Hawaii History Trivia

1. The first people to settle in Hawaii were the Polynesians who are estimated to have arrived in the year 1 A.D. via which method?

From Quiz Sailing to the Sandwich Islands

Answer: Canoe

Polynesians had traveled to the Hawaiian Islands via canoe. They also brought with them crops such as sugar and domesticated animals like pigs. These Polynesians may have at one point been aboriginal Australians who were known to have primitive versions of canoes. The canoe itself is not believed to be a Polynesian invention as it is sometimes said to be. Canoes predating Polynesians have been excavated in the Netherlands and Denmark.

From Quiz Hawaii

Answer: Polynesians

Anthropologists believe that Polynesians first populated the Hawaiian Islands between 300 and 500 A.D. The earliest settlers are believed to have come from the Marquesas.

From Quiz Hawaiian History

Answer: Sandwich Islands

At the time of Cook's landing in Hawaii, the First Lord of the Admiralty in Britain was John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich. Cook named the islands in his honor. On his return to the islands, Cook was killed by Hawaiian natives on 14 February 1779.

From Quiz Hawaiian Politics

Answer: Queen Liliuokalani

Liliuokalani reigned from 1891 until she was overthrown in 1893.

From Quiz Sailing to the Sandwich Islands

Answer: James Cook

This is the same Earl of Sandwich whose named is given to the snack. Cook was attempting to discover the Northwest Passage between Europe and Asia at the time he landed in Hawaii. Cook noted that many of the local Hawaiians were strong and healthy. However, when the French arrived a decade later, they said many of the people were weak and sick, likely from the new diseases the British brought.

From Quiz Hawaii

Answer: The Sandwich Islands

James Cook named the islands after one of his sponsors, John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich.

From Quiz Hawaiian History

Answer: Northwest Passage

James Cook was a well-traveled explorer who was the first to map Newfoundland, the first to travel south of the Antarctic circle, the first to circumnavigate New Zealand and also the first to make contact with eastern Australia. As was the case with so many explorers of this age, Cook endeavored to discover the fabled Northwest Passage for a faster route between Europe and Asia.

From Quiz Hawaiian Politics

Answer: Sanford Dole & Dole

Dole had been a justice on Hawaii's supreme court and was actually not a supporter of the revolution, though he accepted the presidency. He was Hawaii's only president, serving from 1893 to 1898, when Hawaii was annexed by the United States, after which he served as Governor of the Territory of Hawaii.

From Quiz Sailing to the Sandwich Islands

Answer: Kamehameha I

Kamehameha I is said to have fulfilled an ancient Hawaiian prophecy that states that the one who moves the Naha Stone would unite the islands. Many people and leaders believed Kamehameha I to be not worthy of even attempting such a task, but he did so any way and later united the islands. It is unknown how much of this story is actually true.

From Quiz Hawaii

Answer: Kamehameha I

King Kamehameha I established the House of Kamehameha which ruled over the Kingdom until 1872.

From Quiz Hawaiian History

Answer: Kamehameha I

Also known as Kamehameha the Great, he was born either in 1737 or 1758 (during the appearance of Halley's Comet) on the island of Hawai'i. A member of the "ali'i" or royal family, he was raised in the royal court of his uncle, Kalaniʻopuʻu. By 1810, Kamehameha had conquered all of the islands in the chain and was king of a unified Hawaiian islands.

From Quiz Hawaiian Politics

Answer: Grover Cleveland

His predecessor, Benjamin Harrison, had supported the 1893 coup which overthrew the Hawiian royal family. Cleveland, who came to office just months after the coup, called it a "substantial wrong" and resisted American annexation of Hawaii through his term.

From Quiz Sailing to the Sandwich Islands

Answer: Codes of conduct or generally "what not to do" rules

The kapu system put strict restrictions on the people of Hawaii, mainly involving contact with people of high rank. Kapu means 'forbidden' and if something is said to be kapu, it means taboo. Under the kapu system, it was strictly forbidden to even look at a chief. Women were forbidden to eat certain fruits including coconut and bananas. King Kamehameha II abolished the system by symbolically sharing his kapu fruit with women of his court. He did so because the kapu system gave too much power to tribal chiefs and the king wanted to make sure that his successor was a descendent of his. The defeat of the pro-kapu forces led to the Christianization of Hawaii as the local religion's power was significantly weakened.

From Quiz Hawaii

Answer: Bayonet Constitution

The 1887 Constitution was also known as the "Bayonet Constitution". King Kalâkaua was forced to sign the constitution which effectively stripped him of administrative authority, eliminated voting rights for Asians, and set minimum income and property requirements for American, European and native Hawaiian voters.

From Quiz Hawaiian History

Answer: 1816

The Union Jack of Great Britain was the flag used by the Hawaiians until 1816. The state flag still has the Union Jack in its upper left corner.

From Quiz Hawaiian Politics

Answer: 1898

Once President Grover Cleveland, an opponent of annexation, was replaced by William McKinley, Hawaii was annexed by the United States.

From Quiz Sailing to the Sandwich Islands

Answer: Lord George Paulet

The event is called the Paulet Affair. Lord Paulet had landed in Honolulu Harbor and demanded Kamehameha III turn over possession of the islands to the British. Fearing attack, Kamehameha resigned. However, Gerrit P. Judd, an American missionary to Hawaii and a translator to the king, opposed the British seizure of the islands. The U.S. and France had previously ignored, when informed of such a thing by the British, warnings that the islands would be attacked if Kamehameha III did not step down as king. When Judd informed Richard Darton Thomas, Paulet's superior, Thomas returned control of Hawaii to Kamehameha III.

From Quiz Hawaii

Answer: Committee of Safety

Upon the overthrow of the Queen, U.S. President Grover Cleveland commissioned the Blount Report which asserted that the coup was illegal. Cleveland demanded that Queen Liliuokalani be put back on the throne. The provisional government, formed mainly by members of the Committee of Safety, refused. Congress then performed their own investigation into this event and came up with the Morgan Report. The Morgan Report in 1894 found all parties involved in the overthrow "not guilty" except for former Queen Liliuokalani. In 1993, the U.S. government officially apologized for the overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom.

From Quiz Hawaiian History

Answer: Congregationalists

A group of Congregationalists from New England arrived in the islands in 1820 and soon had converted some of the prominent members of the royal class. Other Christian denominations also made their way to Hawaii and left their mark on the islands. The saga of the early missionaries was popularized by James Michener in his book, "Hawaii".

From Quiz Hawaiian Politics

Answer: 2

Only Senator Hiram Fong (1959-1977) and Congresswoman Patricia Saiki (1987-91).

From Quiz Sailing to the Sandwich Islands

Answer: Sugar

In addition to sugar, rice was also given duty-free import status, but it was sugar that was far more crucial. Americans began investing in sugar plantations and Hawaii saw an increase in immigrants from Asia. Although it was not part of the formal act, in return the U.S. received Pearl Harbor and other lands when the U.S. demanded them for naval reasons.

From Quiz Hawaii

Answer: William McKinley

On July 7, 1898, William McKinley signed the resolution making Hawaii a U.S. territory.

From Quiz Hawaiian History

Answer: Kapu

Kapu was similar to the concept of taboo common to other Polynesian cultures and it governed many facets of everyday life. For example, men and women were forbidden to eat meals together. Breaking a kapu could result in a sentence of death. Around 1819, King Kamehameha II abolished the kapu customs.

From Quiz Hawaiian Politics

Answer: Hiram Fong

Fong was elected in 1959. Dalip Singh Saund, who represented California, was the first Asian-American to serve in the U.S. Congress; he was elected to the House three years earlier, in 1956. Inouye became Hawaii's first member of the House of Representatives in 1959 and later, became the first Japanese-American in the U.S. Senate (Fong was Chinese-American). Patsy Mink, elected in 1964, was the first Asian-American woman to serve in Congress.

From Quiz Sailing to the Sandwich Islands

Answer: Enforced voting restrictions

White Americans living in Hawaii constituted a minority, but a powerful minority. They opposed King David Kalakaua's spending which saw the islands fall into severe debt. The Bayonet Constitution essentially ceded power to the Americans as well as the Europeans living there and a few wealthy native Hawaiians. Voting was mostly restricted to whites who then controlled elections and appointments. One of the key leaders of the effort to oust the king was Sanford Dole, cousin to James Dole who founded the Dole Pineapple Company.

From Quiz Hawaii

Answer: Newlands Resolution

The Newlands Resolution was named after U.S. Congressman Francis G. Newlands. The resolution was approved on July 4, 1898 and signed by President William McKinley on July 7, 1898.

From Quiz Hawaiian History

Answer: A land redistribution act which abolished the old feudal system

Prior to 1848, when the Great Mahele was enacted, lands belonged to chiefs on behalf of the king in a feudal system. There was no private ownership of land. This act was one many of the reforms made by King Kamehameha III and allowed commoners and foreigners to own land.

From Quiz Hawaiian Politics

Answer: Patsy Mink

Mink's 1972 Democratic primary candidacy was brief but spirited. Fong ran as a "favorite son" candidate for the Republican nomination in 1964 and 1968. Tom Gill, like Mink an opponent of the Vietnam War, ran an insurgent campaign for Governor in 1970, but was defeated.

From Quiz Sailing to the Sandwich Islands

Answer: Liliuokalani

Liliuokalani was the sister of King David Kalakaua. She immediately tried a compromise constitution that restored power to the monarchy but kept the voting restrictions in place. Almost immediately, the powerful American/European minority rejected her and appealed to the U.S. for formal annexation. She was eventually arrested in 1895 after a failed attempt to drive out the U.S. military. She was sentenced to hard labor but spent years imprisoned in Iolani Palace, where she wrote some of her famous Hawaiian love songs.

From Quiz Hawaii

Answer: Pearl Harbor

The answer of course is Pearl Harbor. The Act of 13 May 1908 authorized the expansion and dredging of Pearl Harbor's channel and lochs in order to be able to accommodate the largest ships of the U.S. fleet. The act also authorized building of more shops and supply houses for the Navy Yard and construction of a dry dock.

This is category 18129

= Top 5% Rated Quiz, Top 10% Rated Quiz, Top 20% Rated Quiz, A Well Rated Quiz
= added recently, = Editor's Pick = FunTrivia Editor = Gold Member
Teachers / educators: FunTrivia welcomes the use of our website and quizzes in the classroom as a teaching aid or for preparing and testing students. See our education section. Our quizzes are printable and may be used as question sheets by k-12 teachers, parents, and home schoolers.

 ·  All questions, answers, and quiz content on this website is copyright FunTrivia, Inc and may not be reproduced without permission. Any images from TV shows and movies are copyright their studios, and are being used under "fair use" for commentary and education.