Thursday, March 28, 2024
Hawai'i Free Press

Current Articles | Archives

Friday, August 18, 2023
Polls Showed Solid Support in Run-up to Hawaii Statehood
By Selected News Articles @ 12:00 AM :: 7400 Views :: Hawaii History

Gallup Vault: Americans' Support for Hawaii's Statehood

by Justin McCarthy, Gallup.com, Aug 16, 2019

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Sixty years ago this month, President Dwight Eisenhower signed a proclamation making Hawaii the 50th and last U.S. state admitted to the union.

Gallup first polled Americans on their support for Hawaii's statehood in 1940, when slightly less than half (48%) favored statehood for the island chain. But the attacks on Pearl Harbor in 1941 cemented Hawaii's connection to the U.S., and majorities of Americans -- typically more than 60% -- supported statehood in all subsequent polls that Gallup conducted until it became a state in 1959.

Line graph. Trend in U.S. support for Hawaii’s statehood.

Eisenhower's 1952 election benefited his own Republican Party, which gained majorities in both chambers of Congress, and GOP efforts to admit Hawaii as a U.S. state were soon underway. Support for Hawaii's statehood peaked in Eisenhower's first term, with public support ranging between 71% and 78%.

It's no coincidence that Alaska was admitted as the 49th state in the same year Hawaii gained statehood. Granting these two noncontiguous territories statehood resulted from political compromises that spanned the 1950s. Gallup polls found similarly strong levels of support for Alaska's statehood at the time.

Southern Democrats' resistance halted two separate Hawaii statehood efforts, as they feared that Hawaii's racially and ethnically diverse makeup would lead to two U.S. Senate votes for the civil rights legislation they opposed. Democrats countered with a compromise to admit Alaska first, as the mammoth territory was largely white.

Eisenhower initially rebuffed this Alaska-then-Hawaii compromise partly because of the small size of Alaska's population. However, he came around to the idea in his second term as Alaska's population grew and the political makeup and priorities of the U.S. Congress shifted.

After Alaska's admission in January 1959, Congress passed the Hawaii Admission Act in March. That summer, Hawaii residents voted overwhelmingly in a plebiscite to ratify the congressional bill for statehood. Finally, on Aug. 21, 1959, Eisenhower signed the proclamation to make Hawaii a state.

Hawaii may not be the final state in the union, as efforts to make Puerto Rico and Washington, D.C. states continue -- though with varying degrees of support from Americans. That both entities are expected to add more Democrats to Congress complicates the political viability of their statehood efforts. So for the foreseeable future, Hawaii, with its unique geography and history, enjoys the distinction of being America's youngest state. 

---30---

Big Q: Should Hawaii’s statehood be more publicly observed/ celebrated on Admission Day?  -- 52% ‘YES’

 

Links

TEXT "follow HawaiiFreePress" to 40404

Register to Vote

2aHawaii

808 Silent Majority

Aloha Pregnancy Care Center

AntiPlanner

Antonio Gramsci Reading List

A Place for Women in Waipio

Ballotpedia Hawaii

Broken Trust

Build More Hawaiian Homes Working Group

Christian Homeschoolers of Hawaii

Cliff Slater's Second Opinion

DVids Hawaii

FIRE

Fix Oahu!

Frontline: The Fixers

Genetic Literacy Project

Grassroot Institute

Habele.org

Hawaii Aquarium Fish Report

Hawaii Aviation Preservation Society

Hawaii Catholic TV

Hawaii Christian Coalition

Hawaii Cigar Association

Hawaii ConCon Info

Hawaii Debt Clock

Hawaii Defense Foundation

Hawaii Family Forum

Hawaii Farmers and Ranchers United

Hawaii Farmer's Daughter

Hawaii Federalist Society

Hawaii Federation of Republican Women

Hawaii History Blog

Hawaii Homeschool Association

Hawaii Jihadi Trial

Hawaii Legal News

Hawaii Legal Short-Term Rental Alliance

Hawaii Matters

Hawaii's Partnership for Appropriate & Compassionate Care

Hawaii Public Charter School Network

Hawaii Rifle Association

Hawaii Shippers Council

Hawaii Smokers Alliance

Hawaii State Data Lab

Hawaii Together

HIEC.Coop

HiFiCo

Hiram Fong Papers

Homeschool Legal Defense Hawaii

Honolulu Moms for Liberty

Honolulu Navy League

Honolulu Traffic

House Minority Blog

Imua TMT

Inouye-Kwock, NYT 1992

Inside the Nature Conservancy

Inverse Condemnation

Investigative Project on Terrorism

July 4 in Hawaii

Kakaako Cares

Keep Hawaii's Heroes

Land and Power in Hawaii

Legislative Committee Analysis Tool

Lessons in Firearm Education

Lingle Years

Managed Care Matters -- Hawaii

Malama Pregnancy Center of Maui

MentalIllnessPolicy.org

Military Home Educators' Network Oahu

Missile Defense Advocacy

MIS Veterans Hawaii

NAMI Hawaii

Natatorium.org

National Christian Foundation Hawaii

National Parents Org Hawaii

NFIB Hawaii News

No GMO Means No Aloha

Not Dead Yet, Hawaii

NRA-ILA Hawaii

Oahu Alternative Transport

Obookiah

OHA Lies

Opt Out Today

OurFutureHawaii.com

Patients Rights Council Hawaii

PEACE Hawaii

People vs Machine

Practical Policy Institute of Hawaii

Pritchett Cartoons

Pro-GMO Hawaii

P.U.E.O.

RailRipoff.com

Rental by Owner Awareness Assn

ReRoute the Rail

Research Institute for Hawaii USA

Rick Hamada Show

RJ Rummel

Robotics Organizing Committee

School Choice in Hawaii

SenatorFong.com

Sink the Jones Act

Statehood for Guam

Talking Tax

Tax Foundation of Hawaii

The Real Hanabusa

Time Out Honolulu

Trustee Akina KWO Columns

UCC Truths

US Tax Foundation Hawaii Info

VAREP Honolulu

Waagey.org

West Maui Taxpayers Association

What Natalie Thinks

Whole Life Hawaii

Yes2TMT