July 4 is a triple holiday for Hawaii -- 1776, 1894, 1960 (including some internet links to important documents of the Republic of Hawaii, and district-by-district official results of the statehood vote of 1959 where 94.3% of voters said yes to statehood)
http://tinyurl.com/68u7nz

July 4, 1894 marked the creation of the Republic of Hawaii through the publication of its Constitution. At least five delegates to the Constitutional Convention were native Hawaiians; the Constitution was published in both English and Hawaiian; the Speaker of the House was former royalist John Kaulukou. 

The Republic was internationally recognized. Formal letters of recognition were rediscovered in our state archives during February and March, 2008. They had been sent to President Sanford Dole, personally signed by Emperors, Kings, Queens, and Presidents of at least 20 nations, on four continents, in eleven languages. Photographs of the originals are linked at
http://tinyurl.com/jtecmvo