly split loyalties.
Upon the election of John A. Burns from the Hawaii Democratic Party as delegate of the Territory of Hawaii to Congress, southern leaders charged that Burns' election was evidence of Hawaii as a haven for communism. Burns, in 1959, would reflect on the obstacles against the statehood campaign and place more emphasis on the resistance to statehood in the islands, rather than in Washington itself.
The reasons why Hawaii did not achieve statehood, say, ten years ago—and one could without much exaggeration say sixty years ago—lie not in the Congress but in Hawaii. The most effective opposition to statehood has always originated in Hawaii itself. For the most part it has remained under cover and has marched under other banners. Such opposition could not afford to disclose itself, since it was so decidedly against the interests and desires of Hawaii's people generally.[3]
Burns was involved in vigorous lobbying of his colleagues persuading them that the race-based objections were unfair and charges that Communist sympathizers controlled Hawaii were false.[citation needed] Upon leaving her seat as delegate from Hawaii, Elizabeth P. Farrington said, "Of course, [Democratic Majority Leader] Lyndon Johnson was no friend of statehood." Farrington added, "There were 22 times when he voted against us. He did everything he could, because he was representing the Southern racial opposition."[citation needed] Minutes from Johnson's tenure as head of the Senate Democratic Policy Committee indicate his repeated concessions on the issue to the segregationist Senator Richard Russell.[4]
On the 53rd anniversary of the overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom, January 17, 1946, Territorial Senator Alice Kamokila Campbell, one of the few voices that opposed statehood for Hawaii, offered her testimony to the joint congressional committee sent to investigate and report on statehood. Kamokila Campbell testified at Iolani Palace in front of a small crowd of 600 to frequent applause. There she stated.
I do not feel...we should forfeit the traditional rights and privileges of the natives of our islands for a mere thimbleful of votes in Congress, that we, the lovers of Hawaii from long association with it should sacrifice our birthright for the greed of alien desires to remain on our shores, that we should satisfy the thirst for power and control of some inflated industrialists and politicians who hide under the guise of friends of Hawaii, yet still keeping an eagle eye on the financial and political pressure button of subjugation over the people in general of these islands.[5]
In 1947, Kamokila Campbell opened the Anti-Statehood Clearing House, where she sent "anti-statehood information, reports and arguments to congress."[6]
On March 29, 1949, Kamokila Campbell successfully sued the Hawaii Statehood Commission, to stop them from spending public money to lobby for statehood, invalidating a single section of the Act which created the Hawaii Statehood Commission.[7]
The State of Hawaii's territory was defined thus in the Act:
The State of Hawaii shall consist of all the islands, together with their appurtenant reefs and territorial waters, included in the Territory of Hawaii on the date of enactment of this Act, except the atoll known as Palmyra Island, together with its appurtenant reefs and territorial waters, but said State shall not be deemed to include the Midway Islands, Johnston Island, Sand Island (off-shore from Johnston Island), or Kingman Reef, together with their appurtenant reefs and territorial waters.[8]