Hawaiian by Birth

2018 Sally and Ken Owens Award from the Western History Association Twelve companies of American missionaries were sent to the Hawaiian Islands between 1819 and 1848 with the goal of spreading American Christianity and New England values. By the 1850s American missionary families in the islands had birthed more than 250 white children, considered Hawaiian subjects by the indigenous monarchy but U.S. citizens by missionary parents. In Hawaiian by Birth Joy Schulz explores the tensions among the competing parental, cultural, and educational interests affecting these children and, in turn, the impact the children had on nineteenth-century U.S. foreign policy. These children of white missionaries would eventually alienate themselves from the Hawaiian monarchy and indigenous population by securing disproportionate economic and political power. Their childhoods—complicated by both Hawaiian and American influences—led to significant political and international ramifications once the children reached adulthood. Almost none chose to follow their parents into the missionary profession, and many rejected the Christian faith. Almost all supported the annexation of Hawai‘i despite their parents’ hope that the islands would remain independent. Whether the missionary children moved to the U.S. mainland, stayed in the islands, or traveled the world, they took with them a sense of racial privilege and cultural superiority. Schulz adds children’s voices to the historical record with this first comprehensive study of the white children born in the Hawaiian Islands between 1820 and 1850 and their path toward political revolution.  

"A compelling and thought-provoking study of nineteenth-century American missionary children in Hawai‘i—the generation that orchestrated the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy and annexation to the United States. While the political story has been told, Joy Schulz adds considerably to our understanding of the social and cultural milieu of settler children who came to see the islands of their birth as their birthright. Hawaiian By Birth underscores the importance of family relations and generational difference to understanding the complexities of American empire. Clearly and concisely written, the book is well suited for classroom use."—Seth Archer, Western Historical Quarterly, "A thoughtful treatment fusing the study of childhood with imperialism."—Choice, "Both general reader and scholar will benefit from reading Schulz’s excellent contribution to the study of 19th century Hawaiian history and the role the children of white missionaries played in shaping it."—Reading Religion, "Schulz's child-centric approach is methodologically invigorating, and her interweaving of social and political events and trends with interpersonal emotions and tensions is a valuable contribution. In taking children seriously as historical figures, she gives them agency while also providing a much fuller consideration of mission colonialism in the Pacific. Hers is an engaging and persuasive reminder to take the history of children and childhood seriously. . . . Strong primary-source research and an engaging writing style make this book a valuable contribution to scholars of American relations with Hawai'i."—Emily J. Manktelow, Journal of Pacific History, "In Hawaiian by Birth, Joy Schulz sheds new light on a remarkable group of individuals: the children of the first Christian missionaries in the Hawaiian Islands. Much has been written about the missionaries (who radically transformed the islands in the early to mid-1800s), but less has been written about their children."—Clifford Putney, Journal of the History of Childhood and Youth

Joy Schulz is a member of the history faculty at Metropolitan Community College in Omaha.