The UC Santa Barbara Undergraduate Journal of History

Unprecedented events and circumstances allowed for Protestant missionaries to gain significant Hawaiian Government access within just a few years of their arrival in Hawaii. These events include the death of King Kamehameha I, the dissolution of the traditional Hawaiian religious system in 1819, and successful interactions by missionaries with the monarchy of the Islands. Within just a few decades, Hawaii was transformed by the missionaries in almost every way possible; government structures changed, Protestant Christianity flourished, literacy rates soared, and international interactions increased. In past literature, authors have often characterized the missionaries as successful victors who used their wit and strength to conquer the hearts and attentions of the Hawaiian Monarchs and their people. In this telling, it feels that the quick spread of Christianity was inevitable. On the other hand, more recent literature has portrayed the missionaries as villains, and the Monarchs as victims. This research highlights the unusual circumstances that allowed the missionaries to succeed in a moment of so-called weakness. This paper will show how the missionaries and the monarchy worked together for mutual interest. It will explain how the missionaries and the monarchy were both active players, trying to promote their own interests but also working together in genuine friendship and mutual respect at times. The monarchy was not passive, they deliberated the costs and benefits of allowing for missionary influence in Hawaii.