<P> Europeans led by British explorer James Cook arrived in the Hawaiian Islands in 1778 . Within five years, European military technology helped Kamehameha I conquer and unify the islands for the first time, establishing the Kingdom of Hawaii . The kingdom was prosperous and important for its agriculture and strategic location in the Pacific . </P> <P> American immigration began almost immediately after European contact, led by Protestant missionaries . Americans set up plantations to grow sugar . Their methods of plantation farming required substantial labor . Waves of permanent immigrants came from Japan, China and the Philippines to work in the fields . The government of Japan organized and gave special protection to its people, who comprised about 25 percent of the Hawaiian population by 1896 . </P> <P> The native population succumbed to disease brought by the Europeans (particularly smallpox), declining from 300,000 in the 1770s over 60,000 in the 1850s to 24,000 in 1920 . Americans within the kingdom government rewrote the constitution, severely curtailing the power of King "David" Kalākaua, and disenfranchising the rights of most Native Hawaiians and Asian citizens to vote, through excessively high property and income requirements . This gave a sizeable advantage to plantation owners . Queen Liliuokalani attempted to restore royal powers in 1893, but was placed under house arrest by businessmen with help from the US military . Against the Queen's wishes, the Republic of Hawaii was formed for a short time . This government agreed on behalf of Hawaii to join the US in 1898 as the Territory of Hawaii . In 1959, the islands became the state of Hawaii of the United States . </P> <P> The date of the first settlements of the Hawaiian Islands is a topic of continuing debate . Archaeology seems to indicate a settlement as early as 124 AD . Patrick Vinton Kirch's books on Hawaiian archeology, standard textbooks, date the first Polynesian settlements to about 300, with more recent suggestions by Kirch as late as 600 . Other theories suggest dates as late as 700 to 800 . More radical theories have been advanced from high - precision radiocarbon dating that drastically alter the timeline . These theories place the first settlements of Hawaii after 1120 . </P>

Who owned hawaii before it became a state
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