Queen Ka`ahumanu Fulfilled the Destiny for Change in Hawaii

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Hawai`i was changed forever after Queen Ka`ahumanu lived from 1768-1832. As a woman in a place where gentlemen took precedence, Ka`ahumanu strived for justice all her life. Her indignant beliefs of the Hawaiian religion that limited her gave her fuel to make change. Jane Silverman, a present-day historian, noted, "There was a hunger in her much deeper; the hunger to control." When she saw the opportunity to be at the top of the kingdom, she seized it without delay. She used her power to influence the Hawaiian people into believing her judgments of the Hawaiian religion. Her first move was to break the system that placed those limits on her. When people from the outside world arrived, she sought their faith to replace those ancient rules. Toward the end of her life, she established formal laws to engrave her ideas into the Hawaiian people and prevent them from reverting back to the Hawaiian ways. Queen Ka`ahumanu contributed to the downfall of Hawaiian society because she dismantled the kapu system, supported the American Christian missionaries, and made a new set of laws that banned many Hawaiian customs.
Throughout her life, Ka`ahumanu was always around power. She was born in 1768 in Hana, Maui to Ke`eaumoku, who was a chief of Kona, and Namahana, whose family reigned on Maui. Her father was a close supporter of King Kamehameha, and gave his daughter to him for marriage at the age of 13. As his favorite wife, Ka`ahumanu helped Kamehameha conquer and govern the islands. Kamehameha described her by saying, "Strong in times of crisis, she can also ride the waves like a bird." When he died in 1819, she was designated kahina nui and given the same authority as the new king, Liholiho. Using her newly assumed power, she advocated for ...

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...might not have been taken over and made one of the fifty states of America. Hawaiian culture might have been conserved better and more present in everyone's lives today. Although it will never be known what would have happened if Queen Ka`ahumanu had not walked on this earth, it is now known that she helped Hawai`i to fulfill its destiny for change.

Works Cited

"Kaahumanu." Encyclopedia Britannica. Encyclopedia Britannica, 2014. Web. 13
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Mellen, Kathleen Dickenson. The Magnificent Matriarch: Kaahumanu Queen of
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Seiden, Allan. Hawaii: The Royal Legacy. Honolulu, Hawaii: Mutual, 1992. Print.

"Wahine O Hawaii." The Hana Hou Series. Holoholo Internet, 1999. Web. 13 Apr.
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