Nation Within

"Nation Within is a refreshing new look at a Hawai‘i known to most Americans for Pearl Harbor and beautiful beaches. This book gives us the untold story, the history we were not given in school, placing Hawai‘i inside the larger picture of U.S. expansion into the Pacific. What we learn is sobering and fascinating." — Howard Zinn, author of A People's History of the United States

"The story of how Hawai‘i lost its independence and was annexed to the United States is as fascinating and important as it is unknown. Nation Within is a passionate and deeply researched account of this tragedy. It is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand how the United States became what it is today." — Stephen Kinzer, author of Overthrow: America's Century of Regime Change from Hawaii to Iraq

"This book raises important and still unresolved issues about the annexation of Hawai‘i by the United States, explaining that the U.S. Senate would not approve the proposed treaty of annexation, that virtually all Native Hawaiians opposed annexation, and that the ultimate procedure used—a joint resolution passed by a simple majority of both chambers of Congress—was controversial at the time and was questioned by constitutional scholars in the decades that followed. Nation Within is much livelier than the usual history book, but also much more detailed, carefully researched, and thoughtful than most journalism." — Jon M. Van Dyke, Professor of Constitutional Law, University of Hawai‘i, author of Who Owns the Crown Lands of Hawai‘i?

"No one has taken the time to explicitly search out the relationships between and among Americans who stole our independence with as much tenaciousness and perspicacity as Nation Within. Even better is [Tom Coffman's] exemplary analysis of how the Japanese threat to the Islands was essentially created by confused and greed-inspired policies in the republic and outright deception at the U.S. State Department level. . . . But what I found most valuable about this work was his portrayal of the republic as an opportunistic masquerade of democratic ideals that swindled an entire nation of its inheritance. In no other history that I've seen is the cynical and manipulative nature of annexation so clearly displayed. His ironic recounting of how voting under the republic was to be constructed in such a way as to adopt all of the finest traditions of the Jim Crow South tells us all we need to know about the nature of the government that surrendered that nation of Hawai'i to the United States. . . . [Coffman's] analysis of Lili'uokalani's leadership is sensitive and perceptive. . . . To this date I have not seen a more believable analysis of the queen's leadership, nor a more compelling analysis of the failure of President Cleveland's leadership in the end." — Jon Kamakawiwo'ole Osorio author of Dismembering Lahui: A History of the Hawaiian Nation to 1887

"Written with power and clarity, Nation Within narrates a history of dispossession but also of complicity and resistance. It correctly situates Hawai‘i's annexation within the global context of U.S. imperialism; it insightfully points out that the nation was never completely extinguished because Hawai‘i continues to stir within the hearts of the Hawaiian people." — Gary Y. Okihiro, author of Island World: A History of Hawai‘i and the United States

"As a historian, Tom has done a tremendous job in revealing the events and circumstances that led to the illegal overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom government in 1893. More importantly, however, he unveils how the Queen and Hawaiian subjects were politically and legally astute and were able to organize themselves, in the aftermath of the overthrow, into a formidable political force that prevented the annexation of the country by treaty. While they succeeded in preventing the U.S. Senate from ratifying two attempts to annex the country by treaty, they were unable to prevent the U.S. Congress from unilaterally enacting a joint resolution of annexation (in the heat of the Spanish-American War) that served as the basis to illegally seize and occupy the nation of Hawai'i for military purposes—an occupation that is now over a century long." — Keanu Sai, Political Scientist

"A far-reaching treasure hunt for long-buried facts, revealing for the first time the full array of events and shifting international forces that led to the overthrow and annexation of the Kingdom of Hawaii. . . . [N]ot to be missed." — Herb Kawainui Kane, artist/historian, author of Ancient Hawaii

"Nation Within is the most original and best researched account I know on the U.S. annexation of Hawaii—and the Hawaiians' opposition, then and now, to that annexation. The story is compelling for many reasons, not least the Hawaiians' trust that the American democratic process would protect their independence and their lands." — Walter LaFeber, Cornell University, author of The New Empire: An Interpretation of American Expansion, 1860–1898

"All Americans who wish to understand how and why the United States annexed Hawai‘i in 1898 should read this book. Tom Coffman has forever dispelled the commonly held belief that annexation was a benign and inevitable process of self-determination. Readers of Nation Within also will come to understand why Native Hawaiians today seek justice and reconciliation from an American government that usurped and destroyed their national sovereignty a century ago." — Edward P. Crapol, Professor of History, College of William and Mary