Changes

Throughout the early half of the 20th century, Hawaii was dominated by major sugercane companies. The Republican party mostly ran the state government and held power during this time. The military, particularly the navy, saw Hawaii as critical to western Western defenses of the US. After the attack on Pearl Harbor that brought the US into World War II, Japanese Americans, who made-up a much larger percentage of residents in Hawaii relative to other states, avoided being interned, mainly due to their large numbers. Hawaii saw a large influx of soldiers during World War II as it was used as the launching grounds for the US to attack the Japanese Empire. Interestingly, the most decorated US unit in World War II, for its size, the 442nd Regimental Combat Team was mainly composed of Japanese-Americans who fought mainly in Europe. In 1952, the Democratic Party became the most powerful political force on the islands, paving the way for industrial strikes and labor movements that weakened the sugercane plantations. By this stage, the Democrats made many appeals for statehood and in 1959 Eisenhower signed the Hawaii Admission Act to allow Hawaii to become the 50th state. The vote was preceded by a referendum in which 93% of the population had wanted statehood for the islands. During the 1960s, there was renewed interest in Hawaiian culture and language as many on the islands saw the nature in which Hawaii became a US territory as illegal. In 1993, President Clinton signed the "Apology Resolution" to formally apologize to 'Native Hawaiians on behalf of the people of the United States for the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii on January 17, 1893...and the deprivation of the rights of Native Hawaiians to self-determination.'