We Are Not Americans: The Americanization of the Hawaiian Kingdom Nathand Carter English Honors/ US History 102 Hou/ Barclay May 23, 2014
Carter 1 The story of Hawaii is one of invaders, from the first Polynesians who came ashore around 200 A.D, to the Haoles, or foreigners, who vacation at the Islands in the present. The Ancient Hawaiians, who were truly the first invaders, founded a society based on respect, loyalty, and dedication to preservation. Hawaiian society was functional and well balanced; everyone from the high chiefs to the lowest slaves had a strong sense of camaraderie and responsibility for each other as well as the world around them. These strong ties between Hawaiians, coupled with the strict observation of responsibilities instilled by law, allowed Hawaiian culture to thrive and survive completely intact for over 1,500 years. However, in the late 1770s, explorers came to the Islands, most of which only used the Islands as a midway, but by the early 1800s, America took interest in the Islands. At first, the Islands were simply a land that needed to be civilized and saved from a pagan doom, so America sent hundreds of missionaries to spread Christianity to the Islands. However, as time went on, the Americans took interest in Hawaii as more than an uncivilized Eden. In accordance with Manifest Destiny, the industrial revolution, and expansionist ideals growing in the United States, American businesses began to take root in Hawaii, spreading their influence over the Islands. The Implementation of American culture and values, from Congregationalism to Industrialism resulted in traditional Hawaiian society becoming distorted and reshaped to parallel American culture. At 2,000 miles from the nearest continent, the Hawaiian Island Chain is the most geographically isolated place in the world, and yet, from those Islands sprang one of the most effective and interesting cultures to date. Nearly 2,000 years ago, around the time that Constantine ruled the Roman Empire, Polynesian explorers traveled with their families over 3,500 miles in long canoes over the vast North Pacific, they eventually landed in the strange, new Islands that they called Hawai i. At that time, no one had ever heard of, nor seen Hawaii,
Carter 2 and the island chain had no mammal predators, an incredibly stable ecosystem, and to the early Polynesians, Hawaii was a paradise ripe for living in. At first glance, such a beautiful island was simply that: a beautiful paradise, but upon arrival and after multiple villages sprang up, the explorers discovered a terrifying reality: the Islands were unpredictable volcanoes. A religion sprang up around the fear of the fire goddess Pele; It was the apex of Hawaiian society, everything revolved around respect for the goddess. It formed a hierarchical system in which high chiefs, or ali i nui, reigned over each island, and through them the peasants could give Pele her respect by being obedient and respectful to ali i nui in the effort to wave off volcanic eruptions. The chiefs commanded the people, placing kapu on activities deemed dangerous, such as overfishing and over-cultivating sugar so as to preserve the environment and allow a continuous abundance of food throughout the Islands. Through the method of kapu, the Hawaiians were able to preserve their island for over 1,580 years: they were untouched by disease, free from corrupt government, and aside from the brutally enforced laws, the Hawaiian society was one that worked incredibly well (Daw). The people, including chiefs and high chiefs, understood that they had to follow their laws and regulate their actions; otherwise they would ruin not only their islands, but their lives. This respect for the land and each other was deeply rooted in Hawaiian society from the start; people on the Islands took care of their communities, including families, friends, and the environment around them. However, it was not just common sense to respect and take care of their surroundings; at any time, night or day, Pele was able to rain fire from her volcanoes, and for that reason, Hawaiians were constantly under a set of laws called the kapu, which in English is synonymous to restriction or quarantine (Siler). The separate high chiefs of each island initiated such kapu; they restricted everything the ancient Hawaiians did, but it was for a
Carter 3 beneficial reason. The ali i nui had a big responsibility to protect and care for their people and the Islands, and the peasants understood and accepted it throughout each island. However, sporadic warfare between the eight populated islands prevented unification. Although warfare persisted relatively often among the islands, war was regulated by the ali i nui, whether it was a tactful choice or not, ali i nui would call off a war after a few months because they genuinely cared for their people, and sustained warfare was known to be deleterious to the resources of each island, so war was viewed as competition more often than as conquest (Lee). Although considered a primitive race by westerners, the Hawaiians were not savages, nor were they stupid. They built lavish irrigation systems, enormous stone temples, and actual breakwater systems. The Hawaiians even dabbled in science astronomers could identify over a hundred stars, and navigators plot[ted] course[s] by them far into the Pacific (Lee 8). They had Botanists who could classify nearly every plant and tree on the island, zoologists, and most importantly, historians and genealogists who went into incredible amounts of detail to make sure that proper histories were retained and passed on to future generations. The preservation of history was essential to the Hawaiians, however, before the first missionaries came, their language was purely oral, but masters of song, or haku mele were able to memorize songs and poems to speak and sing to the people so that every Hawaiian knew their true history. However, in 1778, one piece of history was about to be made in the islands that the Hawaiians would never forget. Captain Cook, an Englishman who spent time in the American colonies, set sail looking for the Northwest Passage, a legendary route to china, only to discover the Hawaiian Islands; his presence lead to the first fights between the western world, and the Hawaiian Kingdom. On January 18, 1778, two years after Cook embarked from New England with his ships the Discovery and Resolution, Cook discovered the islands of Kauai, Oahu, and Niihau. Upon his
Carter 4 arrival to Kauai, incredibly hospitable indigenous people peasant Hawaiians, greeted his ship the Resolution. The Hawaiians came out to the enormous ship on canoes, where Europeans and Hawaiians bartered iron and other metal for live animals and various food products. Cook then left Hawaii a few weeks after he arrived, so that he could continue looking for a northwest passage, but failed. Discouraged by the time he got to the Bering straight, he returned to Hawaii in 1779. His return to Hawaii was more impressive than his previous arrival. He arrived at Maui s Kealakekua Bay in January of that year, to be greeted by thousands of Hawaiians. Cook wrote: The inhabitants on January 17 th began to come off from all parts so that before 10 o clock there were not less than a thousand about the two Ships, most of them filled with people, hogs and other productions of the Island. Not a man had with him a Weapon of any sort, Trade and curiosity alone brought them off (Daws 10). Cook had come to a new world in which the people were not accustomed to outsiders; they were at first fast friends with the explorers, but soon, after consistently stealing from the whites, the explorers came to mistrust the Hawaiians. After about three weeks, fighting broke out between the haoles and the Natives, such fighting resulted in Cook s death as well as the brutal murder of numerous Hawaiians by Cook s vengeful crew. The crew set fire to Hawaii s Kealakekua Bay villages on February 14 th, 1779 as they left, killing even more Hawaiians and scorching the surrounding area: a metaphor to the destruction future Westerners would wreak on the islands in the years to come. Kamehameha I was originally a warrior ali i nui who realized that the weapons used at Kealakekua Bay could completely transform Hawaiian warfare, and as an extent, the islands. Europeans started using the Islands in 1785 as a midway point between the Northwest coast of America and the Chinese port city of Canton (among other cities), and by 1790, hundreds of Europeans came and went from Hawaii, not staying for long, usually. These European sailors
Carter 5 brought with them iron, copper, and guns; from cannons to muskets, Hawaiians were able to persuade the Europeans to trade them weapons and metal for food. Kamehameha I captured an American battleship called, ironically, the Fair American as well as two skilled Sailors: Isaac Davis and John Young, to advise his army on how to use the newly captured weapons. He then used the weapons to conquer other Islands, first he took Hawaii, then moved on to Maui, then Oahu, and finally, in 1810, Kauai. Within 20 years, Kamehameha had used the acquired American ship, weapons and sailor-advisors to completely unify all of Hawaii. He established himself as the all-powerful king of Hawaii and started the first and only Hawaiian dynasty. This was the first major change in the Hawaiian Islands in its 1,750-year history: unification. The separate Islands had always been sovereign, and although they periodically warred with each other, the Hawaiian Islands always had peace and prosperity. But with the unification of the islands, various things had to change: beginning with ancient traditions, especially religious ones. In 1819, Kamehameha I was succeed by his son, Kamehameha II, who immediately abolished all ancient traditions of religion. This act was a result of his contact with foreigners; it was destroying [his] confidence in the gods and kahunas (priests, magicians) [He] could not miss observing how traders ignored or defied Hawaiian gods and not only survived but prospered (Lee 53). Among these traders were the Americans, a new, free race of men who were quickly taking to the sea. Kamehameha felt pressured by not only his people, but the onslaught of Americans, to redesign their traditional beliefs to fit the haoles ideal image of a society. Some Hawaiian men even went among the haoles to travel to their civilized worlds; among these men was a Hawaiian named Opukaha ia. Opukaha ia boarded an American ship in 1809, desiring to learn the customs of the white men.
Carter 6 Opukaha ia was to be the driving force of the American Missionaries; he was the first in a procession of curious Hawaiians who left the Islands to adopt American Ideologies. He arrived in New Haven, Massachusetts and was greeted by a priest and scholar named Timothy Dwight, who taught him how to read, write, and more importantly, understand the bible from a Calvinist perspective, so that one day he could return to Hawaii to take down the wooden idols and put em in a fire, burn em up (Vowell 29). He, and multiple other Hawaiians similar to him, came to believe that they had a holy mission for Hawaii, and they became devoted to translating the Bible into Hawaiian, and teaching other migrant Hawaiians its laws, Opukaha ia was simply the first and the most impressive of the lot, he then changed his name to Henry Obookiah to emulate his angelic brethren. Timothy Dwight proposed to the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, or ABCFM that Obookiah be sent back to reclaim his own countrymen, and that Christian mission accompany him (Vowell 30). Dwight and his colleagues began to devise a plan for the Salvation of Hawaii; they desired to aim at nothing short of covering those islands with fruitful fields and pleasant dwellings, and schools and churches; of raising up the whole people to an elevated state of Christian civilization (Vowell 46). Obookiah suddenly died in 1818, but his surprising death caused the ABCFM to rush to find funds to fulfill his holy mission to deliver Christianity to his people. The ABCFM then funded a small party of American Calvinist Missionaries; they gave them a ship called the Thaddeus and a few Hawaiians similar to Obookiah who had learned the ways of the Christians, in the hopes that when they arrived, the Missionaries could spread Christianity more effectively than if they went without native knowledge. The American Missionaries arrived March 30, 1820; a year after Kamehameha II had already burned up all the Hawaiian idols, destroyed temples, and killed off nearly all the kahuna:
Carter 7 as a result, one part of the missionaries work had been completed, but much work still had to be done. The missionaries still believed the Hawaiians had to be civilized as well as saved from their savage, sinful ways; and that they would stop at nothing to help those poor, savage souls (Daws). Early 1800s America had a heavy focus on Christianity, but the state and the church were separate. However, a certain group of theses Christians, namely the Calvinist Christians aboard the Thaddeus, believed in abiding by Christian principle in every aspect of daily life; from waking up, to sleeping, they believed everything must be done to benefit God. They brought over this belief to the Hawaiian Islands so that they could save the Hawaiians. From the moment the Missionaries came into Kealakekua Bay, they used the Gospel as a civilizing instrument, and Hawaiian civilization would be Christian civilization, (Daws 62) in accordance with their ideal Calvinist society. They presented their new religion to Kamehameha II, however, the king realized that the new religion, if allowed to stay long, could potentially be very upsetting to the kingdom because of its new customs and ideology (Vowell). However, John Young (the American who was captured by Kamehameha I and used as an adviser for military purposes) was able to persuade the king to let the missionaries stay for a trial period of one year to see how effective or necessary the missionaries might be to the Islands. He claimed: the old religion is dead. Let the visitors bring in a live one. The people and the kingdom will surely benefit (Lee 64). After over 30 years of being in contact with, and repelling western influence (including Russia during The War of 1812), the Kingdom of Hawaii allowed the small group of seemingly harmless missionaries to put their foot in the door of their sovereign nation. The religious revolution caused by Kamehameha II sparked a desire in the population of Hawaii to pursue a new religion to take up their lives, and in numerous ways, the Calvinist form of Christianity paralleled Ancient Hawaiian religion, making it easier to adapt to the new ways.
Carter 8 Therefore allowing the Hawaiians to become more comfortable and trustworthy of the Americans. Calvinism was an intense form of Christianity: it was a seven-day-a-week faith, with emphasis on the Sabbath this was the religion, with its political accent, that was to be transplanted to Hawaii (Lee 56). Such thou-shalt-not attitude was quickly transplanted into the hearts and minds of the Hawaiians, the Americans had the advantage of teaching a people who intently desired a new religion, and as that trial-year went on, old traditions were simply reshaped to fit new ones. Christian ideals such as charity, love, and unselfishness were incredibly similar to Ancient Hawaiian beliefs; from the start, the taboos of the bible seemed to hold an appeal among commoners that the taboos of their priests had never acquired (Lee 65). Prayer to one god instead of the multiple gods of Ancient Hawaii was emphasized as well as the practice of wearing clothes, eating with women, and going to church on Sundays; such activities were easily implanted into daily tradition. Clearly, the missionaries proved to be indispensible to the islands, and after the first year, more and more Americans came to the islands to reinforce the small army of Missionaries to extend their influence to the entirety of the country. American Priests known to the Natives as Makua. Or Father, extended the light of salvation to thousands and tens of thousands; turned what had been strictly an oral tongue into a written language, they had translated the Bible into Hawaiian, which they had also turned into a 12-letter language, and had built hundreds of churches and schools (Lee 66). They had established themselves firmly on the island and were inviting more Americans to come to the islands to help their cause. One of the most important missionaries was Titus Coan, a reinforcement of the late 20s, he traversed the entirety of the islands: crossing deadly rivers and crashing through unfamiliar jungle to reach remote communities and establish his biblical teachings. He was one of the main reasons why
Carter 9 Christianity expanded over the Islands as effectively as it did: he ordered stone and imported wooden homes to be built; the royal Chapel of Honolulu was constructed, and sanctuaries were made available to thousands of Native Hawaiians. More than 150 missionaries like Coan came to the islands between 1820 and 1863, costing the ABCFM over 1 million dollars, so that in 1863, it cut off its funding of the missions because the church was then able to sustain itself. That year, the ABCFM declared Hawaii to have been effectively Christianized (Lee) according to 1810s ideals. It is important to understand that the Missions in the Hawaiian Kingdom had been founded in part by outdated ideologies, and that by the 1860s, America was rapidly progressing into a new era, where the old Hawaiian ways were no longer necessary. As a result, yet another fundamental change had been in the works in Hawaii since the inception of the Hawaiian democratic constitution in 1840, and without the support of the ABCFM as an incentive to stay true to the original American Mission, the missionaries began to turn to other businesses to spread influence over the Islands. By the late 1830s and early 1840s, there were dozens of missionaries and missionary families who had been on the islands for over two decades: but with most of their original work done, they began to realize that they could start making money and helping themselves. To supplement incredibly small and otherwise insignificant salaries, a vast majority of missionary families began turning to outside enterprise to attain more money. The missionaries experimented with raising sugar cane, surveying, growing coffee, and various other plantationrelated ventures to bulk up their purses. According to the new Hawaiian church, If a church were to be self-supporting the community had to be self-supporting first (Lee 78). As a result, the church actually started to support the founding of small plantations, and it gradually allowed
Carter 10 them to grow, all so that the church might grow as well. When in reality, it was just so that the missionaries could gain extra money. Father Bond, a pastor in Kohala started a small sugar plantation, which at first was meager, but quickly grew in size due to the growing demand for sugar in almost every major country. In Father Bond s case, his profit actually went to his local church, which revived his community and brought Hawaiians in his area of influence together under the house of god. He bought wood and aid to build newer, more civilized places of residence, and then broke away from the ABCFM system of churches that had been controlling all churches of the islands for the past 20 years. Other churches throughout the islands saw Bond s success and quickly began to follow in his example, however, with the rise of 60s and 70s ideals, business and money making men of the islands began to turn away from the church and focus only on themselves. As churches started to promote these now large plantations, exponential amounts of revenue began to stream into Hawaii, and as private revenue increased, so did the speed of modernization in the islands. Modernization was not just the construction of buildings; it was also the change of ideology from Congregationalist America to Industrialist America. As a result of the change in America, Hawaii was influenced to do the same; changing from a neo- Congregationalist (or staunch Christian) society into an Industrialist one. The Americans cultivated food such as bananas, pineapples, and sugar, clearing out ancient forests to make way for their plantations, they then sold their exotic produce to sailors of all countries, with which money they expanded their capitalist empires. Of course, no American wanted their hands to be dirtied, so they used Hawaiians as their tools: they put them to work doing back-breaking labor in the fields, and then justified it by saying it was what god had told them to do. Thus using the deeply rooted Christian ideals of obedience and hard work set in place by the missionaries to the
Carter 11 advantage of the Industrialists. With the new idea of social Darwinism, the Americans convinced the Hawaiians that it was their natural place to be under the white men. The Americans had already succeeded in Civilizing the Hawaiians by dehumanizing them, claiming that they were an inferior race. The missionaries had completed the process of cultural genocide within a few decades by making the Hawaiians ashamed of being Hawaiian (Gray 39). So by the time of the industrial revolution in America, they were given non-religious justification for suppressing the Native Hawaiians, and because the Hawaiians were respectful and kind people, they became susceptible to manipulation. The American plantation owners, now the second or third generation of Americans, had become manipulated by money and power, and began to do whatever necessary to sustain their influence. They became heavily invested in Hawaiian politics, manipulating every aspect of Hawaii to increase their profits. However, Trade between China and America intensified, resulting in increased international trade and the use of Hawaii as a midway between the United States and China. This influx in trade lead to potential threats of takeover by larger countries, and because Hawaii was incredibly weak and susceptible to attack, the American Hawaiians realized that they would lose all their business should a foreign country control the islands. The Hawaiian government allowed a free environment for business on the Islands, one in which the people were allowed to be manipulated in the effort to increase profit. In the event that the Kingdom would be taken over by another country, this freedom would be suppressed by regulation. So who better to turn to than the United States for protection from other countries? The U.S was already corrupt with little regulation, and if the Hawaiian Kingdom agreed to reciprocity with America, the planters would be unaffected in terms of production. Realizing this, the planters used their influence in the government to effectively persuade Kamehameha IV to turn his back
Carter 12 on statehood negotiation, he then gave the Americans what they wanted America s navy was to have the use of the Pearl River Lagoon (Pearl Harbor) and the sugar planters were to have tariff-free access to the American sugar market (Coffman 59). Both Hawaiian Americans as well as mainland Americans attained what they wanted through reciprocity: Hawaii stayed an independent nation, subliminally controlled by powerful American planters, and protected by the American Navy. But to say that Hawaii was actually independent by the 70s would be an inaccurate statement. Americans controlled the government, and as a result, they also controlled the people. They pulled the strings on what happened in a political sense; the king was simply the puppet, which betrayed the very idea of the king, a man who was supposed to be the father, leader, and caretaker of his country. Kamehameha died in 1872, his successor then died in 1874; the Kingdom had no king for a while, so the Queen had to step in to take his place, the new Hawaiian society accepted Lili uokalani and slowly began to love her and her new way of ruling. Lili uokalani was a very traditional ruler: she appreciated the way Hawaiian society had used to be, before the arrival of Americans, and so she tried to emulate old tradition. By the late 1870s, and early 1880s, Hawaiians had become subject to consumerism, social Darwinism, and Christianity, with those three ideologies put together, the Native Hawaiians were an incredibly oppressed people. As previously stated, the American missionaries initially set authority over the Hawaiians, teaching them the ways of Christianity, then the Plantation owners built on the ideas of self-sacrifice, hard work, and obedience and applied them into the daily lives of the working Hawaiians. Then with the rise of the industrial revolution, the American ideal of competition came about, causing a deeper rift between Progressive Hawaiians, Passive Hawaiians, and Traditionalist Hawaiians. Progressives adopted the American culture and tried to spread it to other Hawaiians, Passive Hawaiians were more complacent with their situation, and lived their
Carter 13 lives without much resistance. Traditionalist Hawaiians believed in reviving their old heritage, and not allowing Americans to control Hawaii. Lili uokalani was an incredibly Traditionalist Hawaiian, and since she was queen, she had the power to do something with her beliefs. She began reforming the already crippled society of the islands; she gave more power to the people by reaffirming the laws of the Constitution of 1840, which had been misinterpreted frequently in the 70s (Coffman). She paid close attention to the environment, similar to the ali i of ancient Hawaii, and reestablished neo-kapu, or new forms of restriction that limited the amount of planting at certain times of each season to prevent overproduction and deforestation throughout the islands. She forced whalers and fishers to limit their hunting, she even started reforestation projects to help revive Hawaii s devastated forests (Siler). Due to her traditionalist rule, the majority of Americans on the Islands began to worry that her rule might end their power over Hawaii. And the Mainland Americans worried that their Midway point would be lost, and as a result, their control of much of the Pacific would be lost as well. The American planters and businessmen worried that their incomes would lessen because their plantations and investments would be lost to the Kingdom (Coffman). Both parties realized they had to do something about the Queen; otherwise they would no longer have the power they desired. Annexation was the solution to the Americans Problems; it was also the most important act of American control over Hawaii. The American Businessmen persuaded a regiment of American Marines to unofficially invade the island of Oahu on January 17, 1893. They were armed to the teeth with new, modern weapons (Coffman); they marched through the streets of Honolulu, intimidating anyone who thought they might stand a chance of rebelling against them. They marched to Iolani Palace, where Queen Lili uokalani resided, there, she was given the ultimatum to either call on her special reserve of Hawaiian guards to fight against the imposing
Carter 14 army, or surrender her power as Queen of the Hawaiian Kingdom, which would relinquish the sovereignty of Hawaii. She did not wish to have her people s blood spilled, she knew they did not stand a chance, and judging from the actions of the past, rebelling against the Americans would result in the destruction of the remaining Native Hawaiians. So she chose to give up the throne. She called on the United States to undo the actions of its representatives (Chamberlain), but it was in vain; in 1898, she even went to Washington to petition the sovereignty of her homeland, but she was declined once more. Although the coup took place in 1893, it was not until 1898-1900 that the United States officially established Hawaii as a territory of the U.S.A due to the fact that American Legislature did not directly authorize the coup to overthrown the Queen. A provisional government was put in place in 1893, with Sanford Dole, a newcomer to the pineapple business, as the self-declared President of Hawaii. Dole wet on to rebuke several of Lili uokalani s rules, giving power back to the businessmen, so that they could resume their overproduction, exploitation, and other money-making schemes. The switch from Hawaiian to American control over the Islands demolished the hopes of many Hawaiians who had previously believed they could return to their old ways. Once the United States annexed Hawaii in 1898 and officialized annexation in 1900, Hawaii came under the executive rule of the U.S, along with this rule came an influx in Consumerism, Racism, and lack of well being associated with the gilded age, which was amplified on the Islands due to the fact that the Hawaiians no longer had a true identity. In 1898, they had finally been absorbed by the imperialist nation, reducing the Hawaiians, once more, into an insignificant race, reformed and reconstructed according to American beliefs. They were met with violence when they rebelled or spoke out against their new government (Coffman 245) and oppressed by the plantation owners. The Americans were relentless in the takeover of Hawaii, and only until after
Carter 15 statehood in 1959, and many riots afterward, did the U.S apologize for destroying the Kingdom of Hawaii. Still today, even after the 1993 Apology Resolution, the United States retains control over the Hawaiian Kingdom. Hawaii was America s first true Imperialist venture; they had successfully taken over a sovereign country. They took over everything, from its beliefs to its plant life; Hawaii became property of the United States. What first started out as a simple exploration venture turned into a Christian Mission, and through that mission, rules and authority were established over the Hawaiians, allowing America to gain subliminal control over the islands as businessmen, plantation owners, and advisors in the political system. The Americans were successful in taking over the islands by initially rooting their ideologies in Hawaiian society, and when necessary, they had effectively prevented any type of uprising that could potentially question their power; changing Hawaiian society from an effective, powerful, and independent nation into a territory of the United States, and later on, a State of the U.S.A. The Hawaiians had their country, their culture, and their lives taken from them by the United States. And as a result, tension still exists between the U.S and ancestral Hawaiians; a popular phrase is shouted and written on picket signs at statehood anniversary parades: We are not Americans, we are Hawaiians, give us back our Kingdom.
Carter 16 Works Cited Chamberlain, Eugene Tyler. "The Hawaiian Situation: The Invasion of Hawaii." Digital History. Digital History. Web. 09 May 2014. Coffman, Tom. Nation Within: The History of the American Occupation of Hawai'i. Kihei, Hawaiʻi: Koa, 2009. Print. Daws, Gavan. Shoal of Time: A History of the Hawaiian Islands. New York: Macmillan, 1968. Print. Gray, Francine Du Plessix. Hawaii: The Sugar-coated Fortress. New York: Random House, 1972. Print. Lee, W. Storrs. The Islands. N.p.: Holt, Rinehart and Winston of Canada, 1966. Print. Siler, Julia Flynn. Lost Kingdom: Hawaii's Last Queen, the Sugar Kings, and America's First Imperial Adventure. New York: Atlantic Monthly, 2012. Print. Vowell, Sarah. Unfamiliar Fishes. New York: Riverhead, 2011. Print.