Masters Theses
Date of Award
8-1950
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts
Major
History
Major Professor
Ruth Stephens
Committee Members
S. J. Folmsbee, LeRoy P. Graf
Abstract
Preface: The Hawaiian movement for statehood is part of the bloodstream of Hawaiian history. Of necessity, therefore, this thesis is an account of those economic, political and cultural forces which bear upon Hawaii's qualifications for full-fledged membership in the American union of states. This study, it is hoped, will furnish sufficient proof that no factor in Hawaiian development has long been able to defy the magnetism which has pulled these mid-Pacific islands closer and closer to the very wellsprings of American life and government. Offered also is the proposition that this magnetism is still at work--that it almost certainly will make statehood for Hawaii a reality. The time element, alone, remains debatable. Due to her isolated, strategic location, her vulnerable economy, and her dependence on shipping, Hawaii's plea for statehood, justly or unjustly, will be weighed at any specific moment with one eye on the state of world affairs. She will be granted statehood only when the American Congress is convinced that she is ready to meet any threat, internal or external, to her existence as an equal political unit in the American commonwealth. One further idea is submitted: that the nations adhering to totalitarian ideologies have yet to offer an example of conquest so devoid of force or indicative of political, cultural and economic vitality as the American conquest of the Hawaiian Islands. While the Hawaiian-propelled movement for statehood is the culminating proof of the success of this conquest, this thesis can do little more than suggest the full story. It is hoped that the future will bring fewer works on Hawaii's scenic and cultural attractions and more, serious studies of one of the remarkable achievements of American civilization.
This thesis is based upon the regrettably few secondary works of value on Hawaiian history, United States government documents, and magazine and newspaper articles. Of particular value have been the materials furnished by the present Hawaiian delegate to Congress, Mr. Joseph R. Farrington, the Washington, D. C., Office of the Hawaii Statehood Commission, the Honolulu Star-Bulletin and the Honolulu Advertiser. The study of the question of Communism in the islands was greatly aided by two pamphlets furnished by Mrs. Violet A. Silverman of the Hawaiian Historical Society. The author did not have access to such valuable materials as Hawaiian newspaper files, the publications of the Hawaiian Historical Society and the Hawaiian Archives.
For the making of history and historical research both a pleasure and a challenge, the writer is indebted to all those faculty members of the University of Tennessee History Department under whom she has taken work. Dr. Ruth Stephens not only suggested the subject of the thesis but gave the author that counsel and encouragement through every state of preparation which made this study possible. The thesis has been improved by the helpful suggestions of Dr. Stanley F. Folmsbee and Dr. LeRoy P. Graf. No acknowledgements would be complete without mention of the unfailing consideration and helpfulness of the staff of the University Library.
Recommended Citation
McPherson, Ruth E., "The Hawaiian Movement for Statehood. " Master's Thesis, University of Tennessee, 1950.
https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_gradthes/2990