Hawaii became a U.S. territory this day, July 7, 1898, as President McKinley signed the Treaty of Annexation. Discovered by Capt. James Cook in 1778, the islands were soon united by King Kamehamaha. After his death, his son, with his mother as prime minister, abolished their pagan religion, which included human sacrifice. The next year the first missionaries arrived from New England, creating a written language and translating the Bible. Hawaii's Motto, "The Life of the Land is Perpetuated in Righteousness," was first uttered by Queen Ke'opuolani as she was baptized into the Christian faith.
