Jonathan Osorio investigates the effects of Western law on the national identity of Native Hawaiians in this impressive political history of the Kingdom of Hawaii from the onset of constitutional government in 1840 to the Bayonet Constitution of 1887, which effectively placed political power in the kingdom in the hands of white businessmen. Making extensive use of legislative texts, contemporary newspapers, and important works by Hawaiian historians and others, Osorio plots the course of events that transformed Hawaii from a traditional subsistence economy to a modern nation, taking into account the many individuals nearly forgotten by history who wrestled with each new political and social change. A final poignant chapter links past events with the struggle for Hawaiian sovereignty today.

Contributor: Jonathan Kay Kamakawiwo‘ole Osorio Jonathan Kay Kamakawiwo‘ole Osorio is dean of Hawaiʻinuiākea School of Hawaiian Knowledge and professor at Kamakakūokalani Center for Hawaiian Studies at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa.

I highly recommend this even-handed yet passionate call for understanding and change. --- "Profound scholarship that examines neglected sources and adds a new dimension to our understanding of the Hawaiian past. --- A detailed study, rich with insights. --- Groundbreaking. --- Indispensable.