The part of this discussion that addresses the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy has focused on the state of Hawaiian culture in the late 1700's. The overthrow occurred in 1893. What matters in terms of international law is the state of international law at the time of the overthrow, not a century before, and not centuries before when other nations were annexed and conquered.
International law evolves. Hawai'i had a legal constitution, recognized around the world as legitimate -- and in 1893 it was not considered righteous to grab control of a nation with which one had sworn treaties, and so forth.
While I'm sure that the film Princess Kaiulani has its flaws and historical inaccuracies, it's not a bad thing to watch to take the images of warriors brandishing clubs out of your heads. The heir to the Hawaiian throne had an impeccable education.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victoria_Ka%27iulani
There was nothing fair and square or honest about what the sugar barons did. Greed and might prevailed over the values of culture and civilization, and what was done was illegal under the laws of that time.
Wherever the Hawaiians had originated, they had a valid government. There was a very definite legal system that governed succession, and it was not based on percentage of Hawaiian blood, but rather by line of descent and as laid out in the Hawaiian Constitution. Princess Kaiulani's father was Scottish, but she was still the heir to the throne after Liliu'okalani.
The coup stripped voting rights from those who were not landed aristocracy, and gave the vote to European and American non-citizens of the Kingdom of Hawai'i. Considering all that I've heard from this group about the Constitution and rights, it is interesting how people condone this because it happened to someone else. If your people had been disenfranchised like that in the time of your grandfather of great-grandfather, most of you would probably still be sore about it.
Also, it was not just the Native Hawaiians who lost the right to vote. It was all non-white ethnicities who were not fortunate enough to own land, which made the annexed Territory of Hawai'i a considerable step backwards in terms of suffrage -- not only from the Hawaiian Constitution but also relative to the American Constitution of that time.
To sum up, those who supported the Hawaiian Kingdom at the time of the overthrow, were not supporting some nostalgic reversion to the days where people didn't wear clothes and lived under the heavy-handed thumb of the Ali'i. They were supporting a Constitutional Monarchy that was trying to revise the Constitution after the Bayonet Constitution was forced on Kalakaua. While I am sure it was not a perfect government, what is? The point is that it was not a case of the Americans taking over because the Hawaiians were unable to step up to the standard of 20th century civilization.
At the age of 18, Kaiulani released these statements to the press:
quote:
"Four years ago, at the request of Mr. Thurston, then a Hawaiian Cabinet Minister, I was sent away to England to be educated privately and fitted to the position which by the constitution of Hawaii I was to inherit. For all these years, I have patiently and in exile striven to fit myself for my return this year to my native country. I am now told that Mr. Thurston will be in Washington asking you to take away my flag and my throne. No one tells me even this officially. Have I done anything wrong that this wrong should be done to me and my people? I am coming to Washington to plead for my throne, my nation and my flag. Will not the great American people hear me?
(on arriving to the U.S. mainland)
"Seventy years ago Christian America sent over Christian men and women to give religion and civilization to Hawai#699;i. Today, three of the sons of those missionaries are at your capitol asking you to undo their father’s work. Who sent them? Who gave them the authority to break the Constitution which they swore they would uphold? Today, I, a poor weak girl with not one of my people with me and all these ‘Hawaiian’ statesmen against me, have strength to stand up for the rights of my people. Even now I can hear their wail in my heart and it gives me strength and courage and I am strong - strong in the faith of God, strong in the knowledge that I am right, strong in the strength of seventy million people who in this free land will hear my cry and will refuse to let their flag cover dishonor to mine!"
Most likely, the Hawaiian nation can't be put back together again, but I certainly can't be proud of what was done.