The United States of America was designed to be a federal system comprising a union of independent states bonded together for the betterment of all members. Some states in the Union were European colonies before obtaining statehood or territorial status, while others were American territories.
A few, though, had a more unusual history. Before joining the United States, they existed for a time as independent kingdoms, republics, or self-declared political entities. Their degree of independence and international recognition varied considerably.
Kingdom of Hawaii and the Republic of Hawaii
The Hawaiian Islands were brought largely under the rule of King Kamehameha the Great in 1795. The political unification of the major islands was completed in 1810 when Kauaʻi and Niʻihau accepted Kamehameha’s authority. Honolulu later became the capital of the Hawaiian Kingdom in 1845 and developed into its principal center of government and trade.
The kingdom was recognized by Western powers and maintained diplomatic relations of its own. The United Kingdom and the United States both competed for influence in the Polynesian kingdom while maintaining relations with the Hawaiian monarchy. Hawaii’s flag reflected some of these connections, combining red, white, and blue stripes with the British Union Jack.
During the nineteenth century, Hawaiian political and social institutions became increasingly influenced by Western models. The legislature grew in importance, constitutional government developed, and Western customs became more common among members of the ruling elite.
American influence rose significantly after the Reciprocity Treaty of 1875 expanded trade between Hawaii and the United States. American missionaries, their descendants, and business interests also became increasingly influential in Hawaiian economic and political life.
In 1893, Queen Liliʻuokalani was overthrown by a group that included American and European business interests in Hawaii. Sanford B. Dole became a leading figure in the provisional government. President Benjamin Harrison submitted an annexation treaty to the U.S. Senate, but the newly elected President Grover Cleveland opposed annexation and withdrew the treaty.
The Republic of Hawaii was established in 1894. Five years after the overthrow of the monarchy, the United States annexed Hawaii in 1898. The transfer of sovereignty took place on August 12, 1898. The United States had formally recognized Hawaiian independence decades earlier, making Hawaii one of the clearest examples of an internationally recognized independent country later incorporated into the United States.
During the Republic period, Robert William Wilcox participated in an unsuccessful uprising intended to restore the monarchy. After Hawaii became a U.S. territory, Wilcox was elected as Hawaii’s first congressional delegate and was later succeeded by Prince Jonah Kūhiō Kalanianaʻole, a member of Hawaii’s former royal family who became a Republican politician.
Native Hawaiian sovereignty and the interpretation of Hawaii’s political history remained important issues when this article was originally published in 2008. At that time, Congress was considering the Native Hawaiian Government Reorganization Act, commonly known as the Akaka Bill, which proposed a process for federal recognition of a Native Hawaiian governing entity. The legislation did not ultimately become federal law.
State of Vermont
Ethan Allen and the Green Mountain Boys played an important role in the political and territorial disputes surrounding what became Vermont. Settlers in the region had long faced competing land claims, particularly from New York.
In 1777, representatives declared an independent republic initially known as New Connecticut. The name Vermont was adopted soon afterward. Many residents favored eventual union with the United States, but disputes over the territory delayed admission.
Vermont functioned as an independent republic until the dispute with New York was resolved. It entered the United States on March 4, 1791, becoming the fourteenth state. Vermont entered as a free state, while Kentucky followed as a slave state in 1792.
Republic of Texas
As noted in an earlier post, the struggle in Texas initially involved opposition to the increasingly centralized Mexican government and support for restoring the federal system established under Mexico’s Constitution of 1824. It soon developed into a movement for complete independence from Mexico.
Texas declared independence in 1836 and operated as the Republic of Texas for nearly a decade. Mexico did not recognize Texan independence, and relations between the two remained tense.
Annexation was politically difficult in the United States. Northern opposition was strongly connected to the question of slavery, since many settlers in Texas came from the American South and wanted slavery to remain legal. Texas was eventually annexed and became the twenty-eighth state in 1845.
The annexation agreement is also the source of the famous claim that Texas can divide itself into five states. The wording actually allowed for the possible creation of as many as four additional states from Texas territory, subject to the terms of the congressional resolution. It did not give Texas an unrestricted unilateral power to divide whenever it chooses.
Another popular story claims that the Texas flag can fly at the same height as the U.S. flag because Texas was once an independent country. That is a myth. Texas does not possess a unique flag privilege on that basis.
Republic of California
1846 was a tense year in Mexican Alta California. American and European settlers were arriving in growing numbers, and fears increased that Mexican authorities might restrict or remove some of the newcomers.
American Army officer and explorer John C. Frémont became closely associated with the events that followed. In Sonoma, a group of American settlers revolted against Mexican authority on June 14, 1846, and proclaimed what became known as the California Republic.
The movement was nicknamed the Bear Flag Republic because of the flag raised at Sonoma, which featured a grizzly bear and the words “California Republic.” Its design later influenced California’s modern state flag.
The republic was extremely short-lived. Unknown to many of the settlers when the revolt began, the United States and Mexico were already at war. U.S. forces raised the American flag at Monterey on July 7, and the Bear Flag at Sonoma was lowered on July 9, 1846. The California Republic therefore lasted only a few weeks and never developed into an internationally recognized independent state.
The Overlooked Indigenous Nations
The various Indigenous nations of North America had their own political systems long before the modern American states existed. Some created substantial political confederacies, including the Haudenosaunee, also known as the Iroquois Confederacy.
The political status of Indigenous nations also became part of early American diplomacy. In 1778, the Delaware, or Lenape, became the first Native nation to enter into a formal treaty with the United States at Fort Pitt.
The treaty contained an especially interesting provision contemplating the possibility that the Delaware and other friendly Indigenous nations might eventually form a state and have representation in Congress. The proposal was never implemented, but it illustrates how unsettled the political geography of the early United States remained.
Indian Territory, much of which later became Oklahoma, represented another stage in the complicated relationship between Native nations, territorial government, and eventual U.S. statehood.
A More Complicated Map of Early America
Hawaii, Vermont, Texas, and California did not all experience independence in the same way. Hawaii was an internationally recognized sovereign kingdom and later a republic. Texas operated as an independent republic for nearly ten years. Vermont governed itself independently before joining the Union, while the California Republic existed for only a matter of weeks.
Indigenous nations add an even older and more complex layer to this history. The boundaries of today’s United States were formed gradually through independence movements, treaties, annexations, territorial disputes, war, and the incorporation or displacement of political entities that existed before the modern American map took shape.
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