Pacific kingdoms · 1810-1898

Hawaii: from kingdom to US territory

For most of the 1800s Hawaii is an independent kingdom with a palace, a constitution and treaties with the great powers. Then sugar planters overthrow its queen. Students ask how a nation lost its independence without a war.

Teach it live New Open on the map
Length
45 minutes
Ages
12–15
On the map
3 steps, AD 1880 to AD 1914
Live lesson
7 rounds, 3 on the map
Worksheet
Two A4 pages, with Classroom
You need
A projector; phones for live

Live lesson · new in Classroom

Teach it live. The class answers on their phones.

Put the board on the projector. Students join with a six-digit code, no account needed, and tap the map: where was the frontier, where did the grain come from. Their pins drop in together when you reveal, and the closest student takes the round.

€19 per month: every lesson live, every worksheet, cancel anytime. Rome at its height runs live for free.

A live lesson on the projector: the class's pins on the map around Alexandria, the closest students listed beside it A student's phone: the question and a map to tap
7 rounds
3 places to find on the map, quiz questions, a class vote and a one-line answer.
About 15 minutes
Run it as the map step, or to open the discussion. You move on with the space bar.
A report
Every answer, per student and per round, to read back or print after the lesson.
1

Introduction

5 min

Read aloud

For most of the 1800s Hawaii is an independent kingdom with a palace, a constitution and treaties with the great powers. Then sugar planters overthrow its queen. Students ask how a nation lost its independence without a war.

By the end of the lesson, students can

  • Describe the Kingdom of Hawaii from Kamehameha I to Queen Liliʻuokalani.
  • Explain how sugar, foreign settlers and US interests led to the overthrow of 1893.
  • Discuss how Native Hawaiians resisted annexation and how the overthrow is remembered.
2

Explore the map

12 min

Project the map, or let students follow on their own devices. Each step opens the map at the right year and place.

a

AD 1880

A Pacific kingdom

Open the map in 1880 and zoom in on the Hawaiian islands. Find the Kingdom of Hawaii. Which island is the largest?

Open this view on the map
b

AD 1880

In the middle of the ocean

Zoom out over the Pacific. Honolulu is about 3,800 km from San Francisco and about 6,200 km from Tokyo. Why would a navy want a harbour here?

Open this view on the map
c

AD 1914

Before and after

Drag the slider from 1880 to 1914 and watch the islands. What happens to the Kingdom of Hawaii on the map?

Open this view on the map
3

Class discussion

14 min

Pick two or three. They run from what happened to why it mattered.

  1. Kamehameha I united the islands by war and diplomacy. Why does that make Hawaii different from many places taken by empires?
  2. New diseases killed a large part of the Native Hawaiian population in the 1800s. How did that change who held power?
  3. In 1887 King Kalākaua was forced to sign the "Bayonet Constitution". What does that name tell you?
  4. Queen Liliʻuokalani gave up power to avoid bloodshed. Was that a wise choice?
  5. In 1993 the US Congress apologised for the overthrow. What should an apology like that lead to?
4

Game round

9 min

No Hawaiian ruler is in Rule History. Play Tokugawa Ieyasu, whose Japan kept most foreigners out for over 200 years. Compare with Hawaii's kings, who opened their islands to foreign traders and missionaries. Which choice protected independence better?

Open Rule History
5

Worksheet

5 min

This worksheet comes with Classroom

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