Territory of Hawaii

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Territory of Hawaii Panalāʻau o Hawaiʻi (Hawaiian)
Organized incorporated territory of the United States
1900–1959
Flag Seal
Main islands of the Territory of Hawaii
Anthem
"Hawaiʻi Ponoʻī"
Capital	Honolulu
Government
• Type	Organized incorporated territory
Governor
• 1900–1903 (first)	Sanford B. Dole
• 1957–1959 (last)	William F. Quinn
Military Governor
• 1941	LTG Walter Short
• 1941–1943	LTG Delos Emmons
• 1943–1944	LTG Robert C. Richardson Jr.
History
• Annexation of Hawaii	August 12, 1898
• Hawaiian Organic Act	30 April 1900
• Attack on Pearl Harbor	December 7, 1941
• Martial law	1941–1944
• Revolution of 1954	1946–1958
• Hawaii Admission Act	21 August 1959
Preceded by Succeeded by Republic of Hawaii Hawaii Palmyra Atoll

Part of a series on the
History of Hawaii
Early history (pre–1795) Discovery and settlement c. 1219–1266 Battle of Kealakekua Bay 1779
Hawaiian Kingdom (1795–1893) Kamehameha dynasty 1795–1874 Unification of Hawaii 1810 Laplace affair 1839 Paulet affair 1943 French invasion of Honolulu 1849 American Civil War 1861–1865 Kalākaua dynasty 1874–1893 Reciprocity Treaty 1875 Bayonet Constitution 1887 Rebellions and revolutions 1887–1895 Overthrow 1893
Provisional (1893–1894) Leper War on Kauaʻi 1893 Black Week 1893–1894
Republic of Hawaii (1894–1898) Counter-Revolution 1895 Annexation 1898
Territory of Hawaii (1898–1959) Hawaiian Organic Act 1900 Oahu sugar strike 1920 Hanapēpē Massacre 1924 Massie Trial 1932 World War II 1939–1945 Attack on Pearl Harbor 1941 Niihau incident 1941 Honouliuli Internment Camp 1943–1946 Democratic Revolution 1954
State of Hawaii (1959–present) Hawaii Admission Act 1959 Kalama Valley protests 1971 State Constitutional Convention 1978 Xerox murders 1999 Occupation of Iolani Palace 2008 Honolulu molasses spill 2013 TMT protests 2014–now False missile alert 2018 Hurricane Lane 2018 COVID-19 pandemic 2020–present George Floyd protests 2020 Red Hill water crisis 2021–now Hawaii wildfires 2023
Topics
Big Five Legal status LGBT history NRHP listings Sovereignty movement Sugar plantations Timeline of Honolulu
Portal Commons
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The Territory of Hawaii or Hawaii Territory^[1][2][3] (Hawaiian: Panalāʻau o Hawaiʻi) was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from April 30, 1900,^[4] until August 21, 1959, when most of its territory, excluding Palmyra Island, was admitted to the United States as the 50th US state, the State of Hawaii. The Hawaii Admission Act specified that the State of Hawaii would not include Palmyra Island, the Midway Islands, Kingman Reef, and Johnston Atoll, which includes Johnston (or Kalama) Island and Sand Island.^[5]

On July 4, 1898, the United States Congress passed the Newlands Resolution authorizing the US annexation of the Republic of Hawaii, and five weeks later, on August 12, Hawaii became a US territory. In April 1900, Congress approved the Hawaiian Organic Act which organized the territory. United States Public Law 103-150 adopted in 1993, (informally known as the Apology Resolution), acknowledged that "the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii occurred with the active participation of agents and citizens of the United States" and also "that the Native Hawaiian people never directly relinquished to the United States their claims to their inherent sovereignty as a people over their national lands, either through the Kingdom of Hawaii or through a plebiscite or referendum".^[6]

Hawaii's territorial history includes a period from 1941 to 1944, during World War II, when the islands were placed under martial law. Civilian government was dissolved and a military governor was appointed.