Kingdom of Hawaï'i

The Hawaiian Kingdom, also known as the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi (Hawaiian: Ke Aupuni Hawaiʻi [kɛ ɐwˈpuni həˈvɐjʔi]), was an archipelagic country from 1795 to 1893, which eventually encompassed all of the inhabited Hawaiian Islands. It was established in 1795 when Kamehameha I, then Aliʻi nui of Hawaii, conquered the islands of Oʻahu, Maui, Molokaʻi, and Lānaʻi, and unified them under one government. In 1810, the Hawaiian Islands were fully unified when the islands of Kauaʻi and Niʻihau voluntarily joined the Hawaiian Kingdom. Two major dynastic families ruled the kingdom, the House of Kamehameha and the House of Kalākaua. The kingdom subsequently gained diplomatic recognition from European powers and the United States. An influx of European and American explorers, traders, and.